The result of game 7 is almost irrelevant at this point.

[AllDay28]

Ya, 1 cup but how many final 4? Raising their level is only one of the attitudes to pass the 1st round.

I don’t care about anything but the cup winner. The rest is irrelevant

In the NFL when Buffalo went to 4 straight Super Bowls and lost ... no one cares. They also went on a long ass playoff drought after cause .. you guessed it.. no one cares

 

[Captain Crunch]

Well, it's not like they got swept. Game 7's, anything can happen

Except what happens in our game 7’s is that we lose.

 

[Egghead1999]

I don’t care about anything but the cup winner. The rest is irrelevant

In the NFL when Buffalo went to 4 straight Super Bowls and lost ... no one cares. They also went on a long ass playoff drought after cause .. you guessed it.. no one cares

then, you better show me a cup winner never raising their level in the playoff.

 

[HarrisonFord]

I was just thinking that last night as well. Bruins had a Pastrnak hattrick that won them the game, but Marchand was a huge reason they won the series against Washington. Our best players are the reason there's a game 7 tomorrow

Winnipeg(4gp):
Connor - 2g, 2a
Schiefele- 2g, 3a
Ehlers (2gp) - 2g
Wheeler - 2g, 3a

Carolina (6gp):
Aho- 5g, 2a
Necas- 2g, 3a
Staal- 4g, 1a

TB (6gp):
Kucherov - 3g, 8a
Stamkos - 3g, 5a
Point - 4g, 2a

Colorado (4gp):
Mackinnon - 6g, 3a
Landeskog- 2g, 6a
Rantanen - 1g, 6a

Boston (6gp):
Pasta - 5g, 4a
Bergeron - 3g, 3a
Marchand - 3g, 1a

Toronto (6gp):
Matthews - 1g, 3a
Marner - 0g, 4a
Nylander- 4g, 3a

Leafs are a clear step behind in goal scoring and in points. Nylander has been the only one carrying their weight and that’s just not good enough

 

[Dreakmur]

Playing winning hockey is incredibly fun, but it's not easy. Too often our core wants easy

Winning is fun... doing what it takes is definitely not fun.

 

[Gallagbi]

Winning is fun... doing what it takes is definitely not fun.

I completely disagree. It's challenging, but there isn't much better than coming through in the clutch, doing the dirty work and watching your efforts climb over others. You rally around the little things and relish the moment.

Sadly this group is on the defensive rather than the offensive. They try to avoid disappointment rather than take control Imo

 

[Menzinger]

Winnipeg(4gp):
Connor - 2g, 2a
Schiefele- 2g, 3a
Ehlers (2gp) - 2g
Wheeler - 2g, 3a

Carolina (6gp):
Aho- 5g, 2a
Necas- 2g, 3a
Staal- 4g, 1a

TB (6gp):
Kucherov - 3g, 8a
Stamkos - 3g, 5a
Point - 4g, 2a

Colorado (4gp):
Mackinnon - 6g, 3a
Landeskog- 2g, 6a
Rantanen - 1g, 6a

Boston (6gp):
Pasta - 5g, 4a
Bergeron - 3g, 3a
Marchand - 3g, 1a

Toronto (6gp):
Matthews - 1g, 3a
Marner - 0g, 4a
Nylander- 4g, 3a

Leafs are a clear step behind in goal scoring and in points. Nylander has been the only one carrying their weight and that’s just not good enough

It really illustrates the problem well. If either Matthews or Marner had just say 2 more goals this series would be over.

 

[Dreakmur]

I completely disagree. It's challenging, but there isn't much better than coming through in the clutch, doing the dirty work and watching your efforts climb over others. You rally around the little things and relish the moment.

Sadly this group is on the defensive rather than the offensive. They try to avoid disappointment rather than take control Imo

Back-checking isn't fun. Making safe plays isn't fun. Blocking shots isn't fun. Getting your ass kicked in front of the net isn't fun. Taking a hit to make a play isn't fun.

If you don't love it, playing hockey f***in sucks.....

 

[Gallagbi]

Back-checking isn't fun. Making safe plays isn't fun. Blocking shots isn't fun. Getting your ass kicked in front of the net isn't fun. Taking a hit to make a play isn't fun.

If you don't love it, playing hockey f***in sucks.....

You need to be a certain breed, which I don't see from this core, but doing those things to win is a great feeling. It's certainly not fun to do those and lose, but to do them and win is fantastic IMO.

 

[Mitch Matthews]

Except what happens in our game 7’s is that we lose.

Yes, I know it's very frustrating and disappointing especially the two most recent series losses against the Bruins, one of the best teams in the entire league. Having said that we have to admit that the Bruins were the better team both years, regular season and playoffs, so no shame is losing to a better team - more playoff experience, battle tested and a cup championship under their belt. An optimist would say the Leafs did well taking both series to 7 games.

 

[AllDay28]

Im confused. Matthews and co have done all the little intangibles you folks say making “winning” better. That line isn’t getting scored on and they’re playing great defensively.

you guys can’t even complain properly.

 

[Captain Crunch]

Yes, I know it's very frustrating and disappointing especially the two most recent series losses against the Bruins, one of the best teams in the entire league. Having said that we have to admit that the Bruins were the better team both years, regular season and playoffs, so no shame is losing to a better team - more playoff experience, battle tested and a cup championship under their belt. An optimist would say the Leafs did well taking both series to 7 games.

But a realist would say this team is built for the regular season, but not the playoffs. We are not serious Cup contenders, and never will be as long as we have 4 forwards taking up half the cap.
I realize this is only my opinion. Believe me, I would absolutely love to be proven wrong.

 

[Captain Crunch]

Im confused. Matthews and co have done all the little intangibles you folks say making “winning” better. That line isn’t getting scored on and they’re playing great defensively.

you guys can’t even complain properly.

This is only my opinion. With the money they’re being paid, they should be able to (at least in this round) put the team on their backs and carry them to the next round.

 

[AllDay28]

It’s amazing reading these threads, then reading the main one which is basically the opposite, and includes Hab fans

 

[Jarqui]

I recall an interview with Bill Torrey who put together the Islanders Cup winning teams. He said that you need luck. Can't say the Leafs have had much of that so far. He said you need to maintain good health. Injuries to Tavares, Muzzin and Foligno not looking very good are not trending well. Even if they win game 7, they're facing a decent Jets team that is well rested and been studying how the Habs shut down Matthews, etc. It's going to be a tougher series for the Leafs than it would have been if they'd closed them out in 5. If they survive the Jets, they'll have taken the long road to face the winner of the Colorado-Vegas series - a really good team. Anything can happen in sports but their chances of doing something special this season have been significantly diminished with their performance and injuries in the Habs series. I'm still pulling for them but that is closer to the present reality.

 

[Stephen]

You need to be a certain breed, which I don't see from this core, but doing those things to win is a great feeling. It's certainly not fun to do those and lose, but to do them and win is fantastic IMO.

Well this time around they are doing all those little intangible things but they aren't taking the game over full throttle on the attack.

 

[AllDay28]

then, you better show me a cup winner never raising their level in the playoff.

Has every winner been elite and never faced adversity in every round?

 

[Pete2000]

 

[Gallagbi]

Well this time around they are doing all those little intangible things but they aren't taking the game over full throttle on the attack.

Yes and no. They're doing enough to play safe, for the most part, but the Habs dont mind that.

They're not coming out to make a statement and theyre not coming out to dominate. They're carrying play, getting some good looks, but it's not our top players and they're not a constant threat or concern for this Habs team.

 

[rocketman588]

I honestly think the management group tried to rush past a proper rebuild. Now Dubas was forced to fill out the roster with question marks and veterans that only add an illusion of maturity.

We should have a stable of young talent filling important roles but now we have no cap space to do anything. If this current core can’t get it done, where do you even go from here. Dubas has no options. You either make a blockbuster move to shed salary or you try the exact same thing next season - fill out the roster with more league minimum players and hope something massive changes.

If by management you mean Dubas?

He signs JT for 11 and in the off-season and in the process probably costs himself 5 mil on the other negotiations. ( I would assume 1/1.5 Matthews 1/2 nylander 2/3 Marner).

So that's about 16 mil more of roomish right there.

JT is a good player but did they need him at the time? Probably not.

The cap crunch is of his own design he's been chasing it and chasing it since. He's the one that decided to make the JT move and it's the thing that forced the rebuild to be way quicker.

If there wasn't ways to get around it they'd be even more screwed this team has an insane actual as opposed to their cap hit.

 

[AllDay28]

Raising your level is subjective and looked at post playoffs anyways. If Leafs win and then 4-1 the next three series they def raised their level but we won’t know it til it’s completed.

 

[authentic]

At this point I don't even expect them to beat Winnipeg assuming we advance. That's a major difference from how I felt just 2 games ago.

 

[Captain Crunch]

This is where we see what Dubas can do IMO. He's bet on the core and theyre slapping him in the face. He's catered to them, now it will be time to switch if they fail tomorrow.

He goes from the friend to the enemy for some. It's about the greater good of the team, and likely someone like Marner's future. You don't want to be the goat (and I don't mean G.O.A.T) in this market and that's what we're looking at. But he needs to be angry and board with changes, he can't be willing to let them have another kick at the can.

I would be totally shocked if he traded any of the core 4. If he did that, he would be admitting he was wrong, and that, unfortunately, doesn’t sound like Dubas to me.

 

[Leafsfan74]

They have had two games to close the series. Yes, Keefe has said that the games required to close out a series are often the most difficult, so game 5 was understandable. But following up game 5 with the effort in game 6 is just pathetic. No shows from our best, most talented players have ultimately led to us losing one of our best players in Jake Muzzin, Foligno feeling he has to come back before he's ready, and no opportunity to rest and get healthy before the second round if we get there.

Relying on old depth players like Jason Spezza to lead us while our stars like Matthews and Marner take the backseat is just super pathetic. These last two games have told us a lot about what we have.

There is no need to refresh the comments that some of us made on here that you don't overpay players for term who haven't won anything yet. However, it remains true.

You surround them with some veterans who want to win, and they still crumble when the going gets tough. Two O.T losses which could have been wins. Very few crashing the net and making life difficult for Price, while the Habs have wisely used the "playoffs rules" to impede every forechecker they can while those viewers outside the two cities fall asleep watching the "entertainment".

It's has certainly been a lacklustre affair by both teams. It was supposed to be the Leafs duty to rid the league of this vanilla boring Habs team. They haven't been able to find a way to get to another gear and all hockey fans suffer.

 

[Mitchy]

If Mathews and especially Marner put up a dominant performance in game 7, I won't lie, I'll forget their previous failures.

Unfortunately, I expect the latter to completely disappear and us to lose 3-0 or 3-1