The "Team" Is Broken

[Hellcat]

I saw this posted by a user in a group I'm in.

"Listening to Overdrive tonight it was brought up the O'Reilly could not believe that when on the road for the playoffs in previous years the leafs as a team did not go out for team dinners. Everyone ate room service or at the hotel. ROR made it mandatory. It's clear from his comments about the coaching to his reaction to the room he wanted no part of being here. That is concerning... It's also concerning that 91 has allowed this to permeate under his watch. Maybe there is a reason as a captain he has two playoff wins in 15 years. The lack of leadership is worrisome. Hope Reeves is the guy who can be this teams version of Tie!"

The "Core" has been here together for what 6 years now? How can there be such a lack of camaraderie? Some might say "it's really no big deal" which may be the case for other teams, but it's not for this team. Guys like Matthews and moreso Nylander are literally allergic to scrums. No one is saying go in and rock a guy but for the love of god atleast take a man. As it's stands though, it looks like everyone is just teammates. They aren't brothers, they aren't comrades, they're just guys put together to maybe try and win a cup.

JT looks like a meh captain more and more every season. How is the cultural so non existent on your watch? I imagine this guy is a wet rag who use to only lead on the ice. Now he can't even do that. Bringing in Reaves is nice but are the $10M+ guys just going to let some grinder come in and change their locker room ? I honestly don't know, but I wouldn't count on it. This "team" is literally just high level, top end skill and not much else. Hearing this just doesn't give me alot of faith these guys can get it together.

It's not the dinners so much as its a symptom of the disease, which is shitty team chemistry, Dubas knew it too, he brought in Marleau, Jumbo, Rielly, Gio, Brodie, kept vets as "own" rentals in the hope that it would provide some locker room glue. Then you look at the expectation that every core player has to be paid as if they are coming off a hot UFA market, when other teams like Boston, Carolina, NJ, Tampa can get their stars to sign team friendly contracts. Yes TB has no income tax, but you also can't get 6 figure endorsement deals for one day in the studio in Tampa, like you can in Toronto.

It's a people issue, its never been a skill issue.

TBH if my boss mandated that we all eat together when we are on the road, I'd probably look for a job elsewhere. Then again in my job, I dont need to have chemistry with a colleague like you do in team sport. It's my time, not company time.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Resolving the cap issue is easy.

Step 1 buy out Murray Samsonov has filed for arbitration so they can do that.

Step 2 Muzzin on LTIR

Step 3 waive and/or trade Lafferty or Timmins.

Done.

Regardless being over the cap is an easy fix and no it won't make them worse in fact it probably makes them better because with Murray gone Woll becomes the full time backup, and Woll over Murray certainly looks like an upgrade.

Waive or trade Lafferty or Timmins isn't going to improve the team. Buying out Murray isn't going to make us better either, it'll just make harder to fit everyone under the cap. I like Woll but he's still a shiny new toy, saying we're better because of him is a stretch.

I see this team being a fair bit worse now than it was going into the playoffs. ROR and Schenn, just those two played pretty well for us and brought a dimension we were sorely lacking. Didn't help, we still struck out and now we got worse. JMHO, if you think we're better now that's great.

ROR also said many times what a “very close” group the team had, as did every other pickup btw, the dinner angle means absolutely nothing.

What ROR said at that time is what means absolutely nothing. Has anyone ever said anything different about a team they just got traded to?

 

[Malachi Crunch]

Oh...this now requires a knucklehead PhD of nhl winning experience. Maybe I can draw on a few decades of running large teams of people developing big projects. This kind weird cult behavior does nothing. Only people who have never accomplished a f***ing thing in their life other thN opine on bullshit would ever suggest such stupidity

Jesus....the guy made a small joke. No need to respond like a sociopath.

 

[Hellcat]

And what was their source?

Remind me why you feel the need to post here when you're one of the more consistent Leaf trolls on HF?

Are we that childish that we need a safe space echo chamber? If the guy wants to Troll, troll away, who gives a shit? TBH I never really took @Golden_Jet to be a troll, I took him as a card carrying member of the Grumpy Old Bastard Society, which I'm a card carrying member too. TBH it may just be perspective, our generation was raised to be a little more resilient to perceived slights than the younger generations, they tend to be a little more fragile.

Do we really want to be part of a forum that does not have dissenting opinions? Do you come here to have people give you platitudes or do you come here to debate points and learn about hockey? The mods have a tough job, they do it for free, most people on this forum don't pay for the service, so IMO its a little rich hearing people bitch about perceived slights on a FREE service.

 

[LeafGrief]

OK Freud


A communal dinner is not often a nightly event except if you are in a religious order or a cult.

Or a family.

Having team dinners when you're on the road during a playoff series is going to be 3-4 nights in a row at most. That hardly meets the definition of religious order, cult, or family.

 

[Hellcat]

Does your observation derive from your most recent experience of participating on a Stanley Cup winning team while also being awarded the Conn Smythe trophy?

If I said yes... would you believe me ...

 

[ACC1224]

Are we that childish that we need a safe space echo chamber? If the guy wants to Troll, troll away, who gives a shit? TBH I never really took @Golden_Jet to be a troll, I took him as a card carrying member of the Grumpy Old Bastard Society, which I'm a card carrying member too. TBH it may just be perspective, our generation was raise to be a little more resilient to perceived slights than the younger generations, they tend to be a little more fragile.

Do we really want to be part of a forum that does not have dissenting opinions? Do you come here to have people give you platitudes or do you come here to debate points and learn about hockey? The mods have a tough job, they do it for free, most people on this forum don't pay for the service, so IMO its a little rich hearing people bitch about perceived slights.

There are a number of 'fans' on here that are way worse than that guy.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Waive or trade Lafferty or Timmins isn't going to improve the team. Buying out Murray isn't going to make us better either, it'll just make harder to fit everyone under the cap. I like Woll but he's still a shiny new toy, saying we're better because of him is a stretch.

I see this team being a fair bit worse now than it was going into the playoffs. ROR and Schenn, just those two played pretty well for us and brought a dimension we were sorely lacking. Didn't help, we still struck out and now we got worse. JMHO, if you think we're better now that's great.


What ROR said at that time is what means absolutely nothing. Has anyone ever said anything different about a team they just got traded to?

It might be a stretch if Murray could even attempt to stay healthy, but considering he gets injured anytime a butterfly in China flaps it's wings no it's not a Stretch to say Woll is better.

Usually I would never say a rookie with 10 games experience is better than an established veteran because 10 games experience is not usually enough but it's Matt Murray and he can't be depended on.

I say Woll has earned the shot.

 

[LeafChief]

This is such a classic off-season thread. Love to see it.

Some of you should try to enjoy the weather (when it's not raining) and maybe speak to family instead of worrying about conspiracy theories about who is having dinner with who.

 

[IPS]

Kinda hilarious to see people putting down ROR. The guy has done more in the biggest games than the core combined topped with a Conn Smythe.

Somehow he’s a money chaser and not the clowns on the Leafs with three of the highest cap hits in the sport yet nothing to show for it.

Whether it’s team dinners or something else, this team in its current state is rotten to the core.

Just a collection of shiny pieces with a clueless coach in the playoffs.

Just go read these Dubas' fans opinions of ROR when Dubie traded for him. Now he's gone and all of a sudden he's a money chaser with no loyalty or anything As for who he is - yeah, he's probably an asshole. There's lots out there that indicates it. And for the record I didn't want him re-signed anyway, too slow for an already slow forward group.

The no team dinners thing might not look like much on the surface but it could most definitely be another clue why this doesn't feel like much of a team at times and more of just a collection of players who just wanna do their jobs.

This place is straight comedy sometimes.

 

[IPS]

Are we that childish that we need a safe space echo chamber?

I don't want a safe space or an echo chamber. The same standard of modding applied across all forums on the board would be fine. Double standards and hypocrisy is what annoys me - not some useless Sens fan's opinions. And that is precisely what others who share my opinion want too. You trying to frame it as "wanting a safe space" says more about your lack of comprehension than anything.

 

[Hellcat]

This is such a classic off-season thread. Love to see it.

Some of you should try to enjoy the weather (when it's not raining) and maybe speak to family instead of worrying about conspiracy theories about who is having dinner with who.

Hmmm,... figures you would say that about dinner @LeafChief ... who's forum name is one letter removed from LeafChef or if you rearrange the letters ILeafChef.... clearly you are the Leafs Chef trying to cover up your horrible dinners, which make the team not want to eat together, which in turns makes them suck in the playoffs.... AM I RIGHT @LeafChief or should I say I_Leaf_Chef.... BUSTED!!!!!!!!


(See what I did there )

 

[Hellcat]

I don't want a safe space or an echo chamber. The same standard of modding applied across all forums on the board would be fine. Double standards and hypocrisy is what annoys me - not some useless Sens fan's opinions. And that is precisely what others who share my opinion want too. You trying to frame it as "wanting a safe space" says more about your lack of comprehension than anything.

All kinds of people are flagged, just because a few people don't get flagged is not proof positive that there is a different standard on the Leafs forum. Do you realize how many thousands upon thousands of post there are every day? Hell I've been on the Sens forums and stated that one day they will get a NHL team, I said they were a non tradionial hockey market, I've called the Habs toilet seats, no warning or a ban from those comments ... Absence of perfection in executing forum policy is not confirmation of bias, it's a confirmation that its hard to police every single post. If you or others want better policing, pay for the service, allow HF to pay their mods.

The lack of comprehension comes from people who expect a free service to execute their policy flawlessly while using volunteers as police, when you have different Mods govern different Forums, aka humans making interpretations of that policy and applying them to real world situations, there is inevitably going to be varying degrees of interpretation of said policy and how to apply enforcement of said policy. The mod in the Buffalo forum may not interpret the rules the way the mods in the Leafs forum do. The lack of comprehension is not on my part, its on the part of the people who fail to understand the massive logistical challenges that come with governing a large free service forum. Put your money where your mouth is, become a sponsor and pay HF.

 

[Gary Nylund]

It might be a stretch if Murray could even attempt to stay healthy, but considering he gets injured anytime a butterfly in China flaps it's wings no it's not a Stretch to say Woll is better.

Usually I would never say a rookie with 10 games experience is better than an established veteran because 10 games experience is not usually enough but it's Matt Murray and he can't be depended on.

I say Woll has earned the shot.

Yeah Woll looked good, can't count on Murray obviously, I agree with all this. I just feel like Woll is still an unproven quantity, maybe he'll be great, maybe he won't, it's just too early to point to him as reason for saying the team is better today than it was heading into the playoffs.

Schenn was really great for us, his loss alone is a pretty big step backwards. JMHO.

 

[Hellcat]

There are a number of 'fans' on here that are way worse than that guy.

Yeah there is this @ACC1224 guy .. a real jerk, don't mess with him

 

[ACC1224]

Yeah there is this @ACC1224 guy .. a real jerk, don't mess with him

Not me, I've "passed all the tests".

 

[JT AM da real deal]

There are also different dietary preferences and requirements. These players are miles ahead from an athletic conditioning perspective from where they were. Not everyone wants to go out for beer and wings every night. We might as well criticize them all for not going outside together for a communal smoke.

Amen .. there are no more late late night bus trip stops at McDicks to load up on way to next town .. no more guys drinking beer and smoking cigars on da bus ride up/down 69 .. no more we'll get our skating legs back at camp and lose 20 lbs in 1st few days of conditioning .. no more rook fights on day 1 of camp .. today these kids are expected to be in tip top shape for a 2 week camp with EX games starting 1st weekend .. guys are in ridiculously great condition now .. there is a NIGHT v DAY difference in nutrition, medical/healthcare and dealing with injuries OMG it makes me LOL to see what my kids did

 

[IPS]

Put your money where your mouth is, become a sponsor and pay HF.

If HF actually took it serious I'd gladly throw a few bucks their way. But 99% guaranteed they won't, so it doesn't make any sense to.

 

[Nineteen67]

I think it's more that it was beaten into them that they shouldn't risk going to the box or erasing a powerplay opportunity. Other team takes a penalty or does something dirty, the Leafs don't do anything because they want the man advantage.

The Ol’ “Power Play is our Enforcer”.

 

[LeafChief]

Hmmm,... figures you would say that about dinner @LeafChief ... who's forum name is one letter removed from LeafChef or if you rearrange the letters ILeafChef.... clearly you are the Leafs Chef trying to cover up your horrible dinners, which make the team not want to eat together, which in turns makes them suck in the playoffs.... AM I RIGHT @LeafChief or should I say I_Leaf_Chef.... BUSTED!!!!!!!!


(See what I did there )

Hahaha.

I wish I could cook well enough to be considered a chef, brother!

 

[Rob Brown]

Are we that childish that we need a safe space echo chamber? If the guy wants to Troll, troll away, who gives a shit? TBH I never really took @Golden_Jet to be a troll, I took him as a card carrying member of the Grumpy Old Bastard Society, which I'm a card carrying member too. TBH it may just be perspective, our generation was raised to be a little more resilient to perceived slights than the younger generations, they tend to be a little more fragile.

Do we really want to be part of a forum that does not have dissenting opinions? Do you come here to have people give you platitudes or do you come here to debate points and learn about hockey? The mods have a tough job, they do it for free, most people on this forum don't pay for the service, so IMO its a little rich hearing people bitch about perceived slights on a FREE service.

We have one of the more bipolar fanbases around, so no, I don't think this section is an echo chamber at all. We're completely full of dissenting opinions lol. Also you're telling me I should welcome dissenting opinions, yet you're basically telling me I'm wrong and to stop talking/caring.

My point was that I find it strange that someone that seems to dislike the Leafs so much and is generally pretty negative towards the team and our fanbase within the general boards feels the need to drop in here. If you disagree that's fine, but as an example, I'm not going to the Habs section and expecting to be welcomed.

I don't want a safe space or an echo chamber. The same standard of modding applied across all forums on the board would be fine. Double standards and hypocrisy is what annoys me - not some useless Sens fan's opinions. And that is precisely what others who share my opinion want too. You trying to frame it as "wanting a safe space" says more about your lack of comprehension than anything.

This.

 

[nsleaf]

They'll have a potluck after they win the cup.

 

[Notsince67]

Or a family.

Having team dinners when you're on the road during a playoff series is going to be 3-4 nights in a row at most. That hardly meets the definition of religious order, cult, or family.

I have 3 children. The last time we all regularly sat for a meal was when they were early teens. Doesn't really happen.

 

[ACC1224]

I have 3 children. The last time we all regularly sat for a meal was when they were early teens. Doesn't really happen.

If you were on a trip together you wouldn't eat together?

 

[Peace Frog]

It’s important that a team gels together off the ice, in order to gel better on the ice, imo. If there is a division in the room, it definitely needs to be addressed.