Thoroughly Excited

[DarkKnight]

He's got the tools, need Keefe to unleash him.

Agreed, he was trending really well last year, then Keefe undercut him with the adds and his play really suffered. I liked they gave him an A during the preseason, he’s very important this year. I expect nothing from Gio this year to be honest, anything is a bonus at this age.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

I'm obviously excited for the Leafs, I want to see that top 6 perform, I want to see what Knies and Minten can do, I believe in those guys, I think they are going to surprise people especially Minten, I'm not convinced this is a 9 game stint for him.

I think he produces with Knies and I think he stays.

I'm excited to see Bertuzzi Matthews Marner as a line that's going to be fun.

I'm excited to see Woll's progression.

I'm excited to see Samsonov repeat or improve on last season.

and obviously I'm excited to see Ryan Reaves we haven't had a player like that in a LONG time, and no Kyle Clifford and Wayne Simmonds are not even close.

And I might be in the minorty here but I'm excited that we have Martin Jones in the minors.

He won 27 games last year, that's a hell of an insurance policy, I thought he was gone on waivers.

In fact I am excited about the minor league team as a whole because there are a lot of guys down there we know can play NHL minutes.

Jones
Holmberg
Benoit
Lagsson

All guys we know can play NHL minutes and I know I'm missing some.

I think there are a lot of reasons to be excited this is the most positive I have been about this team In a very long time I don't really have anything to be negative about.

 

[fancy lad]

As long as the teams i support look like they're going to win a lot of games, i get excited at the start of seasons.

People talk about this core like they're bad players. Yeah i get the playoff success hasn't been there (but at least we won a round last year!), but i remember too many years where the cornerstone players were truly bad and we would consider ourselves lucky if the Leafs just MADE the playoffs.

 

[kevsh]

Nope, very few believe that.

Dubas brought in Reilly, Acciari, Lafferty, McCabe & Schenn last year for character, grit, experience, depth, toughness, etc. and this group barely got by TB and got smoked by Florida.

Yet somehow, the different look of 2 rookies with some compete (but little experience), an injured (and rebounding, hopefully) Klingsberg, Domi & Bertuzzi we've got the secret recipe figured out? Come on, don't fall for it again.

 

[WTFMAN99]

Dubas brought in Reilly, Acciari, Lafferty, McCabe & Schenn last year for character, grit, experience, depth, toughness, etc. and this group barely got by TB and got smoked by Florida.

Yet somehow, the different look of 2 rookies with some compete (but little experience), an injured (and rebounding, hopefully) Klingsberg, Domi & Bertuzzi we've got the secret recipe figured out? Come on, don't fall for it again.

I think we will get goals from players that aren't in that big forward group finally.

I don't believe the defense is cup caliber at all but I pretty much go along with what Friedman said, the defense that starts this season will not be the same one that we finish with, they'll make changes.

 

[ACC1224]

Dubas brought in Reilly, Acciari, Lafferty, McCabe & Schenn last year for character, grit, experience, depth, toughness, etc. and this group barely got by TB and got smoked by Florida.

Yet somehow, the different look of 2 rookies with some compete (but little experience), an injured (and rebounding, hopefully) Klingsberg, Domi & Bertuzzi we've got the secret recipe figured out? Come on, don't fall for it again.

If you choose to ignore the differences and feel everything is exactly the same that’s up to you.
I don’t think many would agree

 

[Suntouchable13]

Regular season is just a time filler, nothing more. Where they finish inside the playoff bracket is inconsequential. The goal is the same, cup or bust. At least, that should be the goal. This is year 8 with this core of 3 (Matthews, Willy, and Mitch) time to deliver. They are all 26 or 27 years old already. Time to win is now. Being young is not an excuse anymore.

 

[LeafGrief]

The deck chairs are different, but all we did was shuffle some deck chairs. Goaltending is the same question mark, defense is a huge question mark with Brodie and Gio looking like they've regressed, and no Muzzin replacement in sight. Klingberg will help with the puck movement, which was a weakness, but that blueline is nowhere near as good as it has been in previous years.

Knies is exciting, Domi is mostly irrelevant besides the last name, and Bertuzzi is a good fit. Not the best forward group we've had, but it's pretty good. We'll have no troubles scoring until the playoffs start, at which point it is literally the same song and dance as the last 5...6? years. Same coach, same core, same leadership structure. The faces of the extras might be different, but this is the same team as it's been for years now and it's going to go where the big guns take us. I guess after the last few years of people talking about how the regular season is meaningless I started to believe it.

In most years I'd get excited to at least watch hockey, but I'm so sick of the gambling commercials and gambling lines and gambling gambling gambling that I didn't even make it to the third period of a lot of games last year. I can't even get excited to watch the Leafs-Habs tomorrow because it's going to be blacked out on Sportsnet+. Oh boy, I paid almost $300 (f***ing auto-renew, I'm a moron) and have to go sail the high seas to watch opening night? They can shove the gambling ads up Ballard's ass, I'd rather argue semantics with my cat for two hours than jump through hoops to watch Cabbie hock the joys of losing your money.

If you're not at least somewhat excited at the beginning of each season, then you're an alien.

Take me to your leader

 

[Gary Nylund]

The deck chairs are different, but all we did was shuffle some deck chairs. Goaltending is the same question mark, defense is a huge question mark with Brodie and Gio looking like they've regressed, and no Muzzin replacement in sight. Klingberg will help with the puck movement, which was a weakness, but that blueline is nowhere near as good as it has been in previous years.

Knies is exciting, Domi is mostly irrelevant besides the last name, and Bertuzzi is a good fit. Not the best forward group we've had, but it's pretty good. We'll have no troubles scoring until the playoffs start, at which point it is literally the same song and dance as the last 5...6? years. Same coach, same core, same leadership structure. The faces of the extras might be different, but this is the same team as it's been for years now and it's going to go where the big guns take us. I guess after the last few years of people talking about how the regular season is meaningless I started to believe it.

Good summary. It's pretty easy to predict how the regular season will go - more wins than losses, another top 10 finish overall, the naive/gullible crowd will get overly excited when we go on a meaningless run in November, the Pauls among us will rave about Marner posting "super crazy elite" a couple of thousand times, we'll add a player or two at the TDL and that'll be that.

Those of us with a functioning brain and memory know that it's the same coach, the same core and whether we finish 1st or 10th overall or how we do in November means dick once the playoffs start. This is a good regular season team with a core that has been unable to play at a high level in the playoffs, that's the beginning and the end of it. Will this year be different? I guess you never know but nothing that happens between now and April will be a part of the answer.

Best think we can do is to try to forget that the playoffs exist. This is a team with a lot of talent that is fun to watch and wins much of the time when the stakes are low so as long as we can forget about the annual playoff failures, there will be entertainment.

I'm the biggest sucker in the world I guess, because despite all the setbacks and gut wrenching losses, this team, this year, has me curiously excited. The addition of the kids, a top 9 that has so much intrigue, a different mix, there is much to keep me engaged this regular season. I sense an evolved maturity with our "stars" I haven't heard before, this could really be our year. The right moves at the deadline, who knows...

I asked you yesterday what you're basing this on and your silence speaks volumes. It's too bad, I was hoping you had some straw we could grasp on to because regardless of how excited some people are about Domi, Bertuzzi, Knies, Minten and whoever else, in the playoffs, this team will go as far as our young stars take us.

 

[wingman75]

Excited, of course!!

I think the forward depth was addressed. I will be watching the back end (defence & goaltending) to see what we truly have there. It will be the area of focus I believe as we head into trade deadline day... do we need upgrades? If so, how many?

The young duo on the third line will add some unknown excitement as well... we all know what we are getting from 34, 16, 88, 91, 64 generally speaking.

Also, with Holl and Kerfoot gone I will be interested to see who the 'hatersblamers' latch onto

 

[Evilhomer]

The deck chairs are different, but all we did was shuffle some deck chairs. Goaltending is the same question mark, defense is a huge question mark with Brodie and Gio looking like they've regressed, and no Muzzin replacement in sight. Klingberg will help with the puck movement, which was a weakness, but that blueline is nowhere near as good as it has been in previous years.

Knies is exciting, Domi is mostly irrelevant besides the last name, and Bertuzzi is a good fit. Not the best forward group we've had, but it's pretty good. We'll have no troubles scoring until the playoffs start, at which point it is literally the same song and dance as the last 5...6? years. Same coach, same core, same leadership structure. The faces of the extras might be different, but this is the same team as it's been for years now and it's going to go where the big guns take us. I guess after the last few years of people talking about how the regular season is meaningless I started to believe it.

In most years I'd get excited to at least watch hockey, but I'm so sick of the gambling commercials and gambling lines and gambling gambling gambling that I didn't even make it to the third period of a lot of games last year. I can't even get excited to watch the Leafs-Habs tomorrow because it's going to be blacked out on Sportsnet+. Oh boy, I paid almost $300 (f***ing auto-renew, I'm a moron) and have to go sail the high seas to watch opening night? They can shove the gambling ads up Ballard's ass, I'd rather argue semantics with my cat for two hours than jump through hoops to watch Cabbie hock the joys of losing your money.


Take me to your leader

The gambling stuff is beyond the point of lunacy at this stage. Every broadcast, every radio show, every everywhere. It's amazing that as a society we actually don't seem to realize that this is no different than advertising any addictive substance, and if anyone has seen the real-life consequences of a gambling addiction you would probably want to rethink the quantum and type of advertising we are seeing right now.

 

[SprDaVE]

It's always a looooong season. I'm always pumped up to start the season, but a bad start could be really annoying.

 

[Gary Nylund]

The gambling stuff is beyond the point of lunacy at this stage. Every broadcast, every radio show, every everywhere. It's amazing that as a society we actually don't seem to realize that this is no different than advertising any addictive substance, and if anyone has seen the real-life consequences of a gambling addiction you would probably want to rethink the quantum and type of advertising we are seeing right now.

+1000

 

[WTFMAN99]

Regular season is just a time filler, nothing more. Where they finish inside the playoff bracket is inconsequential. The goal is the same, cup or bust. At least, that should be the goal. This is year 8 with this core of 3 (Matthews, Willy, and Mitch) time to deliver. They are all 26 or 27 years old already. Time to win is now. Being young is not an excuse anymore.

Maybe hitting the final 4 would be progress but of course do want to go all the way. I do do strongly feel the defense needs a serious upgrade if they want to go deep though.

 

[Suntouchable13]

Maybe hitting the final 4 would be progress but of course do want to go all the way. I do do strongly feel the defense needs a serious upgrade if they want to go deep though.

I just feel like the final 4 should have been acceptable maybe 2 years ago. I think at the ages these guys are, they need to make some hay now. I realize that it is difficult. But I think the goal for this organization right now should be a cup. The D will have to get improved, but I am sure that will happen by the trade deadline.

 

[WTFMAN99]

I just feel like the final 4 should have been acceptable maybe 2 years ago. I think at the ages these guys are, they need to make some hay now. I realize that it is difficult. But I think the goal for this organization right now should be a cup. The D will have to get improved, but I am sure that will happen by the trade deadline.

Right now with this defense, I feel like we're 1st round fodder.

Depending on what he does to the defense, then I may feel better.

I will say this for Treliving, if a big defenseman becomes available, he tries to land them.

Hamonic, Weegar, Hanifin and Hamiltin are a few examples and I am sure that he probably looks at our roster and doesn't like the defense as it is assembled currently.

 

[Jojalu]

Dubas brought in Reilly, Acciari, Lafferty, McCabe & Schenn last year for character, grit, experience, depth, toughness, etc. and this group barely got by TB and got smoked by Florida.

Yet somehow, the different look of 2 rookies with some compete (but little experience), an injured (and rebounding, hopefully) Klingsberg, Domi & Bertuzzi we've got the secret recipe figured out? Come on, don't fall for it again.

Florida went on a wild run where they lost 1 game out of 12.

While the Leafs certainly didn't look their best, 3 losses were 1 goal games, 2 were in OT.

Bos and Car couldn't figure out how to stop them.

The reason most feel excited is because Bertuzzi and Domi have had playoff success and add secondary scoring. Hopefully Knies does as well.

The fact that the Leafs never seem able to score the big goal does seem like it might be rectified this year

 

[kevsh]

If I can make a few predictions, and in the interest of not trying to ruin the optimism for those that are, I'll try to put a positive spin on the bad ones:

1) Another sluggish/slow start leads to more calls for Keefe's job. By the end of November he's fired. Upside: The new coach shuffles his lines less and the Leafs respond by winning the division.

2) Klingberg is Tyson Barrie 2.0. The upside: Liljegren moves up in the lineup and the top 2 pairings help immensely with point #1.

3) Nylander does not re-sign before the end of the season. The upside: Motivated by a monster UFA contract he has another big offensive season.

4) Domi & Bertuzzi aren't overly impressive during the regular season and don't help this team get to the promised land. Upside: They're both on one year deals.

5) Playoffs? Just to be nice I'll say they get to the Conference final before losing to one of Carolina/NJ/Rangers. The upside: Winning the division they pull the (WC) Pens in the first round. And although Crosby & friends don't make it easy for Toronto to advance, the Leafs win and celebrate with memes of Dubas' box suite meltdown.

The fact that the Leafs never seem able to score the big goal does seem like it might be rectified this year

Fair, but based on what though?

I'm long past the point of wishful thinking, that one day the stars on this team will figure out that they need to change their approach. They haven't done so yet, not after Columbus, not after Montreal, and I doubt after Florida. For whatever reason.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Florida went on a wild run where they lost 1 game out of 12.

While the Leafs certainly didn't look their best, 3 losses were 1 goal games, 2 were in OT.

Bos and Car couldn't figure out how to stop them.

The reason most feel excited is because Bertuzzi and Domi have had playoff success and add secondary scoring. Hopefully Knies does as well.

The fact that the Leafs never seem able to score the big goal does seem like it might be rectified this year

LMAO, yeah you can say that again.

 

[Ianturnedbull]

Excited to see how the defense works out.

I am also excited to see rookies Woll, Minton, and Knies have significant roles with the big club.

TOR should sleep walk to the playoffs again. April will be another discussion...

 

[rumman]

Excited to see how the defense works out.

I am also excited to see rookies Woll, Minton, and Knies have significant roles with the big club.

TOR should sleep walk to the playoffs again. April will be another discussion...

If there was a bright side of this pre season it was how the kids competed, there’s hope there……..

 

[notDatsyuk]

I'm really excited about the next two weeks, but that may be because I'll be in Ireland.

I'm always excited about the start of a new season. I may not be as confident as some about how well we'll do, but I'm predominantly an optimist. I expect us to do really well in the regular season, and maybe even win the Atlantic. Not as optimistic about the playoffs, but I'll be watching, with high hopes and plenty of beer and whisky.

 

[Jojalu]

If I can make a few predictions, and in the interest of not trying to ruin the optimism for those that are, I'll try to put a positive spin on the bad ones:

1) Another sluggish/slow start leads to more calls for Keefe's job. By the end of November he's fired. Upside: The new coach shuffles his lines less and the Leafs respond by winning the division.

2) Klingberg is Tyson Barrie 2.0. The upside: Liljegren moves up in the lineup and the top 2 pairings help immensely with point #1.

3) Nylander does not re-sign before the end of the season. The upside: Motivated by a monster UFA contract he has another big offensive season.

4) Domi & Bertuzzi aren't overly impressive during the regular season and don't help this team get to the promised land. Upside: They're both on one year deals.

5) Playoffs? Just to be nice I'll say they get to the Conference final before losing to one of Carolina/NJ/Rangers. The upside: Winning the division they pull the (WC) Pens in the first round. And although Crosby & friends don't make it easy for Toronto to advance, the Leafs win and celebrate with memes of Dubas' box suite meltdown.



Fair, but based on what though?

I'm long past the point of wishful thinking, that one day the stars on this team will figure out that they need to change their approach. They haven't done so yet, not after Columbus, not after Montreal, and I doubt after Florida. For whatever reason.

I understand fully why you feel that way. Clinging to hope, especially before the season starts is why I love sports.

Next year the Jays will hit with runners on!

The Bills will overcome their injuries and get by KC in the playoffs.

The Sooners will learn how to win a Bowl Game.

The Leafs will pot the OT goal that has somehow eluded them.

All 4 statements might be born in naive optimism, but I would not want it any other way.

 

[ACC1224]

I'm happy not to be in that small group looking to be miserable all year until they prove themselves in the playoffs.

Gave my daughters the tickets for tomorrow night, we're all fired up for the season to begin.

 

[Dayjobdave]

We are rolling into the regular season with a full squad that (just) squeezes under the cap. We should have a 50 goal scorer, probably 1 or more 100 pt players and a legit shot at the division. Yes, I'm excited.

We have 3 rookies on the team, two we expected and a bonus rookie. Yes, I'm excited.