Pre-Game Talk: Time to talk Playoffs

[PromisedLand]

Was looking at the schedule.

Habs have 2 games left (both against Oilers)

Flames have 4 games left all against Canucks


Interesting to see what happens. Would Oil rest McDavid since he has got the 100 points (Legendary IMO)

What if Habs were to lose both games in regulation? And Flames win out all their games against Nucks?

I am seriously gonna LMAO

 

[Subway Schenn]

1st round loss: 'Heads need to roll....'. 1 or 2 of Rielly, Nylander on their way out'
2nd round loss: 'We didn't play that bad, but McDavid or Helle stole it '. 1 of Rielly, Nylander on their way out.
3rd round loss: 'Great, at least we didn't choke in the first two rounds.... But what would have been?!'
4th round loss: Tragedy. The kind you talk about for the rest of your life.

I hope we're not having to deal with the first two options!

 

[Mess]

Yes. They are saying what Leafs do in regular season means nothing. Likely because they are jaded from all the past failure.

For example, I'm sure the fans of the TBL truly appreciated their team 2 seasons ago even though they were swept in the first round of the playoffs.

If Leafs are swept in the first round of the playoffs this year, the team will still not be appreciated for what it is, and the success they still have the potential for next season and onwards.

I can't imagine many Leaf Nation fans would be very happy after losing in 5 games to the underdog CBJ in the play-in round last year, and then getting swept in round #1 by Montreal or Winnipeg the underdogs this year.

This team will be going backwards if that was truly the outcome after losing in 7 games to Boston the prior to previous playoffs in 2018 and 2019.

When determining if a team is Cup competitive, its the playoff results not the regular season ones that determine that.

I believe the Leafs need to make a statement and show playoff success to earn appreciation for being a strong Cup competitive team, because after all the goal is to win the Cup not just pile up regular season points and then bow out when the real tournament begins.

 

[al secord]

I don't want to imagine a first round loss. It would be too much to take.

However, i do not believe the Jets make it to the 2nd round. I think it's destined for McDavid and Matthews to clash in round 2.

 

[Gary Nylund]

As an observer who appreciates the numbers that "eye tests" don't necessarily see... why don't you post the numbers he is asking for and provide the rhetoric on why @Gary Nylund opinion is bogus? Maybe you have and I missed it?

If he is wrong than why not explain why?

This just seems to be how Zeke operates. When he knows he's wrong, the discussion is over. He just claims he's right, it's supposedly obvious that he's right and that's the end of it. But you can forget about getting any explanations or support for his claims.

It's not that he's wrong about what this years numbers will show, it's that they're a meaningless deflection from the actual point illustrated clearly by last year's numbers.

He knows this, but got stuck on trying to prove a point instead of acknowledging he was wrong about what my original numbers actually said.

No answers, no explanation. Typical.

The North is a bit weak but I don’t think it made a big impact. Probably a few extra points, a couple more Matthews goals and 5-10 McDavid points. But that’s just my assumption. All I can go on is Vancouver was wrecked this year (significant negative lineup changes plus Petterson out most of the year and especially Covid) so they aren’t as good as last year. Winnipeg is worse (Jets fans have noticed a decline in Hellybuck and if we can see it in our goalies than I’ll take their word on theirs). Calgary was a hot mess. Ottawa was surprisingly not abysmally bad. Edmonton has zero depth whatsoever and the Habs are just a mediocre combination of washed up vets and non elite young players. People get pretty worked up though if you state that the North was maybe a touch not strong. Don’t need to prove it, can’t be proven (but the results from next year should help in evaluation).
This leafs team is awesome and would have been competing for first in the Atlantic had the year proceeded as normal.

Nice post. The bolded sums is up nicely - it's an assumption but it looks like a reasonable one to me.

I just get tired of it being used as a crutch to diminish anything someone accomplishes in the North. I dont think the North is some great division. I think the leafs are the only contending team in it, so at the top end, it's a bit light, but it's not like other divisions don't have their own problems. The West for example has arguably 3 teams worse than any of the North teams in LA, San Jose and Anaheim. And on top of that Arizona also isn't very good. Does the west have a better top end with both Vegas AND Colorado? Sure, but it's a total division of haves and mostly have nots

We knew what the 4 playoff teams were the moment that division was announced and the first 3 teams to clinch playoffs all came from the west, which is no coincidence

I wouldn't worry about it, the playoffs will show what's what as they always do. And TBH, I think I'm in the majority when I say that regular season accomplishments don't really excite me at this point and if we underachieve again in the playoffs, our regular season success won't mean much to me. I believe we're one of the best teams in the league, we're either in the top tier or we're just a tiny step behind and we can take any team in a 7 game series. Now it's time to show it!

@Jimmy Firecracker are there fans who aren't happy with this team's accomplishments this season? What are these fans saying?

Good question. I think pretty much everyone is happy with the way we've played this season myself. There are some who refuse to celebrate anything yet because it's only the regular season and this group has had regular season success before but never any playoff success. And since in North American pro sports, playoff success is what it's all about, I get how they feel. TBH, I feel little bit the same way myself. We've had a good season but that's only the beginning and how successful our season is or isn't is yet to be determined.

 

[PromisedLand]

I think this year it's a unique scenario in that if we stay healthy, a few solid forwards are going to have to sit on the sidelines.

I've been putting myself in Keefe's shoes trying to put together the best combinations for playoff success, and I still haven't made up my mind. It's a really tough call.

If it was me I would go

Foligno-Matthews-Marner
Galchenyuk-Tavares-Nylander
Mikheyev-Engvall/Kerfoot-Hyman (this line was BEAST)
Jumbo-Spezza-Simmonds
*Rotate Brooks for Simmonds if need be


Reasons:
If Matthews/Marner get crosschecked with refs not doing their jobs; Foligno needs to do some face/punching

- Start with Galchenyuk, if it isnt working out put Hyman there and scratch Galchenyuk (no point playing him in the bottom 6 IMO)

* Only concern I have with the 4th line is it will need offensive zone starts that means one of Matthews/Tavares line will have to take defensive zone starts

 

[zeke]

The best part of the fake "Weak division" narrative is that the Leafs didn't even take advantage of the actual weak teams in the division.

The leafs Best record was against the best team Edmonton, their worst record against the worst team Vancouver.

Again, the fake weak division narrative has no basis in anything. It is entirely made up.

 

[zeke]

I can't imagine many Leaf Nation fans would be very happy after losing

I can think of one at least.

 

[Fogelhund]

The best part of the fake "Weak division" narrative is that the Leafs didn't even take advantage of the actual weak teams in the division.

The leafs Best record was against the best team Edmonton, their worst record against the worst team Vancouver.

Again, the fake weak division narrative has no basis in anything. It is entirely made up.

It's a basic ploy, to discredit the success of the Leafs, Matthews, and even McDavid's accomplishments this year. I've seen comments from Av's fans about how difficult their division is... and how their accomplishment is so much better... umm.. ok.

 

[zeke]

It's a basic ploy, to discredit the success of the Leafs, Matthews, and even McDavid's accomplishments this year. I've seen comments from Av's fans about how difficult their division is... and how their accomplishment is so much better... umm.. ok.

And then you ask them to explain why it's a weak division and they have nothing.

 

[BoredBrandonPridham]

can't imagine many Leaf Nation fans would be very happy

Unfortunately, one who demonstrates such poor reading comprehension is not allowed more words than this.

 

[tom leafers]

any update on Foligno and Hyman?

as long as there ready to go for playoffs im happy. Theyre both better than anyone the habs have coming back.

 

[Gary Nylund]

And then you ask them to explain why it's a weak division and they have nothing.

Just for curiosity, I looked at some numbers. I'm a bit busy now and I did the math manually so feel free to point out if I made a mistake.

To me, I look at the East division vs the North and I think wow, that division looks way tougher than ours. So I had a look at the numbers and unless I messed up the math, the teams in the East averaged 82.5 points last season where as the teams in the North averaged 76.3. An average of 6 points per team, that IMHO is a pretty huge gap.

Is that a conclusive analysis? No, of course not?

Does it prove the East is stronger than the North? No, of course not.

It's not nothing though.

It's completely obvious (to me anyway) that not all divisions are of equal strength. It's also obvious to me at a glance that the East is indeed stronger than the North. Now I don't know that there's any way to prove that this is true, just as it's impossible to prove that it's not true. But like I said, it seems obvious to me that it is true, those numbers suggest that it is true and those numbers while not conclusive, sure as hell aren't nothing.

 

[Gary Nylund]

any update on Foligno and Hyman?

as long as there ready to go for playoffs im happy. Theyre both better than anyone the habs have coming back.

I assume they'll be back in time. I think we should take a moment and appreciate how lucky we are that as a whole, our team is very healthy. The only big concern is Matthews' wrist, lately he's looked good so let's hope it stays that way. Andersen too maybe but the way things are shaking out, him getting injured and being unable to play for some time might be the best thing that has happened to the team this season (sorry Freddie).

This is a strong team that's healthy and deep. It's a good thing too because winning the cup is close to a two month grind and we're going to need contributions from everyone.

 

[Menzinger]

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

 

[BertCorbeau]

The perception of the North is probably based on that they don't have a lot of elite (the Leafs being the most obvious exception) and more middling teams .. Only really the Sens were expected to be bottom feeders. I mean if you place the Leafs in these other divisions, where do they fall?

The West has two really high end teams for sure (Vegas/Colorado) but with the three California teams and Arizona? That's weaker than the North.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Great news on the injury front. Get healthy at the right time.

 

[al secord]

Like i would take fashion advice from Chris Johnston .

 

[Gary Nylund]

The West has two really high end teams for sure (Vegas/Colorado) but with the three California teams and Arizona? That's weaker than the North.

Seems accurate to me. It doesn't really matter anyway, the important thing is that we're close to 100% healthy as a team, Campbell is looking like the real deal and except for our joke of a PP, were looking good and we don't have to play a top 6 team in the 1st round. There's plenty of reason to be very excited right about now, I just hope Campbell can keep it up, we can avoid fluke injuries and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that our PP wakes up. If all that happens, watch out!

 

[Papi 4 Hart]

Wonder if we back date Foligno to the LTIR so we can get some more flexibility for last few games.

 

[tom leafers]

Seems accurate to me. It doesn't really matter anyway, the important thing is that we're close to 100% healthy as a team, Campbell is looking like the real deal and except for our joke of a PP, were looking good and we don't have to play a top 6 team in the 1st round. There's plenty of reason to be very excited right about now, I just hope Campbell can keep it up, we can avoid fluke injuries and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that our PP wakes up. If all that happens, watch out!

going into the playoffs at full health will be a huge edge. Don't want to jinx anything though!

at least we wreck the entire division in terms of 5 on 5 scoring so that should more than make up for our garbage PP. Specially considering power plays might be sparse in the playoffs.

 

[Gary Nylund]

going into the playoffs at full health will be a huge edge. Don't want to jinx anything though!

at least we wreck the entire division in terms of 5 on 5 scoring so that should more than make up for our garbage PP. Specially considering power plays might be sparse in the playoffs.

I think this is probably true for the first two rounds. If we're going to go all the way though, I'm pretty sure we'll need our PP to score some goals at some point.

 

[BertCorbeau]

I think this is probably true for the first two rounds. If we're going to go all the way though, I'm pretty sure we'll need our PP to score some goals at some point.

Yep .. The PP needs to do something.

That being said winning the special teams battle overall can help. So if the penalty kill can be really strong, that can help negative a poor PP. And timely PP goals are just as good as a more consistent PP.

Unfortunately I don't have much confidence in it though. The coaching has been beyond bad in this area. No excuse for this team to have this poor of a PP.

 

[tom leafers]

I think this is probably true for the first two rounds. If we're going to go all the way though, I'm pretty sure we'll need our PP to score some goals at some point.

for sure. at the very least, we will need our PK to be water tight.

i dont understand how a team with such scoring talent like ours is so bad on the PP lol. Stop over coaching and over thinking and just let the boys go out there and make some magic