We, the fans, are part of the problem

[A1LeafNation]

Sorry to say it folks, but what's happening now with the Marner bashing is part of the reason this franchise will not succeed.

Why do we do this? We will end up driving this kid out of town. Even if Dubas doesn't want to deal him, who's going to want to play here under these circumstances? That's exactly the recipe for a bad trade.

Perhaps we need to find a happy medium between Plan the Parade (a week ago?) and what's happening now.

Perhaps the fragility of this team is reflective of the fragility of this fanbase. Let's practise some patience and break this cycle?

Because you know Mitch Marner comes out of this a changed man. We've all had to learn some hard lessons in life before we changed something that needed to be changed.

What just happened might be the worst thing that happens to this franchise in quite some time, but it could be the best thing, if some patience is exercised.

..and?

This team lives rent free off of metrics and excuses? They need to shut up and win.

 

[AvroArrow]

I have never wanted to see player run out of town, not ever until now.

Here's Marner spotted leaving for the cottage thinking about the us Leafs fans and drown his sorrows this offseason.

lmfao is that real ? This clown should be in the gym or on the ice.

 

[bodechek]

Fans are not the problem, players are. They get paid a high amount of money more than we will ever see in our lifetime and they don't show any heart to play the game? Young people with big egos who don't know what it is really like to actually work

 

[kevsh]

Because you know Mitch Marner comes out of this a changed man

Do we really know that? Does everyone that goes through a difficult time come out better? I'm not saying Mitch can't but first he has to recognize where he failed and what he has to do to change it - then, the hard part, actually making that change.

Time will tell.

 

[hamzarocks]

The players, management, and coaching staff are the problem

The media and fans do unfortunately hype up the above groups way tk much resulting in them being cool pulling the shit they have the past 3 years

We made

Marner think he's the next Kane loool

Matthews be treated as a better talent than Oveckin/Malkin loool

Painted Dubas as a better GM then Lou simply b/c he was young and was into advance stats loool

Painted Keefe as a coach of the year type coach loool

 

[CapspaceKiller]

Loser attitude right here. Blame the fans who pay their salaries on them blowing it over and over, and underachieving again and again

Also, this type of stuff never came up during the Sundin years. That team invited the criticism from the media and the fans and all they did was try to prove people wrong.

 

[BlueForever75]

I think it is unfair to put blame on the fans. I also think that it is unfair to put blame on a player like Matthews when he has proven year after year to be an elite talent. Understand that Matthews scores, and if his line mate (Marner) isnt giving 100% he cannot do it himself.

Matthews will become the next generational goal scorer in this league if he hasnt already. But when you have a line mate that telegraphs his next move or pass it makes him non-existent. To me thats on Marner and coaching staff. This is why our PP went horribly. You cannot run a PP through Marner if he cannot adopt to change.

That was our downfall.

 

[Gallagbi]

Has there ever been a time to blame the fans less than a time where they couldn't attend a single game in 2 straight upset losses?

 

[Statsman1]

Maybe the line is somewhere between...

Marner hasn’t produced in the playoffs in the last 4 years, and the lion’s share of the Leafs’ ineptitude is on him.

...and...

Marner deserves to be set on fire and extinguished by throwing him over Niagara Falls.

Tempers run high with passionate Leafs fans, and that leads to many colorful expressions of opinion and somewhat disturbing imagery, but to say that nobody wants to play here because fans sound off after yet on there epic collapse seems to be a stretch.

 

[yubbers]

Yeah...don't blame Marner or Dubas. Blame the assholes that pay for Sportsnet, buy merchandise, and follow this team religiously. Wow.

University is really doing a number on kids these days.

 

[Strangle]

Sorry to say it folks, but what's happening now with the Marner bashing is part of the reason this franchise will not succeed.

Why do we do this? We will end up driving this kid out of town. Even if Dubas doesn't want to deal him, who's going to want to play here under these circumstances? That's exactly the recipe for a bad trade.

Perhaps we need to find a happy medium between Plan the Parade (a week ago?) and what's happening now.

Perhaps the fragility of this team is reflective of the fragility of this fanbase. Let's practise some patience and break this cycle?

Because you know Mitch Marner comes out of this a changed man. We've all had to learn some hard lessons in life before we changed something that needed to be changed.

What just happened might be the worst thing that happens to this franchise in quite some time, but it could be the best thing, if some patience is exercised.

Bullshit. You want to be treated like a hero in this city? f***ing win, you losers

 

[34]

Wrong, The fans are victims here. We have stood by, and supported this BS for too many years. That little prick is making $10.6 million a season. I really do hope he gets run out of Toronto.

I would like to see a deal with Marner + for Eichel.

 

[All Mod Cons]

I agree 100%. I think the players should be applauded for winning 3 playoff games this year. Hopefully we all open our wallets up, despite most people being fairly broke, and plough some money into this team once and for all.

 

[All Mod Cons]

The players, management, and coaching staff are the problem

The media and fans do unfortunately hype up the above groups way tk much resulting in them being cool pulling the shit they have the past 3 years

We made

Marner think he's the next Kane loool

Matthews be treated as a better talent than Oveckin/Malkin loool

Painted Dubas as a better GM then Lou simply b/c he was young and was into advance stats loool

Painted Keefe as a coach of the year type coach loool

Anyone who didn't was a troll and not a real fan.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Yep, it's us. The fans who consistently show out and show up for this team even though they've done nothing to deserve it.

 

[Throw More Waffles]

Sorry to say it folks, but what's happening now with the Marner bashing is part of the reason this franchise will not succeed.

Why do we do this? We will end up driving this kid out of town. Even if Dubas doesn't want to deal him, who's going to want to play here under these circumstances? That's exactly the recipe for a bad trade.

Perhaps we need to find a happy medium between Plan the Parade (a week ago?) and what's happening now.

Perhaps the fragility of this team is reflective of the fragility of this fanbase. Let's practise some patience and break this cycle?

Because you know Mitch Marner comes out of this a changed man. We've all had to learn some hard lessons in life before we changed something that needed to be changed.

What just happened might be the worst thing that happens to this franchise in quite some time, but it could be the best thing, if some patience is exercised.

I absolutely hate this thread. HATE it.

People would be a lot more patient with Marner if he didn't take our gm hostage and demand a significant and unprecedented overpayment. He did this to himself.

If you act like that, you HAVE to walk the walk or you deserve the fallout that occurs.

If Tavares for example (who took a discount to come here) had a shit series and everyone treated him like they are currently treating Marner, than you'd have a point. But this isn't a vet that took a discount to come here. This is a spoiled brat who essentially took his gm hostage to milk every single solitary penny. He deserves all of this.

 

[gamer1035]

Hold up, the fans are responsible for the leafs being trash? Are we also responsible for giving away picks for scrubs or grossly overpaying our rfas?

All we do is give them our money. We literally have close to 0 influence on the team

 

[2 Slick]

It's not the fault of the fans for Mitch Marner being abysmal in the post-season virtually every season for the last half decade. We should support our players when they are young and learning how to win. The fans gave Marner, Matthews lots of time to develop. I've never heard people scream for Marner to get out of town until recently.

Can you blame them? Here's Toronto facing a borderline NHL team that crawled into the playoffs with a 24-21-11 record. They should've feasted on them in four, maybe five games tops. It went as scripted the first four games. Game five on home ice... what did they do? They decided to not start on time. They didn't show up until the third period. The exact same thing happened in game six. They didn't start on time in game 7 either.

It's not just Marner that was awful, lets face it, the entire first line was a shit show.

Jason Spezza scored more goals than Matthews, Marner and Hyman COMBINED. This isn't the fans fault. They've been very patient with this core group.

The shit that Nylander received, I was never a fan of. I think he received a lot more hate than he deserved. I always advocated patience for him and how he was a bargain basement deal. Now, his contract looks to be genius. He was one of the few players that played with heart, passion, determination... on a line with the offensive blackholes of Galchenyuk and Kerfoot, he still managed to do more than every other player in the line-up.

Marner needs to go. They need to free up cap space to change the culture of this group. Marner is not going to ever be a big time play-off performer. He cares more about individual stats and highlight reel plays than he does his own team. He's selfish and he doesn't show passion.

It's time to move on from him and that is NOT the fault of the fans. Dumbest f***ing thread I've seen all year.

 

[Cams]

I have no problem (and the players don't either) with calling out the players as fans. We are the reason they play, and yes Toronto (esp the Leafs) is probably the highest pressure city in terms of media and the fans, mostly because they haven't even been to the finals since 1967. That kind of pressure goes with the territory and a lot of players don't want to deal with it, especially if it's a losing team/franchise. This team now.... you could probably convince any player to come now that they are a pretty sure bet to be a 100 pt team and most consider them a contending team.

The problem though is the clowns (internet tough guys, keyboard heroes, whatever you want to call it) that take it upon themselves to inflict personal attacks on the players. That is uncalled for. Apparently there was quite a bit of it, likely online of course, before game 7 - was it their social media accounts...I don't know, but it was discussed in the media. Another poster mentioned Reimer - his wife had people telling her that her husband was a loser and there was even threats of harm. How is this acceptable?! The internet culture makes it so easy to issue a threat, say something to someone that the coward(s) making the statements/threats would never do in person - in fact they are probably the one in line for an autograph.

 

[LaPlante94]

When they were on their ELC we got knocked out of the playoffs by legit teams who were cup contenders/favourites. The last 2 season we got knocked out by 2 teams who everyone says weren't even playoff teams when they are paid as top 5 players in the league. So either Keefe and Dubas have f***ed this team up bad or our star players are just regressing when it comes to playoffs. You can make an arguement for Keefe after that series but I think Dubas has done a pretty good job putting teams together so these star players can be happy as hell with their contracts. if I'm Nylander i'm pissed off that these guys make 4 million more than me.

 

[Daisy Jane]

but the narrative of players not wanting to play in TO because of how brutal the media/fans can be is definitely thing.

Which is a cop out.
i will always say it and always will. its 'hard" to play here because of the fans? have these people not seen a New York, Boston, British paper when those teams don't even come close to expectation? God, here, people throw a big hit and people are like "HEY! let's give him beers for life!"

 

[Tak7]

They haven't won a playoff series in HALF my lifetime, but we are the problem? Lol.

The same fanbase that has blue & white disease - that takes fringe NHLers and lifts them to god tier status, and falls in love with players even if they aren't elite?

This fanbase isn't the problem.

This team doesn't deserve this fanbase.

 

[janesy12]

Sorry I didn't score last night.

It's okay. You finish tied with our near $11 million winger.

 

[Boxscore]

Sorry to say it folks, but what's happening now with the Marner bashing is part of the reason this franchise will not succeed.

Why do we do this? We will end up driving this kid out of town. Even if Dubas doesn't want to deal him, who's going to want to play here under these circumstances? That's exactly the recipe for a bad trade.

Perhaps we need to find a happy medium between Plan the Parade (a week ago?) and what's happening now.

Perhaps the fragility of this team is reflective of the fragility of this fanbase. Let's practise some patience and break this cycle?

Because you know Mitch Marner comes out of this a changed man. We've all had to learn some hard lessons in life before we changed something that needed to be changed.

What just happened might be the worst thing that happens to this franchise in quite some time, but it could be the best thing, if some patience is exercised.

This is crazy talk. Leafs fans are wonderful. If anything drives Marner out of town it will be his continuous disappearing acts in the playoffs. Or his inability to handle the pressure of playing in a rabid hockey market like Toronto.

Coddling these players like babies is the reason they think it's okay to make $11 million and mail it in when it matters.

These kids received everything they asked for -- money, opportunity, praise, etc. Now it's up to them to find a way to raise their play when the going gets tough. Enough with the kid gloves, it's time to show these kids some tough love. If they can't handle it -- see ya.

If you want to apologize to Mitch Marner, go ahead. He hasn't scored a playoff goal since April of 2019. He should be apologizing to us, his teammates, and his employer.

 

[Superstar]

Sorry I didn't score last night.

We have the same amount of goals as Marner does in 18 playoff games, we are indeed part of the problem...