We, the fans, are part of the problem

[stickty111]

I love how every thread of stop complaining starts with a stop criticizing Marner. How many excuses does he get? Why so much love affair with the kid? Because he is from Toronto and works hard?

 

[kliq]

this happens in every market. It's not just a toronto thing though. It's probably worse is places like Boston and Philadelphia where the media is 100% more critical and vocal when they lose.

Depends on the sport, in baseball for example its not really a narrative in TO. With hockey, it 100% is.

 

[kliq]

If the team performed the players would be heralded as saviours and statues will be built. If they live up to their contracts, they are being praised beyond what any fanbase would ever give. All this fanbase wants is for a team to actually win someone, anything, once. Given the absolute lack of any passion or push back, the criticism is deserved. In the last 3 games the team played like they cared for about 23 minutes.

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!"

My answer to both of you is the same, don't shoot the messenger. I'm not saying I wouldn't play in Toronto, I'm saying this is a thing that I have heard come out of players mouths, it doesnt matter what I think or what you two think, our opinions don't change reality. Sorry.

 

[Daisy Jane]

My answer to both of you is the same, don't shoot the messenger. I'm not saying I wouldn't play in Toronto, I'm saying this is a thing that I have heard come out of players mouths, it doesnt matter what I think or what you two think, our opinions don't change reality. Sorry.

no i've heard. it. i'm just stating facts. Players who say that are players who i want no part of anyway.

 

[francis246]

Depends on the sport, in baseball for example its not really a narrative in TO. With hockey, it 100% is.

no it really isn’t because the media barely even attacks these guys. Watching Hockey Night in Canada they barely scrutinized the players. TSN Radio which I prefer to listen to, barely even went hard at the players. Just everyone making excuses for them.

Hockey players barely get any flack and they complain and even when they do get flack it’s not that bad.

Other sports have it way worse, try being an Eagles player and dropping the ball too many times or being Carson Wentz. He got ripped to shreds in Philly.

Kyrie in Boston or the Yankees right now. The problem is no one really holds these guys feet to the fire in Toronto. They get free reign to do whatever they want

 

[kliq]

no i've heard. it. i'm just stating facts. Players who say that are players who i want no part of anyway.

Fair enough

 

[kliq]

no it really isn’t because the media barely even attacks these guys. Watching Hockey Night in Canada they barely scrutinized the players. TSN Radio which I prefer to listen to, barely even went hard at the players. Just everyone making excuses for them.

Hockey players barely get any flack and they complain and even when they do get flack it’s not that bad.

Other sports have it way worse, try being an Eagles player and dropping the ball too many times or being Carson Wentz. He got ripped to shreds in Philly.

Kyrie in Boston or the Yankees right now. The problem is no one really holds these guys feet to the fire in Toronto. They get free reign to do whatever they want

Saying that other cities and other sports are worse doesn’t change anything.

To be honest I’m not even sure what you are arguing, it’s a thing lol. Here is just one example:

'I had 300 death threats in one night': April Reimer, wife of Maple Leafs goalie, recounts Twitter attack | National Post

I never said TSN were the issue, I’m talking the collection of fans and media. Either way, this is how a lot of players feel about TO. Even if it’s BS, perception becomes reality.

 

[Aus34Matt]

Agent must've received a phone call from the player's dad now tells the fans/media to lay off:

 

[Gabriel426]

Fans is not the problem. Try Euro football with Ultras and how the media is 24 hrs a day reporting all sort of stuff about the players and the teams. If there are two teams in the same City, all hell break Loose.
If the players can’t handle criticism then stop using social medias when you play like crap and only log on when you play well.
Nobody is forcing them to open their accounts and read what fans wrote esp if they played like crap. What do they expect to read? You did great. We are proud of you…..
If the players think the fans(not extreme stalker and psycho) is the problem, they should not play pro sports.

 

[Super Mega]

the pressure is real for sure, but so are the accolades.

also, the leaf fan bar is crazy-low right now...just win a f***ing playoff series

 

[Gabriel426]

Agent must've received a phone call from the player's dad now tells the fans/media to lay off:

It is the Sun. Having said that, I don’t see anything wrong with the Headline or comment about Leafs not getting their money worth from AM and Marner. They didn’t perform.

 

[Westlander]

It is the Sun. Having said that, I don’t see anything wrong with the Headline or comment about Leafs not getting their money worth from AM and Marner. They didn’t perform.

That's what I think as well. I don't like the Sun or it's politics generally, but don't really see a problem here. It's unkind but doesn't really cross any lines in my opinion.

 

[Gabriel426]

That's what I think as well. I don't like the Sun or it's politics generally, but don't really see a problem here. It's unkind but doesn't really cross any lines in my opinion.

Someone challenged Walsh on that and Walsh actually said he was referring to death threats and stuff from fans and not the article from the Sun.

 

[Aus34Matt]

It is the Sun. Having said that, I don’t see anything wrong with the Headline or comment about Leafs not getting their money worth from AM and Marner. They didn’t perform.

That's what I think as well. I don't like the Sun or it's politics generally, but don't really see a problem here. It's unkind but doesn't really cross any lines in my opinion.

If you turn to the comments, agent is addressing the fans on Twitter posting harsh tweets at Leafs players, here's an example:

 

[Gabriel426]

If you turn to the comments, agent is addressing the fans on Twitter posting harsh tweets at Leafs players, here's an example:

I read that and a few others.
Walsh is just doing this to show his clients and future clients he cares.

 

[Westlander]

If you turn to the comments, agent is addressing the fans on Twitter posting harsh tweets at Leafs players, here's an example:

That's all well and good, but he started off specifically mentioning the media above the Sun front pages.

Every sensible person knows it unacceptable to wish actual harm on the players, the crazies who do things like that are unfortunately amplified because of social media. Those people have always existed and they're hardly going to care because a player agent scolds them.

The problem is that Walsh is (I think deliberately) mixing up genuinely unacceptable toxic comments from 'fans' with general media negativity.

 

[Lenovs]

dafuq did i just read.

if he took 8m 7 years the debate would sound substantially different. you can't cash 11m cheques and then not show up when it matters, regardless why.

marner needs to go. he's not up to his contract and never will be. regular season points are nice to have, but we've all witnessed for years now what they're worth in the playoffs.

 

[17 Clark]

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.

Dreamer nothing but a dreamer keep drinking the Kool-Aid it’s hey Kyle I didn’t know you were on this board No more free passes did you write the same thing last year come on do you think everybody is Stupid or gullible to keep Fallin for lies OWN IT

 

[17 Clark]

I love how every thread of stop complaining starts with a stop criticizing Marner. How many excuses does he get? Why so much love affair with the kid? Because he is from Toronto and works hard?

I think they should delete this it’s just us fan club try to give them another free pass wow I wish I could go to work and do nothing I used to play hockey I’m almost 50 and I know I have more hart than he does little Mitch doesn’t care and needs to be held accountable this post should’ve been deleted it’s just an excuse for him and his little fan club to climb out of the rabbit hole Own It If you can’t stand the fire they get out of the kitchen

 

[Morbo]

I read that and a few others.
Walsh is just doing this to show his clients and future clients he cares.

yup, simply virtue signaling for the client base.

 

[MattMan]

My answer to both of you is the same, don't shoot the messenger. I'm not saying I wouldn't play in Toronto, I'm saying this is a thing that I have heard come out of players mouths, it doesnt matter what I think or what you two think, our opinions don't change reality. Sorry.

Sorry dude, certainly not trying to attack you. And you are correct, we do impact players wanting to come here. And the threats to Reimers wife like you mentioned... repulsive. That should never happen.
Mostly I'm trying to say: if this team showed any pride at all in the last 3 games of this series, the fanbase wouldn't be as irate. They weren't physical, they weren't skating. If they gave it everything they had and just lost, the reaction wouldn't be positive, but it would not be the same as it is now. I don't think that all season we had 3 games total where the team gave as bad of a collective effort as the last 3 games of this series. This is why the fanbase is losing it on them.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

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.

You think Marner is going ?

That's a joke.

0.0001% chance.

Dubas goes down himself before he trades Marner.

 

[ErnieLeafs]

Can the fans be blamed for this team collapsing? No.

Do the fans shoulder any of the blame for the failures of the organization or players? No.

Do the fans play a role in players mental health and attitudes/wanting or not wanting to play here? Absolutely.

look, we're paying fans. We love our team. We have a right to criticize the club and the players, but there is a pretty big crowd of un-hinged morons who take it too far. Criticize the play on the ice. Criticize coaching decisions, management decisions, and all of that.

The personal attacks on players is ridiculous. The death threats, and telling guys to kill themselves is ridiculous, and don’t act like it doesn’t happen. It’s all happened in the past. That *hit is disgusting, and has no place in our fan base. There are posters on this board who take it too far. Twitter, Facebook, Insta... they’re everywhere. Just because someone makes good money, doesn’t give fans the right to de-humanize them and treat them like garbage.

 

[Ciao]

I didn't see any death threats etc in what the agent posted. No idea of what he's referring to or talking about.

If a player holds out for a top-dollar contract, then he should either deliver top-dollar play or expect some serious blowback.

I couldn't care less if the Leafs trade Mitch Marner, or not. He's not untouchable. If management thinks a deal helps the team, then do it.

The idea of leaving him unprotected in the expansion draft is asinine and absurd. Even if you don't like his contract, he still has value.

 

[OppositeLocK]

Oh no! They get $11M+ USD guaranteed every year to play a game. They had a horrible showing and now fans are calling them a "disgrace".

Poor guys, they must be hurting so bad. They're the victims! Their mental health is seriously suffering! There needs to be more awareness for them. They must be suffering so much as they're driving ultra luxury vehicles and yachts to their magnificent cottages. They can't even properly enjoy those crumbs MLSE threw them.

It's this exact attitude why this is such an easy group to hate. The entitlement and diva personas makes me sick. And they have the audacity to come off like this when the general public is legitimately suffering greatly.