Obviously neither teams are guaranteed to make the playoffs right now, but both seem very likely. Still, which team would you rather matchup with in the playoffs?
Who would you rather face in the playoffs, Toronto or Ottawa?
- Thread starter Bjornar Moxnes
- Start date
GlitchMarner
There was a Glitch and my username was switched
I think Tampa (and maybe New Jersey) would prefer Ottawa, but every other EC playoff team would rather face Toronto.
Toronto has so much pressure in the playoffs, that they can't handle it and crumble.
Ottawa's pressure is simply to make the playoffs. From there, it's house money - which I think makes them more dangerous.
Ottawa's pressure is simply to make the playoffs. From there, it's house money - which I think makes them more dangerous.
GlitchMarner
There was a Glitch and my username was switched
That's a good point.
Also...
TOR's record versus Eastern Conference teams currently in a playoff spot:
FLA: 0-2
WSH: 1-2
CAR: 1-1
OTT: 0-3
NYR: 1-1
TB: 3-0
NJ: 3-0
And they're 0-2 vs CLB but have done well against teams like MTL, BOS, DET.
I'll take the perceived failure over the proven failure.
The Leafs routinely get dominated in the playoffs by nearly every opponent. Columbus embarrassed them. Montreal pimped-slapped them. Washington, Boston, Tampa, Florida...Leaf failure after Leaf failure.
Ottawa is an unknown. Perhaps they have greatness within them. The Leafs lack greatness. There’s a reason the Leafs haven't made a 'Cup Finals in 5.5 plus decades...and that reason is the the Leafs are soft, weak, fragile and heartless. 0% contender, 100% pretender.
The Leafs routinely get dominated in the playoffs by nearly every opponent. Columbus embarrassed them. Montreal pimped-slapped them. Washington, Boston, Tampa, Florida...Leaf failure after Leaf failure.
Ottawa is an unknown. Perhaps they have greatness within them. The Leafs lack greatness. There’s a reason the Leafs haven't made a 'Cup Finals in 5.5 plus decades...and that reason is the the Leafs are soft, weak, fragile and heartless. 0% contender, 100% pretender.
Your second paragraph reminds me of a quote one of the commentators said after Colorado won the cup in 2001. Paraphrasing because I don’t remember the exact words off hand, but it was something like that adversity doesn’t build character, but rather, it reveals character.
I still think I’d rather face Ottawa in the playoffs than Toronto though. The Leafs have enough talent that they could potentially just finally make it click and get on a roll. I’m not sure I can say the same about Ottawa yet. They’d have to probably come into the playoffs hot and be firing on all cylinders. At that point it’s kind of a numbers game. Toronto is simply more likely to win than Ottawa is, mathematically speaking.
I should also say that I’m looking at this through the lens of “if I’m Tampa Bay” since I follow them in addition to Utah.
Can I ask you what evidence makes Toronto even remotely a top contender?
GlitchMarner
There was a Glitch and my username was switched
Stolarz isn't bad.
I think OTT can surprise. I remember the Leafs put up a surprisingly good fight against WSH in their first playoff appearance with their current core. That year the Capitals were the President's Trophy winners and it was a year before they finally won the Cup. People thought TOR would get murdered.
But by now, everyone knows what the Leafs' strengths and weaknesses are and how to beat them. The pressure seems to get to them.
OTT has young players who haven't experienced the playoffs and they can be scrappy. I can see them giving a team a scare or at least causing problems.
lol the teams are currently separated by 4 points, and over the last 7 post seasons by one first round victory.
Top contender. Sure.
Contender? Lol what? If they're a contender, than Ottawa would be one as well? What's the statistical criteria for being a contender?
This reminds me of the fable of the Scorpion and the Frog.
If you never heard of it, the condensed version goes something like:
A frog hops up to the riverbank to swim across the river and meets a scorpion. The scorpion asks if it can sit on the frog's back and be given a ride to the far bank of the river. The frog says "You're a scorpion and cannot be trusted. You will sting me." The scorpion says "If I sting you we'll both drown in the river." The frog sees the logic in that and allows the scorpion to climb on his back. Halfway across the river the scorpion stings the frog. The frog cries out " Why did you sting me...now we're both going to drown." The scorpion replied "You knew my true nature. Stinging is my character."
You see the talent. However, the true nature and character of the Leafs is failure, regardless of talent.
Toronto is the better team so far this year and has been the better team for what, 7 or 8 years?
The question is asking about the playoffs though. Not who's more likely to get more regular season points over the years 2018-2025. It's asking who will be the tougher out in the very specific 2025 playoffs.
You've got a proven failure against an unknown. A proven failure that is trending down vs an unknown that is trending up.
That alone is enough to have people put their money on Ottawa even if they think the Leafs have a bit more talent or experience at the top of their roster.
I get why some people are choosing Toronto over Ottawa.
Personally, I think playoff experience takes time to accumulate and Ottawa's core has basically zero.
If Ottawa makes it into the post-season, it should be a bit of a wake-up call as far as the speed and intensity of the game is concerned.
Sanderson and Tkachuk looked fantastic in the 4 nations tournament, especially in the final, which had game 7 SCF level of intensity.
Though I agree, there's also the pressure of expectations. There's the expression used a lot for teams in Ottawa's position because of the lack of pressure, called "playing with house money", and they mention those teams are often dangerous.
For example, the 97(3W) and 98(5W) sens had more playoff success than the 99(0W), 00(2W), or 01(0W) sens despite being much less talented AND less experienced.
Imagine, 2 wins over 3 years for the much more talented team and 8 wins over 2 years with the much less talented roster with no pressure.
Ita a huge reason why the Leafs don't win in the playoffs. They don't handle pressure well.
How has one of their big 4 not just dominated a random series to get a win over 8 years...that's like 32 chances for one of them to steal the show. (I guess they've got their 1 series win)
We've seen Alfredsson do it. We've seen pageau do it. We've seen lalime do it. We've seen havlat do it. We've seen Anderson do it. We've seen Karlsson do it.
The pressure in Toronto would be more than Ottawa could ever imagine.
Obviously you have to go back to 1967 for a cup, but the last time they had any type of playoff success, it was done with guys who were veterans and had been there and done it before. They could handle the pressure a bit better.
Gilmour had won a cup before when he was leading them to the conference finals in 93.
When they went to the conference finals in 02 they hald mogilny who had won the cup before. Gary Roberts had won the cup before.
They would go after elite goalies like Joseph or Balfour that could steal the show.
They don't have those grizzled vets like they used to that I think could better handle a market like the Toronto market pressure.
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