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Why did so many of you WANT this match up

Did you want the Leafs? Do you see how unwise you were?

  • I wanted the Leafs and I do not regret

    Votes: 25 52.1%

  • I wanted the Leafs and I regret

    Votes: 7 14.6%

  • I didn't want the Leafs because I'm not stupid

    Votes: 16 33.3%
  • Total voters
    48
Karterthadon said:
Aye, but Ottawa and Montreal limped into the playoffs and Columbus finished on a heater. If the poor play of OTT/MTL carried over into the playoffs, I presume the heater of Columbus would of as well but it's all what if's at this point.
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After how the Hamburglar run ended in the playoffs in 2015 I never have that expectation of carry-over play from season to season or more narrowly, regular season to post-season.
 
We took the Leafs to overtime twice.

A couple of lucky bounces our way and we would be up 2-1.

The Leafs were less scary than Tampa and Florida and Montreal was never going to pass us anyway.
 
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NyQuil said:
Doing the bare minimum to win is a pretty good strategy if you want to play four rounds.

We'll see if they play any differently against better competition.
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They'll have to. We don't have quick strike ability and can't beat goalies from distance, so the Leafs can mostly sit back, defend, and wait for their much better finishers to get an opportunity. They need 3 or 4 good chances to score a goal, we need 6 or 8.

That won't be the case against Florida.
 
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I thought we’d more than likely lose to all of Toronto/Florida/Tampa and didn’t want to deal with Leafs fans at the CTC, so I was hoping for a Florida team.

Washington was my preference of the 4, but I don’t think we’d beat them either.

And I’ll be honest, 2004 was 21 years ago… losing to the Leafs now is annoying but significantly less maddening than it was back then. There is no real hatred on the ice between the two teams and for the on-ice rivalry to actually be reignited, we need to be a better team.
 
Do Make Say Think said:
For real?

Did you honestly expect us to win? I still can't believe so many of you wanted the Leafs when it was clear it was the perfect match up for them: a young team that is ok but not great, not very big at all, and a goalie with a bad track record in the playoffs (and I think he's been fine, we are losing because we can't score)

So: do you regret hoping for the Leafs?

EDIT: to clarify, it isn't that I think we beat Washington. Its that losing to the Leafs is awful. This is 2001 all over again.
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The other three matchups were equally bad tbh.

Tbay was very good to finish the year, 21-7-5, and added some really nice peices at the deadline.
Florida has had our number for a while now, add pieces Marchand and Jones at the deadline, and got back Ekblad and Tkachuk on time for the playoffs
Washington is the third best team in the league and has been a wagon all year.

There really wasn't an easier matchup, and while we're down 3-0 two games have gone to OT, so it could just as easily be us up 2-1.

I don't care who we lose to, losing is the same either way, and frankly I never expected us to make it out of the first round anyways. It sucks that we're down 3-0 though, unfortunately, it's a game of inches,
 
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I picked us to lose in 5 because I thought I could reverse jinx us.

I wanted TML for the high reward of finally being able to win a playoff series against them. Also, if the Leafs lost to us, they may have blown up their big 4.
 
If this was TB or FLA, nobody would be losing it right now. The media wouldn't care about us in the playoffs. The guys could play a series and get better. Now all hell has broke loose because it's TO. Fck TO and the simp media. We should just keep trucking. Changes will be made, the team will evolve. If anything it makes next year more interesting.
 
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Loach said:
If this was TB or FLA, nobody would be losing it right now. The media wouldn't care about us in the playoffs. The guys could play a series and get better. Now all hell has broke loose because it's TO. Fck TO and the simp media. We should just keep trucking. Changes will be made, the team will evolve. If anything it makes next year more interesting.
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Exactly. So much of the despondence is simply because it's the Leafs, and so many Sens fans' (mine included) formative years were in the late 90's early 00's. It sucks seeing TSN and Sportsnet slobbering over the Leafs and showing Steve Thomas highlights.

If we had taken Florida to two straight OTs, there'd still be criticism of Ullmark and some mental errors, but the general vibe would be much more positive.

Once this series is over I'll tune out for a couple weeks, but when I pay attention again, hopefully Toronto will have been wrecked by Florida again, the conversation is about Marner leaving for nothing, and we can look ahead to some shrewd moves in the summer.
 
flyingfingers said:
Exactly. So much of the despondence is simply because it's the Leafs, and so many Sens fans' (mine included) formative years were in the late 90's early 00's. It sucks seeing TSN and Sportsnet slobbering over the Leafs and showing Steve Thomas highlights.

If we had taken Florida to two straight OTs, there'd still be criticism of Ullmark and some mental errors, but the general vibe would be much more positive.

Once this series is over I'll tune out for a couple weeks, but when I pay attention again, hopefully Toronto will have been wrecked by Florida again, the conversation is about Marner leaving for nothing, and we can look ahead to some shrewd moves in the summer.
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The talk would be different for sure, from the Leafsnet. "Good effort by the Sens in the first playoffs in years. They will learn and get better. FLA is a seasoned juggernaut and any team would have a hard time with them."
 
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I wanted the Leafs and honestly thought it could go either way. Three things happened:

1) The refs gift wrapped game 1 to the Leafs
2) Ullmark hasn't been good... I don't care what his defenders say, he hasn't been good
3) We haven't been able to score enough goals on Stolarz

Last night was our big chance; the Sens had the lead and should've capitalized on it. But no, they let the Leafs back in and eventually lost. They lack killer instinct which probably comes with experience.
 
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Do Make Say Think said:
For real?

Did you honestly expect us to win? I still can't believe so many of you wanted the Leafs when it was clear it was the perfect match up for them: a young team that is ok but not great, not very big at all, and a goalie with a bad track record in the playoffs (and I think he's been fine, we are losing because we can't score)

So: do you regret hoping for the Leafs?

EDIT: to clarify, it isn't that I think we beat Washington. Its that losing to the Leafs is awful. This is 2001 all over again.
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Probably the 3 wins against the Leafs in the three games we played against them this (regular) season created some confidence. Didn’t read through this entire thread, so maybe someone else said this already. Leafs haven’t been particularly good in the playoffs either.

But, it's the playoffs, and the Leafs aren’t the same team now. They’ve improved their defense & goaltending.
 
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This is painful to say, but there was no real favourable match up for us these playoffs, the Sens are too banged up and too streaky and inconsistent of a team to have been a serious threat to anyone.

Maybe if we had somehow matched up with a Hughes-less Jersey, that's the only match up I could maybe see the odds favouring us.

The Leafs were always a trap match up, they were firing on all cylinders and had a 9-1 record in the last ten games of the regular season. The Sens meanwhile were playing slightly above .500 hockey with a 6-4 record(9-6 if you stretch it out to 15 games) and, it was extremely obvious to see in person, our guys pretty much emptied the tank in the regular season to make the playoffs.

A lot of guys last night were outright avoiding physical play, which is a sign of injuries and fatigue.

Despite everything I just wrote, this banged up broken team has taken the Leafs to OT two games in a row. That is an indictment of either our team, the Leafs, or both.
 
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HoweHullOrr said:
Probably the 3 wins against the Leafs in the three games we played against them this (regular) season created some confidence. Didn’t read through this entire thread, so maybe someone else said this already. Leafs haven’t been particularly good in the playoffs either.

But, it's the playoffs, and the Leafs aren’t the same team now. They’ve improved their defense & goaltending.
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The thing is that this happened in 2001

We swept them in the regular season and they swept us in the playoffs

Regular season series is 100% meaningless for the playoffs
 
Do Make Say Think said:
The thing is that this happened in 2001

We swept them in the regular season and they swept us in the playoffs

Regular season series is 100% meaningless for the playoffs
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That’s what the 2nd paragraph (copied below) of my post said. But, you asked a question, and I answered it.

"But, it's the playoffs, and the Leafs aren’t the same team now. They’ve improved their defense & goaltending."
 
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The series has been lopsided because they won both games that went to OT, and game 1 was a complete gift from Ullmark and the refs, not because the Leafs have dominated us.

As unimpressive as the Sens have been, the Leafs haven't been much more impressive. Certainly don't look the part of a legitimate cup contender.

Had we come up with these performances against Florida or Tampa we would have lost in much more convincing fashion, and I suspect if the Leafs were matched up against either team and played like they have they'd be in a similar situation.
 
Do Make Say Think said:
For real?

Did you honestly expect us to win? I still can't believe so many of you wanted the Leafs when it was clear it was the perfect match up for them: a young team that is ok but not great, not very big at all, and a goalie with a bad track record in the playoffs (and I think he's been fine, we are losing because we can't score)

So: do you regret hoping for the Leafs?

EDIT: to clarify, it isn't that I think we beat Washington. Its that losing to the Leafs is awful. This is 2001 all over again.
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Uhh we were going to be the underdogs against anybody we played. Whether its the big bad Leafs, Capitals, panthers or Lightning. Why not the Leafs who are a bitter historical rival? Are we always going to duck them because we’ve lost 3 series against them?

Obviously with hindsight its easy to say we may have fared better against another team, good chance thats wouldnt have been the case
 
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Better question - who had us getting out of the first round this year?

This team still needs experience and work. Wouldn't have mattered much who we played.
 
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