Biggest Chokers Showdown: Toronto Maple Leafs VS San Jose Sharks

[WreckedUm]

The year is 2038

40 year old AM34 is traded to San Jose for one last chance run at a cup.

 

[Sky04]

Wasn’t Jumbo around 36 when the Sharks finally made the final? Lot of runway left for these Leafs (or at least Matthews) before you can declare this race run

So? It's not like he started thre was he was 18.

 

[GeoRox89]

So? It's not like he started thre was he was 18.

Fair enough. It took until his 11th season in San Jose. If 3 years from now Matthews still hasn’t at least made the finals then the Leafs are definitely bigger chokers. Until then, too early to call

 

[Based Anime Fan]

Non leaf fan here...their story isn't finished yet.

Premature. Jmho

9 f***ing years is not 'premature'

 

[GoldenSeal]

Sharks made it to the Finals, an act the Leafs haven't accomplished since... 1967 and an act that puts Jumbo and Co. well above the Leafs. And I am in no way, shape or form a Sharks fan.

 

[T REX]

9 f***ing years is not 'premature'

Look how long it took Ovi and the Caps

All they need is ONE

I mean...I loathe the Leafs so this is uncharted water for me

 

[ijuka]

I mean. Is Steve Yzerman considered a choker? He didn't achieve much until being way older than Matthews is right now.

Point being, let's wait until their careers are over first.

 

[GoldenSeal]

Look how long it took Ovi and the Caps

All they need is ONE

I mean...I loathe the Leafs so this is uncharted water for me

From a Blues fan, this is nothing but facts. Takes one thing to go the other way to go all the way.

 

[NVious]

The Leafs are more underachievers than chokers, they were never really in a position to choke.

They had no truly amazing seasons
They had no playoff runs

Just a good season->bad playoffs yearly cycle. They had the talent to make runs, but the core disappeared every time it mattered

 

[Nogatco Rd]

Look how long it took Ovi and the Caps

All they need is ONE

I mean...I loathe the Leafs so this is uncharted water for me

And they were rightfully criticized for it

 

[Based Anime Fan]

Look how long it took Ovi and the Caps

All they need is ONE

I mean...I loathe the Leafs so this is uncharted water for me

Ovi and the Caps made the 2nd round more often than not. The Leafs almost always 1 and done.

 

[Bizz]

The Joe Thornton/Patrick Marleau San Jose Sharks are widely known as one of, if not, the biggest choking cores in NHL history.

people who still say this are f***ing clueless.

The Sharks lost to teams equal or better than them in the standings every year except 2009, when Anaheim pulled a VGK/Mark Stone special with Teemu Selanne before the start of that series. Other than that they performed as well or better than anybody could have reasonably expected.

 

[WillardJFredricks]

The Sharks at least won a few rounds. The Leafs have won one. For the Sharks, Thornton and Marleau just couldn't up their games when it mattered. The Leafs players (stars) are so soft and coddled they can't match their regular season output when it gets tougher.

 

[Based Anime Fan]

The Sharks at least won a few rounds. The Leafs have won one. For the Sharks, Thornton and Marleau just couldn't up their games when it mattered. The Leafs players (stars) are so soft and coddled they can't match their regular season output when it gets tougher.

Marleau's output in the playoffs was generally fine.

 

[Spirits]

When was the last time a Canadian franchise had an actual shot at the cup? Hard to hold it against Toronto when they don't have even a punchers chance at a cup.

 

[Commander Clueless]

I think the Leafs just aren't as good a team as sometimes assumed. They are good, and definitely choke (game 7s are a big yikes) but sometimes I think they are overrated to begin with and I say this as a Leafs fan.

They really can't live up to their potential. The roster is unbalanced.

The Sharks? That team should have won a cup.

 

[dirtydanglez]

dead even too me. although the shark did have more success. id have to see what the leafs do the next few seasons it's hard for a new gm to make all the changes in 1 year.

 

[Mattb124]

Marleau's output in the playoffs was generally fine.

Didn’t he lead the list of PO goals by active players prior to his retirement?

 

[Based Anime Fan]

Didn’t he lead the list of PO goals by active players prior to his retirement?

I believe so.

When was the last time a Canadian franchise had an actual shot at the cup? Hard to hold it against Toronto when they don't have even a punchers chance at a cup.

2006 or 2011.

 

[nturn06]

There were at least a few years during the Thornton era where the Sharks went into the playoffs as a presumptive favorite for the cup.

Of this whole Toronto cycle of failure, the only two times they had legit path were 2019 (if they get through Boston they go to the finals in their place and should beat St. Louis), and probably 2021 with the Canadian division setting them up for an easy path to the semifinals. Otherwise they always had Tampa, Washington, or Boston in their way.

There is a big difference between not having a legit path to the finals and loosing in the first round year after year after year

 

[Divine]

As many have pointed out, the Leafs are rarely the favourites so the choking narrative doesn't fit them many years. They've lost maybe 2 series where they were the favourites, but so have many other teams. The problem is everyone expects the Leafs to win even when they play teams with more points than them so it's considered choking when they don't. Boston this year had 7 more points than the Leafs and had and took advantage of home ice advantage by using a bounce they practice in their home arena in Game 7 OT at TD Garden. The Leafs are considered choking for losing to them somehow.

The Leafs have never won their division, aside from the North division, unlike the SJ Sharks. The Sharks failures are more amplified too because they were playing in a straight 1-8 format while winning their division so they weren't playing higher seeds until the third rounds. Lastly, the Sharks core main thing was they never won - the Leafs core is still in their mid 20's.

 

[Sky04]

Fair enough. It took until his 11th season in San Jose. If 3 years from now Matthews still hasn’t at least made the finals then the Leafs are definitely bigger chokers. Until then, too early to call

In his first 6 years with the Shark Thornton won 6 playoff series, Matthews has 1 series win in 8 years. How is this even a discussion? He can't even figure out the 1st round.

 

[SEALBound]

The year is 2038

40 year old AM34 is traded to San Jose for one last chance run at a cup.

After having led the Phoenix Phoenixes to four consecutive cups in the fanciest arena in all of hockey.

 

[jackjohnson]

Wasn’t Jumbo around 36 when the Sharks finally made the final? Lot of runway left for these Leafs (or at least Matthews) before you can declare this race run

When was the last time Leafs made the playoffs? Were computers even invented back then?

 

[Mobiandi]

The 02-19 Sharks are the biggest ‘what if’ in NHL history