Post-Game Talk: Leafs lose 4-2

[IPS]

Even if their D was healthy I thought there‘s no way this team could win four rounds, but my goodness, they’re terrible. Is it the system or players?

Both.

Muzzin being out and Rielly being forced to assume the hardest competition has exposed him badly, Holl is a complete mess as usual, and the rest of the D is far too slow to keep up with any decently fast team. We literally get walked a dozen times a game. And Keefe still loves the whole "make the D pinch at every moment possible" strategy. Must have seen Holl behind the goal line like 20 times this season.

 

[3blizzard4]

Not even the Leafs can blow this tonight. Ducks are beyond horrible.View attachment 600933

A win tonight is the equivalent of lipstick on a dead pig. Buys Keefe another 20 games.

 

[JL17]

Aube-Kubel is useless too btw. Losing pucks is the clincher for me.

We all saw his hands on display with the Stanley Cup.

 

[The Legend]

Babcock was losing to Boston teams.

Keefe is losing to Columbus and Habs.

First of all, the team is cursed so Conn Smythe himself could have been the coach for any of those series and it wouldn't have made a difference.

Second, very convenient to leave out Tampa.

 

[MSZ]

Hard to imagine the Leafs losing this one.

This core has a long history of losing to bottom feeders.

 

[Nineteen67]

Both.

Muzzin being out and Rielly being forced to assume the hardest competition has exposed him badly, Holl is a complete mess as usual, and the rest of the D is far too slow to keep up with any decently fast team. We literally get walked a dozen times a game. And Keefe still loves the whole "make the D pinch at every moment possible" strategy. Must have seen Holl behind the goal line like 20 times this season.

When Muzzin was out in the playoffs and play-in, it was red flag to most people that the D needed help. This somehow got lost on the GM

 

[ToneDog]

Folks, on a positive note, if we don't turn it around in November, we tank for Berard. And leading a tank job seems to be the one thing Shanny is good at.

 

[ChickenMcNugget]

The win/loss thing isn't really that big a deal at this point of the season. Plenty of teams struggle to get in tune with adjusting to new players/systems.

The thing i dont like is that they are playing with very low intensity which is very hard to cheer for. It is similar in the seasons past where they need to be beaten dramatically to show energy and passion that they should bring to every game.

Atleast the goaltending seems to be working out for now which is a HUGE positive.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Rinse and repeat
Same old same old
Caved down middle of ice by Kings
Matty and JT are the 2 getting caved da most
Neither guy can skate worth a d*man this season .. Matty too fat and JT never could even last year
And our D is completely useless without any defensive D except maybe Gio here and there
Holl and Sandin are AHLers with mid pack AHL speed
Rielly can't defend to save his life
Brodie can't handle da load all by himself
Rook was our best d man last night
OMG pathetic except for Sammy
Very hard to watch team get outskated and outworked every night this year
Without skill plays from Mitch and Willy this team would have ZERO points this season
The CAP spend on 4 forwards is really showing with Muzzy out big time
And when 2 of those forwards Matty and JT get caved in every game at C it is impossible to work around with role players and blaming those role guys makes me sick

Scotty could not even get this personnel group going .. but he would bag skate Matty til he was in proper NHL game shape .. clearly Keefer/Dubie do not have stones to attempt to fix problem

 

[djdev]

went from the 2nd youngest team to the 4th oldest in like 2 years, yet these guys seem more immature than ever. im not a keefe "hater" but wheres the accountability with our stars? robertson has a bad game(along with JT and willy) so he plays what? 6 minutes the next game? our top line has shit the bed for 1/8th of the season and he wont try something else with marner and matthews, its pretty clear keefe either doesnt want to upset the big money guys or he simply cant adjust on the fly, in-game or otherwise, hes always refused to switch things up in big games or important moments when things arent working.

the one thing i appreciated about babcock is he would put guys like marner on the 4th line if they werent getting it done, these guys might need that kinda thing, because they dont hold each other to a higher standard it seems, so we need somebody else who will.

 

[PromisedLand]

Habs fan with a more than small interest in the Leafs. I've argued that Dubas has done a good job keeping a very impressive core intact.

A question for you: how do you figure out if a player is not trying hard enough or if he's trying hard and is in an ineffective environment (ie linemates or tactics holding him back)?

I've argued against Habs fans that Marner would be our best player bar none, but I see so much criticism of Marner here. What gives -- is he really a coaster who somehow puts up outrageous numbers?

It's easy to say the coach has to change and I wonder what'll happen if eg. Barry Trotz came in and did Barry Trotz sorta things but if the players are problematic and irredeemable then there will be a point the Leafs have to swallow a bitter pill and sell them. Is that case?

you have playmakers and then you have playmakers that can hold on to pucks

right now:
- Matthews is mostly covered 5 on 5 opposition is not giving him much space so that leaves marner and bunting to try to keep the puck in teh offensive zone
- as soon as the puck is on marner of bunting's stick; opposition rush them/body them to either take the puck and clear zone or force an errand pass and lose the possession

marner also refuses to shoot when he is open; and when he does shoot his shot does not have enough zing to beat the goalie. so at least based on my viewing opposition is giving shot to marner and stay man on man with matthews to take away matthews' shot and only allow bad angle shot which matthtews is taking but they are nto as useful

marner also forces play when there is no play especially PP and that also drives people nuts sometimes; not only he doesn't take the shot on PP but he over passes sometimes risky passes

 

[Sniper99]

Babcock once said there would be pain. Did Keefe say there would be torture? This is sure it for the fans lately.

 

[SprDaVE]

The win/loss thing isn't really that big a deal at this point of the season. Plenty of teams struggle to get in tune with adjusting to new players/systems.

The thing i dont like is that they are playing with very low intensity which is very hard to cheer for. It is similar in the seasons past where they need to be beaten dramatically to show energy and passion that they should bring to every game.

Atleast the goaltending seems to be working out for now which is a HUGE positive.

I think this is why a lot of people are really not feeling it from any side of the coin you land on. They aren't losing due to luck or some form of bad cold streak, they are legitimately being outplayed almost every game and every period. All the losses have been earned except for MAYBE the first game. They are not creating chances, they aren't scoring and they aren't defending.

Goaltending has ironically been the one thing that's been pretty solid for the most part. Even that's going to go down the drain soon.

 

[Eddo22]

Do the Leafs deserve a new thread for the game tonight?

 

[Bellefour20]

link to said statement? Please God if true.

News Article: - Paraphrased, If we do well Quote: "it’d be unreal to stay.”

https://theathletic.com/3634722/2022/09/28/maple-leafs-william-nylander/ It’s wild to think that nearly four years have passed since Nylander signed his six-year contract on the last possible day back in Dec. 2018. He’s entering year five of that deal this season and like Auston Matthews, can...

forums.hfboards.com

 

[notDatsyuk]

News Article: - Paraphrased, If we do well Quote: "it’d be unreal to stay.”

https://theathletic.com/3634722/2022/09/28/maple-leafs-william-nylander/ It’s wild to think that nearly four years have passed since Nylander signed his six-year contract on the last possible day back in Dec. 2018. He’s entering year five of that deal this season and like Auston Matthews, can...

forums.hfboards.com

That silly thing again?

As mentioned several times in that thread, he absolutely did NOT say he wouldn't re-sign unless we won something.

The writer of the article spun it that way, and the person with posted it here doubled down on the false take.

 

[therealkoho]

Do the Leafs deserve a new thread for the game tonight?

Of course because where else can the fine folks of LeaFland express their grief and vitriol

Tonight though is gonna be different the 45m is going to play like 45m and pluck them ducks