Daisy Jane
everything is gonna be okay!
- Jul 2, 2009
- 70,212
- 9,189
GDT: Leafs State of the Union + Locker Clean Out Day (4/27/18)
- Thread starter Daisy Jane
- Start date
Daisy Jane
everything is gonna be okay!
- Jul 2, 2009
- 70,212
- 9,189
No it’s not funny its hilarious. I loved that day probably the best day of the playoffs for me I can’t even remeber if we won or lost that game. But that Boston fan being so upset about his very average cut and post job being stolen I still laugh to myself about it.
For the record I know you had nothing to do with it, I’m just teasing you
Community
44 is Rielly good
I guess this is the best thread to post a few of my thoughts about the current state of the Leafs before everybody starts microanalyzing and bashing player/management interviews. Long post incoming, just read the bolded if you want my key points/thoughts.
First, I have previously posted about how Babcock's last 11 years consist of 2 first round upset wins (I believe it was 5v4 seed and 7v2 seed), a SC, and a SC finals run. In addition, a playoff miss (first season with the Leafs), and multiple competitive series where his team shouldnt have had a chance (I think there were 2 more years where his team lost to the SC champs in the first or 2nd round. Every year in the playoffs Babcock's team has done as expected or better.
Id also like to point out that I firmly believe that everybody om this board is expecting Babcock to so more than any coach can. Coaches don't win championships, players do. What is gettig underrated is how much players like Rielly, Kadri, and the big 3 developed in 3 (or less) years with Babcock. Babcock is responsible for turning Kadri into a 30-30C with shutdown capability inatead of a 50pt sefensive liability. He is also the reason we are seeing Morgan Rielly top 20 in points, with the ability to PK and play shutdown minutes. Marner just had a huge playoffs where he was tasked with playing a 2-way game to provide offense against the Bergeron line and he showed huge growth; putting up big #'s and playing the best defense I have evee seen from him. The effort was there for the last two years, but this was the first time I saw the correct positioning and defensive plays. Babcock is a huge reason our star players have grown as well as they have. Our last 2 coaches took a big shit on players and focused only on developing flawed one way players or put players in positions they could not succeed in.
Moving on to the team. I know a fair portion of people who post here are fair weather fans/trolls, people with no patience, or armchair GMs that think tons of moves should be made every year you don't win, but how the hell do we have so many people claiming other fans are "hoping instead of demanding", settling for less than they should, irrational, etc. as well as people asking to blow up large portions of our team after we just had the best regular season in our history with what is one of our youngest cores in history? Let me say that one more time, our super young core just broke records for points and wins in a season, so stop asking for huge amounts of change and saying that everybody has to go.
Having said that, I will now admit thst during rebuilds there are always some retooling and moves that happen in order to improve a team. Maybe a Gardiner trade, a hard push for a top defenseman, etc. would be beneficial for our team, but stop with the overresctions about our core being flawed ans/or our entire defense needs to be shipped out. Adding just one good player and shifting others down can make huge differences for a team's overall defense, so maybe stop calling for the whole defense to be traded.
Adding to my last point, I am not sure whether or not I want Gardiner traded. However, if we keep him and move him down 1 spot on our depth chart (by acquiring/developing a #2D) I think we would see a huge improvement in the fans perception of him and our defense as a whole.
Finally I want to say that we are still developing and implementing guys like Dermott, Kapanen, Johnsson, Grundstrum, Liljegren, etc. Seeing these guys succeed while our Leafs and young players set records while THEY are still developing should show you that this core is legit and just needs some time and tinkering to become a powerhouse. For the first time in my life the Leafs are building towards something special, don't ask for a shortcut or for huge changes and jsut enjoy the ride. It will make the next 10+ years that much sweeter.
My closing remark is that this team exceeded most people's expectations at the start of the year. So why does our opinion on where our team should be end up changing because they exceeded expectations and almost took out one of the hottest teams since January? Stop with revisionist history and enjoy the present, it is going to be a long off season, but we all knew that our window was not likely to be open until at the earliest next year. This was the first year in nearly 15 where we finally werent concerned over making the playoffs. Think about how crazy that is compared to the last 10 years where we struggled to beat any and every team. This team is still progressing and has not plateaud so stop worrying and lets see where this team goes. That is not to say that we should not tinker, but we are likely to hold off on any big changes and that should be the plan for at least this offseason.
Been a rollercoaster of a year, I look forward to next year with this awesome young core. GLG.
First, I have previously posted about how Babcock's last 11 years consist of 2 first round upset wins (I believe it was 5v4 seed and 7v2 seed), a SC, and a SC finals run. In addition, a playoff miss (first season with the Leafs), and multiple competitive series where his team shouldnt have had a chance (I think there were 2 more years where his team lost to the SC champs in the first or 2nd round. Every year in the playoffs Babcock's team has done as expected or better.
Id also like to point out that I firmly believe that everybody om this board is expecting Babcock to so more than any coach can. Coaches don't win championships, players do. What is gettig underrated is how much players like Rielly, Kadri, and the big 3 developed in 3 (or less) years with Babcock. Babcock is responsible for turning Kadri into a 30-30C with shutdown capability inatead of a 50pt sefensive liability. He is also the reason we are seeing Morgan Rielly top 20 in points, with the ability to PK and play shutdown minutes. Marner just had a huge playoffs where he was tasked with playing a 2-way game to provide offense against the Bergeron line and he showed huge growth; putting up big #'s and playing the best defense I have evee seen from him. The effort was there for the last two years, but this was the first time I saw the correct positioning and defensive plays. Babcock is a huge reason our star players have grown as well as they have. Our last 2 coaches took a big shit on players and focused only on developing flawed one way players or put players in positions they could not succeed in.
Moving on to the team. I know a fair portion of people who post here are fair weather fans/trolls, people with no patience, or armchair GMs that think tons of moves should be made every year you don't win, but how the hell do we have so many people claiming other fans are "hoping instead of demanding", settling for less than they should, irrational, etc. as well as people asking to blow up large portions of our team after we just had the best regular season in our history with what is one of our youngest cores in history? Let me say that one more time, our super young core just broke records for points and wins in a season, so stop asking for huge amounts of change and saying that everybody has to go.
Having said that, I will now admit thst during rebuilds there are always some retooling and moves that happen in order to improve a team. Maybe a Gardiner trade, a hard push for a top defenseman, etc. would be beneficial for our team, but stop with the overresctions about our core being flawed ans/or our entire defense needs to be shipped out. Adding just one good player and shifting others down can make huge differences for a team's overall defense, so maybe stop calling for the whole defense to be traded.
Adding to my last point, I am not sure whether or not I want Gardiner traded. However, if we keep him and move him down 1 spot on our depth chart (by acquiring/developing a #2D) I think we would see a huge improvement in the fans perception of him and our defense as a whole.
Finally I want to say that we are still developing and implementing guys like Dermott, Kapanen, Johnsson, Grundstrum, Liljegren, etc. Seeing these guys succeed while our Leafs and young players set records while THEY are still developing should show you that this core is legit and just needs some time and tinkering to become a powerhouse. For the first time in my life the Leafs are building towards something special, don't ask for a shortcut or for huge changes and jsut enjoy the ride. It will make the next 10+ years that much sweeter.
My closing remark is that this team exceeded most people's expectations at the start of the year. So why does our opinion on where our team should be end up changing because they exceeded expectations and almost took out one of the hottest teams since January? Stop with revisionist history and enjoy the present, it is going to be a long off season, but we all knew that our window was not likely to be open until at the earliest next year. This was the first year in nearly 15 where we finally werent concerned over making the playoffs. Think about how crazy that is compared to the last 10 years where we struggled to beat any and every team. This team is still progressing and has not plateaud so stop worrying and lets see where this team goes. That is not to say that we should not tinker, but we are likely to hold off on any big changes and that should be the plan for at least this offseason.
Been a rollercoaster of a year, I look forward to next year with this awesome young core. GLG.
Warden of the North
Ned Stark's head
I think people are vastly underrating the Bruins.
Theyre a legitimate Cup contending team with arguably the best line in the league and on top of that a poor matchup in general for our team. They had an obscene record from November onwords.
I am certainly upset the way we lost, but its not like we were beated by a lower rankes team. We were beaten by one of the leagues best whos have been shutting down offensive players all season.
Theyre a legitimate Cup contending team with arguably the best line in the league and on top of that a poor matchup in general for our team. They had an obscene record from November onwords.
I am certainly upset the way we lost, but its not like we were beated by a lower rankes team. We were beaten by one of the leagues best whos have been shutting down offensive players all season.
Spirit of 67
Registered User
ULF_55
Moderator
Yes, and the fact they really were the recipients of some gift goals throughout much of the series cannot be ignored.
In the 7th., 2 killer goals and it was over.
Bruins are the superior team, from the defense through to the goaltender, otherwise Leafs are equal or better.
Nizdizzle
Offseason Is The Worst Season
@Community Excellent post, glad some folks have managed to keep their head on their shoulders and maintain perspective on the big picture. No knee-jerk reactions needed.
SprDaVE
Moderator
- Sep 20, 2008
- 52,124
- 33,486
A bunch of cliché quotes from the players about feeling good, wanting to stay and loving the city. Sad the way the season ended but will come back stronger next season.
Babcock will say his usual spill and nice sounding inspirational sound bytes.
Lamoriello will avoid answering questions about team decisions and about his future.
Pretty much what I expect.
Babcock will say his usual spill and nice sounding inspirational sound bytes.
Lamoriello will avoid answering questions about team decisions and about his future.
Pretty much what I expect.
Agree with what everyone else is saying. I wonder what is going through the heads of JVR, Bozak and Leo (lesser extent Pleks, Roman and Moore)? Pretty sure the first two have played their last game here and they know it, unless there is no market for Bozo and he signs on the cheap but I mean what role can he play here? Not strong enough defensively so you always have to shelter his minutes, I don't see a point in that.
There's not much the players can say. They learned. They got better. It sucks the way it ended. Changes will be made to improve the team. This day is a nothing day for me. The real meat will start grinding as we approach the draft and July 1.
There's not much the players can say. They learned. They got better. It sucks the way it ended. Changes will be made to improve the team. This day is a nothing day for me. The real meat will start grinding as we approach the draft and July 1.
Nithoniniel
Registered User
There's a lot of things I wanted to say, but @Community said it all.
I think one switch we'll see next year is that two (good) players with questionable two-way games will no longer be the roster. That will cause a switch where some of the younger ones who might need that kind of minutes for now can take their place, and we can move in more two-way ability in our forward group. That will help make our defense look better, as they'll be better supported and have more options. We still need to improve there though. This series went a long way to restore my faith in Zaitsev, but I still feel like we essentially have only three solid d-men. A big step forward from Dermott can change a lot of things for us.
I think one switch we'll see next year is that two (good) players with questionable two-way games will no longer be the roster. That will cause a switch where some of the younger ones who might need that kind of minutes for now can take their place, and we can move in more two-way ability in our forward group. That will help make our defense look better, as they'll be better supported and have more options. We still need to improve there though. This series went a long way to restore my faith in Zaitsev, but I still feel like we essentially have only three solid d-men. A big step forward from Dermott can change a lot of things for us.
Gary Nylund
Registered User
- Oct 10, 2013
- 30,002
- 22,340
After the way the Bruins crushed us 4-0 in one period of play with everything on the line I'd be surprised if people are still underestimating them, never mind vastly underestimating them. You never know though I guess.
@Community Awesome!
justafan22
Registered User
- Jun 22, 2014
- 11,629
- 6,249
BodaciousBeefBazooka
Go Leafs Go
I saw the whole team yesterday at the cactus club café around 6 or 6:30 pm on adelaide on the top patio. Everybody rolled in. All of them were wearing base ball hats and hoodies and Nazem Kadri was the only one wearing sunglasses when he walked in lol. I took some creeper pictures and videos 
ULF_55
Moderator
Gary Nylund
Registered User
- Oct 10, 2013
- 30,002
- 22,340
I think the part about Andy is true. He really had a bad series overall by his standards. Continued his poor play from down the stretch.
Any time the Leafs would edge ahead or get the game within 1 goal, Andy would let in a soft goal that he would normally save. That is just so deflating for the players.
I know that face off prowess in undervalued here but we really could have used a few good draws against Boston. It's hard to control the play when you often don't start with the puck.
Liminality
Registered User
- Oct 22, 2008
- 13,366
- 4,013
Would have liked to seen him join the USA squad but I'm definitely happy to have him try and fully recover from whatever was ailing him.
