Post-Game Talk: Well.... learning experience?

[ShaneFalco]

TB fan here in peace. Hell of a game last night. I will tell you this, I dont want to play Toronto in the first round. I dont think Boston wants to either. Not a great consolation prize for coming in second in the division. I think all 3 teams should be able to play a different opponent because they all are good enough teams to go to the second round for sure. Unfortunately only 2 can go. I think you guys have a great team and a great coach to guide them. They could do some real damage if they are ready for it. Having Mathews back could really go a long way towards that. Good luck. Oh and if you do play Boston in round 1 kick their ass at least to the point where they have nothing left vs TB (if we get to the 2nd round that is).

Yeah whoever does go up against Boston, will be beaten up for the next series.

 

[MattySnipes]

TB fan here in peace. Hell of a game last night. I will tell you this, I dont want to play Toronto in the first round. I dont think Boston wants to either. Not a great consolation prize for coming in second in the division. I think all 3 teams should be able to play a different opponent because they all are good enough teams to go to the second round for sure. Unfortunately only 2 can go. I think you guys have a great team and a great coach to guide them. They could do some real damage if they are ready for it. Having Mathews back could really go a long way towards that. Good luck. Oh and if you do play Boston in round 1 kick their ass at least to the point where they have nothing left vs TB (if we get to the 2nd round that is).

 

[MyBudJT]

Sure we can. Saying they were all fine but that Leivo somehow stood out as being less fine than everyone else seems like a contradiction to me is all.

Well thats not how I see it... :p There is a reason why I framed it 12th best forward and not worst forward.

I think Brown, Kapanen, Plekanec and Johnsson were all better players last night... With the rest of the forwards its not even a question.

I did try to keep an eye on Leivo, and half the time I didn't think he was in proper position. Things like that will really bug Babcock.

 

[Loosie]

TB fan here in peace. Hell of a game last night. I will tell you this, I dont want to play Toronto in the first round. I dont think Boston wants to either. Not a great consolation prize for coming in second in the division. I think all 3 teams should be able to play a different opponent because they all are good enough teams to go to the second round for sure. Unfortunately only 2 can go. I think you guys have a great team and a great coach to guide them. They could do some real damage if they are ready for it. Having Mathews back could really go a long way towards that. Good luck. Oh and if you do play Boston in round 1 kick their ass at least to the point where they have nothing left vs TB (if we get to the 2nd round that is).

You lost me here

If we play Boston in round 1, I hope we kick their ass fairly quickly (not likely) to rest up for you guys. In fact I think the winner of the BOS/TB/TOR round 1 series is going to be in rough shape for round 2.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Well thats not how I see it... :p There is a reason why I framed it 12th best forward and not worst forward.

I think Brown, Kapanen, Plekanec and Johnsson were all better players last night... With the rest of the forwards its not even a question.

I did try to keep an eye on Leivo, and half the time I didn't think he was in proper position. Things like that will really bug Babcock.

Not sure I see the difference there but whatever.

 

[Drytoast]

I never said anything about Polak. Think you're a bit emotional and confused. Go for a walk maybe?

Let's be honest, you were going to dig in on Polak as well because Polak.

Hyman was playing a great game last night. And has 14 goals.

Nylander only has 15.

Babs usually plays in crunch play time, the players who on any given day are performing well. And last night it was Hyman.

Just so you know...ya know?

 

[Mess]

I would have liked to have had Auston in the line-up last night to better judge how we compare head to head against the Lightning.

This loss unfortunately will give TB confidence and vice versa steal some from our Leafs now with the loss and the way it occurred. When doubt creeps into a game and confidence is altered the end results can also be effected.

 

[hfman]

How many games went to OT? That's how people are saying "we almost beat them". We didn't win, but every game was a one goal game and 5 of the 6 went to OT.

Imagine Pittsburgh beat Philadelphia 4-0 in the playoffs, with all 4 games going to overtime.

By these guys' logic, I guess we could say that Philadelphia "almost won the series".

lol.

 

[ULF_55]

Yeah it's just semantics. If people have a problem with "we almost beat them" then how about "we could have easily won"? Whatever, everyone who watched the games should know what a tightly fought series it was.

I thought it was a good series, and maybe with a healthy blueline they might have had the upset.

Sometimes the score doesn't indicate the games though. A team can play their best against a team who doesn't play their best and still lose. The score might look like the games were evenly disputed, but in reality territorially one team could always be closer to winning than the other. Were you around for the New Years Eve Red Army against Montreal Canadiens 3-3 game? I think the Canadiens dominated the Red Army, but Red Army escaped with a tie. Now some may claim Red Army almost won that game. Well, they tied it so only 1 goal would have given them the win, but IMO it was all Montreal.

 

[Gary Nylund]

I would have liked to have had Auston in the line-up last night to better judge how we compare head to head against the Lightning.

This loss unfortunately will give TB confidence and vice versa steal some from our Leafs now with the loss and the way it occurred. When doubt creeps into a game and confidence is altered the end results can also be effected.

Holy overreactions batman! Don't worry Mess, it's going to be OK.

 

[Raging Bull]

I thought it was a good series, and maybe with a healthy blueline they might have had the upset.

Sometimes the score doesn't indicate the games though. A team can play their best against a team who doesn't play their best and still lose. The score might look like the games were evenly disputed, but in reality territorially one team could always be closer to winning than the other. Were you around for the New Years even Red Army against Montreal Canadiens 3-3 game? I think the Canadiens dominated the Red Army, but Red Army escaped with a tie. Now some may claim Red Army almost won that game. Well, they tied it so only 1 goal would have given them the win, but IMO it was all Montreal.

In this case though I think the scores were pretty indicative of the games. The only one where Washington easily was better was game 4, and the Leafs put up a few late goals to come within one.

 

[IBeL34f]

Imagine Pittsburgh beat Philadelphia 4-0 in the playoffs, with all 4 games going to overtime.

By these guys' logic, I guess we could say that Philadelphia "almost won the series".

lol.

You could certainly say that each game (and therefore the series) could've gone either way. There's nothing wrong with using context to look beyond the most basic optics of a situation.

Anyway, this Leafs team is quite a bit better than they were last year, and I fully expect them to hang with any team they encounter in the Playoffs, regardless of which Round they encounter them.

 

[thewave]

Nasty way to lose. Oh well. Was Johnsson on the right side? He had like no shots at all. Leivo played really well though which was nice to see.

 

[Gary Nylund]

I thought it was a good series, and maybe with a healthy blueline they might have had the upset.

Sometimes the score doesn't indicate the games though. A team can play their best against a team who doesn't play their best and still lose. The score might look like the games were evenly disputed, but in reality territorially one team could always be closer to winning than the other. Were you around for the New Years even Red Army against Montreal Canadiens 3-3 game? I think the Canadiens dominated the Red Army, but Red Army escaped with a tie. Now some may claim Red Army almost won that game. Well, they tied it so only 1 goal would have given them the win, but IMO it was all Montreal.

I agree that the score doesn't tell the whole story. And I did watch that game but it was so long ago that I don't remember it in great detail. I do (however vaguely) remember it as a great game between two great teams and I know that this game gets mentioned a lot as one of the greatest games ever played. There's no doubt some hype there but still, if it was a one-sided affair I doubt it would get any mention at all.

My memory of the TOR-WSH series is much fresher. I wouldn't go as far as some do and say it was practically a coin-flip - I give WSH full credit for the victory, I think they were the better team and deserved to win. I would say though that is was a very close series and if they had to start another 7 game series right after that one ended and I had to post the betting odds I would make WSH only very slight betting favourites and say they win the 7 game series maybe 11 times out of 20, something like that.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Nasty way to lose. Oh well. Was Johnsson on the right side? He had like no shots at all. Leivo played really well though which was nice to see.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought he had a good game, I'm not understanding this "without a doubt our 12th best forward" stuff at all.

 

[I Believe]

Deserved points, got none.

Ah well, sh*t happens. On to the next one!

 

[ULF_55]

You could certainly say that each game (and therefore the series) could've gone either way. There's nothing wrong with using context to look beyond the most basic optics of a situation.

Anyway, this Leafs team is quite a bit better than they were last year, and I fully expect them to hang with any team they encounter in the Playoffs, regardless of which Round they encounter them.

Well, they could have a couple rusty, but rested players for the playoffs.

And van Riemsdyk upping his price tag.

 

[TorMapleJays]

Tampa vs Florida wouldnt be a gimmie either in the first round, inner state rivals.

 

[CupsOverCash]

You lost me here

If we play Boston in round 1, I hope we kick their ass fairly quickly (not likely) to rest up for you guys. In fact I think the winner of the BOS/TB/TOR round 1 series is going to be in rough shape for round 2.

I think Toronto could beat Boston. Actually might be better against Boston than TB would. We just dont match up well against them. However right now I have Boston as the team to beat.

 

[BTP]

Freddy needs to get back into Vezina candidate form. Hopefully these next few games get him back into form. If he's playing lights out, and we have all 4 lines rolling, we're tough.

 

[Prince N]

Positive note: doesn't matter who leafs play first round, they are capable of beating any team (as long as they play 60min)

Actually happy they lost giving up 4 goals in the 3rd. Game didn't mean anything but a big learning lesson was to be learnt last night.

 

[Gary Nylund]

I think Toronto could beat Boston. Actually might be better against Boston than TB would. We just dont match up well against them. However right now I have Boston as the team to beat.

I do too. It's really frustrating that we make the playoffs in an 82 game season for the first time since the stone age and may have to face a powerhouse like Boston even if we finish as high as 6th or even 5th (of course we could still fall to 9th or whatever but my point stands).

But yeah, we have a very good chance at beating them and I hope you guys and Boston both keep going all out for 1st place and tire yourselves out.

 

[CupsOverCash]

I do too. It's really frustrating that we make the playoffs in an 82 game season for the first time since the stone age and may have to face a powerhouse like Boston even if we finish as high as 6th or even 5th (of course we could still fall to 9th or whatever but my point stands).

But yeah, we have a very good chance at beating them and I hope you guys and Boston both keep going all out for 1st place and tire yourselves out.

Boston just has it all and they work really hard too. Tampa probably has an edge over them in talent but they dont work as hard as Boston does and Boston has a lot of talent too. I think Toronto can match that hard work and they are probably just as talented as Boston is in a lot of areas. I think Toronto has the best HC though and that can make a world of difference in the playoffs. Its really going to depend on which versions of these 3 teams show up when its most important.

 

[ToneDog]

I do too. It's really frustrating that we make the playoffs in an 82 game season for the first time since the stone age and may have to face a powerhouse like Boston even if we finish as high as 6th or even 5th (of course we could still fall to 9th or whatever but my point stands).

But yeah, we have a very good chance at beating them and I hope you guys and Boston both keep going all out for 1st place and tire yourselves out.

You realize we made the playoffs last year ... right ?

 

[IBeL34f]

I do too. It's really frustrating that we make the playoffs in an 82 game season for the first time since the stone age and may have to face a powerhouse like Boston even if we finish as high as 6th or even 5th (of course we could still fall to 9th or whatever but my point stands).

But yeah, we have a very good chance at beating them and I hope you guys and Boston both keep going all out for 1st place and tire yourselves out.

Last year wasn't that long ago, Gary