Yep. He's paid to walk the walk and is expected to do it, and on the whole we have an incomplete effort when taking his career postseason performances. He IS capable of winning a series for the team, but needs to step up.
How are we so certain that he
"is capable of winning a series" when he never has in 8+ years? Scoring 60 and 69 during the regular season is one thing. Leveling up when the checking gets heavier and the time and space evaporates during the playoffs is another thing. The only thing Matthews has proven is that he is capable of having a great game
"here and there" in the playoffs -- that's it. He goes from well over a PPG in the regular season to 0.84 PPG in the playoffs, which is a 68 point pace over 82 games. We need to accept the fact that regular season Matthews isn't playoff Matthews, period.
We've had a large enough sample size to see what the deal is. Eight freaking years. Not 1, not 2, not 5. Eight. When do we stop making excuses and talking about these hypothetical
"could ofs" and
"should ofs" and
"maybe cans" when he doesn't have it in him. Guys like him and Marner, et al, simply do not have the killer instinct in them to elevate their games in crunch time. And they certainly do not hate to lose.
We need to face facts. These guys, including Matthews, do not have the Wendel Clark or Dougie Gilmour gene. They are super talented kids who have watched everything come easy to them all the way through today where there's zero pushback on their lofty contract demands. But the playoffs are a pure dose of reality, which separates the boys from the men. Players that win the Cup are often battered, damaged, broken, and yet still have the mental strength to persevere despite the adversity. Our core folds like a wet blanket... every... darn... year. The fact that we are blessed with this high-level talent and are going to have ONE playoff round win since Matthews has been on the roster is
absolutely pathetic. And, yes, Matthews himself deserves a large % of the blame. He's at the helm of this ship, hence the top contract in the league. He wants the massive contract, the glory, the love, then he needs to own the failures.
I was listening to Leafs Nation last night and Rosehill
(who I'm generally not a big fan of) was bang on with his assessment last night in regards to 16 and 34. You can only defend these dudes so much until it's sink or swim time for them. This has been eight years. Rosehill made a great point when he said,
"Even though Gilmour, Clark, Tucker, Sundin, and Roberts, etc. never won a Cup, as a Leaf fan, I was proud that they were on my team, because they battled and gave every inch. But this current core... it's impossible to be proud of them." And he is right.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are one of the greatest franchises in all of North American sports and these kids have no idea what the stakes are. They are entitled, soft, and incapable of rising to the challenge in the playoffs. They still think the playoffs are random Wed. night games vs. the Blue Jackets where they can win a game on raw talent alone without paying the price.
I'm sorry but Matthews needs to own his part.
