Do We Overreact to The Maple Leafs' Struggles at Times?

[DitchMarner]

I mean, sure, this team can look soft and disinterested at times, but if you read the Panthers' board right now, their fans are basically saying the same things Leafs' fans say about their team, except in their case the team fails to make the playoffs every year.

The Sabres have been rebuilding for years and still can't come all that close to making the playoffs. The Habs have basically had more than 25 years of mediocrity and it looks like nothing is changing. The Wings are in for hell over the coming seasons. The Senators won't be good again for ages unless they get lucky.

Back in 2016, when TOR drafted Matthews, I'm sure there were fans who figured the team would just now be becoming competitive. Instead, the Leafs have been making the playoffs regularly and gaining experience. Is the situation really that bad? If they keep losing in the first round, you can argue the team isn't good enough to win anything, but if they break through and win a round or two this year, things may suddenly look pretty good in comparisons to the situations of a lot of other Atlantic division teams.

Click to read more...

 

[Hockey Crazy]

Us? No way.

It would be pretty crazy if we finish hot and get 100 pts this year despite all the craziness that went on. Would be hilarious if they knocked off Tampa with no Stamkos.

 

[MattySnipes]

We're a bi-polar fanbase. Only makes sense when you have a bi-polar team.

Hopefully with team core getting older and maturing they can be more consistent game to game.

 

[A1LeafNation]

No they lose badly in embarrassing fashion especially the last month.

Who loses to a Zamboni driver they employ in the middle of a playoff run...with their top pairing dman gone and the team playing the second half of a back to back.

 

[DitchMarner]

No they lose badly in embarrassing fashion especially the last month.

Who loses to a Zamboni driver they employ in the middle of a playoff run...with their top pairing dman gone and the team playing the second half of a back to back.

lol... true.

I guess the division is just shit. It's too bad BOS became good again all of a sudden. TB would really have been the only team stopping TOR from owning that garbage division and we know what happened to them last year.

 

[OldManYells]

I think most fans can take a loss if the team played a good game and got beat by a team that just played better. Most of the reaction or over reaction is from games where it appears 0 effort was given.

 

[Dekes For Days]

A lot of this fanbase overreacts like crazy and is never happy unless everything is perfect and the team plays all-out every game, which is not a reality in the NHL. We massively over-analyze ourselves while under-analyzing our opponents. Every fan and every team does it, but Leaf fans seem to have some extra scars from the past, so everything is blown up and exaggerated.

 

[Erdinger]

I think most fans can take a loss if the team played a good game and got beat by a team that just played better. Most of the reaction or over reaction is from games where it appears 0 effort was given.

I don't think the reaction after last Saturday was unjustified. That was the very worst

 

[qqaz]

Yes and no.

Yes. There are many, many fans that overreact to the negative. It's more prevalent here than in other fanbases, I imagine.

But no. Because the overreaction we're seeing is mostly caused by volume shifts in the two sides of the fan-coin. When the team is winning the supporters, fanboys, cool-aid drinkers get loud. While the haters, pessimists, and trolls get quiet.

Flip the coin when the team starts losing. Suddenly the optimists stop posting, don't call into the radio shows. While the negative Nellies get on the soap box, and O-Dog goes on a bad rant.

It's not the same people saying "yay" one day and then "nay" the next. It just seems that way because the fanbases is so huge that each side is deafening.

 

[Kelly]

No question about it lol.

Still the best fans in all of sports tho <3

 

[OldManYells]

I don't think the reaction after last Saturday was unjustified. That was the very worst

Oh I agree completely.

 

[Jojalu]

We over react all the time. Yes, last Saturday was a brutal loss. No worse than all kinds of losses in various sorts.

It's not like the Leafs peppered the goalie with shots. Carolina completely smothered them.

I still say the elimination game where they put up 6 shots was far worse.

All teams have ups and downs.

I have coached over 2000 games at an elite level and won Nationals/ Provincials and every tournament in between and lost to teams I would figure have no business being on the same field. Sometimes no matter what you just don't have it. Whether it's a couple of individuals, or collectively as a team.

There also doesn't always have to be a reason or someone to blame.

 

[I am Canadian]

No, trading for Barrie is a gamble and a move to make a shot for the cup.

Barely squeezing in is a disappointment. We were supposed to challenge for 1st.

 

[TDotMassive]

Duh lol

 

[LeafsOHLRangers98]

At times? lol How about all the time?

Considering the injuries, bad goaltending, and how much Babcock sucked at the start of the year, we're just 2 points out of 5th in the conference.

People actually thought we were going to win the draft lottery or should at least sell and tank for it.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Yes. And even when they're not struggling.

And overreact when the team is doing well.

 

[Stephen]

No, we aren't overreacting.

The Leafs are too much of a bipolar team so they win spectacularly and lose spectacularly. Those quiet 3-2 wins and 3-2 loses are few and far between. It's the way they come back. Or the way they blow a lead. The way they beat Tampa on the road and then get crushed in Buffalo. I won't even talk about Carolina.

 

[DarkKnight]

Normally, I’d say we vastly overact. Of late, I’d say the frustration and angst was warranted. This team has been in crisis mode several times this season, abundant talent meets mentality fragility. The lows have been truly embarrassing, but perhaps in the end it’s a process. I think the backup goalie fiasco was the turning point, can’t blame the coach, can’t offer cliches, the “too cool for school” team vibe wholly inappropriate, we were hopefully shocked into reality.

The fans, media, get a pass from me this time, the team deserved all the scorn they received and I believe they know deep down they were “horseshit”.

 

[Loosie]

Yes /thread

 

[Strangle]

It depends on your expectations, I think.

People who rush to trade a player or call for head office positions to resign after a single bad game? They are over reacting.

but if your expectations are a Stanley Cup? It’s pretty obvious this team isn’t able to play consistently well enough to win one. So people critical of that? Not over reacting.

Every team has ups and downs, which is normal. What you want to see is the team being ahead in the 3rd and not letting in late goals. You want to see losses dotted throughout the schedule, without 6-7 game losing streaks. You don’t want to see the team outplayed for entire weeks on end.

Losing a few 2-1 games, a 3-1 here and there? Maybe one 7-1 game every three years? Okay. I think that’s reasonable.

 

[Papa Cherry]

All the time and it's hilarious

 

[lottster14]

Not when we lose games after giving a piss poor effort. Which has happened many times this season and last year too. Did we finish above 0.500 in the 2019 calendar year for the reg. season? not sure we did...

But our last 3 games have been back to how we are expected to play. Some amazing games and some brutal games all season that's just the leafs

 

[TheProspector]

lol

Yes.

This fanbase is nuts, and hfboards is where the most psychologically disturbed congregate.

Anyone not happy with the state of this franchise is outright crazy.

 

[axlrose87]

This team is not assembled well (in many people’s opinions). It’s ok to want to see the roster balanced out. That’s why these boards exist.

 

[Azazel]

LOL