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

[TOGuy14]

Big fan base to expect some overreactions but for the most part we don't lose hard fought games, we get utterly embarrassed and the reaction is appropriate

 

[Seath The Scaleless]

We overreact because of the terrible start under Babcock, which left us not much room for error. So when we had that slump pre all-star break, which coincided with Florida's best streak of the season, the thought of missing the playoffs was seeping in. We could not afford to go on another prolonged losing streak.

As for the effortless games, every team has a few of those throughout the season. The problem is that we used up a lot of that cache during the first 23 games under Babcock, which meant any additional no shows would set the city on fire rather than the mentality of "it's just one of those games; didn't have the legs".

We climbed out of a pretty deep hole and are now 5 points clear of 4th place in the Atlantic thanks to a very respectable 26-13-4 record under Keefe.

 

[BrainyBomber]

At times??? Just a week ago thread after thread was practically blaming Dubas for the Coronavirus.

Now we are cruising for a playoff spot and it's dead silence.

Bob MacKenzie had to come out and even try to reason with all these overgrown children. He was spot on and still got crucified.

 

[Albus Dumbledore]

Theres still have plenty of season left to overreact and go crazy thank you.

 

[Gabriel426]

Yep but all fan bases are like that. Main difference is Leafsnation is by far the largest and other teams fans like to troll us. Like if the Wilds are having the season like us, I doubt any fans will troll their fan base.

 

[Spargon]

People overreact and have monumentally stupid takes when things are going well let alone when we struggle. People need to realize their personal eye test is NOT the be all end all, what we see is biased and flawed and people don't see all the little things as good as they think and they will ignore good things a player does and only focus on bad if they are convinced the player is shit (i.e. Ceci) or only see good and ignore the bad when they think the player is amazing (see any guy HB boards act like is a perfect player and will "instantly make team x a contender")

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

"We" don't, but many here do.

 

[Buds17]

Sure. A playoff spot has been a bit more in doubt this season compared to recent seasons. If/when they make it, it looks like they might be starting on the road again as well. I'll absolutely take that over missing out entirely.

 

[ACC1224]

For the most part the criticisms are valid. (Of course you'll always get those at both ends of the spectrum)
What's odd is the team winning a few games is then used as proof that nothing was ever wrong.

 

[yubbers]

For the most part the criticisms are valid. (Of course you'll always get those at both ends of the spectrum)
What's odd is the team winning a few games is then used as proof that nothing was ever wrong.

Tampa and the Panthers played garbage games too. But I'll take it. Only chance this team has of doing anything is if AM puts the team on his back.

 

[Morbo]

yes, often. we're fans. not sure what the media's excuse is though.

 

[Anthrax442]

This fanbase has PTSD and rightfully so. Until this team wins a round or two and grows into more consistent performer, this will keep happening.

 

[Dekes For Days]

What's odd is the team winning a few games is then used as proof that nothing was ever wrong.

It's not proof that nothing is ever wrong; no team is 100% perfect. It's proof that all teams struggle at times through moments that many here overreact to, and those worst moments aren't team-defining, or true representations of what the team is now, in the playoffs, or in the future.

 

[yubbers]

yes, often. we're fans. not sure what the media's excuse is though.

Outraging people gets their content viewed and shared the most. They actively try to piss you off.

 

[ottomaddox]

Overreact? No.

We played some pretty mediocre hockey outside of Dec.

Fans should expect to qualify for the playoffs with a team like this. On paper they should be good enough.

 

[hotpaws]

yea we tend to overreact but maybe that's due to having an immature GM and Coach

 

[v4karuna]

Yes, absolutely.

 

[ShaneFalco]

No, noone here overreacts at all

 

[ottomaddox]

As a fanbase, are we overreacting to the Coronavirus?

 

[Rogue Leader]

No, don’t get soft now boys!!!

 

[The Podium]

Lol, absolutely

 

[Kamiccolo]

It's true both ways. There are blatant homers in this fan base who can never accept the team has issues. We can let in the first goal every game of the year, and when people freak out about it, there are people in the GDT going "it's just a bad start don't worry about it".

Last week, this team deserved everything they got. The loss to the Zamboni driver and the reaction was not all about one game like so many people pretend. It was a release of pent up frustration going back to last Jan where the Leafs fell into this pattern of low effort games. Jan onwards last season they paced as the 17th best team in the league.

Then they lose to Boston AGAIN, this time having the chance to win in games 6 and 7, say all the right things, the kids get paid big, and we come back to this season with the same problems, same lack of effort.

Ok cool. It's the coach. Fire Babcock and everything is good again. team looks better across the board for a month. And then the same patterns come back into the game.

Jan onwards they had the same record that got Babcock fired. And the team is falling out of a playoff spot, and it seemed no matter how much they talked, the result was the same. Poor efforts almost a week straight led up to that Canes loss. They beat the Pens, talked the talk, and then fell on their faces once again, same pattern for the past year.

So yeah, people let them have it. They told the team in no uncertain terms that they aren't as good as they think they are if they think they can skill their ways to wins. The same message Keefe had been giving for weeks (immature team stuff).

Now they've won 3 in a row. One to a tanking Panthers team, one to a tanking Vancouver team, and one to the Bolts where the third period they essentially were in a shell and barely made it out, and people want to pretend that 3 games erases a year of patterns.

Nah it doesn't to most of us who understand sample sizes and patterns. We need to see this urgency most games, with the poor effort being outliers. Not the other way around. We need to see urgency on defense like we've seen the past few games. We need to see the boys battling hard for pucks like they have been.

I look at the schedule and I see 16 games left. I see a playoff spot there for the taking. I want to see them work for it and earn it, and not fall ass backwords because another team sucked more than us down the stretch.

This is supposed to be a cup team and we haven't seen cup pedigree from them much this year. Maybe this is where they turn things around, but one thing is clear to me. Those who pretend there are no problems that are concerning for a supposed cup bound team after they win a game or two are no different than those who think the sky is falling after a bad game. Two sides of the same coin.

 

[ottomaddox]

There was a lot of reaction to last year's team. They limped into the playoffs and played some of the softest hockey I can remember.

 

[Menzinger]

Yes - and this predates the current season.

This season has definitely been an odd one, and i wont hold anything against fans being fristrated, but even that has its limits on whats reasonable vs the absurd

 

[Gary Nylund]

Overreaction happens here every day, and twice on Sundays.