Confused? Your confused? This team has gone from a solid playoff team that had to learn to win a playoff series to one that is just scratching to get into the playoffs? The collection of his moves stinks and the record shows for it. They are what they are, you want to argue about x's and o's, I point to the record and decline in performance. Those are the facts.
Post-Game Talk: Leafs lose 5-2 | What Is There To Even Say?
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Confused? Your confused? This team has gone from a solid playoff team that had to learn to win a playoff series to one that is just scratching to get into the playoffs? The collection of his moves stinks and the record shows for it. They are what they are, you want to argue about x's and o's, I point to the record and decline in performance. Those are the facts.
Deuce Awesome
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- Feb 23, 2010
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Sundin and Stajan were the masters at that.
Lose 8-3
"Well we gotta play better, keep the puck out of our end and get some more shots on net" all while pretty much smiling the whole time. I remember thinking "jesus the fans care more than the players"
I don't think Hainsey specifically is what he meant. This team needs people who play the game the way it is being played in the NHL today. They don't have to be celebrated players or have full trophy cases, but they should need to know how to compete really hard. They need an understanding of even if you don't knock a guys teeth loose with a hit, if you lean on him tough he gets worn out quicker.
People keep saying Hainsey has no value, marleau has no value, kadri's production has been replaced, etc. There is more value in a player than just how they contribute to offense. If you can't see that then maybe you can't evaluate hockey properly?
Possibly a better way of presenting this thought:
All of the "dead weight" players from last year are gone, and you have a roster with a ton of 'valuable' players with tons of 'skill'. So why isn't it working?
Last year the problem was because stubborn Babcock over played the 'Real good pros' stifling ice time for all these young world beaters we have - so the 'real good pros' are gone, Babcock is gone. Now Keefe is saying the same things Babcock had been, for more than a year now the entire league and the former coach of this team has been saying this is not a winning roster. There is all this skill and value players here, so why are the results poor?
Because there is no heart on this team. No compete in the corners. No one is playing hard, no one is setting the right example and leading the way. Not one person seems like they are invested IN the Maple Leafs, they all look like employees at Lowes or Target, just getting through their workday to get home. You're seeing All-Star game/scrimmage effort from a team who needs to realize they might not be so talented that they can avoid hard work.
Does it look like everyone on the team is doing enough to win a championship?
This team wants to play Checkers at a Chess game.
1specter
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Please don't compare Sundin to these chumps.
Merrrlin
Grab the 9 iron, Barry!
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There's a lot of patting yourself on the back/I told you so sentiment in this fanbase, and it's all geared towards negativity and failure.
The fanbase seems to be a weak-willed as the team itself.
The Apologist
Apologizing for Leaf garbage since 1979
Well, to be fair it's been a pretty tough last 15 years for this fanbase.
Disappointments, embarassments, it has not been easy. The younger fans have been basically primed to expect disaster around every corner. And the Leafs generally deliver.
WillNy29
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- Jun 20, 2018
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The Apologist
Apologizing for Leaf garbage since 1979
WillNy29
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So then we start from scratch replace all the pure skill players with gritty skill players
Matthews, marner, nylander, reilly all out and more tkachuk types in
goleafsgo1990
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- Feb 7, 2012
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Maybe Leafs players are on benzos or something to survive the immense pressure on them..Would explain so much Lmao.
I compared many Leaf fans to 14 year olds because of the utter irrationality of many posters. For example, Andersen has been a very good goalie for the Leafs for 3 1/2 years and yet after a bad stretch people call him a backup, awful, trash etc. and want him gone. Dubas and Keith go from being geniuses or idiots depending whether the Leafs won or lost the last couple of games. If Campbell wins tomorrow night's game he will be seen as the guy who will lead the Leafs to the Cup. If he loses many will think the season is over.
Basically many posters can't seem to deal with the fact that the Leafs are a pretty good team with some serious flaws. They go from good to great offensively and from OK to crappy defensively. Teams like that can look great one game and bad the next because they emphasize unbridled skill rather than skill combined with structure and discipline. The result is inconsistency but that should be no surprise to anyone.
And BTW: Matthews and Marner are great offensive players but don't tell me they work hard every game at both ends of the ice. If either had Crosby's work ethic in the defensive end the Leafs would be a far better team.
You can't blame the players, they are what they are.
holl and Marincin are bottom pairing guys. Dermott, Sandin and Lilj are all bottom-pair guys as well.
Were basically counting on 4 bottom-pairing defense to hold the fort. One of them is forced onto the top pair with Muzzin, and one of them is forced to try make it work with a defensive trainwreck in Barrie.
This defense is scary, I can't believe our GM thought this was ok.
there were no tap ins for the leafs last night.... did you watch pits powerplays, did u watch our D standing there on the pk, pitts defended we did not
I slightly disagree with your view on Dermott and Barrie, but i do think Marincin should be no7 or 8 and Holl is a no6. Liljegren and Sandin should play with experienced players and you do see Keefe having Sandin with Barrie at times, and as i see it, it works pretty good. Rookies need experienced players around them. Sandin is a clever chap and will pick things up quickly if having the right support. I do believe the same about Liljegren. The team simply lack enough veteran D's at the moment to shelter the rookies.
With all that being said, they should still manage to play a system that makes it a bit difficult for the opponent. Its NHL players after all and by default they are at the highest level of hockey.
Its been an odd season, its not like Reilly played well either before his injury. Tavares looks "meh" and Marner (while scoring at an amasing pace) looks rather iffy too. How can so many players be having off seasons and how come their is no system to defend, that suits the players the team got?
goleafsgo1990
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Throw More Waffles
Unprecedented Dramatic Overpayments
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A team playing significantly better for the first month or two of a new coach (honeymoon period) is very common.
The big test is... what happens when the honeymoon period wears off? Do they fall back to their old habits? And that’s precisely what we’ve been seeing the past few weeks.
Throw More Waffles
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janesy12
Leafs Nation
Have the team follow the Raptors and how they conduct themselves more closely.
Their desire, commitment, camaraderie along with their skill helped them to win a Championship, and now this season become contenders once again.
This Leafs team seem to want all the glory and success, by just relying on their skill. Without having to work for it, and work for each other.
Missing the playoffs here is a massive failure. Embarrassing.
Their desire, commitment, camaraderie along with their skill helped them to win a Championship, and now this season become contenders once again.
This Leafs team seem to want all the glory and success, by just relying on their skill. Without having to work for it, and work for each other.
Missing the playoffs here is a massive failure. Embarrassing.
Merrrlin
Grab the 9 iron, Barry!
- Jul 2, 2019
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Agreed. Not a Raptors fan but I have tons of respect for that group. They do everything right. They outwork every team they play. Commitment to the team, and to the system. Also a coach that the players want to go to war for.
janesy12
Leafs Nation
Bingo.
Although I do think the players genuinely like Keefe. They bought in right away, but once they started to face a tougher schedule and faced some key injuries they just folded and lost the desire to play. The Raptors are opposite. They've also been dealing with key injuries, and lost a top 3 player in the league in the offseason. They haven't missed a beat.
Polar opposites.
Duffman955
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- Mar 4, 2010
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Look at the Raptors leader Lowry.
The skill, the heart, the desire, the fight, the sacrifice, determination
That attitude was absorbed by the team.
Tavares has been mostly drunk for this season
nsleaf
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nsleaf
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The Apologist
Apologizing for Leaf garbage since 1979
I would add in a reffing system that clearly has two different sets of rules. Call me a complainer all you want but it's very clear that they call things differently for this team. Why I do not know.
But I agree that it feels like they've given up. Say what you want about the Kessel teams but before Horacek, they played hard win or lose and had that 'Us vs the World' mentality. They even applied it to the fanbase.
