Our hurdle

[koyvoo]

As things stand now, to make the actual second round of the NHL playoffs, we need to win 6 of our next 9 games.

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[HarryLime]

2020 just won't stop

 

[robertmac43]

I still believe!

 

[DaWatcher]

This team, nay, this organization as a whole is complete waste of time.

 

[Mr Papagoergyo]

They played so hard. Wtf

 

[Nineteen67]

Too many bad players and a couple of really lazy ones.

 

[mcleafs]

The narrative is starting to become true, whether these players want it to or not. I have never seen a team THAT much better than its opponent that simply had no heart or killer instinct to win.

Losing this series will not be good. This team simply can't win.

 

[dubplatepressure]

The narrative is starting to become true, whether these players want it to or not. I have never seen a team THAT much better than its opponent that simply had no heart or killer instinct to win.

Losing this series will not be good. This team simply can't win.

Effort comes in many forms. They really do try at the things they want to. They simply do not try that hard at the things they do not want to a la much of the gritty, physical and mental side. I think they can win but they have to wake up

 

[TheGreatOne11]

I swear being a Leaf fan is like being in a toxic relationship, you know it's not going to end well, but you care about who they could be so much you stay anyways.

 

[Buds17]

Consecutive wins will be enough of a hurdle to start with. Not impossible, but it's not going to be easy.

 

[Stephen]

They played quite well for the most part but those dumb sports cliches about laying it all on the line still kind of apply. And if you’re laying it all out on the line you’re not letting the other team get to 3-1 and then 3-2... so many unfinished checks. So many opportunities to really finish them off when they were down and out.

 

[michi510]

I don’t understand how they keep doing this... it can’t just be bad luck or a coincidence they keep choking at situations like these.

Maybe we’re not patient enough ( caps fans had to wait a long time after drafting ovie ) or ( raps didn’t have that championship DNA over night ).

it’s just not surprising anymore to watch my leafs disappoint time and time again..

 

[Cobra777]

No words to say but this team has sooo much bad luck it could jump into a huge barrel full of Teets and come out sucking its thumb. Weather its ref in 93, loss semi 94, 4-1 meltdown against B's game 7 with 7 min to go, followed by two more game 7 losses consecutive seasons, now this 3-0 lead blown. Starting to believe no matter who we sign or no matter what coach or what G.M or management we have its the same as flipping a coin 30 times and its always tails. Just unbelievable how nothing swings this teams way.

 

[Mr Papagoergyo]

If I payed 40 million for something I'd expect it to work, for whatever reason these players just don't get it.

 

[dubplatepressure]

They played quite well for the most part but those dumb sports cliches about laying it all on the line still kind of apply. And if you’re laying it all out on the line you’re not letting the other team get to 3-1 and then 3-2... so many unfinished checks. So many opportunities to really finish them off when they were down and out.

If I payed 40 million for something I'd expect it to work, for whatever reason these players just don't get it.

I keep coming back to this, but you need to look no further than how a team treats and protects their goalie as to whether they're made up of the type of core that will succeed. When the going gets tough, our team backs down. Every other player knows it, every team knows it, it was demonstrated repeatedly against Boston. Look at how many liberties Jenner + Foligno took against Andy last game without one iota of real pushback from anyone in a white jersey. They're all fine skating around the rink zipping the puck around trying to go for pretty passes and finesse tic-tac-toe goals, but no one's willing to really stand up and answer the call (save possibly Clifford and Muzzin).

The playoffs are a tough brand of hockey this team does not have the necessary will to participate well in. We will always be just a regular season team until this changes.

 

[Hclass47]

I swear being a Leaf fan is like being in a toxic relationship, you know it's not going to end well, but you care about who they could be so much you stay anyways.

I said it before. It’s like dating a bipolar gf with 5 personalities. You never know which one shows up which keeps things interesting lol

 

[GLG12xx12]

The core is still young. No team in the last 10 years has won a cup with youth leading the way. All of their impact players are veterans with 8+ years on the league. It sucks but that's the harsh reality. Sooner or later the core needs to realize that they need to play with more intensity for the full 60 minutes rather than 35 minutes.

I loved Matthew's game last night during the first half of the game. Blocking shots and putting the body on the line is a step in the right direction. Now if he can add that physical element to his offensive game consistently, that'd help immensely when teams lock it down defensively. The rest of the forward core needs to add this element to their game as well

 

[The Iceman]

Soupman is not a top 6 winger
The Leafs D without Muzzin is quite weak
Damn that Columbus goalie shut the door
Like the Leafs, I am done

 

[Apex Predator]

To me Matthew’s showed his wanted it. Blocking shots, playing defense so I was happy to see that.

the others as in the past has left me wondering again.

our D is weak. Marincin made a lot of sloppy plays. I don’t know what to make of Dermott and I believe is Holl is best on the bottom pairing.

 

[ryno23]

Here is the thing with that group. We can bash them all we want and be like Marner is making 10 mil , Nylander is back to floating, and so on.

Besides the 3rd period, the Leafs pretty much owned the play. Game 2 was a clinic on how the team can play.

The biggest issue with this team is the maturity and mental struggles they have. It is not hockey skills or talent it is between the years

They remind me of the Ovi's caps early on in his career when they should have won more but didn't or the Sens teams of the 2000's when we would beat them with Alyn McCauley as our 1st line C when we had so many injuries. We had a Gary Roberts who led the way and people followed.

The team as assembled has shown they can play great hockey when they want to. The issue is they get comfortable like last night up 3-0 and decide to go back and play firewagon hockey high-risk hockey vs bearing down and playing smart position hockey and understand the danger.

So do you sacrifice talent aka trade Marner or Nylander to bring in lesser talented players but who are mentally tough or do you hope this team grows?

Do you throw away youth and skill to get older less skilled but mentally tougher? That is the question Dubas faces this offseason.​

 

[leburn98]

The core of this team is still really young and through our passion, we often forget this. This team still needs to grow, but I also feel that we need to have a serious look at adding veteran help in key roles beyond 4th line grinder. The main issue is that apart from Muzzin and Clifford, the veteran help we've acquired just hasn't had the playoff success that we would want the kids to learn from. We just don't have that guy that the youth can look to and say "This guy knows what he's doing. He's been there, done that, and knows how to win."

Our veterans are guys that haven't had the ultimate success, winning the Cup. Tavares, Spezza, and Marleau before them, great pros on and off the ice with long NHL careers, but they just haven't done it. When you look at Stanley Cup Champions in the past, the young teams who win will often have these vets sprinkled throughout their roster. The Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009 had Bill Guerin and Petr Sykora, the Boston Bruins in 2011 had Mark Recchi, Shawn Thornton and the LA Kings had Justin Williams, Dustin Penner, Rob Scuderi and Colin Fraser. The key factor in all of these is not only did these players win a Cup prior, they also played key roles and contributed on their new teams.

 

[Drew311]

I feel like the Leafs don't take Columbus seriously which is why they're down. We saw them losing to bad teams time and time again this season, playing down to the opponents level. I still think they beat Columbus because they play well with their backs against the wall (except for Game 7's against Boston). If they can get by CBJ and play Tampa I think they would have a good chance because they play a similar run and gun system and they would be loose, high scoring games.

 

[robertmac43]

I swear being a Leaf fan is like being in a toxic relationship, you know it's not going to end well, but you care about who they could be so much you stay anyways.

You also know you are going to be hurt each year. But you always go back to source of the pain!

 

[DarylO]

We need Andersen to step up and make a timely save. A couple of those last night (especially the OT one) were very much savable shots. Also forward need to be a bit better at recognizing a potential turnover / counter and not get caught deep as much as they have.

 

[moon111]

The Leafs have to play hockey like a young person drives a car. Totally focused on what they're doing. When the weather changes, you have to adjust your driving.
The Leafs get tired, they lose that focus and resort to doing what they've always done. And that usually is mistakes. When the game changes, they don't adjust.
It was like Columbus opened up and the Leafs were not prepared.