TSN: Serious team?

[MilkofthePoppy]

This organization is not serious. They are happy to be the NHL's piggy bank. No pride and absolutely zero ego. Pure losers. Wouldn't be surprised if the cockroaches/rats Tannenbaum and Bettman are in cahoots to rape this once proud franchise.

 

[Gary Nylund]

I gotta say I have some issues with the phrasing of this poll where the answers are yes, they are unserious vs. no, they are serious


I rephrased, apologies. but come on. they last finished in the "bottom half of the top 10" 3 seasons ago

Over the last 6 seasons, this is where they finished.

2023 . 4-5 (tied)
2022 . 4
2021 . 5-6-7(tied)
2020 . 13-14(tied)
2019 . 7-8-9(tied)
2018 . 6-7(tied)

If you feel like bottom half of the top is a gross distortion of the facts then my apologies. I guess I could have said they'll finish somewhere between 4th and 9th as usual, doesn't seem like that big a deal to me.

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag
Drifting through the wind, anting to start again?
Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin
Like a house of cards, one blow from caving in?
Do you ever feel already buried deep
Six feet under screams, but no one seems to hear a thing?
Do you know that there's still a chance for you
Cause there's a spark in you

You just gotta ignite
And let it shine
Just own the night
Like the fourth of Julyyyyyyy

Thanks to the queen Katy Perry for her prophetic assessment of the 23-24 Toronto Maple Leafs. A house of cards ready to collapse, but there's always a chance. I'd have put effort into changing the lyrics to make it funny, but this team rarely puts in effort so why should I put effort into my shitposting?

 

[therealkoho]

I really can't take a grown man who calls himself Hey-z B in a desperate attempt to seem hip, serious!

 

[therealkoho]

I feel a certain amount of unserious behaviour. Losing games because you are unprepared. Having TikTok or Pizza Pizza logos on your helmet. Not serious.

Helmet logos are league income initiatives and have nothing to do with the individual club. If as an advertisers you're willing to pay the premium, your logo will go on a Ranger, Leafs, or Vegas helmet, or whomever is drawing eyeballs.

 

[therealkoho]

The character makeup of the team goes all the way to the top. Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, then John Tavares and William Nylander.

Marner’s a 26 year old 8 year veteran of the game whose emotional comfort level is a human puppy. Nothing you can’t work around and be successful. But he’s not your alpha dog. My thought on him is it you can’t or won’t get rid of him he has to be shuffled away from front stage center to somewhere else where the team’s personality isn’t formed by his personality. Maybe easier said than done when it comes to the ownership of the room.

Auston Matthews is more or less a chameleon of a player who can play any way or do anything in this game he sets his mind to, or assume any personality in this game but the very opposite of an elite drive train player. I don’t think he’s a leader but can appear to play the part. I think the more he’s partnered with Marner, he absorbs more of Marner’s negative aspects and loses his own power game, leadership responsibility and lapses into that easy, soft perimeter stuff when we know he’s capable of so much more.

John Tavares is not really an emotional leader or captain but probably the quiet assistant who is beside the captain. He’s miscast, has the C for a variety of political and circumstantial reasons but he’s not going to grab someone by the scruff of the neck and demand whatever to get more out of them. That’s not him.

I said it back then and I'll say it again, Morgan should've gotten the C, nothing wrong with JT he's a conscientious give it his all type of player, but not the inspirational type leader that say a guy like Messier was.

I just thank dawg they didn't get really stupid and pin it on 34s sweater. The team would be in a total shambles had that happened.

I don't know what Matthews problem is, but hes the one who wanted that paycheque he needs to earn it every night, every shift and that is not happening, but it better start soon. 13.4m demands 130+ point seasons, not 80, 90 or 100.

Mitch for whatever reason is directionless right now, he's second guessing himself and because of that tentativeness is committing many many unforced errors. Playing on a no hit all finesse team doesnt help him whatsoever. I think that if Marner gets moved, the return and the cap space it affords would be well worth it!

I just don't think Marner is the right move, he's a special kind of weapon who when in the right situation, can win. He did it in junior on a team that while highly skilled looked a lot like Florida in the physicality department.

Matthews for whatever reason and no matter all the stats and red lights, has never wore the C and has never won. His whole great big magic box has only one trick in it and if he's not performing it he's got nothing left to offer.

The Leafs because of those fat salaries are as they used to say, euchered.

 

[Bomber0104]

Keefe seemed pretty serious last night, I'll say that much.

 

[therealkoho]

Absolutely. Maybe if these guys have to battle for a playoff spot going into the playoffs, things will be different.

Problem is Tone would they do the "fighting" part. Hell they won't even do it in the playoffs when it really counts. See Steven Stamkos/Auston Matthews, if somebody did that to me even in an exhibition game, I'd totally lose my shit.

 

[Stopper420]

Can only hope this team starts a losing skid so they can fire the coach and maybe just maybe get rid of marner.

 

[ToneDog]

Keefe seemed pretty serious last night, I'll say that much.

Good to see him pissed but not sure it was a good idea to embarrass Bert like he did. Remember this is the same guy who coddles the 16 and 34.

 

[Al14]

Good to see him pissed but not sure it was a good idea to embarrass Bert like he did. Remember this is the same guy who coddles the 16 and 34.

Bertuzzi might ask for $10M next season if he has to put up with Keefe as his coach.

 

[PROUD PAPA]

Bertuzzi might ask for $10M next season if he has to put up with Keefe as his coach.

Pens won't have that much cap space.

 

[ACC1224]

Can only hope this team starts a losing skid so they can fire the coach and maybe just maybe get rid of marner.

That's the spirit! Fingers crossed, eh?

 

[supermann_98]

Same team as the last 5 years and an early exit from the playoffs likely the same as the last 5 years.

Leadership hasn't changed, the core players haven't changed. All Shanny has done (forget Dubas and Tre, they're merely his puppets) is shuffle the deck chairs, but the Titanic remains the same. It's not like a goalie has come along and dragged them along and won a series for them. No defensemen they've drafted and developed since Reilly have taken ahold of a top 2-3 role.

I'm watching merely for entertainment, but I have zero hopes come playoff time. If they were serious they'd beat good teams convincingly once in awhile and wouldn't have consistent no-shows anytime they play at home on a Monday or Tuesday night against a non-contender.

In order of their salaries:
- Matthews has shown to disappear when the playoffs start. The best goal scorer in the game is awfully easy to shut down in a tight checking 7 game series.
- Tavares is a passionless leader, a robot. Doesn't throw the body, doesn't stick up for teammates, has won 2 playoff series in his entire career.
- Marner is another no-show come playoffs. Not sure why when the playoffs come around he increases his effort by diving to the ice to make simple plays like clearing the zone but whatever, he hasn't improved his shot much at all since he left London.
- Reilly is the only guy who raises his game consistently in the playoffs. For that reason alone I won't rip him all that much for his lack of improvement on his slap shot since joining the league, but he should have been named the team captain, not the robot.
- Nylander hasn't raised his game come playoffs but at least he doesn't choke and disappear like the top 3 on this list. What's the reward for that? Half the city wanting him traded.

 

[Hellcat]

Good to see him pissed but not sure it was a good idea to embarrass Bert like he did. Remember this is the same guy who coddles the 16 and 34.

About f-ing time he lights up that lazy redneck. On most nights Slow Bert sucks.

Can only hope this team starts a losing skid so they can fire the coach and maybe just maybe get rid of marner.

That thought actually crossed my mind watching last nights game after Fla outshot them by almost 3x in the first period, something has to go really bad for Keefer to get fired, and the one bright spot behind the Leafs losing is its one loss closer to a new coach... they do just enough to suck and not get Keefer fired at the same time....

 

[Hellcat]

Pens won't have that much cap space.

Edmonton is hot on his tails....

 

[Go4soda]

it’s absolutely valid to question the team’s “seriousness”. It refers to the team brass’s willingness to be honest with themselves and assess this group objectively. the team culture is not that of a cup contender. the D group is one of the weakest among playoff teams. our best players are passive and our goaltending is inexperienced and unproven, as is our coach.
kyle repeatedly doubled down on this core, instead of changing parts of it. and now there is little opportunity for treliving to do much.

 

[MSZ]

Serious team?

The answer is no.

 

[Hellcat]

Serious team?

The answer is no.

It becomes self evident in the fact the same stuff keeps coming up over and over and over again, Their coach has no influence on their desire to show up. You cant play shinny in the NHL and expect to win the cup, you have to have players who play as hard without the puck as they do with the puck. You get that through respect for your coach or because that is how you play. Keefe will never win a cup in Toronto

 

[rumman]

Same team as the last 5 years and an early exit from the playoffs likely the same as the last 5 years.

Leadership hasn't changed, the core players haven't changed. All Shanny has done (forget Dubas and Tre, they're merely his puppets) is shuffle the deck chairs, but the Titanic remains the same. It's not like a goalie has come along and dragged them along and won a series for them. No defensemen they've drafted and developed since Reilly have taken ahold of a top 2-3 role.

I'm watching merely for entertainment, but I have zero hopes come playoff time. If they were serious they'd beat good teams convincingly once in awhile and wouldn't have consistent no-shows anytime they play at home on a Monday or Tuesday night against a non-contender.

In order of their salaries:
- Matthews has shown to disappear when the playoffs start. The best goal scorer in the game is awfully easy to shut down in a tight checking 7 game series.
- Tavares is a passionless leader, a robot. Doesn't throw the body, doesn't stick up for teammates, has won 2 playoff series in his entire career.
- Marner is another no-show come playoffs. Not sure why when the playoffs come around he increases his effort by diving to the ice to make simple plays like clearing the zone but whatever, he hasn't improved his shot much at all since he left London.
- Reilly is the only guy who raises his game consistently in the playoffs. For that reason alone I won't rip him all that much for his lack of improvement on his slap shot since joining the league, but he should have been named the team captain, not the robot.
- Nylander hasn't raised his game come playoffs but at least he doesn't choke and disappear like the top 3 on this list. What's the reward for that? Half the city wanting him traded.

Excellent “state of the Nation” post, when you don’t sugar coat the situation you get a honest assessment of where this stands……….