So what the hell to people want? lol
Define toughness for me in a way that "being tough" would effect the outcome of a hockey game in your favour other than physicality?
If you're talking about mental fortitude then sure they need to be mentally tough, but changing one or two guys doesn't change the whole team and we have to see what happens at playoff time to evaluate that.
If you're talking about being hard on the puck and not giving it up then yes we need to be more consistent.
If you're talking about getting in pointless scrums after the whistles or fighting guys for no reason after clean hits then I would disagree big time.
All of these things are trumped by skill, and if this team plays to their abilities they can beat anybody.
This does seem to be a club that teams think they can rattle if they come out hitting. A team that is perceived as unable to handle that type of game. I have seen games where that appears true and certainly they don't have a lineup that can ever initiate that sort of a game.
Two different toughness arguments, as we can can take the fighter at the end of the bench away in 2019.
One is that an opposition player can erase a Leaf star with impunity. We have seen that is true. These Leafs don't answer the bell and the guys going the running usually aren't particularly tough guys. They don't scrum around the cheap shot guy or knock him down, or throw a big hit themselves the next shift to show they can play that way as well. To a lesser extent the opposition can stand in front of the net and not get knocked around, and will expect a stick check from 5 of the 7 D the Leafs use.
The other is the lineup will only play one way, sink or swim, hoping for a track meet. They will never initiate a physical game to soften up a smaller team or wear down the other clubs D. They don't have a D that rubs players off the puck and leaves them sitting on the ice in the corner. Kind of the opposite of what we see as playoff hockey
Softs as kittens yeah, but it is a softer game these days. I think Babs would have the guys play tougher if he had the lineup, but he doesn't. I don't know that Dubas doesn't see this as well but if you go out desperate for a certain type of player you get scalped more often than not. I think a couple of players can make a difference. I would love to move Barrie out and a less skilled but more physical guy in but those guys are rare and expensive. I would love move out one of of Willie, Kap or AJ out for a much more physical guy who can play decent minutes but you kind of want to move out the worst value player and I have no idea who that is right now.
... if this team plays to their abilities they can beat anybody... who wants to play Leafs hockey. I agree at the top of their game that can beat any club on a given night, but I think they are a bit too one dimensional to translate that to multiple playoff series wins. The lineup lacks balance.
