This just in...The Sky isn't Falling

[IPS]

So many terrified to admit the Keefe honeymoon is over and this team is who we thought they were. At least desperate times will cause much needed change. Thankfully Dubas seems to be aware of his mistakes finally but it might be too late for this season. He can’t be done because we’re still a very broken team and he doesn’t wanna lose his job.

Pile on

You don't think the team will pick it back up after a cold-streak?

 

[Wafflewhipper]

We were just holding the third seed a few days back and then freddy gets injured and then hutch implodes again. Two very winnable games. The red flag went up, Dubas isn’t going to say that but Hutch was overstaying his welcome.

Now we have a better backup and added a physical guy who can play. It turned out better than expected getting two needs at once so i am optimistic.

Now Liljegren might get a opportunity so its refreshing and something to definitely look forward to. Shakes up the room in a good way.

Best thing that could happen now is Freddy comes back quick. Campbell gets his first win as a leaf beforehand and Clifford scores fight for a teammate if necessary.

I will be watching for our guys to play bigger now. They might with Clifford watching their back. Evaluation time again and we need a win streak right now.

 

[Suntouchable13]

People are talking like season is over. Leafs have to go 15-7-6 the rest of the way in order to get 99 points which will be 100% guaranteed playoff spot. Which is very doable. Who knows? Maybe even less will be needed. We don't know. Let's see how things play out. This team can't do 15-7-6 run?

 

[18leafsfan18]

In the last 10 games played Boston, Tampa and Florida are all 7-2-1 (15 of a possible 20 points) while the Leafs are 4-4-2 (10 of a possible 20 points).

That means the 3 Atlantic teams currently holding down the 3 playoff division spots all gained +5 points in the standings over the last 10 games played on our Leafs.

Leafs current total points 63 and Keefe early results/success are already baked into the NHL standings overall, they're not being ignored..

This trending helps explain why Florida has passed the Leafs in the standings and taken the 3rd spot in the ATL Div away from Toronto in this last stretch, and why Leafs are now on the outside looking in.

This trend has to change in Leafs favour because they can't afford to keep playing at .500 hockey past 10 pace and make the playoffs if the teams ahead outperform them down the stretch.

If they win the next 10 I can almost guarantee you will be nowhere near here to show any kind of success.

Always doom and gloom.

Were you in here in December when they had a last 10 of 8-1-1, I don't remember seeing that, but might have missed it.

Or the 10 before this recent stretch 8-1-1 ? (But you call it the Keefe initial bump when its 12 games after his "Initial bump")

You choose to look at the last 10 only because they have sputtered.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

W

So many terrified to admit the Keefe honeymoon is over and this team is who we thought they were. At least desperate times will cause much needed change. Thankfully Dubas seems to be aware of his mistakes finally but it might be too late for this season. He can’t be done because we’re still a very broken team and he doesn’t wanna lose his job.

Pile on

why pile on its true. Nobody uses the injury excuse but i will say we done decent considering. Anybody who thinks management is not still team building is missing something. The team chemistry as a whole is still like every other team (wanting). Teams would like to have our skill trouble and scoring. Most teams need scoring and defense. We only need defense and grit types now. That doesn’t mean they are easy to acquire but Dubas needs to get them and he knows that.

Sorry I didn’t pile on

 

[Polaris1010]

So many terrified to admit the Keefe honeymoon is over and this team is who we thought they were. At least desperate times will cause much needed change. Thankfully Dubas seems to be aware of his mistakes finally but it might be too late for this season. He can’t be done because we’re still a very broken team and he doesn’t wanna lose his job.

Pile on

We can guess who is Dubas in this video clip . . .

 

[Polaris1010]

I will be watching for our guys to play bigger now. They might with Clifford watching their back. Evaluation time again and we need a win streak right now.

But can Clifford still play?

Hope him well, since this is a place where he wants to be. He will give a shit and play his ass off for this team.

But can he still play?

He was never a big name point producer, just a bottom six grinder.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

But can Clifford still play?

Hope him well, since this is a place where he wants to be. He will give a **** and play his ass off for this team.

But can he still play?

He was never a big name point producer, just a bottom six grinder.

Yeah he plays hard every shift still. Never was a big scorer but always was a big contributor if that makes sense!

 

[Wafflewhipper]

We can guess who is Dubas in this video clip . . .

We can guess who Babcock was in that too ha

 

[Polaris1010]

We can guess who Babcock was in that too ha

LOL!

 

[Menzinger]

Leafs fans as a whole have always had issues dealing with losses and unfortunately the unevenness of the seasons has slme folks' emotions running particularly high..

Since the coaching change the team has comfortably been playing at a playpff bound pace amd has rarely lost in regulation (shoot losses tell ypu absolutely nothing about the quality of a team).

And the team has seemingly just helped plug one of their biggest holes

 

[Polaris1010]

And the team has seemingly just helped plug one of their biggest holes

Are you referring to Campbell the goalie?

Personally I do not think he is very good. Just another Hutchinson perhaps.

The LA Kings play good at home, they play a very tight defensive game. The goalie will look decent.

Put the same goalie in the Leafs net, where often the team abandons him, he could get exposed rather quickly.

 

[Menzinger]

Are you referring to Campbell the goalie?

Personally I do not think he is very good. Just another Hutchinson perhaps.

The LA Kings play good at home, they play a very tight defensive game. The goalie will look decent.

Put the same goalie in the Leafs net, where often the team abandons him, he could get exposed rather quickly.

We'll see. but his career numbers tell a different story. Will have to just wait and see.

The Kings are also last place in their division so im not sure if that's an advantage...

 

[Polaris1010]

We'll see. but his career numbers tell a different story. Will have to just wait and see.

The Kings are also last place in their division so im not sure if that's an advantage...

I think Campbell first game in the league was against the Leafs, and he got lit up. Surprised to see him still in the league, so good for him.

Not expecting much to be honest.

 

[egd27]

Win or lose, this time of year shows you who the real character guys are.

That’s a frightening thought

 

[Spargon]

With our insane string of injuries we have literally not iced out best roster a single time all season. If we were healthy and in this spot sure panic. But until I see our actual complete best lineup play for a least a few games I am ok if we miss the playoffs. If we narrowly miss with our decimated roster then our full lineup should be able to coast in.

Also yes team defense isn't rock solid but it never will be. I feel no matter who the Leafs traded for fans will still say that the D sucks and we need to make trades, because guess what? EVERY SINGLE PLAYER makes mistakes and people like to ignore them when they aren't for your team and then once they are here and you see the same errors everyone makes players become trash in peoples eyes. No player is perfect no team is perfect, every game I watch I see the other teams doing the same mistakes we make and people blast us for.

 

[Michael HOMERUNing]

Trending and what have you done for me lately is the reason for some concern.

Leafs have lost 7 of their last 11 games going 4-5-2 during that stretch.

Eastern Conference last 10 games results.

Atlantic Div
Boston, Tampa and Florida are all 7-2-1 while Montreal is 7-3-0

Metro Div
Pittsburgh 8-2-0, Columbus 8-1-1, Philly 7-2-1, Washington 6-3-1 . Carolina 5-4-1 and NYI 4-3-3

Our Leafs are 4-4-2 worst record among all playoff teams and losing ground on everyone in that playoff race.

Or perhaps it would have been quicker to only list the Eastern teams that have performed worst than Leafs L10 games..

Detroit 1-8-1 , Ottawa 2-2-6, and Buffalo 4-6-0 & NJ 3-4-3 .. (2 of our wins came against NJ and Ottawa in OT).

PS.. The coaching change initial bump is long behind us now. We're not playing at that pace were back to .500 hockey in last 10 games.

I'm guessing the reason for a lot of those streaks are really high PDO, which will eventually fall, at least in some of those cases. And the Leafs are without their two most important players right now, one will be back in the next week and the other with still a month of regular season hockey left (hopefully)

 

[HoweHullOrr]

Win or lose, this time of year shows you who the real character guys are.

That’s a frightening thought

I don't know if its frightening or not. But, from this point forward, the games will get harder. The battle level will get higher, and there will be less time and space. We need to start playing playoff hockey now, not the brand we displayed against the Rangers.

 

[LeafsNation75]

Leafs fans as a whole have always had issues dealing with losses and unfortunately the unevenness of the seasons has slme folks' emotions running particularly high..

Since the coaching change the team has comfortably been playing at a playpff bound pace amd has rarely lost in regulation (shoot losses tell ypu absolutely nothing about the quality of a team).

And the team has seemingly just helped plug one of their biggest holes

Two of their shootout loses they deserved to win.

Against Winnipeg they had the lead going into the final shooter for the Jets in the 3rd round and if he missed or Andersen made a save, they win that game.

Against Calgary they were unlucky that David Rittich was playing like a prime Dominik Hasek or Patrick Roy, because they had some great scoring chances in regulation and overtime.

 

[egd27]

I don't know if its frightening or not. But, from this point forward, the games will get harder. The battle level will get higher, and there will be less time and space. We need to start playing playoff hockey now, not the brand we displayed against the Rangers.

Not only that, we can’t blame Babcock any more.

At least we still have Lou to take some heat for forcing Dubas to take and keep Ceci.

 

[HoweHullOrr]

Not only that, we can’t blame Babcock any more.

At least we still have Lou to take some heat for forcing Dubas to take and keep Ceci.

I think we'll always be creative and find someone or something to blame.

 

[LeafsNation75]

Not only that, we can’t blame Babcock any more.

At least we still have Lou to take some heat for forcing Dubas to take and keep Ceci.

What if Toronto ends up missing the playoffs by 1 point? Can Babcock not be blamed since he cost them wins by always starting Hutchinson on the second night of a back to back no matter what. One of those examples was in October when he played him against Boston on the second night, even though Andersen has a 12-3 regular season record against them and those were 2 points they lost in the standings.

 

[egd27]

I think we'll always be creative and find someone or something to blame.

That Rask for Raycroft trade I’ll tell ya

And to your point....... see above.

 

[Nithoniniel]

I like the overall tone of the OP. I think saying that our team is massively flawed is a huge overstatement though. Massively flawed teams aren't good, and we are.

Somehow, we've become underrated even by our own fans.

 

[HoweHullOrr]

That Rask for Raycroft trade I’ll tell ya

And to your point....... see above.

Oh for sure. Babcock, injuries, refs, etc. - we'll always find something.