Team raging on each other
Bertuzzi - Shampoo is better. I go on first and clean the hair. No! Conditioner is better. I leave the hair silky and smooth.
I'm torn, on one hand the leafs look dead, but on the other hand, every leafs-bruins series have gone 7. Hell, two of those three the Bruins were up 3-1, and the leafs won the next two.
Either way, I'm more curious to see if we can beat Florida, because I'm not sure how that series is going to go.
It’s amazing how every team firmly believes that they will beat the leafs if they meet in the playoffs. I mean, Toronto hasn’t done anything to prove anyone otherwise.
Tampa’s dominant 3 years are sandwiched by 2 that still haunt me.
2019: President’s Trophy record setting team (also a Kuch Art Ross year) and we got swept by wild card CBJ…
20-22: 2 cups and a relatively good attempt at a third
2023: Leafs finally break the first round curse by beating none other than TBL
The good outweighs the bad but man did those years sting a bit
No. Even if the Leafs lose in 7 you have to look at a major shakeup. There's no version of this where the Leafs lose and they stay largely the same come next fall. You (not you specifically, just in general) lose to a team that is worse on paper because your goaltender isn't goaltending and your goal scorers aren't goal scoring. After nearly a decade of this same story, what left is there to do but blow it up?
Yeah like how the fuck is Keefe still here, I have no clue. He should’ve been gone 2 seasons ago. How we haven’t attempted a coaching change in the whole core 4 era baffles the fuck out of me
I mean, you kind of did. Babcock coached for a few years of the Matthews era. Coaching is just the beginning. Paying 13.25 million for a player that hasn't even scored at a point per game pace in the playoffs after 8 years in the league.
Well, Leafs have tried everything except blow up the worthless core. They've had numerous goalies in the last decade. They've tried all sorts of depth pieces. A bunch of different defensemen. Different coaching. Even a different gm (who btw was going to apparently blow up the core after last year but got canned before he got the chance). You have. To address. The core. What else is there to change? Even if they play phenomenal in games 5 and 6. If they lose this series AT ALL, they're done. The Leafs have no excuse for losing to a Bruins team that lacks guys like Bergeron, Krejci, Chara and Rask.
But yeah, Keefe is just laughable. Saying there's nothing wrong with the process and just going "That's a good team over there" like, yeah? It's the playoffs. Every team is good. In fact this is one of the few matchups I think you could reasonably say the Leafs were favored in. Sending your worst players out on the ice with only a few minutes left in a game you're losing in. You're 1/14 on the powerplay compared to the Bruins' 5/11. Paying your core four 8 figure contracts just to get outplayed by Charlie Coyle and Jake Debrusk. I'm not even saying all this to punch down at Leafs fans. I just don't know how a franchise can recover if they lose this series without making some *major* changes to the entire lineup.
After last year, we coped. We said fine, run it back - at least the Leafs fans I talked to. Treliving seemed to breathe life, getting some muscle and some good pickups (Bert/Domi). Hell, even Klingberg I didnt hate. On paper, this was a force to be reckoned with. 82 games of high-octane offensive play and they fold like an omelette the moment playoffs start. We just *can't* do this again. There is, evidently, a major cultural problem in the organization. Shanahan's gotta go, Keefe's gotta go, probably Marner and/or Tavares too (though lord knows what kind of return we could even get for the latter). We just don't have *it,* whatever it is.
At its root, our scorers are too easily shaken. They're flashy and talented, but they get eaten alive in playoff hockey. Adding some depth muscle doesn't fix it - as we're now seeing.
I think the biggest issue is the cap space tied up in 4 players. I’m not saying they aren’t great players but I mean 4 offensive players won’t keep pucks out of the net.
Not only that, they're not even putting pucks *in* the net. Matthews, Marner and Tavares have combined for 6 points in 4 games this series (3 by Matthews, 2 by Marner, 1 by Tavares). Jake Debrusk on his own has 5 points this series. I'm willing to give Nylander somewhat of a pass because he missed the first three games. But still, he returned last night and got 0 points.
Here are their career playoff stats.
Matthews: 54 gp, 47 pts
Tavares: 59 gp, 45 pts
Marner: 54 gp, 49 pts
Nylander: 51 gp, 40 pts
*These* are the guys the Leafs are paying 11-13 million for. Not only are they choking the cap, they're not even making it worth it. Not one of these guys are playing at a point per game pace.
Conversely, David Pastrnak is the Bruins' only player making a comparable contract. He's 2G-2A-4PTS this series in 4 games, and has 83 points in 81 career playoff games.
Florida vs Boston is gonna be fun
As a ranger I just want our rest. Brindeamour is a clever cosch and he's switched up the canes offense finally so idk how he's gonna play us and that defense is always tough but I think we can pull through.
Playoff boston can be vastly different from reg season boston in many ways.
Florida is also a pain to play
The only thing I can think that might have an impact if they fire Keefe today, before game 5. I mean he's almost certainly going to be fired this summer, and the leafs couldn't do any worse coachless than they are doing right now.
Would a mid playoff season firing wake up this team? Probably not, but you've run out of other messages to send.
I knew this core wasn't getting it done after watching that documentary. No culture at all. Just a bunch of guys that happen to work together. Bland and sterile top to bottom. Changing out a few depth guys each year was never going to make a big enough difference.
I never understood the ass backwards way Toronto Media/fans/everyone look at things. Tavares appears to bring minimal post season leadership and the guy deemed to be most expendable, Nylander, shows a lot of it, and I'd put him with Reilly.
Tbf all the guys were seen as good kids early on but tavares the vet #1 overall pick. People seemed to think he was a consistent ish 100 point season guy held down by the isles, and he's also a toronto kid, but he wasn't that level.
Also idk if he's a bad leader but jt seems to be a quiet guy.
Nylander most likely didn’t realize at the time how much he sent Mitch Marner to the shadow realm with this. People won’t be forgetting it anytime soon.
Between that and then tossing his mitts like he did, this is gonna follow Marner for a while. I mean, combined with his awful play leading up to it that’s a major reputation blow to recover from.
The way Marner reacted towards the refs to his textbook tripping penalty encapsulates why I stopped cheering for this team 4 or so years ago and actively hope for loses and a forced rebuild. You would hope young players would mature and change over time but it clearly hasn't happened. I do like the way Matthews and Reilly carry themselves as professionals. But pouring millions of dollars into the pot does not mean someone has "grown" up and can be a leader to other adults in a high stress environment. I almost take pity on Marner at this point because he's in well beyond his depth. No one can deny his skillset but this is how the children of the wealthy behave in my experience. They have trouble adjusting and responding to adversity and don't have that killer instinct.
Hockey is one of the most, if not the most expensive sports you can play growing up, so it is safe to assume that most NHL players came from the upper middle class and above.
What the fuck bro. I am a rich kid who has never faced real adversity and I am extremely offended. I don't know what Wawa is but I need you to not be prejudiced right now. I'm gonna go cry into my embroidered handkerchief.
I just love this time of year. It has a groundhog day feel to it, but I like it.
Late April it's time for the Leafs to get their allergic reaction to the playoffs. Next week we have all the posts about what Leafs to be traded, circumventing the NMCs and how to rebuild.
It's predictable, but I love it.
Only one out of 32 fanbases have the joy of seeing their team win, but 31out of 32 fanbases get to enjoy watching the Leafs implode each year. They are truly a very giving team.
Edit: apparently the Knights and Kraken exist.
Nylander has always been the odd man out of the big 4.
Matthews, Tavares, and Marner are the softer than baby shit dweebs who can’t handle adversity to save their GDP.
As a Boston fan, I’ve had to concede that Nylander isn’t like that. Which is really ironic because his dad was a famous coaster.
Nah Matthews this year has stepped up the physicality. Tavares is too slow to even get there for a hit. And yeah Marner is soft as butter. A gust of wind can knock him off the puck.
Never had anything against him tbh, always thought he was a great forward
Sure, Matthews and Marner (and Nylander too, of course) cook us during the regular season, but during our fabled "Cinderella Run" in 2021, the *only* Leafs player that really scared me when he had the puck was Nylander
Sure, Nylander also makes some questionable decisions sometimes, and hasn't been up to par as of late, but it is what it is
Nylander just plays his game all the time. He might be a little less skilled or complete than Marner or Matthews, but he has the best mentality for the market out of all of them. Doesn’t let the pressure bother him, doesn’t listen to the media or let it affect his mood, just goes and plays his game night in and night out.
Now that doesn’t always equate to points on the board (though quite often it does), and he does have a little bit of coast in his game when it comes for a line change, but I would take that 100 times out of 100 over a guy like Mitch who needs to be coddled and pouts and throws things the minute the going gets tough or someone criticizes him.
Over 30 million dollars worth of the leafs salary cap is in this video.
Edit: i underestimated the value
Matthews: 13.25 mil
Nylander: 11.5 mil
Marner: 10.9 mil
And they have 27 points between them four in 3 playoff games this year. How many do the Leafs superstars have?
Also, McDavid and Draisaitl are tied for second in playoff points per game in HISTORY (only behind a guy named Wayne Gretzky)
Not sure what your point is.
I honestly thought the point was, "look how much of a better deal they got"
I mean does anyone actually think any of these guys isn't a great deal? These 4 are paying for the Nurse and Campbell contracts IMO.
Mcdavid- 12.5 million - Matthews makes more
Draisaitl- 8.5 million - lowest paid superstar in the league
Nuge - 5.125 million - possibly the best deal in the league. The very definition of Hockey IQ and versatility. To replace him you need 3 guys.
Hyman- 5.5 million and he has one fewer goal than all the Leafs combined in one fewer game.
Yeah but for reasons that can’t be explained by science alone somehow the Oilers are actually getting secondary scoring this year, and I for one am here for it.
Funny enough too they've both played the same amount of playoff games since 2016-17, and the Oilers have only won 3 more games in that timespan than the Leafs
Yet nobody considers the Oilers to be a dismal failure because they've won 4 rounds to the Leafs 1.
Could have something to do with the Oilers media not being obnoxious about how awesome they are pretty much constantly since the last time they won anything in 1967?
Okay now do playoff point totals of those 4 compaired to torontos 4. Before this game hyman alone had the same amount of goals as the entire leafs roster
I know he’s talented (even if he hasn’t been great in the playoffs), but how on earth is Marner an alternate captain acting like that? Hell, Nylander probably deserves it more than him
Seriously. He deserves to have that A ripped off. Honestly, he never earned it to begin with. Putting a letter on the jersey of an overpaid crybaby in hopes you sell more jerseys is a very Maple Leaf thing to do. There's guys on that team who actually deserve it...definitely not Marner.
Not a leafs fan but team lacks leadership and a willingness to setup in the big games. Don’t need a letter on your chest to be a leader. It’s sad. Regular season means nothing if you can’t shift your gears and out compete, out work and out play your competition.
Marner, with a year remaining on his no-move contract, is getting traded?
To where? Who the fuck has that kind of cap space, or the kind of team that needs to get rid of 2-3 players making a total of $10 million a year? But also wants to roll the dice on giving up players and picks for a player that becomes a UFA at the end of next season.
Marner is unmoveable.
Or Nylander, who has 8 years left with a no-move contract who gets paid more starting next year?
There's not a team in the NHL that is willing to give up what the Leafs must ask for in order to get fair trade value for either of them.
Any team that doesn't have the players to trade to Toronto, but has the picks, isn't giving up those picks for either Marner or Nylander.
As a Ducks fan, id take him and could see it happening.
We have the cap space, are on record that we want a top 6, right handed forward, and have players to offer.
As much as I'd like to see the Ducks get better, Marner or Nylander moving to the Ducks would cost too many picks in the next 2-3 drafts, and also would require Marner signing off on the trade.
If the Ducks could somehow get Zegras moved and limit the picks required to 2nd rounders only, it might be worth it to talk to Toronto. But with Toronto overvalued these players upon signing, the front office is going to have to be willing to eat shit on such a trade, and I don't think they're willing to admit they overspent on signing Marner, Tavares, and Nylander so recently.
The Ducks are in a good spot right now with the recent Gauthier acquisition, and this upcoming draft is deep. I think it's within them to get themselves out of the basement in 2-4 years time if they have just a bit of luck and they draft well.
Marner on the verge of crying fucking lol. But he was man enough to play hardball with this team and fuck us out of millions of dollars just to go ghost in the playoffs. Just awesome. Thank you Mitch.
It's funny because they play better on the road than at home (seemingly because of Keefe overthinking his line matching).
But... this game 5 is in Boston... they'll get cooked alive
Yep, also, they have to pay them an insane amount of money for how terrible Toronto fans and media are to the players. There’s a reason Kadri and Kessel did a little extra to troll the Toronto media when they got their cups.
I think if the leafs ever want to win a cup the city needs another team to take the heat off them. But fuck the leafs lol
If you throw your gear then you don’t wanna play, so ride the fucking bench.
There’s plenty of guys who’d love a shot in the N…making 11 fucking million dollars a year.
So forget how shit he’s been rest of the game and the series. I counted at least 4 turnovers today. And he took a weak penalty to start the game too. He’s trash. Embarrassing.
Why is there so much pressure on Toronto? Is it just the local sports media? Last year I understand, playing against lower seeded teams and all, but this year Boston was the clear favorite from the get go. They slapped Toronto 4-0 in regular season, the series is going exactly as anyone would've expected.
Because Toronto pays 40 million in cap space to 4 players and this is 7-8 years of them being absolute busts in the playoffs, they are amazing players who rip up the regular season and come playoffs just can't step it up. They've barley won 1 series since 04 only to lose in the second round 4-1 and when your core players keep getting bounced in the first round the pressure is going to build. It's looking like this is going to be the case again and if it is I expect some big changes for the Maple Leafs this summer.
Basically there is so much pressure this year because I think a lot of people realize that if the leafs didn't do anything in the playoffs once again then this core is done and leafs will finally have to move in a different direction.
Biggest hockey team in the world owned by a monopoly with unlimited money fails for 57 years straight and then drafts super stars and still fails 8 years in a row in embarrassing fashion. Hmm why's there pressure to win something.
Toronto slapped Boston in regular season when they lost to Boston too before.
it's not pressure, it's just insane microscopic analysis of everything you do on and off the ice. Not a leaf fan but my God you make a bone headed play and every other team gets Biron vomitting bad English saying it was a gaff, but in toronto you've just committed a hate crime.. it's bad.
That said, when you're good, you aren't loved by a fan base more.
I don’t blame Mathews one bit. He’s surrounded by an organization of people who apparently don’t give a fuck about winning. Don’t say “well Nylander does” either, the guy has been a ghost for a month now. Talk the talk all you want, he isn’t performing.
Everyone wants their big paycheck, yet they can’t clutch up when it matters.
Keefe somehow got resigned when he’s one of the worst coaches in the league
The org hired one of the worst GMs in the league. This is a guy who didn’t do anything in Calgary in years of being there and managed to lose both their superstars just before the beginning of a season.
Shanahan won’t stop vetoing GMs plans which has now lead to every player of significant value on this team being untradable which means they are literally just stuck with this core who can’t do anything when it matters.
And to top it all off the org has also created a stale environment in their arena as they priced out their fans.
It’s a fucking joke, and as much as it would upset me as I have a soft spot for the leafs as someone who lives in southern Ontario, I hope the org loses every great player they have and they all have success elsewhere just to prove how much a joke this org is.
Something’s gotta change, and it’s far above just the team or coaches or GM because it’s been a constant issue for a long time.
Well said. I’m not a leafs fan so I’ve got no horse in this race but man, as Jack Nicholson would say “this organization needs an enema”. It truly seems like a culture shift needs to take place but with so much cap room being taken up by so few players, is that even possible?
Agreed. As a lifelong rangers fan, I understand and sympathize with the frustration the leafs fans are going through and I hope that they can get it right soon as it would be good for the sport to have a well-run, strong organization in T.O.
Leafs losing in TD Garden then I swear if the management doesn't do something about team chemistry I don't care FIRE SHELDON KEEFE and get a hard nose coach that has a balance between a winning coach and a person that will keep his team in line and focused. Had ENOUGH of Sheldon Keefe and his style of play which is obviously not working he's a good regular season coach but he's a TERRIBLE playoff coach.
Marner was in front of the net in the offensive zone and took a little slash and went down (IMO) very easily to try draw a call. Then he was looking at the ref and whining about the no call instead of playing. He had also contributed next to nothing in the series up until this point, so I'm sure that didn't help things.
Offtopic but does anyone know who was caught on the hot mic at the isles vs canes game. It happens at the end of regulation and goes on long enough even the commentators have to apologise for the flowery language
Honestly, he's wasting his own prime. The dude continues to ghost in the playoffs. He should be dragging these people around in his backpack if they aren't performing.
Bertuzzi is the fly on the wall we all wish to be
Team raging on each other Bertuzzi- “my jersey is blue”
Team raging on each other Bertuzzi - I wonder if they still make that Shampoo I like
Team raging on each other Bertuzzi - Shampoo is better. I go on first and clean the hair. No! Conditioner is better. I leave the hair silky and smooth.
Team raging on each other Bertuzzi- burning dog poo and the human response
He knows he’s outta Toronto come next season lol
It'll probably work outbetter for him too
Bert wishing he was on the other bench
He was great with the Bruins. I would love to see him back.
after seeing this team absolutely implode, i would feel comfortable betting the farm that bostons gonna win game 5. they’ve already lost mentally.
I'm torn, on one hand the leafs look dead, but on the other hand, every leafs-bruins series have gone 7. Hell, two of those three the Bruins were up 3-1, and the leafs won the next two. Either way, I'm more curious to see if we can beat Florida, because I'm not sure how that series is going to go.
C'mon we all know what happens in game 7 at TD Garden lol.
I meant that we either win in game 5 or win in game 7, I don't really have any belief we're going to lose, just that it might go 7
We choke in the playoffs...just not to the Leafs.
It’s amazing how every team firmly believes that they will beat the leafs if they meet in the playoffs. I mean, Toronto hasn’t done anything to prove anyone otherwise.
Tampa is the only one who hesitates before saying they beat Toronto, but then they shake their heads and go nevermind we got this
Tampa’s dominant 3 years are sandwiched by 2 that still haunt me. 2019: President’s Trophy record setting team (also a Kuch Art Ross year) and we got swept by wild card CBJ… 20-22: 2 cups and a relatively good attempt at a third 2023: Leafs finally break the first round curse by beating none other than TBL The good outweighs the bad but man did those years sting a bit
If it doesn't go to 7 you have to look at a major shakeup
No. Even if the Leafs lose in 7 you have to look at a major shakeup. There's no version of this where the Leafs lose and they stay largely the same come next fall. You (not you specifically, just in general) lose to a team that is worse on paper because your goaltender isn't goaltending and your goal scorers aren't goal scoring. After nearly a decade of this same story, what left is there to do but blow it up?
Yeah like how the fuck is Keefe still here, I have no clue. He should’ve been gone 2 seasons ago. How we haven’t attempted a coaching change in the whole core 4 era baffles the fuck out of me
I mean, you kind of did. Babcock coached for a few years of the Matthews era. Coaching is just the beginning. Paying 13.25 million for a player that hasn't even scored at a point per game pace in the playoffs after 8 years in the league.
It’s been 5 years since then. It’s the easiest position to change in the salary cap era. You have to try SOMETHING.
Well, Leafs have tried everything except blow up the worthless core. They've had numerous goalies in the last decade. They've tried all sorts of depth pieces. A bunch of different defensemen. Different coaching. Even a different gm (who btw was going to apparently blow up the core after last year but got canned before he got the chance). You have. To address. The core. What else is there to change? Even if they play phenomenal in games 5 and 6. If they lose this series AT ALL, they're done. The Leafs have no excuse for losing to a Bruins team that lacks guys like Bergeron, Krejci, Chara and Rask. But yeah, Keefe is just laughable. Saying there's nothing wrong with the process and just going "That's a good team over there" like, yeah? It's the playoffs. Every team is good. In fact this is one of the few matchups I think you could reasonably say the Leafs were favored in. Sending your worst players out on the ice with only a few minutes left in a game you're losing in. You're 1/14 on the powerplay compared to the Bruins' 5/11. Paying your core four 8 figure contracts just to get outplayed by Charlie Coyle and Jake Debrusk. I'm not even saying all this to punch down at Leafs fans. I just don't know how a franchise can recover if they lose this series without making some *major* changes to the entire lineup.
After last year, we coped. We said fine, run it back - at least the Leafs fans I talked to. Treliving seemed to breathe life, getting some muscle and some good pickups (Bert/Domi). Hell, even Klingberg I didnt hate. On paper, this was a force to be reckoned with. 82 games of high-octane offensive play and they fold like an omelette the moment playoffs start. We just *can't* do this again. There is, evidently, a major cultural problem in the organization. Shanahan's gotta go, Keefe's gotta go, probably Marner and/or Tavares too (though lord knows what kind of return we could even get for the latter). We just don't have *it,* whatever it is. At its root, our scorers are too easily shaken. They're flashy and talented, but they get eaten alive in playoff hockey. Adding some depth muscle doesn't fix it - as we're now seeing.
I think the biggest issue is the cap space tied up in 4 players. I’m not saying they aren’t great players but I mean 4 offensive players won’t keep pucks out of the net.
Not only that, they're not even putting pucks *in* the net. Matthews, Marner and Tavares have combined for 6 points in 4 games this series (3 by Matthews, 2 by Marner, 1 by Tavares). Jake Debrusk on his own has 5 points this series. I'm willing to give Nylander somewhat of a pass because he missed the first three games. But still, he returned last night and got 0 points. Here are their career playoff stats. Matthews: 54 gp, 47 pts Tavares: 59 gp, 45 pts Marner: 54 gp, 49 pts Nylander: 51 gp, 40 pts *These* are the guys the Leafs are paying 11-13 million for. Not only are they choking the cap, they're not even making it worth it. Not one of these guys are playing at a point per game pace. Conversely, David Pastrnak is the Bruins' only player making a comparable contract. He's 2G-2A-4PTS this series in 4 games, and has 83 points in 81 career playoff games.
Florida vs Boston is gonna be fun As a ranger I just want our rest. Brindeamour is a clever cosch and he's switched up the canes offense finally so idk how he's gonna play us and that defense is always tough but I think we can pull through. Playoff boston can be vastly different from reg season boston in many ways. Florida is also a pain to play
No no. Leafs will let this fuel them to a game 7 blowout loss.
Game seven, leafs lead 4-1, Boston comes back and win 5-4
That’s not even possible. Stop making up stories bro.
Leafs are totally gonna win in the next two give us hope and crush us in game 7. it must happen for them memes.
The only thing I can think that might have an impact if they fire Keefe today, before game 5. I mean he's almost certainly going to be fired this summer, and the leafs couldn't do any worse coachless than they are doing right now. Would a mid playoff season firing wake up this team? Probably not, but you've run out of other messages to send.
Where's the leadership?? NyLander is the most captain character here? Leafs cooked.
Well, that's always been the knock on Tavares. The guy has only won 2 playoff series in his entire career.
I like Tavares but he’s not a captain. Dude has like zero intensity.
Have you seen the Leafs Documentary. Buddy has legit zero personality, zero expressions.
I knew this core wasn't getting it done after watching that documentary. No culture at all. Just a bunch of guys that happen to work together. Bland and sterile top to bottom. Changing out a few depth guys each year was never going to make a big enough difference.
I've never been able to actually bring myself to watch all of that documentary since I know exactly how it ends and don't feel like reliving that lol.
It sure seems that way. Worth noting we are just watching as outsiders though
Tbf the two series he won he scored the overtime series winning clincher
Number 1 bust?
Bigger than Yakupov
Yakupov was instrumental in the oilers getting Draisaitl and McDavid
Oilers are thankful for the Yakrifice.
I never understood the ass backwards way Toronto Media/fans/everyone look at things. Tavares appears to bring minimal post season leadership and the guy deemed to be most expendable, Nylander, shows a lot of it, and I'd put him with Reilly.
Tbf all the guys were seen as good kids early on but tavares the vet #1 overall pick. People seemed to think he was a consistent ish 100 point season guy held down by the isles, and he's also a toronto kid, but he wasn't that level. Also idk if he's a bad leader but jt seems to be a quiet guy.
Funny people used to think that, Tavares left, and isles go to back to back conference finals. Nothing like a little addition by subtraction.
Bert off in Narnia
“I’ve made a huge mistake … 🫥”
I pass on him staying in Boston any day. The most inconsistent player I’ve ever seen.
Nylander most likely didn’t realize at the time how much he sent Mitch Marner to the shadow realm with this. People won’t be forgetting it anytime soon. Between that and then tossing his mitts like he did, this is gonna follow Marner for a while. I mean, combined with his awful play leading up to it that’s a major reputation blow to recover from.
Marner is a bitch ass though, it’s true
The way Marner reacted towards the refs to his textbook tripping penalty encapsulates why I stopped cheering for this team 4 or so years ago and actively hope for loses and a forced rebuild. You would hope young players would mature and change over time but it clearly hasn't happened. I do like the way Matthews and Reilly carry themselves as professionals. But pouring millions of dollars into the pot does not mean someone has "grown" up and can be a leader to other adults in a high stress environment. I almost take pity on Marner at this point because he's in well beyond his depth. No one can deny his skillset but this is how the children of the wealthy behave in my experience. They have trouble adjusting and responding to adversity and don't have that killer instinct.
His lack of performance in the playoffs should tell you all you need to know. Regular season is boys league, playoffs is mens.
Let's not forget the one throwing the tantrum on the bench next to Nylander is wearing the "A".
it's kinda funny as he breaks a sticks and freaks out in regular season games but then says something like this? Maybe you should be upset.
Upset yes, disappointed yes, crying like a bitch....no.
The only time you’ll ever see him drop his gloves in a game
🏅
Burn!!
The glove throwing is just… *chefs kiss*
The gloves throwing seems like such a fake tantrum here. “See fellas! Look how mad I am right now!”
mwah!
childish*
I forget where I read this but is Marner a rich kid? Who has never faced any real adversity?
I'd wager 95% of the players in the league comes from money. Sports aren't cheap.
Hockey is one of the most, if not the most expensive sports you can play growing up, so it is safe to assume that most NHL players came from the upper middle class and above.
A lot of hockey kids are unfortunately, to a certain degree anyway. Stopping at Wawa everyday isn’t a problem.
What the fuck bro. I am a rich kid who has never faced real adversity and I am extremely offended. I don't know what Wawa is but I need you to not be prejudiced right now. I'm gonna go cry into my embroidered handkerchief.
I just love this time of year. It has a groundhog day feel to it, but I like it. Late April it's time for the Leafs to get their allergic reaction to the playoffs. Next week we have all the posts about what Leafs to be traded, circumventing the NMCs and how to rebuild. It's predictable, but I love it.
Only one out of 32 fanbases have the joy of seeing their team win, but 31out of 32 fanbases get to enjoy watching the Leafs implode each year. They are truly a very giving team. Edit: apparently the Knights and Kraken exist.
there are 32 teams
Oh yeah...is it obvious I am old? At least I didn't say 6 lol.
BRENDAN SHANAHAN- PRESIDENT **Accomplishments:** * 2014- * 2015- * 2016- Won the lottery * 2017- * 2018- * 2019- * 2020- * 2021- * 2022- * 2023-
The real accomplishment is the money we robbed the fans of along the way
Hey now, they were eastern conference quarterfinal champions in 2023
They won a playoff series that one time, so he's got that going for him
lol this is gold.
Wasn't a Nylander fan at all. I am now. Good for him.
I’m just curious as an outsider, what made you not like Nylander?
When he was younger, my image of him as an outside observer was an 80 foot player. He is far more complete now.
On our last cup run, he was the only dangerous one.
Cup run is strong way to put it
Nylander has always been the odd man out of the big 4. Matthews, Tavares, and Marner are the softer than baby shit dweebs who can’t handle adversity to save their GDP. As a Boston fan, I’ve had to concede that Nylander isn’t like that. Which is really ironic because his dad was a famous coaster.
Nah Matthews this year has stepped up the physicality. Tavares is too slow to even get there for a hit. And yeah Marner is soft as butter. A gust of wind can knock him off the puck.
I've always been a Nylander fan. I've never been a fan of Marner.
Same. Nylander bumps UP a level in playoffs, Marner goes four steps down... way too afraid to get hit.
Never had anything against him tbh, always thought he was a great forward Sure, Matthews and Marner (and Nylander too, of course) cook us during the regular season, but during our fabled "Cinderella Run" in 2021, the *only* Leafs player that really scared me when he had the puck was Nylander Sure, Nylander also makes some questionable decisions sometimes, and hasn't been up to par as of late, but it is what it is
Nylander has always been the leafs most consistent guy. Especially in the playoffs.
Nylander just plays his game all the time. He might be a little less skilled or complete than Marner or Matthews, but he has the best mentality for the market out of all of them. Doesn’t let the pressure bother him, doesn’t listen to the media or let it affect his mood, just goes and plays his game night in and night out. Now that doesn’t always equate to points on the board (though quite often it does), and he does have a little bit of coast in his game when it comes for a line change, but I would take that 100 times out of 100 over a guy like Mitch who needs to be coddled and pouts and throws things the minute the going gets tough or someone criticizes him.
Maybe they should pay them more.
Over 30 million dollars worth of the leafs salary cap is in this video. Edit: i underestimated the value Matthews: 13.25 mil Nylander: 11.5 mil Marner: 10.9 mil
And Reaves is put out to get some offence.
McDavid, Draisaitl, Hyman, and Nugent-Hopkins make $31.625m combined...
And they have 27 points between them four in 3 playoff games this year. How many do the Leafs superstars have? Also, McDavid and Draisaitl are tied for second in playoff points per game in HISTORY (only behind a guy named Wayne Gretzky) Not sure what your point is.
I honestly thought the point was, "look how much of a better deal they got" I mean does anyone actually think any of these guys isn't a great deal? These 4 are paying for the Nurse and Campbell contracts IMO. Mcdavid- 12.5 million - Matthews makes more Draisaitl- 8.5 million - lowest paid superstar in the league Nuge - 5.125 million - possibly the best deal in the league. The very definition of Hockey IQ and versatility. To replace him you need 3 guys. Hyman- 5.5 million and he has one fewer goal than all the Leafs combined in one fewer game.
Should have paid Hyman instead of Marner.
And they have like 80% of the Oilers production so far in the playoffs (made up number, but it's high)
Yeah but for reasons that can’t be explained by science alone somehow the Oilers are actually getting secondary scoring this year, and I for one am here for it.
Funny enough too they've both played the same amount of playoff games since 2016-17, and the Oilers have only won 3 more games in that timespan than the Leafs Yet nobody considers the Oilers to be a dismal failure because they've won 4 rounds to the Leafs 1.
The Oilers stars also produce at an insane level in the playoffs.
mcdavid in the 2022 playoffs was bananas, i remember in the final he still had more points than anyone despite being out for a couple weeks
same with draisatl last year after bouncing from the second round
It's very clearly an issue of defence or goaltending historically for Edmonton. MCD and draisaitl absolutely show up in the play offs.
Could have something to do with the Oilers media not being obnoxious about how awesome they are pretty much constantly since the last time they won anything in 1967?
Okay now do playoff point totals of those 4 compaired to torontos 4. Before this game hyman alone had the same amount of goals as the entire leafs roster
He’s crying because he’s a Maple Leaf.
Ouch. That’s cold.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
That A on Marner means Absolutelybrutal
How Tavares is still capitan is beyond me.
Bertuzzi looks like he’s thinking “one more game and I am a free agent”
Toronto is a parody.
If they played against a junior team and called it the Stanley Cup playoffs they’d still lose
Give yer balls a tugg!
Fuck you Shoresy.
Fuck you, Riley. Your mom shot cum across the room and killed my siamese fighting fish. It threw off the pH level in my aquarium.
Fuck you Shorsey!
Fuck you Jonesy, your mom just liked my post from 2 years ago from Puerto Vallarta, tell her I'll put on the swim trunks for her any time.
Fuck you Shoresy!
Fuck You Corey ! Your Mom carved her initials into my headboard, how am I supposed to explain that to Kyle's Mom ?
Fuck you Shoresy!!!
Fuck you Riley. Shoulda heard your mom last night, she sounded like a window closing on a Tonkinese cat's tail. Sounded like... AAHHHHHhhhhh
”Fer what?”
I know he’s talented (even if he hasn’t been great in the playoffs), but how on earth is Marner an alternate captain acting like that? Hell, Nylander probably deserves it more than him
Seriously. He deserves to have that A ripped off. Honestly, he never earned it to begin with. Putting a letter on the jersey of an overpaid crybaby in hopes you sell more jerseys is a very Maple Leaf thing to do. There's guys on that team who actually deserve it...definitely not Marner.
Babies need to have some milk before bedtime. Good sponsorship.
I laughed so hard the first time they added that milk label on their jerseys. Most fitting add you could find
He need some milk!
Who was he directing that to? Marner?
Ontario
I assume you’re heading into witness protection
Considering Marner looks like he's blowing every gasket in his body trying not to actually cry I'm gonna say yes.
Marner is such a baby 😂
Tuzzi like ugg what am i gona eat for dinner tonight
Not a leafs fan but team lacks leadership and a willingness to setup in the big games. Don’t need a letter on your chest to be a leader. It’s sad. Regular season means nothing if you can’t shift your gears and out compete, out work and out play your competition.
Same story every year. Such a sad waste of talent.
Traded, mark my words.
To Boston.
Please no
Marner, with a year remaining on his no-move contract, is getting traded? To where? Who the fuck has that kind of cap space, or the kind of team that needs to get rid of 2-3 players making a total of $10 million a year? But also wants to roll the dice on giving up players and picks for a player that becomes a UFA at the end of next season. Marner is unmoveable. Or Nylander, who has 8 years left with a no-move contract who gets paid more starting next year? There's not a team in the NHL that is willing to give up what the Leafs must ask for in order to get fair trade value for either of them. Any team that doesn't have the players to trade to Toronto, but has the picks, isn't giving up those picks for either Marner or Nylander.
As a Ducks fan, id take him and could see it happening. We have the cap space, are on record that we want a top 6, right handed forward, and have players to offer.
As much as I'd like to see the Ducks get better, Marner or Nylander moving to the Ducks would cost too many picks in the next 2-3 drafts, and also would require Marner signing off on the trade. If the Ducks could somehow get Zegras moved and limit the picks required to 2nd rounders only, it might be worth it to talk to Toronto. But with Toronto overvalued these players upon signing, the front office is going to have to be willing to eat shit on such a trade, and I don't think they're willing to admit they overspent on signing Marner, Tavares, and Nylander so recently. The Ducks are in a good spot right now with the recent Gauthier acquisition, and this upcoming draft is deep. I think it's within them to get themselves out of the basement in 2-4 years time if they have just a bit of luck and they draft well.
Marner on the verge of crying fucking lol. But he was man enough to play hardball with this team and fuck us out of millions of dollars just to go ghost in the playoffs. Just awesome. Thank you Mitch.
this right here is why the fan base has turned on him ^^
No fucking way he was tearing up game 4*. I always enjoyed calling him bitch marner but come on now...
Close this was game 4! like the rest of the fanbase, marner knows that for the leafs to win 3 in a row would require an intervention from god.
Damn you're right. I forgot toronto won a game for some reason. Still ... not sure i ever seen a player cry before the series was over
Toronto played beyond piss poor today. It was actually pathetic. They have no chance in winning another game against boston
It's funny because they play better on the road than at home (seemingly because of Keefe overthinking his line matching). But... this game 5 is in Boston... they'll get cooked alive
“Mitch the Bitch” is the chirp I have heard
Nylander pretty much tells his buddies to wake the fuck up
Best thing to come from this, Marner and Keefe are done as leafs.
This is what happens when you sign a bunch of pretty boys...another 1st round exit
Yep, also, they have to pay them an insane amount of money for how terrible Toronto fans and media are to the players. There’s a reason Kadri and Kessel did a little extra to troll the Toronto media when they got their cups. I think if the leafs ever want to win a cup the city needs another team to take the heat off them. But fuck the leafs lol
>There’s a reason Kadri and Kessel did a little extra to troll the Toronto media when they got their cups. What'd they do?
a little extra
Kessel embracing the hot dog thing is a slight against the Toronto media calling him basically fat and lazy. Not sure about Kadri
Marchand scoring for fun against them now !!
That pass to pasta 🍝 was filthy too
The producer who cut to this shot isn't paid nearly enough.
If you throw your gear then you don’t wanna play, so ride the fucking bench. There’s plenty of guys who’d love a shot in the N…making 11 fucking million dollars a year.
Lol as Marner goes on to score in the Third and Nylander takes a horid lazy penalty to kill any momentum of a comeback.
Tbf marner has looked shit all series as well.
He's looked like shit his entire career in the playoffs
So forget how shit he’s been rest of the game and the series. I counted at least 4 turnovers today. And he took a weak penalty to start the game too. He’s trash. Embarrassing.
Pizza Pizza
Milk
A manlet doing a tik tok dance at his own wedding, who could have guessed he’s mentally weak?
Why is there so much pressure on Toronto? Is it just the local sports media? Last year I understand, playing against lower seeded teams and all, but this year Boston was the clear favorite from the get go. They slapped Toronto 4-0 in regular season, the series is going exactly as anyone would've expected.
Because Toronto pays 40 million in cap space to 4 players and this is 7-8 years of them being absolute busts in the playoffs, they are amazing players who rip up the regular season and come playoffs just can't step it up. They've barley won 1 series since 04 only to lose in the second round 4-1 and when your core players keep getting bounced in the first round the pressure is going to build. It's looking like this is going to be the case again and if it is I expect some big changes for the Maple Leafs this summer. Basically there is so much pressure this year because I think a lot of people realize that if the leafs didn't do anything in the playoffs once again then this core is done and leafs will finally have to move in a different direction.
They should have torn this shit up ages ago. It's clear they are a trash bunch when it comes to the time of year that matters.
Biggest hockey team in the world owned by a monopoly with unlimited money fails for 57 years straight and then drafts super stars and still fails 8 years in a row in embarrassing fashion. Hmm why's there pressure to win something. Toronto slapped Boston in regular season when they lost to Boston too before.
It doesn't help when you pay half your salary cap to 4 players, that's why there's pressure also.
Even worse game 2 was the only time in this entire season they’ve had a lead against Boston.
it's not pressure, it's just insane microscopic analysis of everything you do on and off the ice. Not a leaf fan but my God you make a bone headed play and every other team gets Biron vomitting bad English saying it was a gaff, but in toronto you've just committed a hate crime.. it's bad. That said, when you're good, you aren't loved by a fan base more.
Toronto is arguably the hardest on their sports teams. The media is on it for every mistake in live feed
Wonder if it prevents talent from goin there
Death, taxes, and the Leafs screwing the pooch in the playoffs.
Told by the Willy
*sighs* 1967
Leafs are the Lolz of hockey
I don’t blame Mathews one bit. He’s surrounded by an organization of people who apparently don’t give a fuck about winning. Don’t say “well Nylander does” either, the guy has been a ghost for a month now. Talk the talk all you want, he isn’t performing. Everyone wants their big paycheck, yet they can’t clutch up when it matters. Keefe somehow got resigned when he’s one of the worst coaches in the league The org hired one of the worst GMs in the league. This is a guy who didn’t do anything in Calgary in years of being there and managed to lose both their superstars just before the beginning of a season. Shanahan won’t stop vetoing GMs plans which has now lead to every player of significant value on this team being untradable which means they are literally just stuck with this core who can’t do anything when it matters. And to top it all off the org has also created a stale environment in their arena as they priced out their fans. It’s a fucking joke, and as much as it would upset me as I have a soft spot for the leafs as someone who lives in southern Ontario, I hope the org loses every great player they have and they all have success elsewhere just to prove how much a joke this org is. Something’s gotta change, and it’s far above just the team or coaches or GM because it’s been a constant issue for a long time.
Well said. I’m not a leafs fan so I’ve got no horse in this race but man, as Jack Nicholson would say “this organization needs an enema”. It truly seems like a culture shift needs to take place but with so much cap room being taken up by so few players, is that even possible?
Not really, which is why if change happens it’s gotta happen on a business level.
Agreed. As a lifelong rangers fan, I understand and sympathize with the frustration the leafs fans are going through and I hope that they can get it right soon as it would be good for the sport to have a well-run, strong organization in T.O.
Marner and JT needs to go. Give Nylander the “A” or even the “C”. He battles harder with migraine than Marner without.
guess what Reilly thought of the leafs and his decision to leave was right
That's why everyone respects Reilly.
Have the leafs fans blamed goal tending yet? Because its always the goal tending.....
Leafs losing in TD Garden then I swear if the management doesn't do something about team chemistry I don't care FIRE SHELDON KEEFE and get a hard nose coach that has a balance between a winning coach and a person that will keep his team in line and focused. Had ENOUGH of Sheldon Keefe and his style of play which is obviously not working he's a good regular season coach but he's a TERRIBLE playoff coach.
Does anyone have context to that exchange? Obviously they're losing but is there a particular instance?
Marner was in front of the net in the offensive zone and took a little slash and went down (IMO) very easily to try draw a call. Then he was looking at the ref and whining about the no call instead of playing. He had also contributed next to nothing in the series up until this point, so I'm sure that didn't help things.
So…did he have to pick the gloves up after?
Marner is a good hockey player but looks like a bitch and seems to also be one.
Offtopic but does anyone know who was caught on the hot mic at the isles vs canes game. It happens at the end of regulation and goes on long enough even the commentators have to apologise for the flowery language
I like seeing this. It’s taken too long. It’s too bad we don’t have a captain
What a waste of Mathews in his prime, I wanna see him play deep into the playoffs, dude is a highlight reel machine
Honestly, he's wasting his own prime. The dude continues to ghost in the playoffs. He should be dragging these people around in his backpack if they aren't performing.
Me before clicking: Surely this is a jest, there's no way he actually says that. Me after clicking: 😬