I'd also like to add that just because you pour more shots on net, doesn't man they are quality scoring chances. You can fire at the net all day, and if there's no traffic in front, you're not scoring on Swayman.
The whole Core four era has literally been a circus act that people will look back on and make fun of for decades to come. I'm not a leafs fan, but I genuinely hope that the next chapter in this teams history is less painful to fans than this one has been.
Watching the games in the U.S. has Biz going nuts about how bad they are - again - while the rest of the panel just laughs and needles Biz for being suckered in again - nobody outside Toronto thinks they have a shot at winning anything
You haven’t watched this team they play their best hockey when they have no choice, its like they need to have the pressure of win or else, trust me they go on a major run and Boston gets really worried and leafs in 7 no problem, its how this team rolls, they up it to such a level with goals they overwhelm the opponents. If by remote , remote chance they do lose after beating Bos in round one , to another team in round 2 its got to be pressure on the Shannaplan nonsense, he is the guy who gets no scrutiny
@@bandck8752you are living in fantasy land. History shows the Leafs winning game 5 and 6 when down 3 to 1 against the Bruins but choking hard in game 7. The Leafs are not physical enough or have the mental toughness to pull off what the Panthers did to the Bruins last year. Marner is afraid to get hurt, Nylander missed 3 games with a headache & Matthews left with a tummy ache! You guys have already lost because we all watched them quit last night when it got tough.
Bruins fan here...I think the Leafs are going through the same painful realization that the Bs did in 2019. Back then we had the “perfection line” that we expected to outclass St. Louis and beat them handily. What we learned was that a physical game by a bunch of guys with bodily mass is what wins cups. It’s not your first two lines that win cups, it’s lines 3 and 4. The Bruins are also extremely good at winnowing their team of prima donnas...no egos allowed. It’s not about your superstars ...it’s your grinders.
Marchand wears the C with pride after Bergeron Carying on his legacy…. No 1 saw that shit coming lol Marchand taking less money and hardest worker on the team. Leafs have Nylander Marner Tavares and Matthew all making almost double. He’s an appointed leader bc he leads, not just bc he’s the most talented on the team… which is the leafs leadership group
I think the major changes should have been made after the 2021 defeat to Montreal. The series against the Habs broke the Leafs and they have not recovered since.
You can blame Reaves all you want, but your goalie needs to make a save at some point. JVR didn't even make a move and Sammy was opening up giving him nothing but net.
You are missing a key aspect Toronto's unstructured fire wagon hockey gets the players more points in the regular season. The Bruins play defensive hockey. They play to win.
Is it confirmed AM’s illness was food poisoning? If so, that stuff is brutal on energy levels. The fact he’s even able to play at all is impressive. Along with Nylander’s sudden migraines, the Leafs curse lives on. Spooky.
I watched Tavares for 7 years on Long Island - and he couldn’t do it there either - seven more years in Toronto hasn’t made him any better at that - please end the madness - even if you can’t get Salt Lake to take him in the off-season with some money just to get him out of the way
Tavares used to have a lot skill but has no heart, no character, no leadership, no grit. Just the opposite of the great Mark Messier or even Brad Marchand. How he is the captain boggles the mind. This man could put to sleep a lynch mob.
There is no winning culture. The Leafs need a new owner that gives a f&^%. ML$E doesn't care. The Shanaplan is a failure after 10 years. Weak D and G. Not a playoff team. To Roger$ Communication$, ML$E and Bell, the only thing that matter$ is making profit.
Shanahan before anything else…he alone has screwed this franchise since day 1…he’s made every wrong decision a president can make…I hope he goes 1st as they need direction from the top
Leafs did have a real coach: Mike Babcock. He annoyed and embarrassed Mitch, so the management fired him and hired Keefe in his place. As you can see, Keefe does not annoy and embarrass Mitch. He's Mitch's kinda guy.
They just don't have the players. Keefe will be typing his resume in next game intermission but doesn't matter who is the coach with these top players.
@@hurtlocker6611Wherever Keefe goes after this season, should Treliving fire him, remains TBD but what doesn’t is my unwavering view that should the Leafs not qualify for a 2024 conference final, Keith Pelley (CEO of Leafs' ownership group MLSE), so that the AM34-Marner-Nylander-Rielly-Tavares quintet can be broken up, will need to end Brendan Shanahan’s presidency.
@@wainber1 Chicago owns our first pick next year so that would be bad, i believe Treliving will build a better D core than what Dubas left us with along side trading all our picks away, the only 1 i like is the McCabe trade and the 2025 first is for Chicago eating 2 million of that contract. McCabe i like as the number 4 D, but this team needs a number 1 or 2 D.
@@hurtlocker6611 Treliving's 1st Leafs' offseason wasn't great but hopefully his upcoming one will be much better. TBD will be whether Pelley will help Treliving by sending Shanahan packing should, as I predict, the Leafs lose their current playoff series.
Alexander Ovechkin once scored 11 goals in 14 playoff games, the year they won the cup he had 15 goals in 24 games, Will Matthews ever have a big playoffs? Marner 5 goals in last 34 playoff games, Tavares 23 points in 35’playoff games. To win a cup you can’t have huge contract first line guys not score much, last 11 playoff games the leafs have scored 3 goals only 2 times…All these guys demand most money in league but don’t score
In 93 Gilmore would start a game weighing 175lbs, end the game at 160lbs after the second intermission hooked up to an IV for fluid loss. Same skill level as Marner but an in your face Captain, like Marchand. Send core five to an MMA boot camp this summer.
As a Bruin fan I sympathize because obviously Matthews is sick, Nylander is hurt and Marner coming back from Injury. Last year we experienced injuries to Bergy, Krejci and Uhlmark and we blew a 3-1 series lead.
With 3 minutes left in the game what the hell was the 4th line and Reeves doing on the ice when you need 2 goals. I have had enough with this coach. He should be removed immediately and go with anyone else on the bench
The most reliable secondary scoring this team has had over the last nine years was Jason Spezza. Sammie on that 1st goal was extending in case Van went to the far side, if he had just laid his pads down, that is what Van would have done, pulled it to his backhand and flipped it over Sammie's pads, it was essentially a breakaway. After this series is over the Leafs are going to say they had an illness running through the team. So does Vancouver, we've had guys playing, just having recovered from the flu, we lost our goalie, but you still have to try.
When the crowd is quiet, they aren't cheering enough. When they crowd is jacked their 'puttin, too mich pressure on the team' So what was the excuse the year there were zero fans thanks to covid?
Can"t really blame Reeves for the cough up. He never had control of the puck and neither did the Boston guy along the boards. Just squirted right to the wrong guy.
This offseason this team needs to be basically blown apart … 1 of Marner or Nylander, if not both needs to be traded for tougher, nastier, gutsier players and Keefe needs to be fired and a nasty coach like Tortorella (I know he’s unfortunately not available) needs to be hired that will not be scared to challenge star players and if need be sit them out. The whole character of the team needs to be altered for the Leafs to become a real Stanley Cup contender. Also 2 top 4 Defenders need to be added. Tree has a ton to do this offseason!
Don’t give the keys for the Ferrari to your 16 year old kid. Keefe was not the right coach for this team, they needed a salty NHL vet who could teach these guys what it takes, someone who had been there and seen it before. Leafs tactically outmatched all series, the biggest culprit of leaf failures is their style of play.
Sammy is just another burning tire on the still smoldering Dubas dumpster fire. Fundamentally, the team is still built according to his strategy. Won’t get any better until major changes are made. Not sure there is much they can do for next year. Who can they move with all the no trades that were handed out?
Just read an article on line by the Babylon B the headline read "Leafs fans are calling for a larger puck and smaller nets".Not to worry guys Austin will get 70 on hole #12 Wednesday.
How is the Shanaplan and the Tree Living plan working out now? The snowflakes aren't built for playoff hockey. They are better designed to offer up waffles at the IHOP.
I'm a Bruins fan. Patrice Bergeron played last year with a slipped disc for the Bruins against the Panthers. Marner is afraid to get hurt, Nylander missed 3 games with a headache & Matthews left with a tummy ache! The Leafs did great adding Bertuzzi, Domi & Reaves but if the Bruins had 4 Pastrnaks and the Panthers had 4 Barkers they wouldn't do well either. We learned in 2019 that Finesse doesn't win in the playoffs! Also, who maintains the ice in Toronto? Everyone was falling down in game 4. If you have a fast team full of goal scorers then at least keep your rink in tip top shape. You guys are in big trouble!
You're actually right about the Marchand goal. After viewing it again, Sammy was way too far out of the crease. Regardless, it would have been a difficult save but could have been made.
People say it's the coach, or it's the players. None of this explains why this present situation keeps happening over and over, ever since 1968. Which is when I started watching them. It can't be the team. It can't be the coaching staff. We were all absolutely sure that when Harold Ballard died, the Leafs were sure to win a Cup in the not-so-distant future. But that Cup never materialized. There's something going on but it's not the players or the coaching staff. I just read that to use up all of the current applications for season's tickets, it would take 250 years. For each regular season game, there are 4,000 tickets available. In a city of 2.79 million people. Not to mention the greater GTA. The one thing the Leaf organization doesn't lack is money. I've even considered a curse, possibly brought on by how the Leafs treated Frank Mahovlich. Is there any way that not needing to win may have something with their league-leading Cup drought? If not, I've run out of ideas.
Leafs are going to win game 5 they aren’t going out like chumps. They’re bringing it back home and it’ll be a different story this time around. This series is going 7 as you predicted. Boston is going to choke like last year.
… what do the Leafs have to be proud of Mathew’s 69 goal season The Bay Street crowd that pay all the bills and then some The forever true blue loyal fan base that never loses hope and that is it
Bruin fan here. I truly feel sorry for the Leafs fans. All that money going to 4 guys and they are doing nothing but bitching at each other on the bench. Where is the heart, the passion needed to succeed in the playoffs?
If you're not born with it you have to learn it from someone. These guy's were all runnin' the show here at 21/22 yrs old. We didn't have a Ray Bourque,,,,,Cam Neely,,,,,Zedeno Chara for these guys to play with and learn from. This has been handled wrong from day 1 when they hired Shannahan,,,,a 44 yr old with no experience running a hockey team. Dude I can go on and on about everything but it's a broken fkn record.
Marner, Tavares, Brodie, Rielly definitely need to go. Get rid of Shanahan and Keefe. Keep Matthews, Nylander, Knies. Let the GM build a gritty team that's hungry for playoff wins and willing to do what's needed, the dump and chase hockey, the crashing the net and the D line pinching well. Is Tom Wilson available?
I want to see Shanahan head down to the bench on Game 5 and fire Keefe!.. make history! And Leafs leave the game after 2nd period and get on a plane. That would be EPIC!… BEST STORY OF 2024 PLAYOFFS.
Yes, Sammy was questionable on the 1st goal but had little if any chance on the other 2 goals. He along with Marner is catching a ton of heat, but Toronto's problems go well beyond inconsistent goaltending and 1 underperforming star player.
It’s the damn playoooooffffs, this ain’t the damn regular season. Every year, every single year this team finds an excuse or reason to hang these losses on. Oh it’s this, this guy is out or not 100%, they don’t have this type of player or WHATEVER the hell the excuse is. In the playoffs you have to overcome this shit or you lose, plain and simple. Everyone has something going or problems, hell Boston has three guys in the line up who never played in the damn playoffs before. But they have structure, leadership, and focus that masks those weaknesses and helps lift you up out of adversity. That’s being a damn team. Also being accountable to one another, Keefe can’t hold a damn mosquito accountable. No one ever does a thing wrong and we had our looks just didn’t execute. That’s a joke and it’s a joke all the players regurgitate with their play and then justification every year after. Sundin, Tucker, Clark, Roberts, I mean I could keep going - character - none of these bums have it and the ones that do aren’t players that make big enough of an impact.
Leafs GM screwed up big time by not upgrading the Leafs Core 4 over the past year. To save their integrity - all Leaf Executives should resign after the next game (likely a loss to the Bruins). This Core 4 looks good in the regular season - but they were never a Stanley Cup Contender. They even made Columbus look good one spring. 😀
I have a feeling, that this team comes roaring back, they seem to react only when they have to. Like when they are down 4-2 in 3rd period they usually roar back win 5-4 right before the buzzer or right after OT starts, I expect them to win next 3, np
And you’ll need to eat $3M by firing Keefe with a year left on his contract - and they’ll need to spend more millions on Berube or Brindamore or somebody players will listen to - but at least coaches salaries don’t count against the cap…
The Leafs had Mike Babcock. He got fired when he embarrassed Mitch. Berube and Brindamour won't last long; they're going to annoy either of Matthews, Nylander, Marner of that slug, Tavares.
Marner needs to get involved alot of passengers. AM can't do it himself. Marner needs to drop to the 3rd line get 3 lines Rollin. Did not look good. Nobody in front of the net so much. Oh well let's hope they can bring it back to Toronto. Peace ✌️ 😎
The leaves lost before the series even started. They still have the first round hangover from last year cuz winning that round was their Stanley Cup win!!💯
Come on Mike! Really, the leafs played with their hair on fire in the 3rd? The Bruins were sitting back with a 3 goal lead where they knew the leafs were defeated! Sometimes it is what the other team will allow
Now there is no denial my friends. Matthews proved he is not worthy of the logo. Players have played with broken legs, torn ACL's, punctured lungs - and your vaunted 69 goal slug bailed due to his tummy. Marner is an entitled brat who had a temper tantrum when Willy took him down. Time to move on and build a team less these 2 and dump Keefe and Shanny
Paul Coffey had a record for D man 35 playoff points one season playing with cracked ribs and bruised sternum, Mario Lemieux and Mike Modano both won cups with broken wrists
@@charlieb308I'm guessing Marner is going to ask for a measly $12.5 million, right between Nylander and Matthews. If Tavares takes a cut to, say, $8 million, when he extends, then the core 4 will be at a staggering $45.5 million going into the '25-'26 season. It truly boggles the mind.
I’ve been watching these guys do the same since 1968 - duh! But this is clearly the same bs year after year - they likely won’t play another game in Toronto this year
Mike I have respected for you for years. Howevever I have to call you out. Tavares is younger then Stamkos who has 4 goals. When you get older it is your heart that drives you. Tavares is not a leader. Marner cannot play under the bright lights. Matts unlike Tavares showed up in the playoffs with a bunch of hard workers. Matthews should be the Captain. Tavares and Marner have to leave they are not playoff performers on an already fragile team. The special teams awfull again.
If you have Matthews as the captain, then you need to have Nylander as the co-captain. Both are quiet and lead by example. There was only one person who really called the team out on the bench. Surprised that the Euro called out the Canadian? Shouldn't be. Brutal honestly in the face.
This is what happens when try to rush the process instead of remaining patient and continuing to draft and develop. Burke fucked us when he came in and immediately spent up to cap and trading no 1s for Kessel then they had the big panic to go out and get Tavares after being very respectable against the Caps. Every time I’ve gotten optimistic about the future prospects of this team they’ve gone out and done something colossally stupid. The front office is a complete and utter failure as evidenced by the repeated playoff losses. Blow it all up, start from scratch and this time don’t rush it.
The Leafs are losing to Boston in the play-offs again? No wonder, no goals, no goaltending, no guts, no passion, no desire, no power play, no penalty killing, no coaching......NO GOOD!--Like I said....NO WONDER.
Time to look in the mirror leafs fans; We are the problem. We are the schmucks in the Fun house at the Fair known as the Regular Season, then we step out into the real world, the Playoffs. No bigger than life fantasies exist in the real world. This is known as reality
There is no winning culture. The Leafs need a new owner that gives a f&^%. ML$E doesn't care. The Shanaplan is a failure after 10 years. Weak D and G. Not a playoff team. To Roger$ Communication$, ML$E and Bell, the only thing that matter$ is making profit.
HOW would Ovechkin handle a Marchand elbow to the face HOW would Tom Wilson handle a Marchand elbow to the face … would Marchand be alive and well at this point