May 18th Call me Crazy Going with Leafs ML

@Coin86

The Maple Leafs are not trash. They’re just up against a powerhouse.

@Coin86

 The trash gets bigger every year

Leafs are the Leafs...sorry guys....should of know...58 years and counting.....

Holy cow, another 6-1 flattening at Scotiabank Arena.

@MrBator

 Who do you think wins Florida/Carolina???

When the Panthers stay out

of the penalty box…they are incredibly hard to beat, let alone score a goal.

im a Homer so i will admit that…but curious your take on this upcoming series??

@FloridasFinest

 I am not Mr Bator, but this will be a physical series. The question I have is does the Canes have enough fire power to hang with the Cats? One would think it would be a low scoring series as Bob and Freddie are both on point. Will be a good one no doubt. 

It will now be 59 years since the Toronto Maple Leafs last won the Stanley Cup. 

Without question, this complete humiliation cements the Toronto Maple Leafs’ reputation as the NHL’s hopeless playoff participants. They should be awarded a Participation Trophy that can serve as the cherry on top of this latest feces and fudge sundae.

How do Maple Leafs fans make the emotional investment in this team during the course of each regular season knowing that the team is resolutely incapable of going far in the playoffs? 

Can any Leafs fans address that? How do you do it?

@MrBator

Been a Leafs fan my whole life (I'm 50 yrs old), lived in the Toronto area my whole life. I finally got fed up with that meltdown against the Bruins in 2013, which made me stop watching the Leafs for around 10 years. The last few playoff years, you could see from the metrics that the Leafs were not going to the next round due to their inability to score more than 2 goals in playoff games when it came down to crunch time. And it happened against last night. Game 3 was where they blew their chance when they coughed up a 3-1 lead, and with that Game 5 no show of a game, I knew the Leafs were cooked.

The one thing that gave me a glimmer of hope was that the Top Ten leaders in the NHL playoff contest, and they were on the Leafs +110 in game 7, but that pick was also put in the same time they all had Winnipeg to beat Dallas in game 7, and Dallas won that game in OT, so I tempered my enthusiasm. 

Either way, that Game 7 was going to be a win - win for Leafs fans. It was move on to the conference finals , or lose and hopefully see change.

The Core Four should be split up....with Marner hopefully gone as his contract is up. I'm ok if we trade Matthews as he is NOT the captain who leads by example in the playoffs. I hope that the FO goes in a different direction to spread the salary around and not have 4 contracts hang around the neck of this team, weighing them down. We've got a great D core  / 2 great goalies, a good 3rd and 4th line. I'm tired of the top 4 guys no showing in the playoffs the last 10 years. It's time for change. They cannot keep up with the grittiness of the playoffs.

@MrBator

"How do Maple Leafs fans make the emotional investment in this team during the course of each regular season knowing that the team is resolutely incapable of going far in the playoffs? "

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My co-workers and I did not care about the regular season for the Leafs the last few years. And even in the playoffs, we'd just watch it with mild interest, knowing that they would be bounced due to lack of showing up. And we were right all those times. Winning first in our division, I was like, meh, whatever, let's see how you do in the playoffs. And again, they crapped the bed. Time for change and trades.

@tvigilante2020

 I’ve said for the last 5-6 years that my Red Wings would win another cup before the Leafs did. Fully knowing the Wings were entering a full on rebuild from the ground floor & the Leafs would be making the playoffs consistently - solely because of the cap hell the Leafs put themselves in with 4 guys and the types of players those guys are.

I gotta say though at this point you have to build on it. Did not forsee the cap increases that are coming the next 3 years. From the current 88M all the way to 113M. 

Now those cap hits seem way more reasonable with plenty to build around. Yeah Marner is a playoff ghost when it gets physical but he’s a 100 point guy and you need to put better support pieces with him. Should have the financial means to do so now. Other finesse guys aren’t the answer unless it’s a power play. 

Maybe trade Knies over to Detroit and keep Marner, eh? 

Panthers aggressively pinch in offensive zone. If you get out of your zone quickly Panthers are vulnerable. Leafs, like most teams get bottled up in own zone for minutes at a time and that wears the shit out of you.