Canadiens @ Leafs - May 31st, 7:00pm - CBC, Fan 590

[Bender]

I wonder if they can get Foligno back on a cheap contract.

He's not coming back.

 

[Kin]

This is fair ? I do wonder though, at what point do the cumulative failures prevent you from performing when it counts?  Not sure ? but a question to ask.

Well, sure, but again I sort of reject the notion that the playoffs is the only measure of "when it counts". Likewise, I don't look at all of these ends as failures. Making the playoffs in Matthews/Marner's first years by virtue of winning on the last day of the season and losing in 6 to a much better team doesn't strike me as a "failure". Likewise losing to a very good Boston team the next year in 7. I get losing a 7th game sucks but if your team is down 3-2 and you win to force a 7th game...does that not count as being able to perform when it counts if you then lose the 7th?

Likewise in this series, games 2 and 3 were big games. All playoff games are big games. And if you go 3-4...yeah, you lost the series but guys who really couldn't hack it when the chips are down would just lose in 4. And this group has never just rolled over like that.

 

[rdowdall]

I think things can be done.  If they walk away from Freddie that gives them some cash.  Putting Robertson in the lineup next year and Sandin gives them some cheap options for depth, that should outplay their contracts.

 

[TheMightyOdin]

It honestly doesn?t bother me as much as it used to. I?ve detached myself from the team ?almost? completely. 

It?s been 40 years since I started watching.  Hopefully I?ll see them win in my lifetime.

 

[Kin]

This team is nowhere close to playoff success, and unfortunately I dont think they will be with the top heavy contracts handcuffing and chance of remodeling this squad.

Well, this I just disagree with. One of the reasons this loss is being felt so acutely is because they were so painfully close.

 

[BermudaBudsFan]

This is fair ? I do wonder though, at what point do the cumulative failures prevent you from performing when it counts?  Not sure ? but a question to ask.

Well, sure, but again I sort of reject the notion that the playoffs is the only measure of "when it counts". Likewise, I don't look at all of these ends as failures. Making the playoffs in Matthews/Marner's first years by virtue of winning on the last day of the season and losing in 6 to a much better team doesn't strike me as a "failure". Likewise losing to a very good Boston team the next year in 7. I get losing a 7th game sucks but if your team is down 3-2 and you win to force a 7th game...does that not count as being able to perform when it counts if you then lose the 7th?

Likewise in this series, games 2 and 3 were big games. All playoff games are big games. And if you go 3-4...yeah, you lost the series but guys who really couldn't hack it when the chips are down would just lose in 4. And this group has never just rolled over like that.

I hear you ? don?t they ultimately need to be better than first round losses to be considered successful?  This series particularly, up 3 - 1.  Despite all the talk I can?t imagine it didn?t effect their performance.

 

[Guilt Trip]

I wonder if they can get Foligno back on a cheap contract.

He's not coming back.

Doubtful he is but we don't know that yet.

 

[TheMightyOdin]

We haven?t won a playoff series in 17 years. I?d say we?ve been decidedly unsuccessful.

 

[herman]

Well that?s disappointing.

 

[mr grieves]

I think maybe we should be careful about saying a team can't win just because they haven't. I think the history of the NHL is fairly littered with guys who couldn't win until they did.

And likewise, as insignificant as it may seem now, I think we need to remember that the only reason this team is in a position to lose so painfully is because they have shown they can play well in important situations. Just not enough or with enough frequency. I do think those things improve with time.

The best-case scenario template here is the Caps, I guess, but they had won some playoff series before breaking through.

I think by this point in the Ovechkin era (year 4?), the Caps had only made it past the first round once, so... the Leafs aren't that far off. And I, playoff lurker / post-season ranter, agree that it's their most likely path.

 

[L K]

The tricky thing is you never know which direction a team will go until they take it.  This same core could come back next year, light the world on fire and go on a deep run....or they could continue to struggle to score in the postseason and just be a team that is great in the regular season and never pull through.  Pulling the reset level is a tough call.

 

[Guilt Trip]

We haven?t won a playoff series in 17 years. I?d say we?ve been decidedly unsuccessful.

Not us...them...lol

 

[TheMightyOdin]

We haven?t won a playoff series in 17 years. I?d say we?ve been decidedly unsuccessful.

Not us...them...lol

True. But even them isn?t quite accurate because it?s always a different group.  As Seinfeld once said: ?We are cheering for laundry?? or something like that.

 

[Guilt Trip]

The tricky thing is you never know which direction a team will go until they take it.  This same core could come back next year, light the world on fire and go on a deep run....or they could continue to struggle to score in the postseason and just be a team that is great in the regular season and never pull through.  Pulling the reset level is a tough call.

I don't see any of the core going. I said earlier they tweak the team, get a goalie and a younger 4th line.. Don't see Simmonds or Thornton back. Spezza if he wants to.

 

[Guilt Trip]

We haven?t won a playoff series in 17 years. I?d say we?ve been decidedly unsuccessful.

Not us...them...lol

True. But even them isn?t quite accurate because it?s always a different group.  As Seinfeld once said: ?We are cheering for laundry?? or something like that.

Them us the Leafs lol...

 

[BermudaBudsFan]

We haven?t won a playoff series in 17 years. I?d say we?ve been decidedly unsuccessful.

Not us...them...lol

True. But even them isn?t quite accurate because it?s always a different group.  As Seinfeld once said: ?We are cheering for laundry?? or something like that.

Yes, but the core is somewhat similar and they are the best players supposedly.  Matthews, Marner, Hyman, Rielly.

 

[TheMightyOdin]

We haven?t won a playoff series in 17 years. I?d say we?ve been decidedly unsuccessful.

Not us...them...lol

True. But even them isn?t quite accurate because it?s always a different group.  As Seinfeld once said: ?We are cheering for laundry?? or something like that.

Them us the Leafs lol...

https://youtu.be/qUt3VLuBM5s

 

[Kin]

I hear you ? don?t they ultimately need to be better than first round losses to be considered successful?  This series particularly, up 3 - 1.  Despite all the talk I can?t imagine it didn?t effect their performance.

Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not trying to say that the Leafs have been particularly(or at all) successful as a team the last few years. They should have won their first round series this year. They should have won it last year. Beyond that, at worst, they had decent performances in serieses that nobody could fairly say they "should" have won.

I just don't look at that record and say that the issue here is necessarily psychological or that all of those losses need to be addressed by personnel changes. I could be wrong about that but I just don't think the cumulative weight of what I've seen, playoffs and regular season, says that. Especially, and I don't want to use this as an excuse but just an acknowledgement, after two seasons where they were playing to empty buildings and the conditions were a far sight from normal.

 

[dekedastardly]

No but they need a better goalie bud

Jack's fine. They need a better team around him.

If Freddie was in net you wouldn't be saying that.
Last I checked fine isn't good enough. He let in 6 very stoppable goals. And at the podium he said it himself.  I need to be better in game 5 and game 7.

Fred is washed up and gone this off season. This was Jack's first taste of playoff hockey. The first goal tonight,he should have stopped. Looking at his play this series, as a whole, I thought he played really well. The Canadiens defended better than the Leafs did, and Price was better. That's why they lost.

 

[TheMightyOdin]

I didn?t want them to win this year.  If they had won in the last decade then sure yes.  But for a first time in over 50 years I?d like to see a packed stadium losing their minds and I?d like them to play a full regular season without asterisks.