Game 7: Leafs @ Bruins - Apr. 23rd, 7:00pm - CBC, TSN 1050

[BermudaBudsFan]

Well, the silver lining is that Mitch is no longer in the running for an $11M contract.

I would agree that the differences between he and Matthews were apparent in this series.  I smell a hold out, though.

 

[Guilt Trip]

Kadri, Gardiner, Nylander and Babcock.
Ship them out.

You maybe surprised who goes in the off season. It won't be Kadri or Nylander unless it's a pure salary dump.

 

[Stronger Than All]

I'm extremely dissapointed but it usually goes away pretty fast.  One thing that really sucks is that Tampa the powerhouse is out, and I came downstairs and saw CBC showing the brackets and there is not 1 team that scares me at all other than Boston.

About the actual game, I missed lots with some kids stuff, but they started off very well, and those 2 goals, just seemed preventable.  I can't fathom Gardiner wanting redemption for a whole year then making that giveaway.  Rask shut the door at 2-1 on.

 

[gunnar36]

I think part of the problem is that this team relies on the speed and skill game all year long and the come playoff time, they find themselves doing a lot more bumping and grinding. Hence, they seem to wear down as the series progresses and the speed game we saw in game 1, couldn't be duplicated.  They were fresh to start series (4 days off from end of season to start). And the grind of every second night playing playoff style hockey seems to really take their legs away.  Boston is perhaps a little more used to the grinding playoff style of hockey and seems to deal with it better.  I remember having similar thoughts at last two years 1st round exits.

 

[Guilt Trip]

Well, the silver lining is that Mitch is no longer in the running for an $11M contract.

I would agree that the differences between he and Matthews were apparent in this series.  I smell a hold out, though.

And then he can come back and be Nylander. I've said this all year. Marner is an exceptional player, but he played with Tavares this season. He doesn't get to 94 points if JT isn't on the team and I don't think it's close. He is not as good as Matthews no matter what Paul Marner thinks. I think that line needs an upgrade from Hyman to so they can reach their full potential. I expect the Leafs to trade him and Brown. You can't pay a "checker" over 2 million. There are cheaper options.

 

[cabber24]

Dang Leafs played well.

Bring on the Sheldon Keefe era, why wait?

Because it's part of the Dubas/Shanahan process, Bab's gets one more year. Then let's smoke some Keefe!
We need a year with some D, we got the O, sorry thats my new mantra.

The core has received their gud pro lesson. Time for some progressive ideas. We have a progressive team with an archaic coach.

 

[Peter D.]

Screw this sh!t. Brutal. No words.

 

[Guilt Trip]

I think part of the problem is that this team relies on the speed and skill game all year long and the come playoff time, they find themselves doing a lot more bumping and grinding. Hence, they seem to wear down as the series progresses and the speed game we saw in game 1, couldn't be duplicated.  They were fresh to start series (4 days off from end of season to start). And the grind of every second night playing playoff style hockey seems to really take their legs away.  Boston is perhaps a little more used to the grinding playoff style of hockey and seems to deal with it better.  I remember having similar thoughts at last two years 1st round exits.

Don't agree with this. This doesn't feel at all the same as last year other then losing the series. I thought the Leafs actually outplayed the Bruins again and probably for the 5th time this series. Difference was the Bruins capitalized on the bad giveaways, Leafs didn't. Bruins D made fewer mistakes then the Leaf D.

 

[CatScratchFever]

Nylander: Hey, you said you wouldn't trade me!
Dubas: You said you were worth $7 million a year.

 

[Stronger Than All]

In case it hasn't been brought up lately, Kadri screwed them pretty badly.

 

[BermudaBudsFan]

In case it hasn't been brought up lately, Kadri screwed them pretty badly.

This is true.  Very selfish, though he would say he was sticking up for a teammate, which is nonsense.  I think if Dubas can get some value he is gone.

 

[L K]

I don?t want to harp on the let?s fire Babcock side of things but in a Game 7 Elimination Game that we lost 4-1 our top player played 18:48.  That?s just unacceptable when we just lost our 3rd straight 7 game series. 

You just can?t roll four lines when you are down.  Especially when as much as the 4th brings energy they are incapable of putting the puck in the net.  Marleau playing more than 10 minutes was bad.  He was old and slow.  For all the flak they Nylander got by the talking heads I genuinely felt Marleau was our worst forward.  Every play died on his stick.  Nylander made mistakes but tried to create stuff.  Marleau did nothing all series.

I?m not sure if changing the assistants is enough is Babcock is going to put out bad lines.  I?m also concerned that we don?t hold on to Keefe.  I wonder if he gets brought up as an assistant?

 

[Guilt Trip]

I think there maybe another meeting in Arizona real soon. Here's a stat from the 3rd period.
Matthews played a whopping 5 minutes EV in the 3rd. Add in 1:16 of pp and he played a whole 6:16 mins. Hyman by contrast played 7 minutes. That is totally unacceptable to have your best scoring threat on the bench. He should have played 10 freaking minutes. It's do or die.
Just heard that Zeisberger asked Babs why, when he pulled Freddie with 3 minutes left, was Marleau on the ice considering how bad he struggled in the series.

 

[Guilt Trip]

I don?t want to harp on the let?s fire Babcock side of things but in a Game 7 Elimination Game that we lost 4-1 our top player played 18:48.  That?s just unacceptable when we just lost our 3rd straight 7 game series. 

HARP AWAY! See my post above.

 

[mr grieves]

I am not on the tar-and-feather squad for Babcock, but someone needs to knock some self-entitlement out of him, because he's got some real flaws in how he manages this team.

Yeah. I don?t think he needs to go just yet, but he needs to be put on notice. Fire his assistants, takeaway some of his favourite toys (aka vets who are no longer useful in the role they?re being given), bring in some fresh ideas, and see how next year goes. No need for rash, drastic moves, just some smart changes.

The only way Babcock could ever be fired this offseason is if Matthews blew up at him. Which would be very bad all the way round.

I agree with your comments.  Very level-headed.

It'll definitely take more than one trip to Arizona this season, I suspect...

Yeah, I really doubt he gets fired this season, but it's really hard to imagine they're coming back with whoever runs that PP (DJ Smith?). Time for Dubas to start layering in his guys. If it goes poorly, his own head coach.

 

[gunnar36]

I think part of the problem is that this team relies on the speed and skill game all year long and the come playoff time, they find themselves doing a lot more bumping and grinding. Hence, they seem to wear down as the series progresses and the speed game we saw in game 1, couldn't be duplicated.  They were fresh to start series (4 days off from end of season to start). And the grind of every second night playing playoff style hockey seems to really take their legs away.  Boston is perhaps a little more used to the grinding playoff style of hockey and seems to deal with it better.  I remember having similar thoughts at last two years 1st round exits.

Don't agree with this. This doesn't feel at all the same as last year other then losing the series. I thought the Leafs actually outplayed the Bruins again and probably for the 5th time this series. Difference was the Bruins capitalized on the bad giveaways, Leafs didn't. Bruins D made fewer mistakes then the Leaf D.

As the series progressed, they seemed to have less dominant puck possession sequences in the o-zone then they had earlier in series.

 

[mr grieves]

Every time this happens the core learns something.

One thing that happened to the Leafs this year that didn't happen last year or the year before, is they had a chance to close out the series and didn't finish them off. I promise you that's all they were thinking about tonight. Now they know what they have to do, and they've felt the result of not doing it.

If you believe in the core of this team and what they hope to accomplish with it, then there is value in this loss. I know it's hard to see right now but the Leafs improved this year in a number of ways. This is not the end guys. Not even close.

Sure.

The problem is the coach doesn't seen to learn anything.

 

[L K]

Also, while I don't think Rosen would have been a difference maker (Gardiner played OK most of the series), it didn't help that Gardiner has obviously hurt.

Gardiner was ok but the guy was skating around straight A?s a board.  That he played as well as he did was a testament to how good he actually is as a player but he was really limited in his mobility

 

[Chris]

Just heard that Zeisberger asked Babs why, when he pulled Freddie with 3 minutes left, was Marleau on the ice considering how bad he struggled in the series.

That ended the press briefing pretty quickly! "We thought he should be out there." If that's the case, he should be parking his ass in front of the net and not ever handling the puck other than tipping shots.

 

[L K]

Also for the moron crowd who think a Nylander is literally the worst.  You yell about trading him but scream about how useless he is.  How do you think they trade a guy that you whine about not being good enough to play for this team?