Series Discussion Thread - Washington Capitals vs Toronto Maple Leafs

[jameslacarte]

Lol, i made that mistake once & you ratted me out for it Sharky. Run & tell the Mods lol.. You wont get that chance again.. Birdies like to chirp!!!
At least my Leafs have something to look forward to. Your Sharks are old & weary & with Thornton running the show there you have no chance in winning anything. Thornton finally won something at the last Olympics & Im wondering if that was out of Pity, afterall, they cut him from every other Team Canada to keep lesser players. Think there's a reason for that?? He can go down in History as the best guy to win nothing!!
Tomas Hertl?? A waste of a Pick as far as im concerned. Look what a great year he had? Most of the Leafs rookies got more points than him.. 22 points in 50 games & 2 assists in 6 playoff games. My Hero!!!
Not an Oiler fan, not until they beat the Sharks anyways.. My team has always been the Leafs, long before you were even thought of i bet..

[creasecollector]

Lol, i made that mistake once & you ratted me out for it Sharky. Run & tell the Mods lol.. Its no wonder in 4 years you have a measley 82 trades. Your not going to get the chance to Rat on me this time.
At least my Leafs have something to look forward to. Your Sharks are old & weary & with Thornton running the show there you have no chance in winning anything. Thornton finally won something at the last Olympics & Im wondering if that was out of Pity. He can go down in History as the best guy to win nothing!!
Tomas Hertl?? A waste of a Pick as far as im concerned. Look what a great year he had? Most of the Leafs rookies got more points than him.. 22 poits in 50 games & 2 assists in 6 playoff games. My Hero!!!
Not an Oiler fan, not until they beat the Sharks anyways.. My team has always been the Leafs, long before you were even thought of i bet..

Please, lets stop comparing silly things, okay? The number of trades you've done of this site mean very, very little.

And Thorton is a great player, cup or no cup. I've never really liked the "but he never won a cup" argument. Like, okay, I get that he never won it, but should that take away from what type of player he was or what he's done so far? I don't think it should. It is very hard to win a Stanley Cup, and a lot of players won't ever get to touch it. That includes the scrubs, the mediocre, the flash in the pans, and yes, even the greats who will never win. If it were so easy, all great players would have a ring. So i don't like the "he never won anything" tag attached to an already great player.

And no, the Olympics weren't out of pity. That's silly. Whether you scored the Olympic-winning goal or sat on the bench, if you were named to an Olympic team, you deserve to be there just like everyone else.

And the "I've been a fan of x team longer" argument is silly to in my opinion. You've been a Leafs fan for a while, that's awesome, but it shouldn't take away anything from another hockey fan and his team he follows, whether it's his first year following the team or his 3rd decade. It doesn't matter. A fan is a fan whichever way you spin it. This isn't a "but i've been doing this longer" contest.

And Hertl wasn't a waste of a pick. Just because a Leaf rookie scored more doesn't take away anything from another player and what he's done, especially dragging another collectors PC guy into it to strike a nerve or two. I don't think that's very nice.

[YoungGuns1988]

I apologize if any of my comments came across as rude, I was simply discussing the issue. The Sharks and Caps are two model franchises of the league, no disrespect towards them at all. In fact, I can only dream that the Leafs will be competitive as long as they have been!

[jameslacarte]

I was just replying to his Band Wagon jumper comment. Regarless of the "Never won a Cup" arguement thats what it is. I dont make the decisions but when you look at the History of the Hall of Fame these players get in on usually they're last years of eligibility. Having a Cup means everything to the Writers, you can deny that but you know its true. Look at his comment before mine, saying i will cuss someone out for not agreeing with them & you only say something about my comment. Get a grip. I will defend myself no matter what. The only reason he is commenting in this thread is to take a shot at me, but at least the Leafs have something to look forward to cant say the same about the Pension planner Sharks..

[Maggot]

I dont make the decisions but when you look at the History of the Hall of Fame these players get in on usually they're last years of eligibility. Having a Cup means everything to the Writers, you can deny that but you know its true.

Joe Thornton is a first ballot Hall of Famer. Is there even a debate about that? 22nd all time points, and just a few behind your Gilmour who played in an age when points were easier to get.

Anyways, you should chill. Why are you lashing out against the Sharks fans? Is it jealousy of their success for the past 2 decades? You're bickering like a couple of Blues/Hawks fans and you're not even in the same conference!

[jameslacarte]

Its 1 Sharks fan, not all. Its funny how he can run his mouth but its me that gets told to chill. Its obvious i dont care what you say. I dont stick my nose in other people's business but its funny how the same guys keep sticking they'res in mine.

[30ranfordfan]

To each his own, I guess. I did not watch every Leaf game this year... maybe 20 if I include playoffs... so maybe I'm not seeing what others are. I'll admit that. I'll be the first to admit I'm wrong about him, if he proves to be better than I expect... but I will also mention: I didn't think all that high of him coming out of London. I don't mean to suggest I didn't buy him as a borderline top 5 / consensus top 10 prospect - but I never thought of him as a guy that would turn into a game changer for whatever club drafted him. Good player, yes... but I never thought there were more than three "great" players available in 2015. Mcdavid, Eichel, Hannafin. That's where my list stopped (so yeah, I'm not just saying the Leafs made the wrong pick..... really I think the Coyotes should have taken Hanifin).

When I make the "Jordan Eberle good" comment - again, that's not a knock. That's just where I set the bar: Good, but not great. can score, but will need help.

Eberle, for the record, has the 3rd most points of anyone in the 2008 NHL Draft (behind Stamkos, and Karlsson). Have to mention that a couple of dmen (Doughty and Peiterangelo) were taken high that year too, so the points are not the be all and end all of things. Eberle (career) outscores all but 6 of the players taken a year before him (2007) and all but 8 from the year before that. I'm sure there are a few other names (dmen, goalies, forwards that blossomed later) you'd take over him - but it's a pretty safe call that Eberle is one of the best 40(ish) players drafted from 2006-2008. If Marner pans out to be that good, the Leafs did well with their pick.

Forgive me if I'm sounding dumb here - but what records did the Leafs break? I'm going to assume some kind of team records?? I wouldn't have thought there was anything particularly historic / record breaking / remarkable about this team. Yes... it was a quick turn around from last to a playoff spot.. and that is unusual, but there wasn't anything that prolific about them, was there?

As someone who watched every leafs game this year, I disagree with that assessment/view of Marner. There were many stretches where he played every bit as good, if not better, then Matthews. He carried the JVR and Bozak line by himself. If you watched him in the playoffs, you did not see what Leafs fans saw all regular season, not even close. There were reports that he was playing through an injury. Taking Hannifan over him would have been a tremendous error in my opinion, especially since we did not know we would have Matthews at that time. If Marner only turns out to be an Eberle based on what I saw this season, it would be a huge disappointment.

I can easily see the Leafs regressing as a team next season, hard to think they wont seeing as they did historic, record breaking things this year. While the team may regress overall, I do not think that any of Matthews, Marner or Nylander will regress in terms of their overall stats. In fact, as good as they were, there were many instances where they can improve their game.

[jameslacarte]

Leafs broke a few records. Matthews had a few individual ones but i believe they were Leafs records. The only League record i think was 3 rookies with over 60 points each. I think the Islanders had the record from the 70's or early 80's & the Leafs tied it. Thats all i know of but there may be more.
If Marner turns out to be Eberle good i'm sure Leafs fans will take that but the bar is set higher for him. We can only pray to the Hockey Gods that he is better than that..

[YoungGuns1988]

As far as I know the records were as follows ( I should have clarified that several of them were team records):

NHL records:
Auston Matthews- first player to ever score 4 goals in first NHL game
Matthews/Marner/Nylander: 3 rookies with over 60 points on the same team (not sure if this has been done before or whether the points totals were just the most)
Most points by rookies on one team in one season: 308 (not 100% sure this is an NHL record or just the most in a long long time).

Leafs records (keep in mind the Leafs have been around almost as long as the NHL so still impressive:
Rookie goals- Auston Matthews 40
Rookie points- Auston Matthews 69
Rookie assists- Mitch Marner 42
Rookie point streak- William Nylander, 12 games

There may be others as well, those come to mind!
Edit forgot one: most shorthanded goals by a rookie (Leafs record) Zach Hyman 4 :P

[jameslacarte]

Im pretty sure the 3 rookies with 60 plus points is a League record & I think it was the Islanders who did it along with the Leafs now. The Leafs are the only other team to match this feat. I could be wrong but i remember hearing this in a regular season Leaf game when Marner reached the 60 point plateau as well late in the season..