Maple Leafs

[chakhae1]

The thing is the Leafs were playing a team defensive game for the majority of the first half the season and just over the past month or so they have totally gone away from that for some reason. Have they tuned out Keefe or is this roster just not meant to play that way for extended periods of time? That is concerning if that is so b/c that is the way you have to play to be successful when it matters most. I do not know what is more likely. The Leafs landing someone at the deadline to improve their roster defensively or offensively or them going back to the way they were playing earlier in the season. Whatever happens they need to be playing better and soon. Even though the playoffs are a certainty there are only so many first round exits that Leafs fans will endure.

[jameslacarte]

Yeah, lately the Leafs have been a joke defensively!! Its hard to watch after the start they had. Ok fine, we came back against Detroit & won but thats not going to happen when the playoffs roll around & we're playing Good teams. All the win did against detroit was disguise how horrible defensively we actually are. The start tonight against the Devils is just as bad. The giveaways in our own zone are just plain brutal!! These are games we should be winning & teams we should be beating. We hung Campbell out to dry tonight & he's already out of the game & we're not even half way through the 1st period. Pathetic!!

[jameslacarte]

Again we were fortunate to win that game tonight. Luckily for us NJ is worse defensively than we are.
Nice to see Matthews get the Hatty!! Just when the goal scoring leaders get 5 or so ahead of him he gets 2 or 3 goals in a game & catches back up. I still think at the end of the year he will be the top goal scorer in the league & i think this is the year he gets 50 Goals & quite possibly even set the Leafs record for goals in a season. I think its 54 by Vaive? I cant remember if Andreychuk tied it or not either.

Hard to believe the leafs are the same team from the first 20-25 games this season. I counted 12 giveaways tonight that lead to scoring chances & some did end up in our net.

[chakhae1]

FINALLY, that's more like it. The Leafs showed how dominant they can be and it's really nice to see Marner back to his old point getting ways. As great as Matthews is I think Marner is the cog that runs the Leafs engine. When he is making plays and seeing the ice, the team plays on another level since his vision is elite. He's scoring goals now too, seven games in a row so his confidence is at a high peak and let's hope he can ride it into the playoffs!

[chakhae1]

I like what they did with the all star skills! I have not watched the skills in years b/c it was a lot of the same stuff over and over but the 21 in 20 and the fountain skill shot events were really unique and different! The Leafs also performed well and Pavelski really impressed me with his accurate shot. Zegras was there to show his skills and creativity and he did not disappoint even though I am pretty sure that blind fold was see through. There is no way that any human can do what he did without seeing where he is going and how the puck stayed on the stick then went off the stick.. Uh lol. All in all it was a good show and I hope the NHL continues to press the bar on this event! The game on the other hand is what it is and I am not expecting much from that.

[chakhae1]

campbell let us down in the second. didn't bother to watch the third but the buds are still going strong, so hopefully there is a bounce back tomorrow against the canucks. heck if wew dont beat them handily i will be dissapointed!

[icefields]

the leafs brass is so incompetent. i am being nice here.
shanahan has gone woke and simply isnt running the team
Nylander scored two goals big deal he sucked on every other shift including one of the ones he scored on.
giveaways, his fear of contact, he is absolutely useless on the power play, passing to nobody etc.
yet for some reason he is a "star" in the medias eyes.
anybody with any hockey sense knows this but nobody says it.
trade the guy, get a rugged D-man because the leafs are looking at Tampa, Carolina or Florida in the first round
and they are just TOO SOFT AGAIN THIS YEAR.
Muzzin might throw one check a night, the rest of the time it looks like he doesnt know what to do in his own end.
Sandin thinks he is a forward racing up the ice all night long and then what happens when he gets caught out of position AGAIN, a forward has to back him up and play defense and it usually is a guy like Marner or nylander and they are not capable of doing the job. i guess it doesnt really matter as he isnt much of a Dman anyways.
Holl is too slow. heck even Brodie and Rielly are on for a lot of goals.
Liljegren makes too many mistakes and either needs more experience of perhaps he can golf.
so frustrating year after year losing in the first round because they get pushed around by everybody heck even Krug was tougher than any leaf last night
and since i am ranting why is engvall even playing on the fourth line, he is what 6'4" has he ever thrown a punch or even a check.
Ritchie at least had gumption.
why is Dubas making the decisions still. there is a short window on contracts for guys like Matthews and Marner and he is wasting their golden years.
all i can say is at least i dont have to cheer for the habs this year as the only Canadian team in the hunt for the cup.

[chakhae1]

Slow your horses there. The Habs are a bigger cup contender than the leafs? I agree watching the Leafs over the past couple months has been frustrating but bottom line is that they are winning. Sure, the way they are playing does not equate well in the playoffs and nothing really has changed over the past several years, but take a step back leafs fan. this year is not any different than any other and all we can do is hope.

Ritchie was a filler here and not a contributor at all. Sure he had balls but he did not produce in any other way and they got a very decent haul with two players that can be inserted into the line up and do not cost that much money wise. That trade is an obvious win and if Dubas can pull off a couple of mores to improve the depth of the team, then one can only hope for better than years past in the playoffs.

[cygnusx1]

the leafs brass is so incompetent. i am being nice here.
shanahan has gone woke and simply isnt running the team
Nylander scored two goals big deal he sucked on every other shift including one of the ones he scored on.
giveaways, his fear of contact, he is absolutely useless on the power play, passing to nobody etc.
yet for some reason he is a "star" in the medias eyes.
anybody with any hockey sense knows this but nobody says it.
trade the guy, get a rugged D-man because the leafs are looking at Tampa, Carolina or Florida in the first round
and they are just TOO SOFT AGAIN THIS YEAR.
Muzzin might throw one check a night, the rest of the time it looks like he doesnt know what to do in his own end.
Sandin thinks he is a forward racing up the ice all night long and then what happens when he gets caught out of position AGAIN, a forward has to back him up and play defense and it usually is a guy like Marner or nylander and they are not capable of doing the job. i guess it doesnt really matter as he isnt much of a Dman anyways.
Holl is too slow. heck even Brodie and Rielly are on for a lot of goals.
Liljegren makes too many mistakes and either needs more experience of perhaps he can golf.
so frustrating year after year losing in the first round because they get pushed around by everybody heck even Krug was tougher than any leaf last night
and since i am ranting why is engvall even playing on the fourth line, he is what 6'4" has he ever thrown a punch or even a check.
Ritchie at least had gumption.
why is Dubas making the decisions still. there is a short window on contracts for guys like Matthews and Marner and he is wasting their golden years.
all i can say is at least i dont have to cheer for the habs this year as the only Canadian team in the hunt for the cup.

Lmao he scored two goals big deal

[jameslacarte]

I have never been a Nylander Fan. Sure he has a nice shot but thats about it. I think he's overrated & i dont call him a Star Player. Since when do 25 goal scorers get called Stars? For the record, i was on board for trading Nylander the year he held out on the team to Carolina who were offering a boat load of solid D-Men for him.
Tough loss last night to the Blues but in the last week we beat both Carolina & Pittsburgh so i guess it was bound to happen.
I also think the Leafs need to make some trades. If the Leafs put a solid D with Muzzin who can fight i think Muzzin would Hit more guys like he does but he's not a fighter & in todays NHL any big Hit, whether clean or dirty, there's a fight so he doesnt hit much any more & the fact he has lost a step or 2 doesnt help much either. We need to finish above Tampa in the Standings, not sure if we can catch Florida, at least #2 Seed or else we have a very tough 1st round opponent this year. Hopefully the Leafs Brass can do something soon.
I will be a Leaf fan til i die but if we go into the playoffs without fixing that Defence its gonna be another disappointing ending to whats gonna be a great regular season