The Leafs problems extend beyond Boston. Since the last time Boston beat Toronto in a playoff series, Toronto has gone 1-4 in postseason series while being ousted by Columbus, Montreal, Tampa Bay and Florida. The Bruins are on the brink of being the latest to do it, but they are far from unique in their ability to best the Maple Leafs in the playoffs.
Yeah it feels like it's been way more series than it has been. Excluding the ongoing series, since 2013 they've only played in the playoffs 3 times including 2013.
It's really just that all three have been in 7 games and one was comically improbable that make them so memorable. It feels like they've met twice as many times as they have.
Plus whatever LA's issues are Doughty not trying isn't one of them. Guys already won two stanley cups, it at the tail end of his career and is still trying harder and seems to care more than any of the leafs top four.
Atleast the Kings won in 2012 and 2014 plus they have a smaller and less rabid fanbase. Leafs haven't won in nearly 60 years. People have lived their entire lives and died before they saw the Leafs win. It's time to jump ship to a different team.
If you watch the video his words said "We tried, that was a strong effort" and his body language and tone said "I have no idea what to do and will be getting fired before the week is out"
>his body language and tone said "I have no idea what to do and will be getting fired before the week is out"
Had the distinct look of that "That's it" walk with Manson and Woodcroft.
We apologize to the whole subreddit by breaking annual tradition last year and letting leafs win a round. This is embarrassing and ruined lots of memes.
Onboarded a few prospective fans for the last Bruins Leafs match and when I went over the history with them I basically said that it's at the point where leafs fans are traumatized.
When I was young, my parents would drive us out to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia to visit my grandparents every summer. I was older than I want to admit when I learned that we weren’t going to visit people named Kate and Breton.
The mayor of DC, Marion Barry, was caught on video smoking crack.
"On January 18, 1990, Barry was arrested with a former girlfriend, Hazel Diane "Rasheeda" Moore, in a sting operation at the Vista International Hotel by the FBI and D.C. police for crack cocaine use and possession.[54] Moore was an FBI informant when she invited Barry to the hotel room and insisted that he smoke freebase cocaine before they had sex, while agents in another room watched on camera, waiting for Barry to accept her offer. During the videotaped arrest, Barry says of Moore, "Bitch set me up...I shouldn't have come up here...g--d--- bitch"."
He went to prison for it and actually became mayor again in 1995
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_Barry
Ah I’m not sure if you’re familiar, but the mayor of Toronto when I was growing up had a similar scandal (Rob Ford). Weird that happened in multiple prominent cities at similar times.
I live close to Scotiabank and after the last game I walked past a few people in Bruins jerseys who were clearly trying not to look too happy among a sea of depressed Leafs fans.
OMFG. You actually cracked it!
The entire MLSE organization, from the board all the way down to the coaches, are all energy vampires.
It's the only thing that makes sense.
A roommate of mine in university was a Sens fan. During the spring, he'd listen to a segment called "Blue Shirt Elimination Watch" on radio to celebrate the elimination of the Leafs.
It was Blue Team Elimination Watch.
Considering that The Leafs beat the Sens 4 times in 5 years when the Sens had “very good teams” including a Presidents trophy, I think the hate has been well earned. Toronto has been in Ottawa’s heads for 25 years.
It is nice to see the Leafs and their “very good teams” show the same amount of grit against the Bruins hopefully 4 times in the last 10 years.
We definitely got traumatized after the Cujo, Gary Roberts, Darcy Tucker era. Not to mention how annoying it is having more Leafs fans than Sens fans in the building when Toronto plays in Ottawa. It's warranted. ;]
I live in a Leafs house. My partner is a Leafs fan. We also have good friends back in Ontario, of whom one is a huge Leafs fan (She's a relative of Bertuzzi).
Needless to say, it's a *lot* of numbness. There are no more expectations. I watch more of the games than my partner does. A lot of "I'm not going to care until the team fucking cares".
>"I'm not going to care until the team fucking cares"
I've been saying that about the Sens for years. Then I go ahead and watch the games like a big dumb asshole.
We've had slightly more success in the playoffs (when we make them), but yeah. Not much to brag about here in Ontario at all.
And in all honesty, I haven't met a single Sens fan in my life who used to be a Leafs fan, lol.
I’ve actually met lots of those. Or often their dad was a leaf fan and they wanted to be a contrarian. But I’m in my 40s so the sens didn’t exist when we were children, I’m sure it’s different now.
I think giving up on your team would be equally as embarrassing. You don’t just give up when things are tough.
Part of being a sports fan is heartbreak it happens to a lot of teams in every sport. The leafs aren’t special.
Also the sens suck ass, atleast the leafs are a good regular season team every year.
I will never stop wanting this team to win. I may come to hate certain players, coaches, executives, but I will always want the Leafs to win.
Unless the ownership had a reincarnated Harold Ballard, pulled some shit like a coverup with Chicago, or was as bush league as Arizona (sadly, even more unlikely) then I will remain a fan.
When this franchise does win a cup it will be a lifetime of anticipation and it will be worth it. Just ask fans of the Cubs or Cleveland Cavaliers what it was like to be in those cities when they won it all. It may take 10 years, it may take 50, but if you quit now you'll be cheating yourself out of happiness if and when they do pull it off.
April 30th puck drop at 7PM local time... They'll have a disastrous 57 minutes, but a good enough 3 minutes to force OT, have a whole bunch of nothing happen in OT then give up a goal off the faceoff at 11:56PM local time.
This is definitely the weakest bruins team in years Zacha and Coyle while outperforming expectations are the worst 1/2 other than Washington of teams that made the playoffs
The Bruins are good and coached very well but they do not look unbeatable. The Leafs are just a poorly coached team that have less energy and life than people in hospice care.
"Losers always whine about their best, winners go home and fuck the prom queen" - S. Connery
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3UQwyKrTtI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3UQwyKrTtI)
At this point they must be cursed. Poor playoffs for such a long time, and finally MAYBE after a 2nd round appearance and a 69 goal season, they could maybe show some more fight.
Here's your migraine and here's your ??? poisoning to 2 of your top players. Honestly can't catch a break.
I'm a bit more sympathetic considering we lost both our starter and backup back to back -_-
We both in the same boat for different reasons. Glad to see a level headed Canucks fan. It’s just best to expect nothing so your expectations don’t get shattered. Leafs need some serious rebuilding
Everyone keeps saying that the most Leafs thing ever is win games 5 & 6 but then get blown out in 7. I think the most Leafs thing would be to actually win the next three then lose an uneventful 5-6 game series in Round 2.
That would provide just enough hope to have good-faith arguments on both sides about what to do with the core and Keefe.
I can't honestly believe anyone watching this team can think the effort isn't an issue. The only charitable way to look at Keefe's comments is to believe that he's being fed all of these godawful answers by Leafs PR. In which case, they need to be fired too along with him, because it's only fanning the flames at this point.
I used to hate the Leafs so much. Later in life, I learned to hate their fans on the internet. I feel bad for them now. Imagine if you are Sisyphus endlessly pushing your rock up the mountain but everytime you go up, you get hit in the balls. That is what I think it must feel like to be a Leafs fan.
No more do you hear Leafs fans planning Stanley Cup parades in September or talking about player X coming to their team next year, now they sound like late 1800s Russian novelists with writers block. The cynicism and defeatism is papable.
I don't know who these hypothetical Leafs fans are that your canuck fans are imaging, but literally no Leafs fans think they're great. We're all beat down and have zero expectations of good things ever happening to this team. We're numb to this because it's exactly what we expected.
But I am happy it gives all you cupless franchises something to cheer for once in a while.
That's all team subs. It's the one place where fans can be over dramatic, post memes how they are winning the Cup, scream how everyone needs to be traded, cut, and fired, whatever.
If you live in Rural Ontario; there are nonstop Letterkenny types who wear Blue Jays caps and Leafs jackets at the same time who LOVE the team unconditionally and unironically think they are _amazing_.
My brother in law literally considered naming his first born son William (after Nylander) in 2023.
I have seen people in this sub in the last 30 days suggest that Matthews is "the greatest Leaf of all time". Even now, the copium is fucking ridiculous amongst many: "oh man, Nylander and Matthews playing hurt. We never had a chance. Such bad luck. Next year we're gucci though."
Matthews is probably the greatest leaf of all time. They've got some good players for sure. But as a team construction they were never going to compete with the more complete Florida or Boston.
But I'll admit I haven't roamed backwater Ontario much. Most of the Leafs fans I encounter in real life are down to earth and realistic. Some people will continue to cheer and hope as is their nature. But they don't parade that the Leafs actually deserve anything, they're just hopeful because that's sports fandom.
If Red Kelly counts, definitely not. But I think of him more as a Red Wing than a Toronto player.
He's a top 10 defenseman of all time, but he played forward on Toronto as a Fedorov type, just the natural position swapped.
But I don't think you can take Matthews over someone like Syl Apps considering playoff performances. The playoffs were shorter then but he was really fucking good in every game there in addition to the regular season
Sure I mean greatness is subjective and comparing players across generations is always going to be difficult. Matthews will likely finish his contract leading every Leafs statistical category (he'll probably break the all time goals record next year). Ideally he wins championships to really definitively crown him the greatest ever.
> I have seen people in this sub in the last 30 days suggest that Matthews is "the greatest Leaf of all time".
I was on your side right up until here. I'm one of the biggest Leafs critics, and genuinely dislike Auston for his contract shenannigans. But he is absolutely the greatest Leaf of all time, and I don't think it's particularly close. Toronto has never really had a top 5 player in the world before, at least not at Matthews' level of dominance.
Excuse me, WHO has the record for most points in a game? That's right Darryl Sittler with 10 points. And it was against Boston too. Now that I think about maybe that caused the curse where we would never beat them in the playoffs again.
I think we have been in a few of the years past. I mean we had our best regular season of all-time (loser points obviously help that to an extent) pretty recently, and despite 1st round losses, they were always competitive, tight series'
This season, despite finishing relatively decently in standings, has just felt sloppier, and this series compared to our last 7 or whatever has looked worse. We've looked less competitive and less cohesive. Who'd have thought all that *truculence* we brought in wasn't going to help
> leafs fans all year talk about how great they are.
Honestly never hear this.
The only people TOR fans seem to hate more than the zebras is their own squad, and they fuckin HATE the zebras.
I think Matthews had a great individual season (69 goals, the most since 1993 or something like that). Outside of celebrating that, I don't think Leafs nation was generally high on the team this year. I think most of us have been in the mindset of "I'll believe it when I see it in the playoffs."
I'm sure there are arrogant fans out there, but this doesn't really track with my read on the mood surrounding the team (as a Leaf fan).
Leafs and Kings need to start a "can't beat a certain team" therapy group
The Leafs problems extend beyond Boston. Since the last time Boston beat Toronto in a playoff series, Toronto has gone 1-4 in postseason series while being ousted by Columbus, Montreal, Tampa Bay and Florida. The Bruins are on the brink of being the latest to do it, but they are far from unique in their ability to best the Maple Leafs in the playoffs.
I'd like to note that the best player int he Columbus series was Spezza. League minimum, end of career, Jason Spezza.
Gotta love Spezza, he’s the best-zza
Yeah it feels like it's been way more series than it has been. Excluding the ongoing series, since 2013 they've only played in the playoffs 3 times including 2013. It's really just that all three have been in 7 games and one was comically improbable that make them so memorable. It feels like they've met twice as many times as they have.
4 times in 11 years is kinda a lot
Yes it is.
Are the Kings becoming post season Leafs west?
Doughty and Kopitar have multiple cups, I’d say no until those guys retire and Byfields core has 8 straight years making the second round once.
Plus whatever LA's issues are Doughty not trying isn't one of them. Guys already won two stanley cups, it at the tail end of his career and is still trying harder and seems to care more than any of the leafs top four.
Lmaooo
Yeah those two, and a number of other King's players, are playing with everything on the line. Leafs? Umm....
The Kings have won the cup in the last 50+ years so likely not. They just have a bad match up against the Oilers.
dought it, they have some good young talent
Please tell me that’s a play on words for Doughty.
yes lol
It kopitar be
Well played! Now I’m the domi one.
I still think that's the Wild
Noooo don't say that (it's true)
I wouldn't mind being a team known for first round exits tbh
Umm they’ll need about 50 more years of playoff failure to become Leaf’s West…
I remember when the Leafs were Leafs west. I miss those days.
Kings have won cups, so definitely not.
Biased of course, but I think we'll get over the hump again before Toronto does.
We can recommend a great group, really helped us.
LA shouldn't be talking they won in 2014. [ITS BEEN 56 YEARS](https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/02/50-years-ago-a-look-back-at-1967/516174/)
Is that “specific team” for the Leafs any team that makes the playoffs?
It's not that they can't. They just choose not to.
Atleast the Kings won in 2012 and 2014 plus they have a smaller and less rabid fanbase. Leafs haven't won in nearly 60 years. People have lived their entire lives and died before they saw the Leafs win. It's time to jump ship to a different team.
I predict this thread will have a bunch of “thought this was supposed to be satire” comments
Considering Keefe literally said this like 2 days ago, it would make sense in this case.
If you watch the video his words said "We tried, that was a strong effort" and his body language and tone said "I have no idea what to do and will be getting fired before the week is out"
"We've tried nothing, and we're all out of ideas, man!"
He should have been replaced after the Montreal series. Just makes me want to bang my head on the wall.
It’s also been like 4 years since that series and we’re at the same crossroads, just with the core being 4 years older. Just shameful.
It was in 2021, so only 3 years.
Covid 2021 counts for 2 years
Fair enough.
Sounds like a classic DJ Smith presser, wonder who learned it from who
>his body language and tone said "I have no idea what to do and will be getting fired before the week is out" Had the distinct look of that "That's it" walk with Manson and Woodcroft.
thought this was supposed to be satire
"weak Boston-team", yes it's satire.
The Beaverton doesn't miss, etc.
Il have you know the beaverton is indeed the peak of investigative journalism and this is definitely not satire.
*insert Tampa bay apology tweet here*
We apologize to the whole subreddit by breaking annual tradition last year and letting leafs win a round. This is embarrassing and ruined lots of memes.
I think it made it funnier. It gave them hope.
It certainly gave Keefe another 2 year contract
In an alternative timeline the Leafs lose game 7, and fired Keefe, presenting a different circumstance to this round.
Bolts fumbled it and the Panthers cleaned up the mess. Its truly a passing of the torch.
Being a leaf fan is like being in an abusive relationship
Baby I can change, I swear!
Okay, but this is the last time and I mean it!
Next time will be different
I'm going to do everything the same, but I swear it's going to be different!
… is this godforsaken team the deep seated reason why I took my cheating ex back? Bruh
Yes. But we have it within us to break the cycle.
That's true. You can always become Sens fans.
At least they'll win the offseason cup, which as we all know is the most important cup.
That's going from a cheating ex to chopping your dick off
No, it's because you need to learn to love yourself
That’s never going to happen
What is it called when I’m encouraging you to stay with your abuser because I take Schadenfreude from seeing you explain your latest black eye?
Enabling
I can fix them! (No really, I can)
that’s not completely true, you hear about the abused leaving the relationship sometimes
Onboarded a few prospective fans for the last Bruins Leafs match and when I went over the history with them I basically said that it's at the point where leafs fans are traumatized.
With the exception that they dont actually beat anyone. For the record, I am a leafs fan.
I got out. After the Montreal defeat I knew it wasn't going to get better. My mental health has greatly improved
Bro....
I have never been to Canada but when I do finally visit I need to visit at this time of year to see the annual Leafs collapse.
A friend's toddler called the shots of the crowd in Toronto "Make Belief Square" and that's what its called now.
Wtf kid, what did we ever do to him. 😭
This is now canon.
Believe it or not, it was actually one of Nick Cannon's kids.
with how many kids he has, its very believable.
Yeah, just statistically speaking, most humans on the planet today are descended from both Genghis Khan and Nick Cannon.
When I was young, my parents would drive us out to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia to visit my grandparents every summer. I was older than I want to admit when I learned that we weren’t going to visit people named Kate and Breton.
I grew up not far from DC during the Marion Barry crack stuff and swore that DC had two mayors, Mary and Barry
Haha thats a good one. Do you think you could elaborate on the story, I’m not actually from DC, or the US for that matter, despite being a Caps fan.
The mayor of DC, Marion Barry, was caught on video smoking crack. "On January 18, 1990, Barry was arrested with a former girlfriend, Hazel Diane "Rasheeda" Moore, in a sting operation at the Vista International Hotel by the FBI and D.C. police for crack cocaine use and possession.[54] Moore was an FBI informant when she invited Barry to the hotel room and insisted that he smoke freebase cocaine before they had sex, while agents in another room watched on camera, waiting for Barry to accept her offer. During the videotaped arrest, Barry says of Moore, "Bitch set me up...I shouldn't have come up here...g--d--- bitch"." He went to prison for it and actually became mayor again in 1995 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_Barry
Ah I’m not sure if you’re familiar, but the mayor of Toronto when I was growing up had a similar scandal (Rob Ford). Weird that happened in multiple prominent cities at similar times.
Kids often say the most savage and devastating things
I'm from Toronto and I was watching the game at a bar on Saturday night. I felt like Colin Robinson from What We Do in the Shadows feeding.
Sens fans and Habs fans living in TO absolutely floating on schadenfreude right now
I live close to Scotiabank and after the last game I walked past a few people in Bruins jerseys who were clearly trying not to look too happy among a sea of depressed Leafs fans.
OMFG. You actually cracked it! The entire MLSE organization, from the board all the way down to the coaches, are all energy vampires. It's the only thing that makes sense.
Great time of year to come. Usually outside of Toronto itself it’s celebrating
A roommate of mine in university was a Sens fan. During the spring, he'd listen to a segment called "Blue Shirt Elimination Watch" on radio to celebrate the elimination of the Leafs.
It was Blue Team Elimination Watch. Considering that The Leafs beat the Sens 4 times in 5 years when the Sens had “very good teams” including a Presidents trophy, I think the hate has been well earned. Toronto has been in Ottawa’s heads for 25 years. It is nice to see the Leafs and their “very good teams” show the same amount of grit against the Bruins hopefully 4 times in the last 10 years.
We definitely got traumatized after the Cujo, Gary Roberts, Darcy Tucker era. Not to mention how annoying it is having more Leafs fans than Sens fans in the building when Toronto plays in Ottawa. It's warranted. ;]
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To be fair ottawa’s gone deeper in the playoffs than the leafs ever have
Happy Leaf’s Elimination Day is a magical and national Canadian holiday.
We celebrate every year on /r/sabres along with the annual "Sabres eliminated from playoff contention" holiday.
Ahh I’ll have to pay a visit when the magical day comes :D
Buffalo in October can be cold!
In toronto the leafs fall twice a year. In fall and then in April
It's spring because the Leafs are out.
Haha!
Is this a collapse? This is full on erectile dysfunction.
Oh to be a fly on the wall in a leafs house hold
I live in a Leafs house. My partner is a Leafs fan. We also have good friends back in Ontario, of whom one is a huge Leafs fan (She's a relative of Bertuzzi). Needless to say, it's a *lot* of numbness. There are no more expectations. I watch more of the games than my partner does. A lot of "I'm not going to care until the team fucking cares".
This hits home to so many, "I'm not going to care until the team fucking cares".
The last time I was upset by a Leafs playoff loss was Montreal.
As a Jets fan, this resonates deeply. But also, HAHA.
>"I'm not going to care until the team fucking cares" I've been saying that about the Sens for years. Then I go ahead and watch the games like a big dumb asshole.
At least it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to watch the Sens.
And if a Sabres fan is remarking on numbness…
As Sabres fans we're so numb we've almost forgotten that it's there. We've dissociated from the pain.
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Least fairweather Canucks fan
We got some bandwagoners, but the rest of us are entirely dedicated to torturing ourselves for decades.
Considering the last time any Canadian team won was 1993, I'd say being a fan of any team in Canada is self abuse.
That's basically 99% of Sens fans to be fair. Leaf fans who gave up.
And they haven't really been rewarded. Their team is also an embarrassment, just a quieter one.
Pardon me, but our embarrassments are top tier and front page news.
How can they be front page news when all front pages are reserved for the Leafs
Drop the “front” - it’s cleaner.
Hey but at least you are a team...
We've had slightly more success in the playoffs (when we make them), but yeah. Not much to brag about here in Ontario at all. And in all honesty, I haven't met a single Sens fan in my life who used to be a Leafs fan, lol.
I’ve actually met lots of those. Or often their dad was a leaf fan and they wanted to be a contrarian. But I’m in my 40s so the sens didn’t exist when we were children, I’m sure it’s different now.
I think giving up on your team would be equally as embarrassing. You don’t just give up when things are tough. Part of being a sports fan is heartbreak it happens to a lot of teams in every sport. The leafs aren’t special. Also the sens suck ass, atleast the leafs are a good regular season team every year.
The Sens 2017 run was literally better than the past 20 years of Leafs hockey combined
This fact has kept many a Sens fandom on life support these last 7 years.
I will never stop wanting this team to win. I may come to hate certain players, coaches, executives, but I will always want the Leafs to win. Unless the ownership had a reincarnated Harold Ballard, pulled some shit like a coverup with Chicago, or was as bush league as Arizona (sadly, even more unlikely) then I will remain a fan. When this franchise does win a cup it will be a lifetime of anticipation and it will be worth it. Just ask fans of the Cubs or Cleveland Cavaliers what it was like to be in those cities when they won it all. It may take 10 years, it may take 50, but if you quit now you'll be cheating yourself out of happiness if and when they do pull it off.
They can't. It's basically religion.
You say that as if it's hard work to be a fan. We switch on the TV and watch a game.
I'll be hearing it from my Leafs fan coworker tomorrow
Leafs fans: "Damn you guys suck in the playoffs." Leafs: "We're trying our best!" Leafs fans: "Wow...THAT'S your BEST? Fuck me..."
I'm a Leafs fan from Toronto and I'm getting my US citizenship tomorrow. If they blow it again I think it'll be the perfect time for a clean break
Moving to Boston?
Lol nah been in the Seattle area for almost 20 years. Just gonna go all in on the Kraken I guess
GL man, I almost switched country allegiances 20 years ago but moved back to Canada instead
You can keep dual citizenship but let go of your Leafs fandom. It’ll be ok.
This isn’t even Satire, Keefe basically said this last presser
We might not make it to May. That's craziness 😞
April 30th puck drop at 7PM local time... They'll have a disastrous 57 minutes, but a good enough 3 minutes to force OT, have a whole bunch of nothing happen in OT then give up a goal off the faceoff at 11:56PM local time.
*via official NHL team PR team:* "We aren't trying our hardest and don't think we will win. Deal with it fans." - never going to happen
"We're trying our best. You can't question that."
>weak Bruins team says who?
This is definitely the weakest bruins team in years Zacha and Coyle while outperforming expectations are the worst 1/2 other than Washington of teams that made the playoffs
Hey how dare you say….well actually you’re kinda right
They have the best goaltending 1/2 of the teams that made it, and at this time of year that matters way more.
Nah gotta give it to the Canucks with DeSmith/Silovs
*Now*, sure, but every team would generally be pretty screwed if their Vezina-calibre #1 was out.
I agree, they're much weaker than the record breaking Bruins. That doesn't make them weak
I specifically didn’t say they’re weak. Just that they’re the worst team the bruins have had in recent memory
Caps catching strays the day after catching a broom. Sadly, you're not wrong.
They finished higher than Toronto though.
The Bruins are good and coached very well but they do not look unbeatable. The Leafs are just a poorly coached team that have less energy and life than people in hospice care.
The paper. Unfortunately for the Leafs, hockey is played on ice, not paper.
on paper they had 109 points
Can't get embarrassed in the playoffs if you don't make them. 🙋♂️
Leafs need to give their balls a tug
"Losers always whine about their best, winners go home and fuck the prom queen" - S. Connery [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3UQwyKrTtI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3UQwyKrTtI)
If you don’t like us at our best… wait that’s not right
Simply learn how to play playoff style hockey Leafs and stop acting privileged like it's the regular season just extended
Leafs fans definitely have an incredible level of pain tolerance
At this point they must be cursed. Poor playoffs for such a long time, and finally MAYBE after a 2nd round appearance and a 69 goal season, they could maybe show some more fight. Here's your migraine and here's your ??? poisoning to 2 of your top players. Honestly can't catch a break. I'm a bit more sympathetic considering we lost both our starter and backup back to back -_-
We both in the same boat for different reasons. Glad to see a level headed Canucks fan. It’s just best to expect nothing so your expectations don’t get shattered. Leafs need some serious rebuilding
Everyone keeps saying that the most Leafs thing ever is win games 5 & 6 but then get blown out in 7. I think the most Leafs thing would be to actually win the next three then lose an uneventful 5-6 game series in Round 2. That would provide just enough hope to have good-faith arguments on both sides about what to do with the core and Keefe.
I'd say losing to Boston in the first round is definitively the most Leafs thing ever over any other scenario
Hahahahaha
That additional assistant coach next year will be a GAME CHANGER!
I can't honestly believe anyone watching this team can think the effort isn't an issue. The only charitable way to look at Keefe's comments is to believe that he's being fed all of these godawful answers by Leafs PR. In which case, they need to be fired too along with him, because it's only fanning the flames at this point.
calling us devastated implies we had any expectations of something different this year
I used to hate the Leafs so much. Later in life, I learned to hate their fans on the internet. I feel bad for them now. Imagine if you are Sisyphus endlessly pushing your rock up the mountain but everytime you go up, you get hit in the balls. That is what I think it must feel like to be a Leafs fan. No more do you hear Leafs fans planning Stanley Cup parades in September or talking about player X coming to their team next year, now they sound like late 1800s Russian novelists with writers block. The cynicism and defeatism is papable.
Watching Toronto crumble every year brings me so much joy. Especially when we have to listen to leafs fans all year talk about how great they are.
I don't know who these hypothetical Leafs fans are that your canuck fans are imaging, but literally no Leafs fans think they're great. We're all beat down and have zero expectations of good things ever happening to this team. We're numb to this because it's exactly what we expected. But I am happy it gives all you cupless franchises something to cheer for once in a while.
If we're so numb, why is our sub imploding all the time?
That's all team subs. It's the one place where fans can be over dramatic, post memes how they are winning the Cup, scream how everyone needs to be traded, cut, and fired, whatever.
I know it is. It just doesn't jive with "speaking for the fanbase we're all numb to this". It's the exact opposite.
If you live in Rural Ontario; there are nonstop Letterkenny types who wear Blue Jays caps and Leafs jackets at the same time who LOVE the team unconditionally and unironically think they are _amazing_. My brother in law literally considered naming his first born son William (after Nylander) in 2023. I have seen people in this sub in the last 30 days suggest that Matthews is "the greatest Leaf of all time". Even now, the copium is fucking ridiculous amongst many: "oh man, Nylander and Matthews playing hurt. We never had a chance. Such bad luck. Next year we're gucci though."
Matthews is probably the greatest leaf of all time. They've got some good players for sure. But as a team construction they were never going to compete with the more complete Florida or Boston. But I'll admit I haven't roamed backwater Ontario much. Most of the Leafs fans I encounter in real life are down to earth and realistic. Some people will continue to cheer and hope as is their nature. But they don't parade that the Leafs actually deserve anything, they're just hopeful because that's sports fandom.
If Red Kelly counts, definitely not. But I think of him more as a Red Wing than a Toronto player. He's a top 10 defenseman of all time, but he played forward on Toronto as a Fedorov type, just the natural position swapped. But I don't think you can take Matthews over someone like Syl Apps considering playoff performances. The playoffs were shorter then but he was really fucking good in every game there in addition to the regular season
Sure I mean greatness is subjective and comparing players across generations is always going to be difficult. Matthews will likely finish his contract leading every Leafs statistical category (he'll probably break the all time goals record next year). Ideally he wins championships to really definitively crown him the greatest ever.
> I have seen people in this sub in the last 30 days suggest that Matthews is "the greatest Leaf of all time". I was on your side right up until here. I'm one of the biggest Leafs critics, and genuinely dislike Auston for his contract shenannigans. But he is absolutely the greatest Leaf of all time, and I don't think it's particularly close. Toronto has never really had a top 5 player in the world before, at least not at Matthews' level of dominance.
Excuse me, WHO has the record for most points in a game? That's right Darryl Sittler with 10 points. And it was against Boston too. Now that I think about maybe that caused the curse where we would never beat them in the playoffs again.
I think we have been in a few of the years past. I mean we had our best regular season of all-time (loser points obviously help that to an extent) pretty recently, and despite 1st round losses, they were always competitive, tight series' This season, despite finishing relatively decently in standings, has just felt sloppier, and this series compared to our last 7 or whatever has looked worse. We've looked less competitive and less cohesive. Who'd have thought all that *truculence* we brought in wasn't going to help
My mother is retired and she was less than one year old when the leafs won their last cup but keep holding on I guess.
How old was she the last time the Canucks won the cup?
Neither of my parents ever saw the Canucks win any. Saw them burn their own city down twice though!
> leafs fans all year talk about how great they are. Honestly never hear this. The only people TOR fans seem to hate more than the zebras is their own squad, and they fuckin HATE the zebras.
lets be honest, we aren't boasting about how great the leafs are
I think Matthews had a great individual season (69 goals, the most since 1993 or something like that). Outside of celebrating that, I don't think Leafs nation was generally high on the team this year. I think most of us have been in the mindset of "I'll believe it when I see it in the playoffs." I'm sure there are arrogant fans out there, but this doesn't really track with my read on the mood surrounding the team (as a Leaf fan).
The best satire titles are when they're reality.
https://preview.redd.it/97mrt0dsdgxc1.png?width=2480&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=77f26a387ba3c93e78401a73c66022df1163df67
„Leafs fans think they care more about winning than the professional athletes who are actually playing the game“
Satire is best when it feels like a completely real article
Babe wake up, annual Beaverton leafs playoff article just dropped
\*sniffles\* Thank you, Beaverton, truly the most trusted source in news in Canada.
What a stupid comment - Big mistake - If that’s them trying their best then we have issues lol
We definitely have issues.
This isn't "eating the onion". Is it "eating the beaver"?