Can’t decide who is a worse ‘shit on everything’ hack, bruce arthur or cathal kelly
mikesully374826
What would the media do if the Leafs actually won? They’d all be out of jobs.
dmc1793
> They boast a .636 regular-season points percentage since 2016-17; only Boston and Tampa have been better. Their playoff win percentage over that span, however, is a dismal .421, worst among the 16 teams that have played at least 50 playoff games. According to Randy Robles of the Elias Sports Bureau, there’s never been a team that’s been as good as the Leafs in the regular season and as bad as the Leafs in the playoffs over any eight-year span.
Sideshift1427
Along came the strongest division in the league.
Drzhivag007
I feel like if we had started out with Keefe mentoring the young guns, and then brought in Babcock (before everyone found out he was a sociopath), we would have at least one Cup right now.
Complete reversal of the babying them because they were traumatized/traumatizing them because they were babied aspect.
BoomerMike123
Shana plan continues….not a single forward has been signed during free agency
radman888
It was obvious from the beginning that this “plan” was idiocy.
SerGeorge
Honestly it feels like the opposite of the England team (men’s football). Southgate consistently manages to get deep because we get very lucky with our bracket. Always not the top top tier sides (except France in the last World Cup).
The leafs in any other devision could in theory get to the conference final. That % shows we’re on average the third best side. It just so happens the two better than us are also in our division.
Losing to Columbus pre qualifier kind of ruins my above statement. But still
OkabesRazor
I don’t even feel like it’s the Shanaplan anymore. They panicked a third of the way in and tried to pivot into appeasing certain people.
Skiffy10
it should actually say ” Then came along Kyle Dubas”
witwar101
I was never a fan of Dubas. I’m not a fan of Shanahan anymore either. There was no patience in growing the team. As soon as they signed Tavares, they sped up the growth process and they’ve been winging it ever since. I hope treliving and Berube can lock this shit down.. it’s hard to feel pride over this team, and that’s not being negative, it’s being realistic.
Traveuse
This team really is something. They have never had the best goaltender in a series. Never had the best coach in a series. And then they manage to give fans hope 95% of the time, not getting eliminated until they finally have a do or die moment. It would have been better for the team if they got swept some year, at least some kind of change would have been called for.
And now, because Dubas handcuffed the organization, we have no choice but to run it back again. I have no faith left in the Shannaplan anymore. Ofc he won’t he canned until a year too late as well. Hopefully the Leafs don’t extend Marner to another unreasonable contract.
reachingFI
Leafs don’t get enough credit. They have to constantly go through Tampa and Boston and now Florida. If they were in the west, they’d be in the CF every year.
buddachickentml
I like how everyone seems to forget the Leafs missed the playoffs 10 out of 11 years prior. And 3 of the 8 seasons they have made the playoffs since the Shannaplan, they have lost to the Cup finalist or champ.
Skiffy10
“Game 3 was where the faith in this core finally fractured for some members of the organization and, according to sources, Dubas was among them. ”
Referring to game vs florida couple years ago. This quote by Bruce is so telling
Skiffy10
“And when Schenn and O’Reilly declined to re-sign with Toronto, one thing they both told friends was that the organization’s country-club atmosphere was not what they were looking for.”
Holy shit. Now we know.
themapleleaf6ix
This excuse that “the division is tough” (they also lost to Columbus and Montreal) isn’t a valid excuse. They’ve had 8 years to get deep, they know what to expect. This year’s Bruins team was beatable, they had little to no centre depth. Tampa was also very weak this year.
Chillin24Seven_
2 things can be true at the same time. Yes the Leafs play in arguably the toughest division in the league to get thru in the playoffs. They also do not play a style that wouldn’t get them thru any of the divisions.
JackRyan8888
“That faith had already wobbled late in the season; some in the front office decided the core players simply didn’t hate losing enough”…
I wonder who specifically within the “core players” the article is referring to?
Angry_beaver_1867
I have always believed the lack of cap inflation really made thing tough on the leafs.
The Tavares for instance deal is an entirely different beast without Covid and the end of cap growth.
That didn’t allow them to reinforce the core 4 and fill in around the edges
themapleleaf6ix
It’s crazy to me how after 22-23, the talk was that one of the core four had to go. Instead, the gm was let go. After 23-24 it was the same story, this time it was the coach. Meanwhile Shanahan still has a job when he’s been here for 10 years. What other individual has kept their job as the president of a professional sports team with such little success?
Gh0stSwerve
Dubas went full invest into the core 4. Handcuffing the rest of the roster for years. He was always good at selling himself though, even though he’s never really accomplished anything.
22 Comments
Can’t decide who is a worse ‘shit on everything’ hack, bruce arthur or cathal kelly
What would the media do if the Leafs actually won? They’d all be out of jobs.
> They boast a .636 regular-season points percentage since 2016-17; only Boston and Tampa have been better. Their playoff win percentage over that span, however, is a dismal .421, worst among the 16 teams that have played at least 50 playoff games. According to Randy Robles of the Elias Sports Bureau, there’s never been a team that’s been as good as the Leafs in the regular season and as bad as the Leafs in the playoffs over any eight-year span.
Along came the strongest division in the league.
I feel like if we had started out with Keefe mentoring the young guns, and then brought in Babcock (before everyone found out he was a sociopath), we would have at least one Cup right now.
Complete reversal of the babying them because they were traumatized/traumatizing them because they were babied aspect.
Shana plan continues….not a single forward has been signed during free agency
It was obvious from the beginning that this “plan” was idiocy.
Honestly it feels like the opposite of the England team (men’s football). Southgate consistently manages to get deep because we get very lucky with our bracket. Always not the top top tier sides (except France in the last World Cup).
The leafs in any other devision could in theory get to the conference final. That % shows we’re on average the third best side. It just so happens the two better than us are also in our division.
Losing to Columbus pre qualifier kind of ruins my above statement. But still
I don’t even feel like it’s the Shanaplan anymore. They panicked a third of the way in and tried to pivot into appeasing certain people.
it should actually say ” Then came along Kyle Dubas”
I was never a fan of Dubas. I’m not a fan of Shanahan anymore either. There was no patience in growing the team. As soon as they signed Tavares, they sped up the growth process and they’ve been winging it ever since. I hope treliving and Berube can lock this shit down.. it’s hard to feel pride over this team, and that’s not being negative, it’s being realistic.
This team really is something. They have never had the best goaltender in a series. Never had the best coach in a series. And then they manage to give fans hope 95% of the time, not getting eliminated until they finally have a do or die moment. It would have been better for the team if they got swept some year, at least some kind of change would have been called for.
And now, because Dubas handcuffed the organization, we have no choice but to run it back again. I have no faith left in the Shannaplan anymore. Ofc he won’t he canned until a year too late as well. Hopefully the Leafs don’t extend Marner to another unreasonable contract.
Leafs don’t get enough credit. They have to constantly go through Tampa and Boston and now Florida. If they were in the west, they’d be in the CF every year.
I like how everyone seems to forget the Leafs missed the playoffs 10 out of 11 years prior. And 3 of the 8 seasons they have made the playoffs since the Shannaplan, they have lost to the Cup finalist or champ.
“Game 3 was where the faith in this core finally fractured for some members of the organization and, according to sources, Dubas was among them. ”
Referring to game vs florida couple years ago. This quote by Bruce is so telling
“And when Schenn and O’Reilly declined to re-sign with Toronto, one thing they both told friends was that the organization’s country-club atmosphere was not what they were looking for.”
Holy shit. Now we know.
This excuse that “the division is tough” (they also lost to Columbus and Montreal) isn’t a valid excuse. They’ve had 8 years to get deep, they know what to expect. This year’s Bruins team was beatable, they had little to no centre depth. Tampa was also very weak this year.
2 things can be true at the same time. Yes the Leafs play in arguably the toughest division in the league to get thru in the playoffs. They also do not play a style that wouldn’t get them thru any of the divisions.
“That faith had already wobbled late in the season; some in the front office decided the core players simply didn’t hate losing enough”…
I wonder who specifically within the “core players” the article is referring to?
I have always believed the lack of cap inflation really made thing tough on the leafs.
The Tavares for instance deal is an entirely different beast without Covid and the end of cap growth.
That didn’t allow them to reinforce the core 4 and fill in around the edges
It’s crazy to me how after 22-23, the talk was that one of the core four had to go. Instead, the gm was let go. After 23-24 it was the same story, this time it was the coach. Meanwhile Shanahan still has a job when he’s been here for 10 years. What other individual has kept their job as the president of a professional sports team with such little success?
Dubas went full invest into the core 4. Handcuffing the rest of the roster for years. He was always good at selling himself though, even though he’s never really accomplished anything.