OT: Leafs/NHL Thread

[ATLTimekeeper]

The first period was sorta okay. I'd say 60 - 40 Panthers which is about the best the leafs have done in any period.

The second period was a travesty lol. I'd say it was 85 - 15 Panthers.

Then the leafs looked halfway decent in the 3rd. Still 60 - 40 Panthers but hockey is hockey.

You can still win when thoroughly outplayed.

If anyone told me the leafs would take the Panthers to 7 games I would've been shocked. The last time the leafs won a series in which they were thoroughly outplayed was Detroit red wings.....Borshevsky scoring the OT winner in game 7.

Hockey is hockey and the leafs have done well to take the Panthers to 7. If they can somehow sneak out another win against the better team.....my hopes would be extremely high.

It would be a case wherein the Panthers sharpened the leaf sword. Every other team is gonna feel easy to play against.

Seems like one of the major themes has been flipping the puck high to clear the zone. The Panthers absolutely dominate the boards and corners. But they leave themselves vulnerable on the counter-attack by pinching.

It's easier said then done....but instead of wrapping the puck around the boards....the leafs have figured out you just need enough space to flip the puck high and soft.

I swear....the leafs might have broken a record for icing in a single playoff series. But that's another thing...sometimes under pressure you're better off just icing the puck then taking any risk in failing to clear the zone when given the chance. Also....the leafs have been dominating faceoffs.

Florida might be the best cycle team ever. You can tell the leafs were told...."If you're unsure about clearing the puck....don't hesitate to ice it. We'll take our chances winning the face off and then getting a better clearing chance".

One more lucky win.

Panthers didn't get a lot of great chances. The Leafs played them tight and then shut the door once they went up 1 goal. Marchand absolutely had his bell rung by Benoit and wasn't the same after that.

[Westside Gunn]

As a casual, last year I didn't watch game 7 from the shadows where I'd burst out laughing on the floor like I did every single year watching these guys choke in the playoffs. I actually cheered like a real die hard fan and this will be year 2 doing it again. It was sad and it lowkey hurt a bit. Or maybe I should take a step back into full casual mode and avoid the hurt

Im kinda going all in this year, because this would be the last of this core if they lose. End of a long era. And there's a really good chance the team never has a core this good again.

If they can't win with this one, I don't see them winning for another 20 years.

[RealFaction]

https://i.imgur.com/1FPY8C7.mp4

Lol at Sam Bennett. Going after Stolarz and now his own goalie.

[Psubs]

As a casual, last year I didn't watch game 7 from the shadows where I'd burst out laughing on the floor like I did every single year watching these guys choke in the playoffs. I actually cheered like a real die hard fan and this will be year 2 doing it again. It was sad and it lowkey hurt a bit. Or maybe I should take a step back into full casual mode and avoid the hurt

Im kinda going all in this year, because this would be the last of this core if they lose. End of a long era. And there's a really good chance the team never has a core this good again.

If they can't win with this one, I don't see them winning for another 20 years.

Knies will be a 40 goal power forward next year and Easton Cowan is coming up.

[Brinbe]

it will suck if they lose, but the leafs will be relateively fine regardless. they have good, cheap goaltending in stolarz/woll (plus some young prospects who could impact in future years) and solid backend d-men for at least a few more years before they age out. if they can get past florida they can beat pretty much any other team out there.

the issue is figuring out the forwards and what to do with the marner/jt money/capspace and how to best allocate it knowing Matthews/Nylander/Knies are locked in going forward. they've gone stars+scrubs and maybe choosing to strengthen with depth would be a smarter move.

i'm not really all that confident or convinced that the boston pizza nepo baby is the best guy for the job as chief decision-maker, especially considering his calgary teams never won anything either, but we'll see how things go sunday and onward.

[Raps in 4]

As a casual, last year I didn't watch game 7 from the shadows where I'd burst out laughing on the floor like I did every single year watching these guys choke in the playoffs. I actually cheered like a real die hard fan and this will be year 2 doing it again. It was sad and it lowkey hurt a bit. Or maybe I should take a step back into full casual mode and avoid the hurt

Im kinda going all in this year, because this would be the last of this core if they lose. End of a long era. And there's a really good chance the team never has a core this good again.

If they can't win with this one, I don't see them winning for another 20 years.

I mean this core has never made it out of the second round, and before this year, had only done it once before. We'd literally have to be the worst franchise in hockey to never reach those illustrious "heights" again.

[DreamTeam09]

As a casual, last year I didn't watch game 7 from the shadows where I'd burst out laughing on the floor like I did every single year watching these guys choke in the playoffs. I actually cheered like a real die hard fan and this will be year 2 doing it again. It was sad and it lowkey hurt a bit. Or maybe I should take a step back into full casual mode and avoid the hurt

Im kinda going all in this year, because this would be the last of this core if they lose. End of a long era. And there's a really good chance the team never has a core this good again.

If they can't win with this one, I don't see them winning for another 20 years.

The only thing that's gonna change is that Mariners gone, and JT at a lower cap #, which means this summer we'll have money to turn Marner into multiple players and Knies takes on a bigger role

[Westside Gunn]

As a casual, last year I didn't watch game 7 from the shadows where I'd burst out laughing on the floor like I did every single year watching these guys choke in the playoffs. I actually cheered like a real die hard fan and this will be year 2 doing it again. It was sad and it lowkey hurt a bit. Or maybe I should take a step back into full casual mode and avoid the hurt

Im kinda going all in this year, because this would be the last of this core if they lose. End of a long era. And there's a really good chance the team never has a core this good again.

If they can't win with this one, I don't see them winning for another 20 years.

The only thing that's gonna change is that Mariners gone, and JT at a lower cap #, which means this summer we'll have money to turn Marner into multiple players and Knies takes on a bigger role

Its hard to replace guys like Marner and they dont come by often. His price point will definetly be high

Hoping Knies takes that next step

[PushDaRock]

Im kinda going all in this year, because this would be the last of this core if they lose. End of a long era. And there's a really good chance the team never has a core this good again.

If they can't win with this one, I don't see them winning for another 20 years.

The only thing that's gonna change is that Mariners gone, and JT at a lower cap #, which means this summer we'll have money to turn Marner into multiple players and Knies takes on a bigger role

Its hard to replace guys like Marner and they dont come by often. His price point will definetly be high

Hoping Knies takes that next step

Do you need a Marner (playoff version) to win though? Probably not especially at the cap number you will need to hit that hurts your ability to fill out the rest of the roster.

I think at this point he just wants a fresh start from getting hammered in the media and fan base, it's a bit gross to get no value for him other than maybe whatever they can trade for his negotiation rights but the likely scenario is both sides just want to move on imo.

[ItsDanger]

If McDavid doesn't extend this summer, Leafs have excellent chance of getting him.

[MoneyBall]

Listened to JD Bunkis on the post game show. Some of his takes are really bad.

[bballsparkin]

Listened to JD Bunkis on the post game show. Some of his takes are really bad.

What did he say? You can't just drop that and not elaborate hah. He seems pretty knowledgeable in NFL.

[pingpongrac]

G4 and G5 were absolutely embarrassing and two of the worst performances I’ve seen from this core in the playoffs, but G6 was an excellent showing. Hopefully this is the year we finally see a G7 W.

[DreamTeam09]

Listened to JD Bunkis on the post game show. Some of his takes are really bad.

I really dislike that guy, hella smug

[MoneyBall]

Listened to JD Bunkis on the post game show. Some of his takes are really bad.

What did he say? You can't just drop that and not elaborate hah. He seems pretty knowledgeable in NFL.

Since you asked, I will give you an example. He said the Game 5 loss to Florida was so unforgiveable that the only way you can run this core again next year is if they win the cup. He literally said that even if they lose a close series in the cup Finals that you can't keep these guys together. Hm, wut? He wasn't just being emotional after a loss, he said it after they won Game 6 lol.

Also, as DT mentioned, he's smug. I don't like the way he converses with some of his guests. He goes for the "friendly hazing" approach but comes off as a bit of an a-hole.

[Raps in 4]

I'd never heard of this JD Bunkis guy until this thread. He seems like your average hot take spewing sports talkshow clown with zero knowledge of anything.

[Tripod]

2 outcomes.

Leafs win and get monkey off their back and use that momentum vs Canes

Heartbreak again in front of hometown crowd after being given false hope from last games performance.

[bballsparkin]

Since you asked, I will give you an example. He said the Game 5 loss to Florida was so unforgiveable that the only way you can run this core again next year is if they win the cup. He literally said that even if they lose a close series in the cup Finals that you can't keep these guys together. Hm, wut? He wasn't just being emotional after a loss, he said it after they won Game 6 lol.

Also, as DT mentioned, he's smug. I don't like the way he converses with some of his guests. He goes for the "friendly hazing" approach but comes off as a bit of an a-hole.

Thanks. That's a bad take. If the Leafs beat the Panthers I will be impressed. Florida stomped a very good Tampa. They're built for the playoffs and have a top notch goalie. A player in Barkov who is so good at defence he has Gretzky telling Brian Trottier stories. The Leafs just need to play hard and show that playoff craziness that's necessary and I'd be content. I thought Berube was an excellent hire for this team.

And, lol, he's totally an **** to his guests at times. Especially the Lakers fan guy he's like a punching bag. To be fair though some of his rants are enjoyable. I listen to him sometimes driving to work.

edit: he did a rant on Elias Petterson a couple of times and as a Canuck fan I enjoyed it.

[bballsparkin]

I'd never heard of this JD Bunkis guy until this thread. He seems like your average hot take spewing sports talkshow clown with zero knowledge of anything.

He's good at NFL I'm fairly confident. Although I am not. So, take that for what its worth.

[bballsparkin]

2 outcomes.

Leafs win and get monkey off their back and use that momentum vs Canes

Heartbreak again in front of hometown crowd after being given false hope from last games performance.

If it's an OT heart break I mean that's life. Not really false hope. If they get crushed then yes.