I honestly feel bad for Kyle Dubas. He staked his career on Matthews, Marner, Nylander and Tavares and this was the effort they thought was appropriate to repay his loyalty.
#Leafsforever
A reminder that the NHL wants to call itself part of the "big 4 leagues" and they are playing a game 6 with the two best players in the league at 10pm et on a Sunday night because they are afraid of going up against Sunday Night Baseball.
Best league in the world, right?
Out of all the guys on this team I am happiest for - Morgan Rielly is at the top of the list. Dude has eaten more shit than anyone, loved being a Leaf since the day he was drafted and raised his game to another level this series. The look on his face says it all.
#LeafsForever
Here's the list of right wingers making $9M+ according to capfriendly.
Pastrnak
Marner
Stone
Tkachuk
Kucherov
Rantanen
William Nylander ain't better than any of those dudes. If he wants to be paid like them then he should play like them.
#LeafsForever
Imagine how good the Leafs would be if their 3 "stars" brought the same intensity to playoff games as they do to their contract negotiations.
#LeafsForever
Its not fair that the Rangers went from Richter - Lundqvist - Shesterkin and I've had to watch Aubin - Toskala - Clemmensen - Pogge - Gerber - Gustavsson - Reimer - Rynnas - Bernier - Sparks - Enroth - Andersen - Campbell - Mrazek - Murray Fuck I hate it here
#LeafsForever
I am once again asking for the Maple Leafs star players to try as hard as they do in the playoffs as they did in their contract negotiations.
#LeafsForever
The good news for Morgan Rielly is that this suspension is a learning experience for him. Instead of cross checking someone in the head and getting 5 games you can slash them in the head and get only a $5K fine. Worst league.
#LeafsForever
Vegas has won 11 series in 6 yrs, changed their coach 3 times and pushed hard to upgrade at every position whenever they could. But Ive had to hear the Leafs tell me how they are "gonna get it done" with a group of players that only know how to fail. I hate it here
#LeafsForever
Remember when Mitch Marner switched from 84 to 16? No one seemed to care that he "took" Darcy Tucker's number. But for some reason Nylander takes Lindros' 88 and people go crazy.
Here, in Canada, we have people complaining that their freedom was taken away because they had to wear a mask when grocery shopping. In Ukraine they are being called on to put their lives on the line to fight a war and actually defend their freedom.
Breaking: Ukraine’s President has ordered a General Military Mobilization, calling up conscripts and reservists and banning all males aged 18-60 from leaving the country.
Its time for a coaching change. It was time for a coaching change after the Montreal series. It was time for a coaching change after the Tampa series. It was time for a coaching change after the Florida series. Its time for Sheldon Keefe to not coach this team.
#LeafsForever
We get it. The refs hate Michael Bunting but now its becoming personal and when that happens you have an officiating problem, not a player embellishing problem.
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If you think that Brad Treliving is going to add Domi, Bertuzzi and Reaves to the forward group without adding defencemen that play that way you will be sorely mistaken. More moves are coming.
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A reminder that David Kampf has more points in his last 4 playoff games than Mitch Marner so when Marner asks for Matthews contract Treliving should say "here's Kampf's"
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Kyle Dubas has traded away 15 picks in the last few years to surround Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Tavares & Rielly with pieces to help them get over the hump. There is no core group of players in the NHL who owe their GM more than those 5. Its time to get it done.
#LeafsForever
I don't know what's gonna happen in the playoffs but I know that for 5 years the Leafs were dying for players like Domi, Bertuzzi and Edmundson and for 4.5 of those seasons Kyle Dubas thought guys like Engvall, Kerfoot and Malgin were more important.
#LeafsForever
A reminder that Vegas had the coach of the year who they fired for DeBoer who went to B2B conf finals who they decided they could upgrade on with Cassidy and are about to win a Cup. But
#LeafsForever
have a guy who gets outcoached every series that they apparently cant upgrade on
Lost to a Zamboni driver
Shutout by CBJ in G5
Blew a 3-1 lead to Habs
“Handshake line of success”™️
Scored 2 or less in 10/11 playoff games
Outcoached in every series
5-14 home playoff record
16.4% PP
And somehow Keefe HAS AN EXTENSION THAT HASNT BEGUN!
#LeafsForever
Since the pandemic
The NBA (soft) cap has gone up $14.5M
The NFL (soft) cap has gone up $26.6M
The NHL signs a new national deal in the US, gets $650M from Seattle (that they don't have to share) and cap barely budges. Another sign that the NHL is a terribly run operation
Sure would be nice if Nylander who loves to compare himself to Pastrnak at every contract negotiation would start playing like Pastrnak in these games
#LeafsForever
As I said on July 2nd, I'd rather go to war with Bertuzzi & Domi on my side instead of Kerfoot or Engvall or any of those other lifeless corpses that the Dubasites spent years telling us how "they win their minutes".
#LeafsForever
Kyle Dubas told the media on the day he fired Babcock that the change was to get the team to "play the way it was designed to play". He got the coach he wanted, he got to make every player change he wanted. Why should he get to fire another coach? This is his mess
#LeafsForever
Imagine being Kyle Dubas and walking into Matthews, Marner, Nylander entering their prime, Rielly and Kadri on great contracts, a solid goalie, depth all over the roster and then you turn them into this crap 4 years later.
#Leafsforever
Almost 3 years ago to the day the Leafs fired Babcock because the players stopped playing for him after he was mean to them. They got their nice guy coach and have stopped playing for him. Firing Keefe lets them off the hook and is entirely the wrong message
#Leafsforever
Dubas left Treliving with 1 top 4 defenceman, zero prospects who project to be top 4 & so few assets to get those players. If you spend that many assets you better not have this many holes. Thats not on Treliving no matter how much you Dubasites want to blame him
#LeafsForever
Explain to an alien from another planet who only came to earth for our delicious cinnamon rolls and has never watched hockey why one of these received a two game suspension and the other likely will not receive anything.
#LeafsForever
#TimeToHunt
Why did Brendan Shanahan play as hard as he did? Because he felt it was the best way to win. As a player, he'd love to play against a team as soft as the Maple Leafs team he manages. I will never understand how he continues to watch them play without throwing up.
#LeafsForever
I was absolutely certain on July 1 that Max Domi was an upgrade on Alex Kerfoot, Tyler Bertuzzi was an upgrade on Michael Bunting and John Klingberg was an upgrade on Justin Holl and I am still certain of that today. 4 games isn't going to change that.
#LeafsForever
Everything that Luke Schenn was tonight - at 33 years of age, was what I expected him to be when the Maple Leafs drafted him 5th overall in 2008. He was fantastic.
This Leaf team has many issues but you cant possibly tell me that they are a well coached/well prepared group of players. I don't care what happens tonight. It was time to make a change 3 years ago.
#LeafsForever
This quote from Dubas bothered me last year and even more so today. Deboer, Cassidy & Trotz were all available but they decided Keefe was on his way to a hall of fame career. Another example of them letting the culture of zero accountability get worse each year
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Treliving may not have had a perfect offseason but at least it wasn't Dubas circa 2019
Trade Kadri for Barrie & Kerfoot
Sign Kerfoot 3.5x4
Sign Johnsson 3.4x4
Trade for Ceci & use him as top pair RD
Re-sign Marincin
Cave to Marner's demands
HOLY SHIT THIS WAS BAD
#LeafsForever
Things we can blame Treliving for on the Leafs D:
John Klingberg
Things we can blame Dubas for:
Leaving the team with 1 top 4 defenceman (Rielly) & 4 out of place pieces
No D prospects that can fix the issues
Passing on actual top 4 D like Chychrun, Ekholm etc
#LeafsForever
Marner has been given everything by the Maple Leafs organization. He's never returned the favour with post season success. He can make everyone forget about that so easily by embracing a role on a separate line from Matthews and dominating like a 10.9m player should
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As a fan it really pisses me off that they wasted 5 years of what should have been the greatest years in franchise history with an inexperienced GM who they allowed to learn on the job. He made many mistakes and this team won 1 playoff series. This was a failure
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There is no excuse for the Maple Leafs to ever not have the best coach in a playoff series with all the financial might they have. And I've got news for you, Sheldon Keefe ain't it.
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Marner's at a cross roads in his career. Hes financially set for life but his legacy can go one of two ways. Join the list of stars who raise their game in the playoffs or join the list of under achievers like Yashin, Heatley & guys who just never brought it
#LeafsForever
Matthews & Marner were coddled by this organization more than any other stars in the history of this league and they paid the team back by having the worst playoff series of their careers (and there have been some terrible ones). Something is very wrong with them
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Bertuzzi, Domi, Gregor, Benoit and Lagesson have all been great tonight and have been for most of the season. Give the new GM some credit you loser Dubasites.
#LeafsForever
My biggest fear with Treliving was making a July 1 mistake that the team would want out of in 2 years. He didn't do that today and not bringing Holl or Kerfoot back is reason to be optimistic of further needed changes.
#LeafsForever
I am once again asking for Mitch Marner to try as hard for the rest of this game as he did when he negotiated the ridiculous contract Dubas gave him
#Leafsforever
MLSE won an NBA Championship, MLS Cup, went to a CONCACAF Champions League final and won a Calder Cup between 2016-2019. This is a very smart organization. They have a plan, folks. This thing will not crumble because Dubas left. Let the dust settle before judging
#LeafsForever
A reminder that the Leafs have a 5-13 record at home under Sheldon Keefe in the playoffs. They were 2-5 in the COVID years with no fans in the building. They have been eliminated on home ice every year. Fans pay a lot of money and deserve way better
#LeafsForever
If William Nylander thinks he is worth $10.5M Treliving should tell his agent to go out and talk to every other team in the league. If one team is dumb enough to pay him that it should be easy to fleece them in a trade.
#LeafsForever
For those saying that the Leafs putting Liljegren in for game 6 after not playing for 2 weeks would be putting him in a tough spot - answer this: How could he be worse than Justin Holl?
Maybe I'm old school but I'm more bothered by Marner's casual stroll down the ice and Nylander barely wanting to get his hands dirty as a war is going on which your teammates are in the middle of than anything Mo did or even Greig. No serious team is this pathetic
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Vegas management has a ruthless attitude towards winning that the Leafs could learn from. Their cutthroat "we appreciate what you've done for us but we're going to upgrade on you" is what won them this Stanley Cup. BTW Kyle Dubas refused to upgrade on Alex Kerfoot
#LeafsForever
There's a part of this fanbase who will be satisfied if the Leafs win tomorrow night and lose the series in 5 because "they went down with a fight". That kind of mindset is what enabled Matthews & Marner to think that their effort in game 3 was good enough
#LeafsForever
The mismanagement of injuries, not getting anything of value for star players, refusing to rebuild properly, lack of understanding the market in Toronto/Canada are all reasons to question Shapiro and Atkins work with the Blue Jays so far.
This is year 8 of the Leafs rebuild that has yielded nothing in the playoffs. They've lost series to good & bad teams. Its time to stop worrying about who they're playing and start worrying about how they're playing. Just get it done. Its not supposed to be easy
#LeafsForever
I don’t care about the result. The Leafs played one hell of a game tonight. With a healthy O’Reilly & a 4th line that can play this team can beat anyone in the playoffs. Their biggest hurdle is not being beaten by themselves.
#LeafsForever
The crazy thing about Shanahan's Hall of Fame career compared to his managerial one is that the player he was on the ice is the type of player his team loses to every year. Yet hes stood by his plan for a decade & said "we're going to get it done with this group"
#LeafsForever
The Leafs are about to leave their 12th point on the table against Chicago, Columbus, Ottawa and Buffalo and we'll spend the next 3 months hearing from the nerds about how unfair the playoff format is when they play a really good team.
#LeafsForever
Dubas has made mistakes
Lou would have made mistakes
But Lou wouldn't have made the mistake of allowing these players to develop a sense of entitlement they have no business having. It will never go away now that Dubas has allowed it spiral out of control
#LeafsForever
Some of you will blame the GM if Mitch Marner is traded in the offseason for an underwhelming return but you should really blame Mitch Marner for turning into a $10.9m "checker" and killing his own value if he is traded for an underwhelming return
#LeafsForever
Its remarkable that after all the lessons this team has told us for years that they have learned - they apparently thought this was an acceptable effort level to start a playoff series with.
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One can only assume if David Kampf was punished for his error on Friday night that Mitch Marner will now be punished for this error (and penalty 4 mins earlier) tonight. I don't make the rules. Keefe does.
#LeafsForever
Some of the delusional Leaf fans will get triggered by this and try to discredit Craig but he’s right. They have a better defence, equal goaltending and really good forwards.
It's not Martin Marincin's fault that he isn't an NHL defenceman. It's the Maple Leafs fault for continuing to put him in NHL games. 4 years later we know what he is.
Its funny that Zach Hyman and Dakota Joshua (A guy who Dubas refused to give a NMC to & a guy he traded for nothing) have combined for the same amount of goals this post season as the entire Maple Leafs team did (12).
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There is no reason for Samsonov to start on Saturday. This should be Martin Jones' net until he starts playing like Samsonov. Hopefully by then Woll will be back.
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Bertuzzi > Bunting
Domi > Kerfoot
Klingberg > Holl
That doesn't mean this team doesn't have issues. It means that they upgraded on the players who were leaving.
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Aho is a better player than Nylander and I'd rather have Aho at $9.5 for the next 8 years over Marner for whatever ridiculous contract he holds them hostage for.
There, I said it. Now come at me, Dubasites. 🎣
#LeafsForever
Give them all the money they ask for and more, fire Babcock, music at practice, no dress code, manipulate the league to give them preferable game times and give them everything else they ask for...this is how they repay you. Enough with the coddling.
#LeafsForever
There has never been a group of players that has been given more than Matthews, Marner, Nylander and Tavares and returned less in NHL history. They’re literally stealing MLSE money at this point.
#LeafsForever
Firing Keefe was the right move but sends a bad message that this playoff loss was on him, not them. In order to get around that, further moves must be made that involve core players. They've had many chances to reset the culture and haven't. Its time.
#LeafsForever
Matthew Knies lost the NCAA Championship game in that building on April 8, signed with
#LeafsForever
the next day
He was on the ice for:
O'Reilly game tying goal game 3
Rielly OT winner game 3
Kerfoot OT winner game 4
Set up Tavares OT series winner game 6
Simply ridiculous
When directing blame at Justin Holl for tonight's loss it is important to remember that he has been making the same mistakes for years and the GM continued to bring him back and the coach continues to play him. Its not his fault anymore. He is who he is
4 not so good things just happened
1) Ross Atkins lied
2) He threw John Schneider under the bus to avoid blame
3) He made him look incompetent (He very well may be for other reasons)
4) He committed to bringing back the manager he tried to make look incompetent
#NextLevel
Ross Atkins says pre-game meetings are John Schneider's meetings. He is not part of those meetings. No decisions pre-planned were 100 per cent locked in. John Schneider made the decision to pull Jose Berrios.
A reminder that Dubas could have had any of the following: Tocchet, Cassidy, DeBoer, Laviolette or Maurice. All of whom have been to or are a game away from the Conf Finals. He decided to stick with the substitute teacher who he thought was "the next Barry Trotz"
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TJ Brodie doing his best to make sure everyone on the opposition is comfortable and having a good time. The Leafs will not win a playoff series where he and Liljegren play a big part.
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Morgan Rielly is the best defenceman the Maple Leafs have had since Salming and a bunch of idiots who celebrate the "November Cup" wanted to run him out of town last year when the team played well for 5 weeks when he was injured. Don't take those people seriously
#LeafsForever
Cant help but think that Calgary born Fikayo Tomori made a mistake by not choosing to play for Canada. He was guaranteed to play in 2 World Cups. Now he cant even get into an England squad with Harry Maguire.
🇨🇦🏴
#CanMNT
#ThreeLions
@thehazelmae
@ShiDavidi
"I still have my beliefs"
Translation: "I still hate gay people but I hide behind my religion"
"Big corporations target young children"
Translation: I believe every single right wing talking point because I only watch Fox News and Newsmax
This really isn't good for the game. At some point the owners should probably just forget the "debt" from the COVID years and move on. But of course Gary wants us all to think the owners are poor, have no running water and cant keep the lights on.
Marner used the "I'm as good as Matthews so pay me like him" negotiation tactic in 2019 but since then Nylander has become the best winger on the team. Does that mean the Leafs can use the "you're not as good as Nylander so we cant pay you like him" tactic?
#LeafsForever
There are 5 coaches from the before COVID times
Jon Cooper - 2 Stanley Cups
Mike Sullivan - 2 Stanley Cups
Jared Bednar - 1 Stanley Cup
Todd McLellan
Rod Brind'Amour - 7 playoff series wins
Sheldon Keefe - Handshake line of respect ™️ & 1 series win
Is it time?
#LeafsForever
If we're doing Marner trade speculation then this is where I start
A 1 for 1 swap like this👇
Elias Petterson
Moritz Seider
A package deal like this👇
Byfield & Anderson
Miller & Chytil
Pulock & Pelech (yes seriously)
No Tom Wilson. I'll hang up and listen
#LeafsForever
Years of bad drafting, trading picks, losing negotiations with star players, using trade assets to acquire the wrong players and letting good players walk is a bigger reason for the Leafs looking like crap than anything Brad Treliving has done.
#LeafsForever
Does this Leaf game look any different than most of them for the last 11 months? The difference is Andersen isn't there to stop them from embarrassing themselves.
#LeafsForever
#MapleLeafs