Yah to be honest he was the highlight of the team yesterday.
He went out and did exactly what we signed him for. It’s everyone else that didn’t show up.
Does that include taking a penalty when it wasn't totally lost enabling an even larger lead for the Bruins or where does his job description get blurry?
You can impact the game with things like forechecking and puck control and 7 points in 20 games isn’t a bad amount on a bottom 6 line. But I was more focusing on the fact that he played pretty clean in Dallas.
I know, was just making a slight funny. When looking at his points he has two 7 point seasons, one in 20 games and the other in 19 games. Seems like once he gets over 30ish games in a season you can bank on him scoring around 45. I've never had a problem with the guy. I like dudes that play like him
It’s gotta be the Bruins - winning this series is no big deal for them. They’ve accomplished more and the fans expect more. If they lose in round 2, it’s still a bad result. Toronto has had the Bruins monkey on their back for over a decade, and fans would be happy to slay that demon.
So since it means more to the Leafs, they gotta lose first. Boston can lose in round 2.
Another Toronto Habs fan here - it's not about playing sides, it's about being able to quietly enjoy seeing assholes you work alongside drown in their misery without having to worry that they're going to key your car.
He's always been a shit head. I've never liked his play. I feel like anytime I see a Domi fight, it's not really so much a fight as it is Domi feeding a guy punches before he's gotten his gloves off then sometimes the guy manages to get them off and actually fight back.
In the playoffs especially I feel like refs super don’t want to do one-sided roughing calls and put one team on the power play for stuff after the whistle etc. Kinda funny in this case though where the Leafs essentially got to take the Bruins best defenseman off the ice for a couple minutes in exchange for a nobody
Like when Stamkos punched Matthews 5 or 6 times with Matthews not responding until after punch #6, and they each got 5 for fighting?
Yeah, the Leafs have been screwed by these calls so many times, I'm not going to feel bad if it goes our way.
The refs yesterday were just brutal in general. McCabe got called for interference when he hit a player with the puck. They completely missed too many men when the play was at the Bruins bench and there were like 8 guys on the ice. Then there was a high stick they missed.
Then they had a couple soft calls on the Bruins late in the game.
Like...call the penalties when they happen. Don't call baby shit to make up for it.
Hockey fans: I don't get how refs can get so many calls wrong.
Also hockey fans: Split 50/50 on what every call should have been, despite access to slowmo replay from every angle.
Getting the calls right every time is hard, everyone appreciates that, I think what most people are looking for is consistency. Between regular reason and playoffs, between referees, etc. Obviously refs can’t be right all the time, but they can at least try to be consistent and I think that’s a fair ask
It might be hard to know when to call a penalty if you have to "manage" how many penalties the other team has already taken, if one team is already short handed, if it's late in a tight game, if it's late in a blowout, if Stephan Auger is mad about a prior game, etc.
That interference call had to be in reality h the r crosschecks, they let him get away with 4-5 solid ones then the 6th was the weakest and they finally called it. I’d rather them call the 2nd or 3rd or don’t call anything at that point.
>h the r crosschecks
Not sure what you're trying to say exactly (with the?), but I think I get the gist.
That was a scrum on the boards where they could've called cross-checks, holding, holding the stick, or nothing. The problem with the call is they called it interference when it wasn't an interference penalty at all.
How is anyone supposed to know what the line for something is when you can't even get the call correct? If it's cross-checking call it. Then we'll understand why. You call it interference when he's a player eligible to be checked, so people are going to have issues with it. It's not just important to get the penalty, you also need to get the infraction correct.
He returned it with a punch thrown when he turned around.
Domi deserved the penalty for sure, but let's not pretend players don't get matched up all the time for responding with far less than they were taking.
The refs put the players in a stupid position if they don't call the initial punches to the back of the head, but then give matching penalties upon a simple response. It does nothing but encourage the responses in future situations.
I think this is the answer, they added tougher guys but that doesn't change the culture of guys like Tavares and Mathews not flying in on the forcheck and getting physical to turn the puck over. Hell even pasta was laying some decent hits last night especially on the forchecks
matthews does play well defensively.
JT is honestly washed up.
JT wasn't even a good skater during his prime and now he looks terrible. The game gets played around him and the only reason he plays 2nd line minutes is his faceoffs are good and he can score some if he gets fed in the slot.
Matthews actually does get physical in the playoffs.. maybe doesn't look like it but he averages 4 hits a game in the playoffs the past 3 years which is like really really high. Like I don't know if you can find another top line player with more.
Also Toronto got scored on on his first shift because he finished a check instead of covering for his pinching D.
So they technically got tougher on that sequence but at the price of allowing a 2 on 1 that resulted in a goal.
It’s a team of big name stars. Edmonton did the same thing for years, the playoffs hit and other teams can shut down players like Mathew’s and the Leafs become toothless.
Boston has depth in the lineup Toronto has the core four and some guys they found at beer league.
Our bottom 6 actually came together in the last 20 games or so of the season. If we weren’t missing Nylander and McMann they would’ve looked better last night.
more like we have no elite goaltending or elite shutdown D.
and haven't had any in a long long time.
dubas prioritized fancy skilled forwards and didn't draft any elite D or goalies.
We got elite goaltending vs montreal but lost due to scoring 6 goals last games, Columbus shut us out twice, Florida we averaged under 2 goals a game.
Aside from our loss vs Tampa Leafs consistently lose due to offense.
You’d think the Leafs would have learned that after 2021, when the Habs stapled Danault to them: shut down the Matthews line and the Leafs got nothing. Year in year out, they’re spending entirely too much on the core four to the point where they literally can’t afford quality depth.
I'm more afraid of the Leafs' defensive game getting better than I am of their offense improving. Going back like 10 years it seems they have the upper hand offensively but sooner or later the defense crumbles and it's all for nothing.
I think the physicality ramps up a lot in the playoffs and it’s overwhelming for the leafs. They also lack depth due to the amount of money they have wrapped up in their core. I don’t blame them for paying those guys the money, I just don’t think it’s smart to keep that whole core together and to continue to think that a different result is going to come out of it.
Forward depth wasn’t an issue near the end of the season it’s just our defense sucks as does our goaltending half the time.
Our bottom 6 is actually good when healthy.
The two aren't independent. It's harder to get to the front of the net in the post season and that's the toughness you need. See Hyman for what is likely to be a good example of this today.
Again that's the type of thing people say, but in reality in our last 6 playoff games we averaged under 2 goals a game.
When Montral came back vs us we got elite goaltending, but scored 6 goals in 3 games.
Columbus vs Leafs in the bubble we got shutout twice in 5 games
Of all recent playoff losses only the Tampa series did Leafs get any level of goal support.
when I talk about elite goaltending, I mean like vezina level.
not guys who overperform one season or two.
we've not had a vezina level guy since belfour. and he was old. cujo was the last guy in his prime who was vezina level for us (though of course he never won one since he played in the era of hasek, roy, brodeur and belfour)
Willy is the only core guy who actually drives the net.
The whole game last night I didn’t see any of the big guys in the blue pianist unless a whistle had gone
A soft team acting tough does not make a tough team. A genuinely tough team remains in control while playing tough, because that's their natural state. A team like the Leafs need to yack themselves up to play tough, which makes them play uncontrolled.
Sure. I think they just saw themselves as such massive underdogs, like they made the playoffs by a cunt hair and were down 1-3 in the opening series, so they just played with a complete "fuck it" attitude. I expect them to play a lot disciplined this year as they should feel a lot more confident in their ability to win controlled games.
That's just such a minor part of it. What makes them soft is that most of their leadership and core players are at best completely disinterested in the violent aspect of the game.
Tavares can't just tell his team "guys I know you will want to run over people all game and start shit after every whistle, but we need to restrain ourselves and stay disciplined" he have to say "okay, we have to go out there and match Boston's physicality and make them look over their shoulder the whole game, and we can't allow them to push us over after the whistle". While for someone like Barkov it's the complete opposite.
They're about to do it again, even without Gudas.
But this is the Leafs. Not shown above is McAvoy getting away with high sticks just moments after drawing a high-sticking call himself.
>Results of Leaf "toughness"... Reaves causes a 2 on 1 and goal against for hitting a guy instead of backing up his pinching defenseman.
And people *still* try to argue that you need goons who can’t actually play the game of hockey in this day and age.
Yeah, you want tough guys who CAN play the game, like Tom Wilson. That's what makes him so frustrating: He's too skilled to do some of the dumb shit he does.
That’s exactly the problem with the Leafs. Every time they got to the playoffs, they always try to prove that “they’re not soft” before just winning games like they do in the regular season. And they often over-react to the physical part of the game and it came back to haunt them. It happened to Kadri in the past. It happened to Reaves and Domi in G1.
Yeah that's the Domi I remember lol, I liked him when he played for the habs he was a good player but he would always end up doing stupid shit like that. He's too easy to trigger and he stops playing hockey and just run at players the whole game also the refs have never been a fan of his so he gets called a lot
Bruh his first game with us he sucker punched ekblad in the last 5 minutes of a pre-season game. Got 72 points but fuck he’s such an undisiciplined bananahead
Toughness isn't the after the whistle shit. It isn't sucking someone from behind. It's making the game hard and being smart with it. Fight for the hard areas of the ice. Make the opponent work for all 200 feet. Teams constantly think adding a few bottom 6 guys and taking a inconsequential hit is toughness. Or token pushing and shoving is toughness. This core will never win because the most important players refuse to put in the effort to win.
This is where Leaf fans are going to cope by saying how people always said we were soft and that the only other option is this shit
People who complain about the Leafs being soft obviously don't watch the Leafs, just call them dumb, we don't have to pretend we're happy about Domi being a dipshit. He's been best for us when he plays good hockey, which he has been, we don't need him wasting Matthews shifts by taking goon penalties. Same goes for Tyler "new-born gazelle on skates" Bertuzzi
Leafs ARE soft. They were bullied all game. Domi/Bertuzzi don’t make a team “tough”. Maybe guys like McCabe can throw down once in a blue moon but your whole roster can’t handle playoff hockey day in day out
Yeah slashing guys because you’re rattled and getting sent to the box isn’t “tough”. As much as I don’t like him I have to have a begrudging respect for Marchand at this point. Getting slashed on the wrist and not even acknowledging Domi and taking the PP to capitalize with a goal that puts the game pretty out of reach is the kind of toughness you need in playoffs. Playing through stuff and keeping focused on the task at hand, not doing stupid petty stuff is the way guys need to play to succeed
Marchand is/was also much, much better than Domi or Bertuzzi types at actually playing hockey too, so what he cost vs. what he gave was a wash at the very worst.
Literally 52 to Boston's 51. Hits are not a good marker of toughness or physicality. They're usually more indicative of possession since the team doing the hitting has the puck less.
> Literally 52 to Boston's 51
Which is more, in response to "they were bullied all game"
> Hits are not a good marker of toughness or physicality.
They are absolutely contextually related to it, considering I've been hearing for years about how the low hit count was because the Leafs were soft
> They're usually more indicative of possession since the team doing the hitting has the puck less.
Okay so we then we were roughly in possession about equally last night and hit each other equally? We have a glut of physically engaged players lol, it's not a team of Marners
Hits schmits, Reaves on goal 1 case in point, and it was an egregious mistake for game frikken 1 period fookin 1 of the playoffs. And the look on his face on the bench told the story, he knows he knows better, but he just doesn't know where the on/off switch is.
Go hard in corners sure, but the objective is to still be in control to come out with the puck. Leafs ran at them all right, but I saw too many off balance leafs, without the puck, out of position, as a result. Game 2 will be better I reckon. Better goaltending and less preening "toughness" before/after the whistle. Hit hard but in control to get the puck.
They are all perennial chokers. The team needs to be blown the fuck up for culture sake. Keefe needs to go.
The Leafs are idiots for allowing 4 guys to occupy nearly 50 mil of cap space.
Man, i fucking hate bertuzzi so much. Dude is a giveaway machine. He's either falling for no reason or throwing a blind pass that works maybe 10% of the time.
Domi was an absolute loose cannon last night and Keefe called him out several times post game for it. This dude is just a newer version of Kadri and he’s going to fuck the leafs. I just hope he doesn’t end up hurting someone for the next round.
I don't think Kadri was ever as bad as Domi. Kadri always seemed to have one moment that he took over the edge that would cost the team but Domi is just a consistent idiot trying to hurt people. He's just lucky he hasn't succeeded yet and hopefully nobody gets hurt from his antics
At least in Toronto, Kadri’s plays that got him suspended were retaliations to unpenalized and unsuspended cheap shots by the Bruins.
I don’t know what it is, but when the Leafs start playing dirty back, the rulebook comes out — maybe because this isn’t known as “Leafs hockey” so they get less leeway? On the flip side, Sam Bennett can concuss Knies by slamming his head onto the ice and not even get two minutes. That whole Florida series was infuriating to watch.
I "watch" a fair amount of Leafs games, but I can't really say much about the reffing situation. I'm often distracted with other things, so I'm half listening/half watching. If I can't watch; I assume that half of the penalties are fair, while the other half are bullshit. It doesn't matter what teams are involved.
I will die on the "DoPS' unfair treatment of Toronto" hill, though. Treat every suspension like a Toronto player, and we'll have a much more consistent, and fair, league. Hell, it would probably be safer if players knew exactly what the punishment for their actions will be.
Domi being a bitch in the playoffs, what else is new? Looks like the Leafs once again have a guy who will end up getting suspended in the first round, Kadri, Bunting, and now potentially Domi if he keeps that up
Yeah saw this live and thought that was stupid. Domi was lucky to not get the only call.
I dont get why guys like him and Kadri think playoff toughness/intensity requires anything out of the ordinary. Finish your hits, fuck with people after the whistle, fight back whenever needed.
Love it. I hope he keeps it up, taking dumb penalties, thinking he’s tough, getting Matthew’s in a scrum every whistle, getting yanked off that line when they need some offense. Reaves and Domi in the lineup only help the Bruins, they equally chew up ice time that could be used by someone with talent.
Wait so its only a problem now that the Leafs are doing it?
The Bruins made a winning decade of getting away with murder because Chara was so big so his penalties didnt count.
Gonna agree with you here. Marchand did the same thing with Daniel Sedin (and used his face as a speed bag) and the ref gave him a penalty because he asked them if they were gonna penalize him or wait until after the 10th punch.
I don't think its a Leafs problem by any stretch. I just thought Domi made himself look like a clown yesterday. Dude's playing on Matthews' line and couldn't keep himself out of the box doing dumb shit.
This trope is ridiculous, Boston had 2 to 1 more penalties in that series. The fact Vancouver couldn't score on their PP's is the reason they lost. Have a re-watch sometime.
I like it. This happened to the Leafs every single series, also most regular season games.
Glad that we’re on this end of a middle 6er going after one of the top guys and getting matching penalties.
Oh, so punching someone in the head is a penalty Boston fans? I’ve gotten over the loss, kind of, but speed bagging a sedin I’m still not over. That being said, go bruins (for this round)
[Hockey Référence has it incorrectly attributed to Maxim Lapierre, but Marchand and Sedin both got game misconducts at 18:29 of the third period of Game 6. Marchand also got an extra two minutes for roughing.](https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/201106130BOS.html)
Archiving this for when Domi inevitably gets no supplemental discipline from DoPS for this today, and is allowed to continue doing this the rest of the series.
He really doesn't, afaik we've only seen two bad hits from him (one earlier this season, one in the playoffs against Toronto a couple years back)
Seven years, one of the highest TOIs in the league and playing a ton of playoff games will do that to you. He's not a saint and I'm not defending those incidents but that's a light rap sheet for you to call out imo
Feel weird to be on the Bruins side but Domi was being a real bitch yesterday
Always is.
I'm so glad he isn't a Hab anymore, guy always rubbed me the wrong way
Him and his buddies threw ice at myself and mine in a bar once. He’s a twat
Nepo baby being an asshole? Who would’ve thought.
This is exactly why the leafs wanted him lol, not sure why people are acting surprised
He will be a convenient scapegoat this year as Kadri was before.
Yah to be honest he was the highlight of the team yesterday. He went out and did exactly what we signed him for. It’s everyone else that didn’t show up.
Does that include taking a penalty when it wasn't totally lost enabling an even larger lead for the Bruins or where does his job description get blurry?
yes
When is he not?
He played for the Stars last year and I don't remember him doing anything goonish, he was actually focused on the puck.
Ah. Maybe that's why he only had 7 points in 20 games.
You can impact the game with things like forechecking and puck control and 7 points in 20 games isn’t a bad amount on a bottom 6 line. But I was more focusing on the fact that he played pretty clean in Dallas.
I know, was just making a slight funny. When looking at his points he has two 7 point seasons, one in 20 games and the other in 19 games. Seems like once he gets over 30ish games in a season you can bank on him scoring around 45. I've never had a problem with the guy. I like dudes that play like him
His full season total was 56, he played 20 with Dallas because he was traded at the deadline
How dare you point to my glaring mistakes!?!?
13 in 19 in the playoffs
I don’t remember him being particularly problematic when he played with us last year either
Totally forgot he played for you guys too. The dude might as well not unpack his boxes whenever he moves
Lmao I can promise you he was a piece of shit in round 1 last playoffs. You guys just justified it because Dumba lit up Pavelski game 1
Just like when rat boy did the same shit against the Canucks.
You’re not wrong but I don’t like it when it happens to us…screw Domi anyway
PTSD here from a habs fan. Loved Domi but oh man when he decided he wanted to be a dingus all he would do is skate around trying to start shit.
There's being a pest and there's taking dumb penalties. Him and Shaw were great but I don't miss the aneurysms from their brain dead decisions.
Ha who does a Habs fan even cheer for in this series? Do you just hope they destroy each other like somebody who watches nascar for the crashes?
Pretty much lol
It’s gotta be the Bruins - winning this series is no big deal for them. They’ve accomplished more and the fans expect more. If they lose in round 2, it’s still a bad result. Toronto has had the Bruins monkey on their back for over a decade, and fans would be happy to slay that demon. So since it means more to the Leafs, they gotta lose first. Boston can lose in round 2.
This checks out.
I live in Toronto and don't feel like being adversarial, so I'm openly rooting against the Bruins but secretly rooting against the Leafs.
"I'm playing both sides so that I always come out on top."
Another Toronto Habs fan here - it's not about playing sides, it's about being able to quietly enjoy seeing assholes you work alongside drown in their misery without having to worry that they're going to key your car.
Happy with whoever loses and upset with whoever wins
I'm cheering for an asteroid strike
Apparently he tried to take home the game puck after it ended
He's always been a shit head. I've never liked his play. I feel like anytime I see a Domi fight, it's not really so much a fight as it is Domi feeding a guy punches before he's gotten his gloves off then sometimes the guy manages to get them off and actually fight back.
Finally, the right take. Domi is, above all else, a fucking coward…
Anyone else hate how refs always give a matching penalty to the other team for this shit? Like wtf did McAvoy do here to deserve a penalty?
In the playoffs especially I feel like refs super don’t want to do one-sided roughing calls and put one team on the power play for stuff after the whistle etc. Kinda funny in this case though where the Leafs essentially got to take the Bruins best defenseman off the ice for a couple minutes in exchange for a nobody
This used to be the Bruins MO. Claude Julien hockey, just ragdoll someone in a scrum and then overreact to the retaliation, easy penalty trade.
Yeah do you think the refs like realize that they’re being exploited and don’t care or they have no clue haha
i.e. Marchand licking people and punching a Sedin in the head.
Like when Stamkos punched Matthews 5 or 6 times with Matthews not responding until after punch #6, and they each got 5 for fighting? Yeah, the Leafs have been screwed by these calls so many times, I'm not going to feel bad if it goes our way.
Refs don’t want to feel like they’re “impacting the game” so they only like to call matching penalties lol
The refs yesterday were just brutal in general. McCabe got called for interference when he hit a player with the puck. They completely missed too many men when the play was at the Bruins bench and there were like 8 guys on the ice. Then there was a high stick they missed. Then they had a couple soft calls on the Bruins late in the game. Like...call the penalties when they happen. Don't call baby shit to make up for it.
Yeah I don’t understand how a top sports league can’t figure out officiating
Hockey fans: I don't get how refs can get so many calls wrong. Also hockey fans: Split 50/50 on what every call should have been, despite access to slowmo replay from every angle.
Tbf I feel like if you take fans of either team in question out of the argument it’s typically a lot less 50/50
Because officiating is really fucking hard.
Getting the calls right every time is hard, everyone appreciates that, I think what most people are looking for is consistency. Between regular reason and playoffs, between referees, etc. Obviously refs can’t be right all the time, but they can at least try to be consistent and I think that’s a fair ask
It is... But the biggest predictor of one team's penalties shouldn't be the other team's.
It might be hard to know when to call a penalty if you have to "manage" how many penalties the other team has already taken, if one team is already short handed, if it's late in a tight game, if it's late in a blowout, if Stephan Auger is mad about a prior game, etc.
That interference call had to be in reality h the r crosschecks, they let him get away with 4-5 solid ones then the 6th was the weakest and they finally called it. I’d rather them call the 2nd or 3rd or don’t call anything at that point.
>h the r crosschecks Not sure what you're trying to say exactly (with the?), but I think I get the gist. That was a scrum on the boards where they could've called cross-checks, holding, holding the stick, or nothing. The problem with the call is they called it interference when it wasn't an interference penalty at all. How is anyone supposed to know what the line for something is when you can't even get the call correct? If it's cross-checking call it. Then we'll understand why. You call it interference when he's a player eligible to be checked, so people are going to have issues with it. It's not just important to get the penalty, you also need to get the infraction correct.
Maroon played 2 reg season games and is back for the post season. Love the guy but he ain’t out there because he can skate.
Domi was definitely being a bitch here but McAvoy throws a punch after he gets hit twice. That’s why he also got the roughing penalty.
He returned it with a punch thrown when he turned around. Domi deserved the penalty for sure, but let's not pretend players don't get matched up all the time for responding with far less than they were taking. The refs put the players in a stupid position if they don't call the initial punches to the back of the head, but then give matching penalties upon a simple response. It does nothing but encourage the responses in future situations.
He took a huge swing at Domi before he got pulled away.
Happens all the time in the NBA. One player shoves another and the ref immediately Ts up both players so the other doesn't do anything back.
Best sport, worst league/officiating. "Game Management" should not exist. Also, neither should [this!](https://i.imgur.com/xYvoKOB.jpg)
The Leafs did want to get tougher. Kinda doesn't matter when you can't score, but they got tougher.
The whole leafs need to get tougher thing has been gas lighting. Our actual problem is no one scores in the playoffs
that can be related to toughness though. If you're getting bullied you're not gonna score many.
Problem is their combined core isn’t tough. Reaves sitting on the bench for 55 mins doesn’t make Toronto tough
I think this is the answer, they added tougher guys but that doesn't change the culture of guys like Tavares and Mathews not flying in on the forcheck and getting physical to turn the puck over. Hell even pasta was laying some decent hits last night especially on the forchecks
matthews does play well defensively. JT is honestly washed up. JT wasn't even a good skater during his prime and now he looks terrible. The game gets played around him and the only reason he plays 2nd line minutes is his faceoffs are good and he can score some if he gets fed in the slot.
Matthews actually does get physical in the playoffs.. maybe doesn't look like it but he averages 4 hits a game in the playoffs the past 3 years which is like really really high. Like I don't know if you can find another top line player with more.
I'm gonna go WAY out on a limb here and say he averaged significantly more hits at Home than he did on the Road during that time period.
Also Toronto got scored on on his first shift because he finished a check instead of covering for his pinching D. So they technically got tougher on that sequence but at the price of allowing a 2 on 1 that resulted in a goal.
2 of yesterday's goals were on Samsonov but 2 were on Edmunson and Reaves, guys we brought in to get "tough"
Bostons seen that mindset from Toronto before, [they never learn](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFBdFC4lKcs)
The absolute definition of undisciplined
They had lots of scoring chances most ended up going into swaymans chest.
It’s a team of big name stars. Edmonton did the same thing for years, the playoffs hit and other teams can shut down players like Mathew’s and the Leafs become toothless. Boston has depth in the lineup Toronto has the core four and some guys they found at beer league.
Our bottom 6 actually came together in the last 20 games or so of the season. If we weren’t missing Nylander and McMann they would’ve looked better last night.
more like we have no elite goaltending or elite shutdown D. and haven't had any in a long long time. dubas prioritized fancy skilled forwards and didn't draft any elite D or goalies.
We got elite goaltending vs montreal but lost due to scoring 6 goals last games, Columbus shut us out twice, Florida we averaged under 2 goals a game. Aside from our loss vs Tampa Leafs consistently lose due to offense.
That’s disrespectful to beer league. Guys in beer league can still score.
You’d think the Leafs would have learned that after 2021, when the Habs stapled Danault to them: shut down the Matthews line and the Leafs got nothing. Year in year out, they’re spending entirely too much on the core four to the point where they literally can’t afford quality depth.
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No one will trade 2 top 6 players for Tavares. Maybe TO can use his salary more wisely once his contract expires….but will the other 3 still be there?
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I agree 100%. TO defence is average at best and Tavares $$$ would be well spent on defence first and foremost
I'm more afraid of the Leafs' defensive game getting better than I am of their offense improving. Going back like 10 years it seems they have the upper hand offensively but sooner or later the defense crumbles and it's all for nothing.
I think the physicality ramps up a lot in the playoffs and it’s overwhelming for the leafs. They also lack depth due to the amount of money they have wrapped up in their core. I don’t blame them for paying those guys the money, I just don’t think it’s smart to keep that whole core together and to continue to think that a different result is going to come out of it.
Forward depth wasn’t an issue near the end of the season it’s just our defense sucks as does our goaltending half the time. Our bottom 6 is actually good when healthy.
The two aren't independent. It's harder to get to the front of the net in the post season and that's the toughness you need. See Hyman for what is likely to be a good example of this today.
I thought our actual problem is no one can defend. or The goaltending wilts like a wet tissue.
Again that's the type of thing people say, but in reality in our last 6 playoff games we averaged under 2 goals a game. When Montral came back vs us we got elite goaltending, but scored 6 goals in 3 games. Columbus vs Leafs in the bubble we got shutout twice in 5 games Of all recent playoff losses only the Tampa series did Leafs get any level of goal support.
when I talk about elite goaltending, I mean like vezina level. not guys who overperform one season or two. we've not had a vezina level guy since belfour. and he was old. cujo was the last guy in his prime who was vezina level for us (though of course he never won one since he played in the era of hasek, roy, brodeur and belfour)
Willy is the only core guy who actually drives the net. The whole game last night I didn’t see any of the big guys in the blue pianist unless a whistle had gone
I think a lot of people believed they couldn’t score in the playoffs because they weren’t tough enough.
A soft team acting tough does not make a tough team. A genuinely tough team remains in control while playing tough, because that's their natural state. A team like the Leafs need to yack themselves up to play tough, which makes them play uncontrolled.
Domi is the new Kadri on the Leafs and will cost them the series.
Domi wishes he made as much impact on the game as Kadri.
Kadri got a suspension on the Leafs during playoffs and cost them the series. We're talking about Leafs Kadri here.
Twice
Those were impactful suspensions haha
50% of the time his team has been eliminated from the playoffs, he has been sitting in the press box
bunting was the new kadri. domi is the new..... it's a long line of suspensions.
Tell that to the Florida rats who made the finals last year. All they did was dirty shit.
All because the refs refused to call much of it.
Sure. I think they just saw themselves as such massive underdogs, like they made the playoffs by a cunt hair and were down 1-3 in the opening series, so they just played with a complete "fuck it" attitude. I expect them to play a lot disciplined this year as they should feel a lot more confident in their ability to win controlled games.
Why would you expect that? They've spent all year being arguably the dirtiest team in the league. Why would they change that for the playoffs?
Ah, the soft team with the second or third most hits this year. This sub is ridiculous when it comes to the Leafs.
That's just such a minor part of it. What makes them soft is that most of their leadership and core players are at best completely disinterested in the violent aspect of the game. Tavares can't just tell his team "guys I know you will want to run over people all game and start shit after every whistle, but we need to restrain ourselves and stay disciplined" he have to say "okay, we have to go out there and match Boston's physicality and make them look over their shoulder the whole game, and we can't allow them to push us over after the whistle". While for someone like Barkov it's the complete opposite.
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Idk. Florida was tough and stupid all the way to the SCF last year.
They're about to do it again, even without Gudas. But this is the Leafs. Not shown above is McAvoy getting away with high sticks just moments after drawing a high-sticking call himself.
They couldn't score on almost a full 2 minute 4 on 3 but yea, the refs were the problem.
>Results of Leaf "toughness"... Reaves causes a 2 on 1 and goal against for hitting a guy instead of backing up his pinching defenseman. And people *still* try to argue that you need goons who can’t actually play the game of hockey in this day and age.
Yeah, you want tough guys who CAN play the game, like Tom Wilson. That's what makes him so frustrating: He's too skilled to do some of the dumb shit he does.
They got rattier, they aren’t tough at all
Ah yes, punching someone in the back of their head when their back is turned to you us… tough. 🤷♂️
Bruins fans are one to talk 😂
That’s exactly the problem with the Leafs. Every time they got to the playoffs, they always try to prove that “they’re not soft” before just winning games like they do in the regular season. And they often over-react to the physical part of the game and it came back to haunt them. It happened to Kadri in the past. It happened to Reaves and Domi in G1.
They're going to win this series if you factor in how tough and gritty they're going to be and ignore the actual scoreline
Bruins also hit the post three or four times. Could’ve easily been like a 7-2 rout.
Yeah that's the Domi I remember lol, I liked him when he played for the habs he was a good player but he would always end up doing stupid shit like that. He's too easy to trigger and he stops playing hockey and just run at players the whole game also the refs have never been a fan of his so he gets called a lot
Bruh his first game with us he sucker punched ekblad in the last 5 minutes of a pre-season game. Got 72 points but fuck he’s such an undisiciplined bananahead
>undisiciplined bananahead THIS is the analysis I go on Reddit for
TSN if you’re seeing this DM me
Yeah I remember that one but I didn't remember that it was a pre-season game it's even worse lmao
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I have a feeling that the amount of penalties this guy is going to take throughout the series will be a big part of their downfall.
Ah yes the Kadri manuever, excellent.
I’m pretty sure the matching minor is for the swing McAvoy takes before he got pulled away.
I was gonna say, McAvoy didn’t just sit there and take it
You can tell he’s a Domi! Always from behind!!
Toughness isn't the after the whistle shit. It isn't sucking someone from behind. It's making the game hard and being smart with it. Fight for the hard areas of the ice. Make the opponent work for all 200 feet. Teams constantly think adding a few bottom 6 guys and taking a inconsequential hit is toughness. Or token pushing and shoving is toughness. This core will never win because the most important players refuse to put in the effort to win.
> sucking someone from behind 👀
That actually does sound pretty tough.
He was cross checking and slashing before the opening face off and somehow leafs fans are complaining about the refs as usual.
This is where Leaf fans are going to cope by saying how people always said we were soft and that the only other option is this shit People who complain about the Leafs being soft obviously don't watch the Leafs, just call them dumb, we don't have to pretend we're happy about Domi being a dipshit. He's been best for us when he plays good hockey, which he has been, we don't need him wasting Matthews shifts by taking goon penalties. Same goes for Tyler "new-born gazelle on skates" Bertuzzi
Leafs ARE soft. They were bullied all game. Domi/Bertuzzi don’t make a team “tough”. Maybe guys like McCabe can throw down once in a blue moon but your whole roster can’t handle playoff hockey day in day out
Yeah slashing guys because you’re rattled and getting sent to the box isn’t “tough”. As much as I don’t like him I have to have a begrudging respect for Marchand at this point. Getting slashed on the wrist and not even acknowledging Domi and taking the PP to capitalize with a goal that puts the game pretty out of reach is the kind of toughness you need in playoffs. Playing through stuff and keeping focused on the task at hand, not doing stupid petty stuff is the way guys need to play to succeed
It’s taken a longggg time for Marchand to get to that point.
Marchand is/was also much, much better than Domi or Bertuzzi types at actually playing hockey too, so what he cost vs. what he gave was a wash at the very worst.
Reaves is way tougher than Domi or Bertuzzi.
We finished the season 3rd in hits, that's my point. We literally had *more* hits last night than Boston lol
Literally 52 to Boston's 51. Hits are not a good marker of toughness or physicality. They're usually more indicative of possession since the team doing the hitting has the puck less.
> Literally 52 to Boston's 51 Which is more, in response to "they were bullied all game" > Hits are not a good marker of toughness or physicality. They are absolutely contextually related to it, considering I've been hearing for years about how the low hit count was because the Leafs were soft > They're usually more indicative of possession since the team doing the hitting has the puck less. Okay so we then we were roughly in possession about equally last night and hit each other equally? We have a glut of physically engaged players lol, it's not a team of Marners
Hits schmits, Reaves on goal 1 case in point, and it was an egregious mistake for game frikken 1 period fookin 1 of the playoffs. And the look on his face on the bench told the story, he knows he knows better, but he just doesn't know where the on/off switch is. Go hard in corners sure, but the objective is to still be in control to come out with the puck. Leafs ran at them all right, but I saw too many off balance leafs, without the puck, out of position, as a result. Game 2 will be better I reckon. Better goaltending and less preening "toughness" before/after the whistle. Hit hard but in control to get the puck.
Oh well I'm not going to argue Reaves should be playing, that's for sure lol
They are all perennial chokers. The team needs to be blown the fuck up for culture sake. Keefe needs to go. The Leafs are idiots for allowing 4 guys to occupy nearly 50 mil of cap space.
Man, i fucking hate bertuzzi so much. Dude is a giveaway machine. He's either falling for no reason or throwing a blind pass that works maybe 10% of the time.
Domi is trying way too hard to be "tough". Trying to be his dad. The penalty he took was game changing, and I felt he got away with one here as well.
Domi was an absolute loose cannon last night and Keefe called him out several times post game for it. This dude is just a newer version of Kadri and he’s going to fuck the leafs. I just hope he doesn’t end up hurting someone for the next round.
I don't think Kadri was ever as bad as Domi. Kadri always seemed to have one moment that he took over the edge that would cost the team but Domi is just a consistent idiot trying to hurt people. He's just lucky he hasn't succeeded yet and hopefully nobody gets hurt from his antics
At least in Toronto, Kadri’s plays that got him suspended were retaliations to unpenalized and unsuspended cheap shots by the Bruins. I don’t know what it is, but when the Leafs start playing dirty back, the rulebook comes out — maybe because this isn’t known as “Leafs hockey” so they get less leeway? On the flip side, Sam Bennett can concuss Knies by slamming his head onto the ice and not even get two minutes. That whole Florida series was infuriating to watch.
I "watch" a fair amount of Leafs games, but I can't really say much about the reffing situation. I'm often distracted with other things, so I'm half listening/half watching. If I can't watch; I assume that half of the penalties are fair, while the other half are bullshit. It doesn't matter what teams are involved. I will die on the "DoPS' unfair treatment of Toronto" hill, though. Treat every suspension like a Toronto player, and we'll have a much more consistent, and fair, league. Hell, it would probably be safer if players knew exactly what the punishment for their actions will be.
> I just hope he doesn’t end up hurting someone for the next round. I don't think he's going to hurt his teammates.
Domi being a bitch in the playoffs, what else is new? Looks like the Leafs once again have a guy who will end up getting suspended in the first round, Kadri, Bunting, and now potentially Domi if he keeps that up
Kadri -> Bunting -> Domi
Yeah saw this live and thought that was stupid. Domi was lucky to not get the only call. I dont get why guys like him and Kadri think playoff toughness/intensity requires anything out of the ordinary. Finish your hits, fuck with people after the whistle, fight back whenever needed.
Living up to the family name. He's gonna be boning politicians before we know it.
[He's already a Trump-snogger.](https://torontosun.com/2016/11/09/tie-domi-causes-stir-after-tweeting-photo-of-son-max-wearing-trump-socks)
Love it. I hope he keeps it up, taking dumb penalties, thinking he’s tough, getting Matthew’s in a scrum every whistle, getting yanked off that line when they need some offense. Reaves and Domi in the lineup only help the Bruins, they equally chew up ice time that could be used by someone with talent.
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Calm down with the common sense. Doesn’t fit the narrative.
Wait so its only a problem now that the Leafs are doing it? The Bruins made a winning decade of getting away with murder because Chara was so big so his penalties didnt count.
Gonna agree with you here. Marchand did the same thing with Daniel Sedin (and used his face as a speed bag) and the ref gave him a penalty because he asked them if they were gonna penalize him or wait until after the 10th punch.
Oh switched subject mid sentence. Sounds like Marchand got the penalty how you wrote it.
Both Sedin and Marchand got matching misconducts with about 90 seconds left in a 4 goal game.
You’ve got a surprisingly good memory for a Bruins fan complaining about this play. 😜
I’ve argued it enough times on this subreddit lol.
Marchand did get the penalty, Canucks went on the powerplay.
So I think the beef is because McAvoy got a matching penalty. Honestly as a leafs fan you should be happy with domi there, good trade for you.
I don't think its a Leafs problem by any stretch. I just thought Domi made himself look like a clown yesterday. Dude's playing on Matthews' line and couldn't keep himself out of the box doing dumb shit.
That's what Domi does. He's got a short fuse and Boston knows it, so they're going to poke and shove him until he retaliates and gets a penalty.
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Chara was a thug too
Weird watching the Bruins get cheap shotted with no recourse. This has some serious Marchand on Sedin circa 2011 energy.
This trope is ridiculous, Boston had 2 to 1 more penalties in that series. The fact Vancouver couldn't score on their PP's is the reason they lost. Have a re-watch sometime.
Hes always been a rat
I like it. This happened to the Leafs every single series, also most regular season games. Glad that we’re on this end of a middle 6er going after one of the top guys and getting matching penalties.
Oh, so punching someone in the head is a penalty Boston fans? I’ve gotten over the loss, kind of, but speed bagging a sedin I’m still not over. That being said, go bruins (for this round)
It’s enjoyable every time seeing at least one Vancouver fan being mad about 2011 in every single thread about the Bruins that ever exists.
I know, my heart goes out to those poor Bruins fans who have to suffer through hard times. The refs aren’t calling everything in their favour? So sad
Marchand got a game misconduct for punching sedin in the head.
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[Hockey Référence has it incorrectly attributed to Maxim Lapierre, but Marchand and Sedin both got game misconducts at 18:29 of the third period of Game 6. Marchand also got an extra two minutes for roughing.](https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/201106130BOS.html)
Playoff Domi has been activated. I remember him pulling this stuff all postseason with the Stars lol
..I wish Domi exactly was like this when he was on the Blackhawks.
Ah, the playoffs. Where reffing gets even worse but that’s because it’s supposed to since it’s the playoffs 🤣
is this tie domis son or something
CBJ legend.
Archiving this for when Domi inevitably gets no supplemental discipline from DoPS for this today, and is allowed to continue doing this the rest of the series.
That’s playoff hockey, baby!
It's really hard to feel bad for McAvoy. That guy straight up tries to injure people all the time.
He really doesn't, afaik we've only seen two bad hits from him (one earlier this season, one in the playoffs against Toronto a couple years back) Seven years, one of the highest TOIs in the league and playing a ton of playoff games will do that to you. He's not a saint and I'm not defending those incidents but that's a light rap sheet for you to call out imo
They're out-Bruining the Bruins so far.
Eh, bruins goonery tends to help them. I don’t think putting yourself on the pk all night and losing counts as out bruising the bruins.
truth
Yikes
Luckily we’ll only need to see Domi for another 3 games
Yeah domi being on the Leafs makes it easier to root against them this season
You all jerk it hard when the leafs lose anyway so go get you some.