Can't blame the fans for going wild. It's like being celibate for 20 years.
Leafs '22/'23 Thread
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Wishful thinking. The Leafs have a never beat the Bruins. Let’s hope they are lucky enough to play with the Panthers.
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- Jun 15, 2004
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Lol the general manager was celebrating like his job depended on this series (well i think it did).
I wouldn't pay any attention to those that say "could've gone either way" regarding the years past. This team had a serious obvious monkey on its back that has been in existence for 19 years..... every hockey journalist knows about it and has talked about it..... never mind the additional monkey on its back regarding not winning a championship since 4 after the assassination of JFK.
I'm glad they won. Hopefully they can carry this momentum and get past the next round. Let the party really begin!
Philip
I wouldn't pay any attention to those that say "could've gone either way" regarding the years past. This team had a serious obvious monkey on its back that has been in existence for 19 years..... every hockey journalist knows about it and has talked about it..... never mind the additional monkey on its back regarding not winning a championship since 4 after the assassination of JFK.
I'm glad they won. Hopefully they can carry this momentum and get past the next round. Let the party really begin!
Philip
ROTFLMFAO!!!! Brings back the memories from the 90s. Toronto "fans" celebrating a playoffs win. Pathetic.
Don't want to be a party pooper, but I watched a good bit of the Bruins in this year's playoffs. It will take a minor miracle for the Leafs to advance.
This is a very difficult series to judge how good this Leaf team really is.
There are a lot of positives, the core guys Matthews, Marner, Tavares, Nylander and Rielly all performed great. Samsonov despite allowing a few softies played good enough to win. The new additions particularly O’Reilly and Shenn made big contributions. I particularly like how they scored the majority of their goals, they jammed the net well with tips and goalie screens made it impossible for Vasilevskiy to stop. On the winning goal of all people Rielly was in front screening Vassy.
On the flip side, other than game 2 the Leafs were mostly outplayed throughout the series and if the same kind of luck was on Tampa’s side this series could’ve easily ended in five games for them. A quick whistle in game 3, a missed high stick just before regulation tonight were huge breaks for the Leafs. This Tampa team is nowhere near the team they were before.
The next series will be a lot tougher. I don’t think Florida will be a pushover. If they do beat Boston their confidence will be sky high and I even think they play a meaner style than Tampa. I actually would like to see the Leafs play Boston and finally beat them in the playoffs as they’re a much more hated rivalry.
There are a lot of positives, the core guys Matthews, Marner, Tavares, Nylander and Rielly all performed great. Samsonov despite allowing a few softies played good enough to win. The new additions particularly O’Reilly and Shenn made big contributions. I particularly like how they scored the majority of their goals, they jammed the net well with tips and goalie screens made it impossible for Vasilevskiy to stop. On the winning goal of all people Rielly was in front screening Vassy.
On the flip side, other than game 2 the Leafs were mostly outplayed throughout the series and if the same kind of luck was on Tampa’s side this series could’ve easily ended in five games for them. A quick whistle in game 3, a missed high stick just before regulation tonight were huge breaks for the Leafs. This Tampa team is nowhere near the team they were before.
The next series will be a lot tougher. I don’t think Florida will be a pushover. If they do beat Boston their confidence will be sky high and I even think they play a meaner style than Tampa. I actually would like to see the Leafs play Boston and finally beat them in the playoffs as they’re a much more hated rivalry.
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Agree with you aside from Nylander. His poor defensive play and key giveaways continue to be a glaring problem. His huge giveaways in the first and second periods yesterday almost lead to TB goals, and he completely missed covering his man in the third on TB's lone goal. If it were a reg season game he'd have been stapled to the end of the bench after the second period. He has to be better next series.
I think the Leafs were fortunate to escape with a victory last night and in the series. TB were the better team overall. Thank god for the stellar play of Samsonov, he was the difference maker.
Let's pray for a Panthers victory tonight
Let's pray for a Panthers victory tonight
If the Bruins are so freaking fantastic, how come the 8th seed has taken them to a 7th and deciding game?
It's called the playoffs. Oh, and I never said they're fantastic, but they're very deep, skilled and very tough.
Leafs fans getting excited about a potential Florida matchup… reminds me of the time they all got worked up because they got to face the lowly canes in 2002 (2003?) in the East finals.
Tried to come up with something more recent, but thats not possible when you haven’t won a round.
Anything can happen in a 7 game series.. Leafs had a few series o we the last 6 years that could have went the other way with a few breaks, and this year the Leafs played well and got the breaks more their way.
Tried to come up with something more recent, but thats not possible when you haven’t won a round.
Anything can happen in a 7 game series.. Leafs had a few series o we the last 6 years that could have went the other way with a few breaks, and this year the Leafs played well and got the breaks more their way.
I agree with the sentiment but disagree with the phrasing.
Tampa skaters had a territorial advantage over the Leafs skaters. But goalies are a (BIG) part of a team. So if Samsonov outplayed Vassy enough such that the Leafs were able to overcome that territorial advantage, then it means that the Leafs, as a team from the goalie out, outplayed Tampa.
But I think that the Leafs displayed a toughness and willingness to battle for pucks that we did not see in previous years. With the addition of guys like Acciari, McCabe, O'Reilly, Knies and Schenn, the Leafs are no longer pushovers.
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Ya you're right...acquiring O'Reilly, McCabe and Acciari and signing Knies hardly worked at all...
I wasn’t blind to his moments of lapses, I just thought he made good plays in some of the key goals in the series and they won, I’d give him a pass. You’re right though, the Leafs may not be so lucky in the next series if he makes the same mistakes again.
