I love the thought of both things you mentioned about the Leafs, but honestly, I think you should be most afraid of Marner.

(frank) that kid is awesome! And if you look at last year's playoffs or his junior career, like where he took his team all the way to the memorial cup, that kid always produces even in the playoffs. He had a great series last year, and I bet he totally will again this year.

It's gonna be a hell of a series for both teams, I think
- Thecakeisalie

Oh don’t take the fact that I left out Marner as a slight against him or that he doesn’t make me nervous. My point was that the Leafs took the Bruins to seven game last year without Tavares and essentially Matthews, who had a bad series and seemed like he wasn’t even there at times.

Oh don’t take the fact that I left out Marner as a slight against him or that he doesn’t make me nervous. My point was that the Leafs took the Bruins to seven game last year without Tavares and essentially Matthews, who had a bad series and seemed like he wasn’t even there at times.
- RickJames77

Dont forget a suspended Kadri

for a couple games the C was Matthews, Plecanec and...I forget

Dont forget a suspended Kadri

for a couple games the C was Matthews, Plecanec and...I forget
- senstroll

teh bozek

too many athletes have a problem quitting - wants to stay on the scene - the fear of becoming an average Joe...
- 21peter

to be fair to Backes, in what universe is he going to earn anything close to 5M$ a year doing ANYTHING else?

teh bozek
- Garnie

oh right that guy. is he still in the NHL?

Flames and Lightning both got shut out tonight.
I dunno what to do guys. Should we just hand the cup to Boston?
- UsernameUnknown

That seems to be the only reasonable option at this point.

oh right that guy. is he still in the NHL?
- senstroll

It is OK for you to miss him Senstroll. Let it out.

oh right that guy. is he still in the NHL?
- senstroll

Haha, I looked up his fancy stats real quick and he’s hanging in there.

1994
- 21peter

You must be one of those ancient people I've read about....

Are you on the other side of living? What was it like without phones?

We should be ok against the Bruins, they’ve gone 15-0-3...but they had to scramble some games so......😂😂😂

Bruins 15-0-3 since all star break but how many of those have they had to scramble late to try it?
- burn

Who cares.
They still managed a point or a win.


If it were the leafs that were in boston's place and were 15-0-3 since the all star break, would you be concerned with asking the same question?

No, you wouldn't.

You'd simply be stroking like crazy all over this blog.

We should be ok against the Bruins, they’ve gone 15-0-3...but they had to scramble some games so......😂😂😂
- Garnie

Oh don’t take the fact that I left out Marner as a slight against him or that he doesn’t make me nervous. My point was that the Leafs took the Bruins to seven game last year without Tavares and essentially Matthews, who had a bad series and seemed like he wasn’t even there at times.
- RickJames77

Bruins youngsters doing great indeed.
I think most Leafs fan underestimate the Bruins team still.
McAvoy, Carlo really good young d-man (McAvoy impressed me a lot when I watched him live).
I really like Heinen as well - that's a type of player Leafs need on the third line.
And that 4th line is really dangerous as well (Leafs 4th line will have difficulties with that line for sure).

Oh don’t take the fact that I left out Marner as a slight against him or that he doesn’t make me nervous. My point was that the Leafs took the Bruins to seven game last year without Tavares and essentially Matthews, who had a bad series and seemed like he wasn’t even there at times.
- RickJames77

certainly a lot of the focus should legitimately be on Matthews, and whether he wakes up for the series.... and to a lesser degree Nylander

there's a couple of smallish points that get overlooked from the series in general - and in particular game 7

i) aforementioned Kadri suspension
ii) Bozak replaced by Tavares
iii) Dermott was a raw rookie
iv) Rielly was hit in the face by a shot (think it was a Chara shot) in the 7th game, which elevated Gardiner's minutes substantially

although Muzzin has struggled at times with the pace the Leafs play at.. and the largely unstructured defensive zone scheme... his presence means Gardiner plays less or at least someone else plays less.

but we all know the real question , the real deciding factor in the series will be the officiating - and the tone it does or doesn't set.

i) will Chara be allowed 30-40 cross checks per game?
ii) will Marchand be allowed kiss, lick otherwise do douchey things
iii) will anyone be suspended if they sneeze on lil Charley McVoy?

And Backes in an inforcer role apparently. That guy could only ever fight lightweights and non-combatants, even when there was fighting in the league, so basically you're a 4th line plug/healthy scratch? Cool.
- gravyface

Not an enforcer. That was blown out of proportion.
He simply said he would do whatever it takes to play a role in the league. Playing a heavier game if need be.

Not strictly fighting.

Leafs win round 1

*book mark this sum female doges

Bruins youngsters doing great indeed.
I think most Leafs fan underestimate the Bruins team still.
McAvoy, Carlo really good young d-man (McAvoy impressed me a lot when I watched him live).
I really like Heinen as well - that's a type of player Leafs need on the third line.
And that 4th line is really dangerous as well (Leafs 4th line will have difficulties with that line for sure).
- plantheparade

In November, most on here were saying the bruins were done.



Well...

Leafs win round 1

*book mark this sum female doges
- Garnie

Lets hope.
Im sick of the bruins.

Who cares.
They still managed a point or a win.


If it were the leafs that were in boston's place and were 15-0-3 since the all star break, would you be concerned with asking the same question?

No, you wouldn't.

You'd simply be stroking like crazy all over this blog.
- Fakepartofme

I do that regardless... I'm doing it right now.... right... nowwwwwwwww-ugh.

We should be ok against the Bruins, they’ve gone 15-0-3...but they had to scramble some games so......😂😂😂
- Garnie

i am just glad the games will be called fairly and we wont be yelling at the Refs the whole time.

im glad

Not an enforcer. That was blown out of proportion.
He simply said he would do whatever it takes to play a role in the league. Playing a heavier game if need be.

Not strictly fighting.
- Fakepartofme

Pretty sure he specifically mentioned enforcer in his quote, but here he is reneging, probably because he's had 3 fights in 4 games and everybody wants a piece of him now

https://nesn.com/2019/03/...-to-be-known-as-enforcer/

We should be ok against the Bruins, they’ve gone 15-0-3...but they had to scramble some games so......😂😂😂
- Garnie

doesn't matter how they won those games... only that they did.

after years and years of watching hockey, what strikes me as fairly obvious but the media completely ignores (particularly now with advanced stats focus)...

is the hot cold factor.... teams go on runs where they are really good or really bad - happens to most teams in waves throughout the season.

for example, Leafs have been what I would call luke warm during the period since the all-star break, which coincides to a large degree with how Matthews has been going (or not).

I also believe that the first round of the playoffs are the toughest, because the officials haven't figured out what they are going to do ... and its tougher to make blatant mistakes as you get farther into the playoffs because of the focus.

if you believe the Bruins can continue to play at that clip... they the Leafs are done for.. otherwise, its a box of chocolates..

No chance 4 of the same of any!
- Deeps27

Do you agree with the comment Babcock sucks made? From reading your comments it seems you said pretty much the same thing. This roster missing some physicality and truculence.

Do you agree with the comment Babcock sucks made? From reading your comments it seems you said pretty much the same thing. This roster missing some physicality and truculence.
- kaptaan

of course Babcock sucks... all things Leafy suck - that's a given

the question is really do they suck as bad as the Canucks?

Babcock tried an experiment with the fourth line... using the 3 smurfs - it didn't work well even against a middling team like Vancouver. He's said he's not going to use that line that way again.

so what are complaining about Babcock sucking about now?

Do you agree with the comment Babcock sucks made? From reading your comments it seems you said pretty much the same thing. This roster missing some physicality and truculence.
- kaptaan