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Originally Posted by BE-LEAF-ABLE
True. Yes, teams do go through struggles. However, when looking at the process in which Toronto ended up in the situation that they are currently in, it's been more due to bone-headed moves by a GM than just "a process". This team shouldn't be as bad as they are, and yet they are.
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Again, something every team goes through. There are ups and downs for every organization, and to expect that your team never will have one is just silly.
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That's where I think many fans go wrong. Leaf fans take too much pride in "selling out the building", and such. The end result is the MLSE being slow to act in the removal of a General Manager that clearly shouldn't be a General Manager, or at least he doesn't know what he's doing.
It doesn't matter as much because they are still going to be making tons of cash, no matter how high the ticket prices go, or how bad the team gets.
I think there's a fine line between being a fan, and unknowingly (or uncaringly) bringing about destruction upon your own team.
'Uncaringly' as in it was only just this past July when someone actually told me that they know that fans not attending the games will bring about changes to the organisation, but that they'll still go to the game anyway. It made me wonder how many Leaf fans are maybe thinking the same way, especially with how the attendance will likely remain unchanged for the next few years, despite what moves are made by the team.
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I would go to a game simply because I enjoy it, not to show approval or disapproval of management. Fan of the sport, not necessarily of the team.
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I think the media can be thanked for that. This team (and many players on it), has been quite overated for years due to the media and the fanbase which supports it. Bryan McCabe for instance. He scores a goal, and suddenly we forget about his usual defencive mistakes every night for years after he gives us one of his "Made for TV" celebrations.
It's mostly hype, and it's ridiculous. I'm sure you'll still find people defending Aki Berg or Jyrkki Lumme's defencive performances for Toronto somewhere, and of course the very overrated Chad Kilger.
This guy should be on waivers. He is of no worth to this team.
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Leafs fans are too hard on McCabe. I watch games, I've seen his gaffs, but the pressure put on him doesn't make it any better. Maurice uses him in bad situations sometimes as well. Like in that overtime game, where he scored on his own goal, why was he out on the PK? If you know the guy isn't the greatest defensively, why are you putting him in a defensive intensive situation? McCabe is a tool, one to be used on the powerplay. Not in key defensive situations like that.
I never hear real fans defend Aki Berg or Lumme, just like I never hear real fans defend Belak. It would be plain silly. And what is overrated about Kilger? He's a utility guy, and he serves that purpose well enough. If you are going to depend on him for a tonne of points in a season, you're setting yourself up for disappointment.
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Names, and only names. Hyped names. I also wanted Kubina, and still think he can play better - because he has shown that he can play well in the defencive zone many times.
He's actually been decent this year in that regard, though he isn't paired with Kaberle as much as I had hopeed he would be... Then again, Kaberle hasn't played that well either.
After Kubina, Kaberle, and Colaiacovo however, things drop off to Hal Gill (who is overpaid like Kubina, and should really be a 5-6 guy), and then free fall to Bryan McCabe and Ian White.
I think that the prospect of having a younger player on the blueline has let White dodge well-deserved criticism. This guy should be trade bait, as he is absolutely TERRIBLE defencively, and for someone his size, he ain't "fleet of foot", if you know what I mean. He only brings offence, a la Bryan McCabe, and that is makes him a liability to the team.
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Generally when a name has hype to it, there is some reason for it. But granted it doesn't always work out to focus only on hype, which the Rangers learned in the late 90's. Kaberle will turn things around, its just a matter of when. Hal Gill isn't that much overpaid, he is a defensive defenseman who, IMO, does his job and that's what he's getting paid for. So now the Leafs have 3 good defensive defensemen in Kubina, Gill, and Kaberle, and mix that with the offensive production of McCabe, Carlo, and White, and usually that seems a recipe for success.
I think the coach needs to preach team defense a little better, because some of the defensive breakdowns that I've seen by the leafs have been made starting in the neutral zone, and a full collapse under pressure in the defensive zone.
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I don't think that's it's bad luck at all. If I'm not mistaken, the Leafs brass mis-diagnosed his injury, like Kyle Wellwood. He should be playing right now, but it is because of a questionable medical staff hired by the Leafs. Sure, he gets injured a lot, but he has always played well when he's in the line-up
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Ya I've heard some chatter about this, but there isn't any denying the kids production and value continues to erode the more he gets hurt. He should be far ahead of where he is now in terms of development if not for injury.
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Although stats don't lie, they can give miscoceptions in certain situations.
Vesa Toskala has been superb for Toronto, while Andrew Raycroft has played well for the most part.
The 7-1 loss to the Hurricanes and 6-4 loss to the Penguins for instance. Toskala was spectacular in both games, and yet the Leafs still got blown out of the water, or couldn't hold on to a game that they should of had.
The recent 5-4 OT loss to the Sabres is another example. Again, Raycroft played a great game (as many Sabres fans have admitted), but Toronto's defence let him down yet again. Eventually, when the Sabres stepped it up, all Toronto could do was watch as the other team's talent overrode whatever chance Toronto had of winning the game. As for Bryan McCabe scoring on his own net - it shouldn't even have gotten to that point. The Leafs should of had the game in the bag before that ever happened, but their bag has holes.
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I'm not talking about stats. I watched those games, I know that the Leafs didn't support defensively, but both goaltenders have had an uncanny ability so far to let in soft goals at key parts of the game. No matter how great the goalie plays the rest of the game, letting that softie in when your team has it close is just not acceptable.
And every teams bag has holes. The Leafs went out and tried to plug two of those wholes: goaltending, and a true offensive winger for Sundin. Those were 2 things that Leafs fans complained about all season long, along with poor team defense. But in a salary cap world, it is very difficult to plug every hole. It takes time, and you guys have only been doing poorly for 2 seasons. Give the organization a break, for ****s sake you guys were in the conference finals just 6 seasons ago.
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Decisions, decisions, decisions. I think that is the main problem with this team. There should be more than Darcy Tucker and Kyle Wellwood on this team, but there isn't. Secondary scoring. This team's goal shouldn't only be to make the playoffs, but to win the Stanley Cup. Missing the playoffs last year was a good thing, as now some fans are even considering the possibility that maybe this team might not be that good.
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Secondary scoring was brought in with Bell and Blake. People are so hard on Bell after only one bad season, just give the guy a break. And now Antropov is showing that he can produce, he just needs to stay healthy. So the Leafs top 6 is: Sundin, Blake, Antropov, Wellwood, Tucker, and Bell. I'm sorry, but thats a nice looking top 6. You're never going to have a top 6 full of superstars in a salary cap era. Give this lineup a chance before shooting it down.
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That, and Wellwood's injury was mis-diagnosed as well, that's why he's not in the line-up. The players on this team are here by choice of management. It's there choices that give us the end result, not luck.
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Choice in bringing them in, and deciding now that those choices were bad is always easy. When those decisions were made they didn't seem bad at all. Some people just only have a memory for the present, where it's easy to be critical, but forget that they were supportive of the decisions made at the time they were made.