I don't care.

[moon111]

My mom brought me up with talk of Keon etc. 

My son asked if he could watch the game.  After finding out the score.  He said if he played for them, he'd beat them up.  At least the child abuse that MLSE is, is over.  I think he'll never root for his dad's team.

 

[Mack674]

Yeah I'm done and on to baseball for a while now. I honestly feel like they killed my spirit and hope for this franchise forever. This game is just an exclamation point on an embarrassment and a disgrace.

With all the experience we have in the front office, how do they ice a team this pathetic?

Maybe I'll check in again in 2015.

 

[Capital Leaf]

One thing that I noticed is we don't get as many shots as before.  For example:
The last 5 games RW coached the Leafs had over 30 shots.  With the exception of Carlyle first game (which RW and staff did most of the preparing because the Friday practice was run by them) the Leafs have not had a game with over 30 shots since  Carlyle took over.

The question must be asked.....Why???
Is it because he changed the system to a defensive one? Could it be because he skates them hard the day of the game so they don't have as much jump in their legs?

I know Carlyle is an excellent coach but is this a situation where the players aren't suited for his system or is it just that they are not use to his system yet??

Another factor could be no Lupul and now Kulemin....but regardless 2 Games in row with under 20 shots is brutal! 

 

[Zee]

I'm so sick of being a Leafs fan, and there's nothing I can really do about it.  I'll always be a Leafs fan, I want to see them succeed, but it's so damn depressing at how long the fans have suffered in this town.  I can only imagine how bad it must have been for fans of the Red Sox or White Sox, or Cubs, having to wait all those years, entire generations of fans living and dying before your team wins a championship.  The Cubs are still waiting.  Are the Leafs the Cubs of the NHL?

The only sport I really care about is hockey.  The only team I really care about is the Leafs.  Someone cheer me up.

 

[Tigger]

Someone cheer me up.

You're still alive and you're not alone?

 

[Zee]

Someone cheer me up.

You're still alive and you're not alone?

I mean about the Leafs.  ;D

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

I'm so sick of being a Leafs fan, and there's nothing I can really do about it.  I'll always be a Leafs fan, I want to see them succeed, but it's so damn depressing at how long the fans have suffered in this town.  I can only imagine how bad it must have been for fans of the Red Sox or White Sox, or Cubs, having to wait all those years, entire generations of fans living and dying before your team wins a championship.  The Cubs are still waiting.  Are the Leafs the Cubs of the NHL?

The only sport I really care about is hockey.  The only team I really care about is the Leafs.  Someone cheer me up.

For some sense of perspective, look at the 2011 Blue Jays/MLB thread around the time they lost out on the Darvish bidding http://tmlfans.ca/community/index.php?topic=38.1305 and compare the sense of "doom and gloom/team treading water or moving backwards" to what perceptions of the team are right now.  I don't think a whole lot has materially changed with the team between then and now and yet suddenly things are looking up and there's a huge positive buzz about the team because of a great spring training.

I'm not comparing the Jays to the Leafs in terms of their chances of success in the relatively near future, but only observing that feelings and perceptions about a team's direction can change course pretty quickly and without major personnel events.

 

[hockeyfan1]

I wish we had a Lundqvist. 

...and I wish we had a Crosby.    (sigh)

 

[hockeyfan1]

8 years of mediocrity? 8 years!? You're just a newbie. Grab a beer, siddown, and watch the game! lol

I've been watching since the late 70s.  But even at the depths of the Ballard years, there was the occasional foray into the post-season, the occasional drafting of a Wendel Clark.  This era is worse.  Much worse. 

Oh, those years, we were always running into the Philly Flyers (in the mid '70's, getting to the point where Leaf coach Red Kelly, out of desperation more than anything, decided to incorporate "Pyramid Power", remember that)?!

The Leafs were more like 'family' even with the evil Harold as owner.  The fans and the team felt like one, as we were all behind  Sittler and McDonald, et al., when old Harold tried to create 'rifts', rumours, a circus atmosphere, etc., In those days, the Leafs really were a 'soap opera'!

But, you're right, those early years were kinda fun!

 

[Fanatic]

Let's go BlueJays!!

Let's go BlueJays!!

 

[brothert]

8 years of mediocrity? 8 years!? You're just a newbie. Grab a beer, siddown, and watch the game! lol

I've been watching since the late 70s.  But even at the depths of the Ballard years, there was the occasional foray into the post-season, the occasional drafting of a Wendel Clark.  This era is worse.  Much worse.

So true.  I got on the blue bus in 1981.  I thought I knew what bad was until after the lockout.  The 80's leafs were weak skilled, and mentally abused by ballard and sometimes ridiculously funny in the ways they could selfdestruct BUT something they were not was gutless or heartless.  I always felt that they tried and they were just not good enough.  This current team though............ at 5-1 there should have been fights, hits, something to show us a pulse.  Give me a reason to care darnit!

 

[Optimus Reimer]

No heart, no intensity, no truculence, no toughness, no energy, no effort.  The players are playing like they don't care.   

 

[Champ Kind]

Someone cheer me up.

You're still alive and you're not alone?

I mean about the Leafs.  ;D

If it's any consolation, I really believe the team is not nearly as aweful as they're showing right now.  They're a young team that has had their confidence shredded.  They, obviously, do not have the leadership in the room to pull them through the tough spots.  And they don't have the drive or heart to will themselves to win during times of adversity.

The good news is that these attributes can be added to the team and defienciecies can be addressed.  Goatending, first and foremost, is an issue.  This can be fixed: sign Josh Harding.  Veteran presence, as Corn Flake has repeatedly said, is another key missign ingredient.  Sign Shane Doan and another battle-tested vet.

This was a good team until February.  That's a fairly substantial period, one that I feel fairly confident drawing some conclusions from.  Maybe Sarge is right, maybe the dressing room turned on itself, maybe the coaching staff can't relate, etc.  Something must have happened for a collapse of this magnitude to happen.  My glass half-full take on it is that it can and will be fixed.

 

[Zee]

I don't buy that this era is worse than the 80s.  Sure the Leafs made the playoffs the occasional years in the 80s but 16 out of 21 teams did.  You had to be bottom 5 of the league not to make it.  So given the current Leafs team, we're bottom 5, if there was still only 21 teams we'd be "battling" for a spot right now.  The Leafs had some fairly pathetic teams in the 80s, drafting Wendel Clark was the only good thing that I remember.  Sure Rick Vaive scored 50 goals three seasons, but the team as a whole was a mess.  I don't think this current Leafs team is as bad as they're playing now, they've just lost all confidence and have given up on the season.

 

[Nik]

I don't buy that this era is worse than the 80s.  Sure the Leafs made the playoffs the occasional years in the 80s but 16 out of 21 teams did.  You had to be bottom 5 of the league not to make it. 

But does that really matter in context? In the 80's fans still got to watch playoff hockey and even saw the team even win a couple playoff rounds. There were fun players to watch beyond Clark and Vaive(Salming, Thomas, Damphousse, Courtnall).

So worse from a strictly numbers sense? Maybe not. But it's definitely less fun for a fan.

 

[hockeyfan1]

Someone cheer me up.

You're still alive and you're not alone?

I mean about the Leafs.  ;D

If it's any consolation, I really believe the team is not nearly as aweful as they're showing right now.  They're a young team that has had their confidence shredded.  They, obviously, do not have the leadership in the room to pull them through the tough spots.  And they don't have the drive or heart to will themselves to win during times of adversity.

The good news is that these attributes can be added to the team and defienciecies can be addressed.  Goatending, first and foremost, is an issue.  This can be fixed: sign Josh Harding.  Veteran presence, as Corn Flake has repeatedly said, is another key missign ingredient.  Sign Shane Doan and another battle-tested vet.

This was a good team until February.  That's a fairly substantial period, one that I feel fairly confident drawing some conclusions from.  Maybe Sarge is right, maybe the dressing room turned on itself, maybe the coaching staff can't relate, etc.  Something must have happened for a collapse of this magnitude to happen.  My glass half-full take on it is that it can and will be fixed.

If the team lacked a solid veteran or two to 'calm down and lead the youngsters,  would Burke, being a knowledgeable and experienced hockey person himself, have not known this from the beginning?


I am of the inclination that, as you say, something other than the above must have taken place in order for a team to have a complete freefall.  What we do not know, but, one thing's for sure, that if the Leafs had had those veterans that are so desperately lacking here, I doubt the team would have freefallen the way it did.


Leadership, example, experience, guidance were not prevalent, without the proper set of player characteristics to steer the ship in the right direction, so go speak.

 

[Zee]

I don't buy that this era is worse than the 80s.  Sure the Leafs made the playoffs the occasional years in the 80s but 16 out of 21 teams did.  You had to be bottom 5 of the league not to make it. 

But does that really matter in context? In the 80's fans still got to watch playoff hockey and even saw the team even win a couple playoff rounds. There were fun players to watch beyond Clark and Vaive(Salming, Thomas, Damphousse, Courtnall).

So worse from a strictly numbers sense? Maybe not. But it's definitely less fun for a fan.

It's a fair point, I remember being excited to see the Leafs in the playoffs even though the team was really bad.  Ken Wregget had a 12-35-4 record as starting goalie, and the Leafs made the playoffs one season with 52 points.  When a team loses 49 out of 80 games, I can't really say that team was better than this era of the Leafs, despite the fact they made the playoffs. 

 

[bustaheims]

To me, the biggest difference was that, in the 80s, there really was no hope. The team wasn't going to get significantly better because Ballard cut spending down to the bare minimum. These days, despite all the doom and gloom, there is, as far as I'm concerned, some hope for the future - ownership is willing to spend the cash to improve scouting, development, management, etc. They may not be making all the right decisions, but, that's still better than not having the opportunity to make those decisions at all.

 

[Nik]

When a team loses 49 out of 80 games, I can't really say that team was better than this era of the Leafs, despite the fact they made the playoffs.

But it forgets that in a smaller league talent will be more concentrated so a lousy team from that era could very well have a higher talent level on it than a mediocre team of today.

 

[Nik]

To me, the biggest difference was that, in the 80s, there really was no hope. The team wasn't going to get significantly better because Ballard cut spending down to the bare minimum. These days, despite all the doom and gloom, there is, as far as I'm concerned, some hope for the future - ownership is willing to spend the cash to improve scouting, development, management, etc. They may not be making all the right decisions, but, that's still better than not having the opportunity to make those decisions at all.

Nah. I still give the edge to the 80's then. Now it's about the hope that the team eventually makes the right decisions. As much as we want them to, there's no way to know they ever will.

On the flip side, the hope in the 80's was that Ballard would die which was an inevitability. Whether via old age or one of us with a stake through his heart, that SOB was gonna get got.