Leafs vs. the Media

[CarltonTheBear]

Figured the Kessel tirade was gonna get talked about, may as well have a thread for it:

?I?m disappointed today,? Kessel said. ?I think the way the media treats Dion Phaneuf in this city is embarrassing. A lot of people should be ashamed of themselves. I?m embarrassed for them. I don?t think anyone deserves to be treated like that.?

"Just in general," he told reporters. "I think you guys unfairly criticize Dion. He's our best defenceman and you guys act like he's not trying out there."

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/maple-leafs-kessel-defends-teammate-phaneuf/

Also said that the media owes Dion an apology and that it's not Dion who built this team.

update: video from TSN http://www.tsn.ca/kessel-i-m-just-tired-of-it-1.221102

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

[tweet]572815868566097920[/tweet]

 

[CarltonTheBear]

[tweet]572815868566097920[/tweet]

Probably the player most open with the media prior to that.

 

[Bender]

Figured the Kessel tirade was gonna get talked about, may as well have a thread for it:

?I?m disappointed today,? Kessel said. ?I think the way the media treats Dion Phaneuf in this city is embarrassing. A lot of people should be ashamed of themselves. I?m embarrassed for them. I don?t think anyone deserves to be treated like that.?

"Just in general," he told reporters. "I think you guys unfairly criticize Dion. He's our best defenceman and you guys act like he's not trying out there."

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/maple-leafs-kessel-defends-teammate-phaneuf/

Also said that the media owes Dion an apology and that it's not Dion who built this team.

update: video from TSN http://www.tsn.ca/kessel-i-m-just-tired-of-it-1.221102

I get paid millions of dollars. Wah.

I'd be laughing all the way to the bank.

 

[Kin]

I'm glad these guys are finally taking a stand against what's really wrong with the Maple Leafs.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Figured the Kessel tirade was gonna get talked about, may as well have a thread for it:

?I?m disappointed today,? Kessel said. ?I think the way the media treats Dion Phaneuf in this city is embarrassing. A lot of people should be ashamed of themselves. I?m embarrassed for them. I don?t think anyone deserves to be treated like that.?

"Just in general," he told reporters. "I think you guys unfairly criticize Dion. He's our best defenceman and you guys act like he's not trying out there."

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/maple-leafs-kessel-defends-teammate-phaneuf/

Also said that the media owes Dion an apology and that it's not Dion who built this team.

update: video from TSN http://www.tsn.ca/kessel-i-m-just-tired-of-it-1.221102

I get paid millions of dollars. Wah.

I'd be laughing all the way to the bank.

I know if Canada's most watched sports network posted a tweet saying my wife was sleeping with one of my teammates during one of their most watched shows of the year I'd be like "oh well I'm a robotic millionaire! Bank time!"

 

[bustaheims]

I know if Canada's most watched sports network posted a tweet saying my wife was sleeping with one of my teammates during one of their most watched shows of the year I'd be like "oh well I'm a robotic millionaire! Bank time!"

It's almost like these guys are human beings, with feeling and stuff. It's like they care about how they're perceived and about their relationships with their teammates, their spouses, etc. Shocking.

 

[rdowdall]

Bottom line this team didn't win.  Some of the stuff that has happened to them over the last couple of years with respect to the media is a bit strange (Reimer and his mother, TSN posting a tweet about Lupul sleeping with Phanuef's wife).  I believe there has to be a happy medium somewhere though.  I do think the Toronto media is a little bit out of control sometimes, but that doesn't absolve the players from being uninspired on the ice.

 

[Highlander]

Obviously there is a huge vacuum for information about the Leafs which the media has to fill, so they will kill the bull and eat the carcass and pick their teeth with the bones. So they find there whipping boys and now Kessel and Phaneuf are in the gunsights. Phil has every right to say what he said and defend his friend.
While I am not a huge fan of Phaneuf, I do believe he is being used in the wrong way in T.O., so the mantle of Captain may not fit that well or the minutes he eats as well.  In any case the media are pariah and as Toronto is the Vatican of the sport so goes the muddle. I would imagine Man U have the same coverage in the U.K.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

I know if Canada's most watched sports network posted a tweet saying my wife was sleeping with one of my teammates during one of their most watched shows of the year I'd be like "oh well I'm a robotic millionaire! Bank time!"

It's almost like these guys are human beings, with feeling and stuff. It's like they care about how they're perceived and about their relationships with their teammates, their spouses, etc. Shocking.

I think there's this general idea that they're doing something super easy to make millions of dollars and so they should never say anything remotely negative about their line of work.  They spend a significant amount of time away from their families, they do something dangerous (with present and potentially future health concerns), they do in a very public way, if they have children the children are potentially exposed to all sorts of things said about them (that Lupul tweet TSN aired will be on the internet forever - what if Phaneuf or Lupul have kids in the future and read that? Would you want your kids to read that sort of stuff?).  They have to stay in shape year-round or lose their job.

There's all sorts of aspects that would be trying for a person and that money won't just paper over.  Yes, obviously making millions is a big reason why you would continue to do that sort of thing and would make doing so worthwhile for you - but that doesn't mean you are just able to then ignore everything else.  Or at least not everyone will.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

I do think the Toronto media is a little bit out of control sometimes, but that doesn't absolve the players from being uninspired on the ice.

No one says it does.

 

[cw]

I wish he'd take some of his frustration out in the corner when he's going for a puck.

Some of the media coverage has been awful over the years. No question. It's been a problem for a long time.

Maybe some of the fan and media reaction of late has been tough for the players to take and over the top at times but what the players have done on the ice has been pretty difficult to swallow too.

No one would be howling nearly as loudly if they were playing as well as they're being paid.

Year  Team Rank
2015      27th
2014      22nd
2013      10th
2012      25th
2011      22nd
2010      29th
2009      24th
2008      24th
2007      18th
2006      18th

... one playoff round in last 10 seasons (worst record for that in hockey I think - if not close to it - maybe worst won/loss as well - don't know for sure on that but it's bad)

... as we shuffle off for a rebuild meaning more playoff-less seasons after 10 years of retooling didn't work out ...

It's been pretty tough to take as a fan too, Phil, and you ought to know, as you've been here for six of those seasons. My sympathy is kind of limited.

 

[crazyperfectdevil]

this is kind of how sports works.  if you lose ..people don't like you.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

I wish he'd take some of his frustration out in the corner when he's going for a puck.

Some of the media coverage has been awful over the years. No question. It's been a problem for a long time.

Maybe some of the fan and media reaction of late has been tough for the players to take and over the top at times but what the players have done on the ice has been pretty difficult to swallow too.

No one would be howling nearly as loudly if they were playing as well as they're being paid.

Year  Team Rank
2015      27th
2014      22nd
2013      10th
2012      25th
2011      22nd
2010      29th
2009      24th
2008      24th
2007      18th
2006      18th

... one playoff round in last 10 seasons (worst record for that in hockey I think - if not close to it - maybe worst won/loss as well - don't know for sure on that but it's bad)

... as we shuffle off for a rebuild meaning more playoff-less seasons after 10 years of retooling didn't work out ...

It's been pretty tough to take as a fan too, Phil, and you ought to know, as you've been here for six of those seasons. My sympathy is kind of limited.

So?  It's not mutually exclusive and none of his comments were saying that they should be absolved of anything.  He said he thinks Phaneuf gets unfairly singled out and criticized.  That's it. 

You can think someone gets unfairly criticized without that also meaning the team should be absolved of blame.

 

[Boston Leaf]

i like seeing fire in him....Yes it would be better on the ice..But I am sure he is very frustrated...But the media is definitley not winning friends in the room. If they have shut Lupul out now.. who is next. Hopefully a guy like Morgan Reilly is not poisoned. Also hoep they don't ask Kadri what he thinks.. Who knows what he may spew

 

[cw]

this is kind of how sports works.  if you lose ..people don't like you.

Yep.

How you lose affects it as well.

More than 12% of their games this season, they don't score a single goal.

It's March 2015.

They haven't won a road game in 2015. 

Their points win% in 2015 is .180

They've given up and we're supposed to respect that?

EDIT: to Potvin29's point: Phaneuf is the captain of this sinking ship. I think some criticism of him and his role as captain in this isn't unfair.

 

[rdowdall]

I wish he'd take some of his frustration out in the corner when he's going for a puck.

Some of the media coverage has been awful over the years. No question. It's been a problem for a long time.

Maybe some of the fan and media reaction of late has been tough for the players to take and over the top at times but what the players have done on the ice has been pretty difficult to swallow too.

No one would be howling nearly as loudly if they were playing as well as they're being paid.

Year  Team Rank
2015      27th
2014      22nd
2013      10th
2012      25th
2011      22nd
2010      29th
2009      24th
2008      24th
2007      18th
2006      18th

... one playoff round in last 10 seasons (worst record for that in hockey I think - if not close to it - maybe worst won/loss as well - don't know for sure on that but it's bad)

... as we shuffle off for a rebuild meaning more playoff-less seasons after 10 years of retooling didn't work out ...

It's been pretty tough to take as a fan too, Phil, and you ought to know, as you've been here for six of those seasons. My sympathy is kind of limited.

So?  It's not mutually exclusive and none of his comments were saying that they should be absolved of anything.  He said he thinks Phaneuf gets unfairly singled out and criticized.  That's it. 

You can think someone gets unfairly criticized without that also meaning the team should be absolved of blame.

It depends on what Phil thinks is unfair treatment.  I mean Phanuef has been the captain of the team for a while now and he has been the captain during some pretty monumental meltdowns.  If a reporter comes out with a piece that says "Phanuef's leadership is not enough to stop monumental meltdowns" then that reporter has some proof to go with that statement.  Now if a reporter writes a piece that says "Phanuef is a waste of skin" that is completely off base and is bad journalism.

In case someone wants to accuse me of hyperbole on that second piece, Bruce Garrioch once said that on a radio program about Alexander Daigle. 

 

[crazyperfectdevil]

this is kind of how sports works.  if you lose ..people don't like you.

Yep.

How you lose affects it as well.

More than 12% of their games this season, they don't score a single goal.

It's March 2015.

They haven't won a road game in 2015. 

Their points win% in 2015 is .180

They've given up and we're supposed to respect that?

no disagreement here.  like is it true that the blame doesn't fall on any individual's shoulders?  yes.  But the solution isn't to re-educate the public.  It's to win.  Or at least win often enough to be competitive.  It's pretty much the halo effect in action.  If things were going well then pretty much everything this team did would be seen in a favorable light.  There would be glowing reviews about the leadership and to some extent we saw it earlier this year. 

Now things have done their usual nosedive into the ground and it's hard to find anything good to say about anyone.  It's just the nature of the beast.  So point or not Kessel et al can spend all their time telling everyone not to pick on Dion or throw jerseys on the ice but that's probably going to end up being less than compelling. 

I haven't noticed a jersey throwing problem with any of the playoff bound teams. 

 

[cw]

I wish he'd take some of his frustration out in the corner when he's going for a puck.

Some of the media coverage has been awful over the years. No question. It's been a problem for a long time.

Maybe some of the fan and media reaction of late has been tough for the players to take and over the top at times but what the players have done on the ice has been pretty difficult to swallow too.

No one would be howling nearly as loudly if they were playing as well as they're being paid.

Year  Team Rank
2015      27th
2014      22nd
2013      10th
2012      25th
2011      22nd
2010      29th
2009      24th
2008      24th
2007      18th
2006      18th

... one playoff round in last 10 seasons (worst record for that in hockey I think - if not close to it - maybe worst won/loss as well - don't know for sure on that but it's bad)

... as we shuffle off for a rebuild meaning more playoff-less seasons after 10 years of retooling didn't work out ...

It's been pretty tough to take as a fan too, Phil, and you ought to know, as you've been here for six of those seasons. My sympathy is kind of limited.

So?  It's not mutually exclusive and none of his comments were saying that they should be absolved of anything.  He said he thinks Phaneuf gets unfairly singled out and criticized.  That's it. 

You can think someone gets unfairly criticized without that also meaning the team should be absolved of blame.

Yes but I'm suspicious of some misdirection going on here.

Their 2015 performance is basically indefensible. They've thrown in the towel - before management did.

Phaneuf is captain of a Toronto team that gave up. Not a good thing for his resume - whether someone observes it or not.

I've certainly done my fair share of criticizing Nonis for his part in this - he deserves it. And MLSE for their reluctance to rebuild before now. But I can't muster much sympathy for hockey players who give up. It's not an endearing character trait and not a good example for the kids who are their fans.

 

[Chris]

If it's so tough for guys like Phaneuf and Kessel, they could just take the millions they've already earned and walk away. I know they work hard and are away from their families and all that, but come on. They're already set for life and then some.