Maple Leafs are better, but are they a playoff team?

[rdowdall]

I really appreciate your enthusiasm nutman but this isn't looking like our year. I do believe it's a better/deeper squad than last year but still - just not good enough.

So you're saying Ottawa has more talent on the roster than the Leafs?  Cause they seem to be good enough this year for the playoffs.  At some point it's not the roster and it might be something else.

Their goaltender is standing on his head during this run.  Earlier in the year it was guys like Greening, Spezza, Mihalek, Alfredsson, and Karlsson stepping up to provide wins.  Their streaks are largely tied to one guy stepping up, but also the whole team just plays a hard working four line game. 

Earlier in the year, the Leafs had Lupol, Kessel, and Phanuef.  Now it seems to be Grabovski, but it doesn't seem like it's enough.  Also, the uncertainty in the net is not helping.

 

[maplesyrup]

I really appreciate your enthusiasm nutman but this isn't looking like our year. I do believe it's a better/deeper squad than last year but still - just not good enough.

So you're saying Ottawa has more talent on the roster than the Leafs?  Cause they seem to be good enough this year for the playoffs.  At some point it's not the roster and it might be something else.

I really can't speak to how/why Ottawa is much better then us. I just now we don't stand a very good chance of getting in... There is still much work to be done here.

 

[Zee]

I really appreciate your enthusiasm nutman but this isn't looking like our year. I do believe it's a better/deeper squad than last year but still - just not good enough.

So you're saying Ottawa has more talent on the roster than the Leafs?  Cause they seem to be good enough this year for the playoffs.  At some point it's not the roster and it might be something else.

I really can't speak to how/why Ottawa is much better then us. I just now we don't stand a very good chance of getting in... There is still much work to be done here.

I have 3 reasons why Ottawa is better than the Leafs so far this year:

1) Paul MacLean is a better coach than Ron Wilson
2) Burke won't fire Wilson
3) see points 1 and 2

 

[Kin]

I have 3 reasons why Ottawa is better than the Leafs so far this year:

1) Paul MacLean is a better coach than Ron Wilson
2) Burke won't fire Wilson
3) see points 1 and 2

I think that's ascribing way more importance to who the coach is than is deserved. Good or bad, I don't think the head coach is going to have that much impact.

 

[Zee]

I have 3 reasons why Ottawa is better than the Leafs so far this year:

1) Paul MacLean is a better coach than Ron Wilson
2) Burke won't fire Wilson
3) see points 1 and 2

I think that's ascribing way more importance to who the coach is than is deserved. Good or bad, I don't think the head coach is going to have that much impact.

The right coach at the right time can make a HUGE difference.  Ottawa is playing well above their heads thanks to the coach.  After Hitchcock took over a .500 team in St. Louis they've been world beaters.  At a certain point it's the only move you can make.

 

[rdowdall]

I have 3 reasons why Ottawa is better than the Leafs so far this year:

1) Paul MacLean is a better coach than Ron Wilson
2) Burke won't fire Wilson
3) see points 1 and 2

I think that's ascribing way more importance to who the coach is than is deserved. Good or bad, I don't think the head coach is going to have that much impact.

I think there is a difference between this team under Clouston, and this team under MacLean.  But the coach is not the only reason that this team is winning.  I would say that he is a part of the reason why their winning, just not the only reason they are winning.

 

[Kin]

The right coach at the right time can make a HUGE difference.  Ottawa is playing well above their heads thanks to the coach.

No, you're just giving him all of the credit. Karlsson's emergence, a healthy Spezza, Turris putting it together...all of those things can't just be laid at MacLean's feet.

 

[Zee]

The right coach at the right time can make a HUGE difference.  Ottawa is playing well above their heads thanks to the coach.

No, you're just giving him all of the credit. Karlsson's emergence, a healthy Spezza, Turris putting it together...all of those things can't just be laid at MacLean's feet.

Right, if Ottawa finishes the season strong, MacLean will get SERIOUS consideration for the Jack Adams award, but I guess he just lucked into it.

 

[Kin]

Right, if Ottawa finishes the season strong, MacLean will get SERIOUS consideration for the Jack Adams award, but I guess he just lucked into it.

Even if that's true, it's not like it'd be some sort of crazy occurrence for the Jack Adams trophy to go to someone on the basis that people were just wrong about the level of talent a guy had to work with before the season began.

Ottawa has good players. It's not like this is Phoenix last year.

 

[rdowdall]

What are peoples feelings on if the Leafs miss the playoffs this year?  Anybody else a little ticked off?

 

[maplesyrup]

What are peoples feelings on if the Leafs miss the playoffs this year?  Anybody else a little ticked off?

* raises hand * 

... but at the same time, not an unexpected result.

 

[rdowdall]

What are peoples feelings on if the Leafs miss the playoffs this year?  Anybody else a little ticked off?

* raises hand * 

... but at the same time, not an unexpected result.

If we expected it though, how could we really be all that upset with it?  It just seems sometimes that this is the rebuild that is never going to end.  Every year, the team is just a little bit off from making the playoffs, while teams like Philadelphia and Ottawa can complete a rebuild in one year.  If Burke is a competent manager, and the management team is a competent management team, then how are they going to get out of this?  I just don't see an end to the playoff drought in sight.  It's like the team can't gain any sort of traction at all.

 

[maplesyrup]

What are peoples feelings on if the Leafs miss the playoffs this year?  Anybody else a little ticked off?

* raises hand * 

... but at the same time, not an unexpected result.

If we expected it though, how could we really be all that upset with it?  It just seems sometimes that this is the rebuild that is never going to end.  Every year, the team is just a little bit off from making the playoffs, while teams like Philadelphia and Ottawa can complete a rebuild in one year.  If Burke is a competent manager, and the management team is a competent management team, then how are they going to get out of this?  I just don't see an end to the playoff drought in sight.  It's like the team can't gain any sort of traction at all.

I should have said "disappointed" then.

 

[rdowdall]

What are peoples feelings on if the Leafs miss the playoffs this year?  Anybody else a little ticked off?

* raises hand * 

... but at the same time, not an unexpected result.

If we expected it though, how could we really be all that upset with it?  It just seems sometimes that this is the rebuild that is never going to end.  Every year, the team is just a little bit off from making the playoffs, while teams like Philadelphia and Ottawa can complete a rebuild in one year.  If Burke is a competent manager, and the management team is a competent management team, then how are they going to get out of this?  I just don't see an end to the playoff drought in sight.  It's like the team can't gain any sort of traction at all.

I should have said "disappointed" then.

Or I should have...at any rate, this team feels like a team that is stuck in a rut that it can't get out of.

 

[Corn Flake]

We are talking about the team that 3 games ago just came off a 4-game win streak, right?

That team? That's the one we are talking about?

 

[maplesyrup]

We are talking about the team that 3 games ago just came off a 4-game win streak, right?

That team? That's the one we are talking about?

Yup. Tragic, isn't it?

 

[Corn Flake]

We are talking about the team that 3 games ago just came off a 4-game win streak, right?

That team? That's the one we are talking about?

Yup. Tragic, isn't it?

Tragic.. if you mean why we are talking about rebuilding and trading our two best forwards? and the word "rebuild" is being used? Yup.

Gets too bizarre to take sometimes.

 

[Guru Tugginmypuddah]

We are talking about the team that 3 games ago just came off a 4-game win streak, right?

That team? That's the one we are talking about?

 

[rdowdall]

We are talking about the team that 3 games ago just came off a 4-game win streak, right?

That team? That's the one we are talking about?

You know that 4 - 3 = 1?  And the Leafs are now 3 points out of a playoff spot, with 0 games at hand, so at the bare minimum, they need to have 2 more wins than the seventh and eighth placed teams in the eastern conference?  You look at those 8 teams.  Tell me who is going to fall off?  Sure you could say Florida, but they have missed the playoffs for 9 straight years, so if you asked me who was more "due", I'd say them.  Also if you look at those 8 teams, all of them way more wins than loses in their last ten.

EDIT:  With the exception of Florida.

 

[Corn Flake]

We are talking about the team that 3 games ago just came off a 4-game win streak, right?

That team? That's the one we are talking about?

You know that 4 - 3 = 1?  And the Leafs are now 3 points out of a playoff spot, with 0 games at hand, so at the bare minimum, they need to have 2 more wins than the seventh and eighth placed teams in the eastern conference?  You look at those 8 teams.  Tell me who is going to fall off?  Sure you could say Florida, but they have missed the playoffs for 9 straight years, so if you asked me who was more "due", I'd say them.  Also if you look at those 8 teams, all of them way more wins than loses in their last ten.

EDIT:  With the exception of Florida.

Yeah I'm not saying the current position they are in is not a big concern. I'm frustrated as all heck about it.  I'm referring specifically to talk of trading top players and "rebuild" etc...

I think this team needs a trade and needs to be improved, but its so premature to talk about more drastic measures, its crazy.