OldTimeHockey said:
Bender said:
TML fan said:
I actually believe this is why the Leafs have a hard time developing players, particularly 1st round picks.
That said, I think Kadri is one of the few who can actually handle the pressure.
I kind of think its a bit crazy to think that the media pressure makes it hard for the Leafs to develop players. Im sure they tell their prospect beforehand to ignore what's written about them and focus on playing their game. Its not like this is anything new or that the organization doesn't know how to deal with it.
Yeah, I mean, it's not like they haven't been successful in the past 45 years.
But that's got way, way more to do with managerial incompetence than anything else. All blaming the "pressure" does is provide a smokescreen for that incompetence. There's a ton of media pressure on the Habs as well and they've won...what, 10 cups in the same time period? The Yankees, Red Sox, Lakers...if the idea was that media pressure was as corrosive as it's being made out to be then those teams wouldn't be able to develop players and build championship clubs but they seem to actually be alright at it.
Here's a list of the Leafs first round picks over the last 15 years:
Nik Antropov - developed into a good player
Luca Cereda
Brad Boyes - developed into a good player
Carlo Colaiacovo - developed into a good player
Alex Steen - developed into a good player
Tuuka Rask - developed into a good player
Jiri Tlusty - certainly looks like he's going to be a good player
Luke Schenn - Had his struggles, is still 23
Nazem Kadri - looks to be a good player
Then there's Percy, Biggs and Rielly, all of whom are too young to say. I'm sorry but looked at objectively the idea that there's some external, unique factor that affects Leafs players and leaves them unable to develop just has no basis in reality. There's not a single player on that list who got to Toronto and really failed with the club with the possible exception of Tlusty and even then i think any "failure" there has way more to do with the stupid way the club used him rather than any media pressure. Absent Luca Cereda's wonky heart there's not a real bust in the bunch.
Obviously guys like Rask didn't develop as a Leaf and the Leafs didn't always position themselves to reap the biggest benefits from their relatively decent record in the draft but there's really no leg to stand on to try and blame the media when it's really just garden variety incompetence that actually drags the team down.