falling leaves- Maple Leafs year in review

[yave1964]

PRESEASON EXPECTATIONS: After an epic collapse where they had a double digit lead on a playoff spot and simply fell apart down the stretch, the Leafs added a bunch of veteran character guys, Robidas,Booth, Santorelli, Winnick to help erase the memory and hopefully push them back into the playoffs. A 3rd period collapse two seasons previous against Boston in Game 7 also weighed heavily on the organization.

 

 FINAL RECORD: 30-44-8 68 points next to last in the East, ahead of only Buffalo.

 

HIGH POINT OF THE SEASON: The Leafs actually got off to a fast start, they had a 6 game winning streak in mid-December against some rugged teams culmimating with a blowout win over the ducks, 6-2 to push the record to 19-9-3. It looked like the memory of the collapse was a thing of the past.

 

LOW POINT OF THE SEASON: They stumbled a bit from there, still in playoff contention but the organization relieved Coach Carlyle of his duties on January 6th with the team still in the thick of things and a record of 21-16-3. From there the team simply fell apart going a beyond dreadful 8-28-5 down the stretch and the new coach and GM Nonis were given parting gifts and shown the door.

 

WHAT WENT RIGHT: They did manage to turn Santorelli, Winnick and UFA to be Franson into draft picks. Tyler Bozak was solid all year. Morgan Reilly seemed unaffected by the circus and played solid hockey. JVR led the way with 27 goals. Leo Komarov returned from a hiatus to the KHL and when healthy was a nice spark, scoring a bit and hitting everything that moved. Robidas was a plus 8 and did a good job on the PK as well. At the deadline they managed to deal Clarkson to the Jackets.

 

WHAT WENT WRONG: Oh lord where to start. Tired of the home crowd booing, the Leafs en mass refused to salute the fans after a win outraging Ontario. Kessel was positively awful in the second half and was ripped by his coach and GM at various times. Goalie Bernier who was mediocre ripped the organization and his teammates desire after the season possibly to try to get out of town. Phaneuf broke his hand in a meaningless fight trying to get this team fired up. Yeah, right. Lupul

 was rotten, Booth was a bust, Kadri was suspended for a poor attitude. More fingerpointing here than any team I can remember.

 

STRANGE STAT OF THE YEAR: Phil Kessel in the 40 games before Carlyle was shown the door was over a point a game producer, in 40 games he had 19 goals and 23 assists, after his minutes dropped, his power play time fell off sharply and in the next 42 games he put up a lousy 6 goals and 13 assists. I know Fat Phil has issues but this was simply an organization burying him.

 

UFAs:

Troy Bodie

David Booth

Eric Brewer

Orr and Mcclaren

 

TOP PROSPECTS FOR 2015-16:

Nylander is considered a cant miss center and will likely start the year on the third line with huge upside. With the 4th pick in the draft Dylan Strome seems a lock, although he may not play in toronto for another year. Stuart Percy should earn a top four defensive job this year. Top two way forward Frederic Gauthier should bounce between the Marlies and Leafs and settle into the third/fourth line center role by seasons end for the for the foreseeable future. Lots and lots of bottom six forwards to interchange.

 

OFFSEASON QUESTION MARKS: Can they lure Mike Babcock to Ontario where he is already a Canadian icon? Will somebody, anybody, take the Phaneuf or Kessel contract off of their hands? Which attitudes can be adjusted, which need shipped out. Shanny and company have their hands full.

[flyercanuck]

Sounds like status quo in the land of the biggest joke/biggest goldmine in hockey.

[JackStraw]

Bring back the waffle!

 

[WordsOfWisdom]

Fans in Toronto have taken a "wait and see" approach. They know that the team collapses every December/January when they begin their western road trips on the NHL schedule. I don't think fans in Toronto will believe the team is legitimate until they see them clinch a top 4 playoff spot. The team's quick start performance in October and November means nothing in Toronto anymore. 

[flyercanuck]

@WordsOfWisdom

 

The quick start/fall apart when it matters was a nice change from the previous decade of stinking the joint out for the first 65 games then winning out the last 17 to finish one point out of the playoffs AND getting a lousy pick. 

 

Gotta give credit where it's due.

[WordsOfWisdom]

My question is: Was that the biggest collapse in NHL history from a statistical standpoint?

 

Has any team with a 19-9-3 record gone 8-28-5 in the second half of the season?

 

I think if we look at the history books, the Leafs had the biggest collapse of all time.

[flyercanuck]

@WordsOfWisdom

 

Quit bragging. 

[yave1964]

@WordsOfWisdom

 

What blows me away is the attitudes, Nonis seemed to hate Kessel, I get it, he has issues but my God the man was on a 40 goal pace. 40 goals makes up for a fair share of deficiencies. Instead, they simply buried him the second half. The snub of the fans. Kadri and his attitude. Bernier more or less begging out calling the team in front of him a Junior team. Backbiting. Finger pointing. this may be the most unlikable team in recent memory. You can lose with class, you can lose with style, you can lose a million different ways but this team lost with zero accountability from the top to the bottom, everyone blamed everyone else.

 And it is not like they do not have talent. Bernier, Phaneuf and Kessel for all of the criticism could all three play for me any day. Bozak is stretched as a number one center but he does his best, JVR is kind of Kessel light, both as a player and weight. Kadri, like Bozak is stretched in his role, the team needs a number one center desperately and they could drop Bozak and Kadri down a line each and fix a lot of woes. They need a few defenseman who dont have to look up the meaning of the word in the dictionary.

 I have defended Carlyle and will continue to do so, he is a prickly man who gets his players to play, yes they were slumping when he was sent away but he is a real NHL coach who got the most from this team. The Leafs need a coach who can demand respect in the clubhouse and make the players listen to him. Babcock should be handed a blank check and told to fill in the numbers. This from a guy who loves the Wings and would desperately love to see Babs back for the next decade in Motown where he belongs.

 I just dont get this team. Never have, never will.

[WordsOfWisdom]

@WordsOfWisdom

 

Quit bragging. 

 

We need milestones in Leaf-land! 

[WordsOfWisdom]

@WordsOfWisdom

 

What blows me away is the attitudes, Nonis seemed to hate Kessel, I get it, he has issues but my God the man was on a 40 goal pace. 40 goals makes up for a fair share of deficiencies. Instead, they simply buried him the second half. The snub of the fans. Kadri and his attitude. Bernier more or less begging out calling the team in front of him a Junior team. Backbiting. Finger pointing. this may be the most unlikable team in recent memory. You can lose with class, you can lose with style, you can lose a million different ways but this team lost with zero accountability from the top to the bottom, everyone blamed everyone else.

 And it is not like they do not have talent...

 

How was Kessel buried? I watched his ice time all season long and his minutes never dropped. I was ready to bury him myself. With the way he was playing in the second half, I would have first demoted him to a lower line and then ultimately benched him. I'm surprised he was never a healthy scratch for any game! If anything, the team was far too lenient on Kessel, and it sent the message to other players that they were going to play whether they did well or did poorly. No accountability. 

 

I agree with everything you say about team chemistry and attitudes in that locker room. I think it was probably one of the most toxic environments to be around. But when the "leaders" on the team aren't leading, you need to put someone in there who will, and give them the ice time and the top line duties.  

[flyercanuck]

@WordsOfWisdom

 

Kessel "healthy scratches" himself. 

[yave1964]

@WordsOfWisdom

 

Kessel was dropped from the top line shortly after the coaching change and kept yo-yoing back and forth with line partners all the time being skarked by his coach and GM in print. I don't care who you are, you aren't going to produce in that environment. Also, his PP time during the second half of the year dropped by a little over a minute. over the second half, which is where he finds most of his goals. I know, it was to reward hard working players and to discipline him but it made him even more sullen and even more withdrawn. Some players need a coach like Carlyle who kicks them in the ass in private, airing the dirty laundry in the papers and cruxifying the teams best players the way Nonis and company did almost daily is not the way you can reach todays players. This isn't the seventies where a player played year to year hoping to get a contract, these guys are set for life after the first big contract, you have to find another way to motivate them. Hoepfully the Leafs new management does a better job. Or not actually, the Wings are in the same division, we need to finish top four to make the playoffs, lol.

[WordsOfWisdom]

@WordsOfWisdom

 

Kessel "healthy scratches" himself. 

 

LOL. So true!

[WordsOfWisdom]

@WordsOfWisdom

 

Kessel was dropped from the top line shortly after the coaching change and kept yo-yoing back and forth with line partners all the time being skarked by his coach and GM in print. I don't care who you are, you aren't going to produce in that environment. Also, his PP time during the second half of the year dropped by a little over a minute. over the second half, which is where he finds most of his goals. I know, it was to reward hard working players and to discipline him but it made him even more sullen and even more withdrawn. Some players need a coach like Carlyle who kicks them in the ass in private, airing the dirty laundry in the papers and cruxifying the teams best players the way Nonis and company did almost daily is not the way you can reach todays players. This isn't the seventies where a player played year to year hoping to get a contract, these guys are set for life after the first big contract, you have to find another way to motivate them. Hoepfully the Leafs new management does a better job. Or not actually, the Wings are in the same division, we need to finish top four to make the playoffs, lol.

 

There's every reason to believe that Toronto will be dead last in the division next season. 

[jammer2]

  When you look back on the Leafs season, the start of the slide was the devastating loss to the Flyers in Toronto in December. They got crushed 7-2 and lost 5 in a row after that. I'll take the credit....the Flyers essentially ended the Leafs season on that cold December night. The disgusting part is we started the slide that will inevitably net them Strome....

 

 

 In other words....WISDOM...we expect to be included on your Christmas card list...LMAO!

[ScottM]

Fans in Toronto have taken a "wait and see" approach. They know that the team collapses every December/January when they begin their western road trips on the NHL schedule. I don't think fans in Toronto will believe the team is legitimate until they see them clinch a top 4 playoff spot. The team's quick start performance in October and November means nothing in Toronto anymore. 

 

Does anyone else thing that's part of the problem? It almost feels like over the past decade the fans expect the collapse to happen, there's the "maybe next year" mantra, and then a repeat of the year before. The fans' low expectations then put little pressure on the management, and as a result, the cycle continues to self-perpetuate.

 

Everyone here knows I have no love lost for the Leafs. I enjoy Leafs jokes as much as the next guy, but in all seriousness, is it at all good for the league to have the franchise in what is arguably the sport's top city, which was once one of the two most iconic franchises languish like they are? From that perspective, I'd hope that this season will make the fans wake up and begin to demand more of the franchise. If not this year, if, as you said you think may happen, they finish dead last next year, maybe that will make it happen. If so, maybe a disastrous year or two are a blessing in disguise.

 

When looking at a team from a historical perspective, one has to struggle to find big moments without going back nearly half a century, something is very wrong, and the attitudes I see from all involved show no promise of changing that.

[WordsOfWisdom]

Does anyone else thing that's part of the problem? It almost feels like over the past decade the fans expect the collapse to happen, there's the "maybe next year" mantra, and then a repeat of the year before. The fans' low expectations then put little pressure on the management, and as a result, the cycle continues to self-perpetuate.

 

Everyone here knows I have no love lost for the Leafs. I enjoy Leafs jokes as much as the next guy, but in all seriousness, is it at all good for the league to have the franchise in what is arguably the sport's top city, which was once one of the two most iconic franchises languish like they are? From that perspective, I'd hope that this season will make the fans wake up and begin to demand more of the franchise. If not this year, if, as you said you think may happen, they finish dead last next year, maybe that will make it happen. If so, maybe a disastrous year or two are a blessing in disguise.

 

When looking at a team from a historical perspective, one has to struggle to find big moments without going back nearly half a century, something is very wrong, and the attitudes I see from all involved show no promise of changing that.

 

Looking at this year's playoffs, imagine if it had been Toronto vs Detroit in round one (instead of Tampa). Imagine if it were Toronto vs Montreal right now in round two. Then you have the prospects of Toronto vs New York in the conference final, and Toronto vs Chicago in the Stanley Cup final. That would be the highest revenue generating Stanley Cup playoffs in NHL history. In fact, it might generate more revenue than all previous Stanley Cup playoffs combined.

 

For everything Toronto has done for the NHL, and for all the money they make and everything they pay into revenue sharing, they probably cost the NHL 50 million dollars a year in LOST revenue by being the league's doormat. In other words, as good as they are from a business standpoint, the league would have double the profits and double the visibility if Toronto were the #1 team in the league. It would be like the New York Yankees in baseball. Major League Baseball reached the height of its popularity when the Yankees dynasty went on their World Series tear in the late 90's. Today, the popularity of the game is sagging again because the Yankees and Red Sox are going through off-cycles. 

 

The Leafs are the only original six team not carrying their weight. All of the others have been reliving the glory days and having marque match-ups in the playoffs. The Leafs are the NHL's biggest ticket and they play fewer games than the other 29 teams. It would be like having the MLB playoffs with the Yankees and Mets in last place every year and the entire New York market tuned out. People like to draw analogies with the Cubs, but Chicago has two baseball teams and at least one of them is always good (White Sox).

 

The Leafs are hurting the NHL as much as they're helping it. With the Leafs being a non-factor for decades, the league is probably 50% of what it could be today. 

[jammer2]

@ScottM  I really think the NHL could care less about the Leafs lack of success. All the league cares about is ticket sales....check...the Leafs sell them all out...ticket sales on the road....check...the Leaf faithful fill other NHL rinks like no other team...regional success....check...Leafs dominate Ontario and lead the league in jersey sales etc...I could actually see the league favouring a team like the Sens, who struggle with attendance and sales etc....they would much rather see Ottawa secure itself, TO is safe and secure, so the NHL cares very little about them...at least that is my take.

[flyercanuck]

Looking at this year's playoffs, imagine if it had been Toronto vs Detroit in round one (instead of Tampa). Imagine if it were Toronto vs Montreal right now in round two. Then you have the prospects of Toronto vs New York in the conference final, and Toronto vs Chicago in the Stanley Cup final. That would be the highest revenue generating Stanley Cup playoffs in NHL history. In fact, it might generate more revenue than all previous Stanley Cup playoffs combined.

 

For everything Toronto has done for the NHL, and for all the money they make and everything they pay into revenue sharing, they probably cost the NHL 50 million dollars a year in LOST revenue by being the league's doormat. In other words, as good as they are from a business standpoint, the league would have double the profits and double the visibility if Toronto were the #1 team in the league. It would be like the New York Yankees in baseball. Major League Baseball reached the height of its popularity when the Yankees dynasty went on their World Series tear in the late 90's. Today, the popularity of the game is sagging again because the Yankees and Red Sox are going through off-cycles. 

 

The Leafs are the only original six team not carrying their weight. All of the others have been reliving the glory days and having marque match-ups in the playoffs. The Leafs are the NHL's biggest ticket and they play fewer games than the other 29 teams. It would be like having the MLB playoffs with the Yankees and Mets in last place every year and the entire New York market tuned out. People like to draw analogies with the Cubs, but Chicago has two baseball teams and at least one of them is always good (White Sox).

 

The Leafs are hurting the NHL as much as they're helping it. With the Leafs being a non-factor for decades, the league is probably 50% of what it could be today. 

 

 

Maybe they should go back to giving the Leafs priority when it comes to Ontario born players. Then they could get first shot once again at the Bobby Orrs of the league. 

[ScottM]

@ScottM  I really think the NHL could care less about the Leafs lack of success. All the league cares about is ticket sales....check...the Leafs sell them all out...ticket sales on the road....check...the Leaf faithful fill other NHL rinks like no other team...regional success....check...Leafs dominate Ontario and lead the league in jersey sales etc...I could actually see the league favouring a team like the Sens, who struggle with attendance and sales etc....they would much rather see Ottawa secure itself, TO is safe and secure, so the NHL cares very little about them...at least that is my take.

 

One thing I'd say about that is that Ottawa's fan base will probably naturally grow over time. The longer the team is there and more "native born" fans, the more they'll catch up. Toronto has an advantage in having always been there and long having been the only team in the province. I may be dead wrong, but that strikes me as being logical.

 

That aside, the league doesn't really seem concerned with doing anything to help struggling teams. They're too focused on keeping them in locations where they can't succeed (Glendale) or putting them in locations where they won't (Las Vegas). The Gary Bettman area has been one giant brain fart for the league filled with one stupid idea after another. Now that I say that, I was rather stupid to think that they'd support a good market. Silly me. Carry on. Lol

[Commander Clueless]

The Leafs continue to progressively out do themselves from one season to the next. Each season gets worse. What will next season bring? The Plagues of Egypt upon Toronto? Justin Bieber as team ambassador? Racist ice girls?

 

 

Bring back the waffle!

 

 

 

I miss the waffles. At least it gave us something to chuckle about.

 

 

Really, though, they shouldn't do that. The best (and most impossible) thing for Leafs fans to do right now is go into passive mode. Ignore the team as much as possible. Sure, we're still there, but just let them do their thing.

 

I hate encouraging "fairweather" fan behaviour, but at this point, it's really our best option. We've tried blind cheering, we've tried yelling and screaming and throwing waffles. Now we try passive indifference.

 

Worth a shot. It's a harsh insult to the team, but they've earned it.

 

 

This team is pathetic on so many levels, and every year since ~2004-2005 has sapped a little more of the fun that is NHL hockey out of me. Oh I still enjoy the self-depreciating humour associated with the team immensely and will always cheer for the Leafs, but my level of caring has been rescinding. Ten  years of completely meaningless Leaf hockey will take its toll on anybody, I suppose.

[WordsOfWisdom]

  When you look back on the Leafs season, the start of the slide was the devastating loss to the Flyers in Toronto in December. They got crushed 7-2 and lost 5 in a row after that. I'll take the credit....the Flyers essentially ended the Leafs season on that cold December night. The disgusting part is we started the slide that will inevitably net them Strome....

 

 

 In other words....WISDOM...we expect to be included on your Christmas card list...LMAO!

 

LOL. 

[WordsOfWisdom]

Maybe they should go back to giving the Leafs priority when it comes to Ontario born players. Then they could get first shot once again at the Bobby Orrs of the league. 

 

Maybe the NHL could award extra points in the standings for (attendance x ticket prices)! 

[Commander Clueless]

Maybe the NHL could award extra points in the standings for (attendance x ticket prices)! 

 

Better yet, just scrap the wild card system and make the playoffs every year the original six teams plus the two best other regular season teams. 

 

Think of the revenue generated from watching the Leafs get swept every year! Phenomenal!

[jammer2]

Phenomenal!

 

 Phaneufable even!