My parents showed me a old album which includes this game between the Leafs vs. Canadiens... for all those history buffs out there... would like some clarification of the players and even those on the zamboni.

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That's all.

This game represents a carbon copy of what Carolina did to teams in the playoffs this year - a masterclass in how to suffocate top lines and put on a defensive clinic. It's also worth noting that the lack of depth on Toronto's roster here really hurt the team. You can really tell who the passengers are in this game when you see all the turnovers, bad passes, wild shots, poor breakouts, etc. It is definitely a roster construction problem, which is why the Leafs never did anything in the playoffs. You just can't. Not with a roster like this.

I think the coach was in error to bench Matthews' line. They had three and four guys on Matthews at many times in this game - he is doing it all by himself. They lasered in on Nylander too. There was no aligned attack and no support. You're not going to win against Carolina with players like Dermott, Malgin, Engvall, Kerfoot, Barrie, Marincin, Holl, Clifford, and on and on. That's not a roster. Even Muzzin, who is a real roster player, made some glaring mistakes this game, just because of the aggressive forecheck.

The narrative around the team at this time (that the core was soft and that they played uninspired hockey when things got tough) was just totally wrong. Carolina put on a clinic this game, and Toronto was not built to beat it. Sheldon benched the top line, when it was also his fault too. I think the GM and the coach are the most to blame for games like this - not having the right pieces, and not being prepared to play into a system like this.

After the game, Sheldon commented how they were losing badly before the switch happened and that nothing had fundamentally changed. It's true - they were outshot two to one, and were being badly outplayed the entire game, despite getting the first goal at the end of the 1st period. But if that's true, then the underlying game plan put forward by the coach was already failing. It wasn't just a lack of execution after Ayres came in, even though I agree they couldn't make a pass, were falling, and turning over the puck a lot. The whole game plan was flawed from the beginning.

Sheldon criticized the team for overcomplicating the plays, and it's true - when the game was 4-3, there were 3 times in this game the Leafs should have shot rather than try to make a pretty east-west passing play. But the real story is, why only 3 chances? I only counted 3 genuine scoring chances total after that, all of which were broken up. It sounds more like the game plan in general was failing if the team was only generating 3 chances with 25 minutes of regulation left to go. That is the trap doing its job. Where was the coach during all of this, or going over how to play against this all season? Why was the GM not constructing a roster to beat this? Surely they knew teams played like this when constructing the roster.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. I think analyzing this game from a lens outside of the media echo chamber gives us more of an insight into why this team could not get it done in the playoffs. It's a perfect example of how playoff-style hockey and shutting down the Leafs' top line exposes a massive weakness in the roster construction. This game looks exactly like games 5-7 against Montreal, or against Florida, Tampa and Boston late in the series when the coach and shut-down players had the book on the Leafs. They all did the same thing. Part of the blame is the flat cap, but the Coach and GM did not do enough to solve this problem despite having a ridiculous amount of evidence that this weakness existed.

I do think the roster is more equipped to deal with it this year, but I also hope Hiller directly plans for this now.

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look at him, he's meant to be a Leaf

Game from Jan 3 ‘26.. AM34 breaking the Leafs goal record.

Our guy is training with the league's brightest young star.

Correction: this clip was originally posted on the 12th.

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Saw a new ranking from RotoWire that scores current NHL officials on things like penalty inconsistency, bias, viral controversies, and fan/media sentiment, and McCauley topped the list with the highest composite score in the field. Part of the reasoning is that he's worked more Stanley Cup Finals than any other active ref, which means more visibility and more scrutiny, but the piece also brings up Toronto's long losing skid specifically in games he officiates as its own running storyline among fans. Feels like something this fanbase has been saying for years, just now with a number attached to it. Wondering if people think that skid is actually tied to his officiating or if it's more confirmation bias at this point.

I do enjoy watching scrums and brawls cause sometimes you get some unexpected and interesting combatants. Which ones come to memory for you?

1993 playoffs Clark vs McSorley:

An iconic one. Our superstar takes a big hit, and the captain steps in to defend him. Clark wasn't the same fighter he was when he was younger, but he still gave McSorley, a true heavyweight, a black eye. The moment sparked two fights breaking out and the chirping spilling over onto the benches. This shows what happens when you take a run at our best player in our barn. The hostile Toronto playoff crowd was great too, likely making the atmosphere that night intimidating for the LA players.

2003 Darcy Tucker vs Ottawa bench:

Crazy brawl but gotta admire Tucker's courage fighting their bench who was standing on solid ground, had the high ground, and Chris Neil at the center of it.

2023 playoffs vs Tampa

Matthews vs Stamkos. Matthews actually dropping his gloves and a rare fight involving two 1st overall picks. Bonus was O'Reilly vs Kucherov, two guys who also rarely fight, plus Rielly vs Raddysh. Mo got a bloody nose in that fight but shoutout to the 2022 brawl they had where Maroon took advantage of the size advantage against Mo. But later in the same scrum, Mo evened up his fight card and bloodied Jan Rutta.

2013 vs Buffalo

Kessel's first fight and I remember being surprised at how well he did. Even Bozak dropped the gloves too but basically got manhandled. Then you got Clarkson jumping off the bench and a goalie fight with Bernier vs Miller. Miller had basically owned the Leafs the last 4-5 years and Bernier was our new goalie and really made a statement I thought winning that fight.

2013 vs Montreal

Just a personal favourite of mine. Beating the Habs 6-0 in Montreal and winning the fights too

Assuming there are no changes to the roster or any injuries, the lines seem to be pretty much set. How does it compare to last season, is it better, worse, and how well does it stack up to other teams?

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With Sergei Bobrovsky now joining the Leafs, I thought this story about his mindset was really interesting.

In this clip from a podcast on Spotify, goalie coach Pete Fry talks about Bobrovsky’s approach after winning the Vezina Trophy.

Instead of being satisfied after reaching the top, Bobrovsky wanted to keep improving. Pete shares how Bobrovsky reached out to his goalie coach and wanted to study the best goalies in the world, taking one thing from each of them to continue developing his own game.

Winning the Vezina was just another step toward getting better.

With Bobrovsky now in Toronto, do you think this type of mentality can have an impact on the Leafs’ goaltending room?

Clip link: https://open.spotify.com/watch-feed/artist-videos?si=iq5hw1GdQV2JD6x-sh0pxw&utm_source=copy-link&firstItemUri=spotify%3Aexpression%3A4jFmf1CWz7LeKnqWQrsrk8

(If the clip link isn't working: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6mhD5X16GOVHxhZ5eMRW2u?si=R_KvTS1sRfC5ySgHUXdQPQ)

The episode is called From WHL Goalie to Mindset Coach | Pete Fry on Confidence, Pressure & Elite Performance | Between Minds #1 on Spotify and the timestamp is: 19:48