When did you know it was over for this group?

[diceman934]

I hated the Dubas as GM...

I am not giving up on the Leafs coming back in this series. Like in 1967

 

[GoBuds14]

...When I decided the Leafs were my forever team in '89

Haha I feel this, went to lots of Red Wings games as a kid, never went to Leaf games. Loved Yzerman, Federov, Shanahan. Was 50/50 Leafs Wings and for some reason went with the Leafs.

 

[the squared circle]

The Montreal loss. I will never get over losing to that fanbase. And I’m not talking about the Montreal fans on this site, I couldn’t care less about them. I’m talking about all the Montreal fans in my life. Anyway, I went on a very long rant about it once, won’t get into it again. But that loss broke me. I was unwavering for almost fifty years but that loss and how we lost, was the final straw. I’ve only watched a handful of regular season games since. Regular season with this groups of guys means absolutely nothing.

 

[DuklaNation]

Look, ANYONE who knows and follows hockey realized using 50% of the cap for 4 finesse forwards who aren't suited for playoffs style would be a failure. ANYONE.

Only the delusional thought this would turn around. How much more evidence is required? How much? Is this still a discussion somehow????

When? As soon as they committed 50% of the cap to those 4 forwards. The End.

 

[Stinger8]

After last year's playoff AND they refused to acknowledge change, significant change was necessary. Marner's season ending press conference where he was indignant at all the criticism, like how dare people get in my face about my disappearing act.

 

[ULF_55]

When they get knocked out of playoffs by the Panthers. echo

 

[notDatsyuk]

When I heard that the Tavares signing was confirmed.

Still true.

 

[Ianturnedbull]

I knew it was over:

1. Dubas' Salary Structure
2. Keefe's coaching
3. Dubas' penchant for soft stick checkers: Petan, Vesey, Malgin, Galchenyuk, Nylander, Engvall, etc.
4. Dubas' hiring friends and signing trading for Soo Greyhounds.


My advice to other organizations:

Going with inexperienced President, GM, and Coaches is a big waste of time.

 

[Cypruss]

This is when I knew that they (the core) were never going to have "IT":

 

[sxvnert]

Only the delusional thought this would turn around. How much more evidence is required? How much? Is this still a discussion somehow????

Many tied their "rep" to backing Dubas early and keep digging no matter what. Once hes gone you'll hear "Everyone knew it wouldn't work".

 

[Ianturnedbull]

 

[Mr. Fancy Pants]

Of course like most of you, we have to wait until playoffs to see if we could bust throught the first round,........BUT.......with this team,....Getting out of the 1st round would be a celebration like they won the Stan and a 2nd round exit is more than likely to prevail.

This was spot on.

 

[beach]

For me, it was the infamous "The Leafs lost to a 42-year old zamboni driver, who works for them" game against CAR in 2020. I personally see that game as not only the most humiliating loss in Leafs history, NHL history, hockey history, but all of sports history (if anyone has one that's worse, please share it for the sake of my morbid curiosity). It was not only the loss of that game, but the fact that Sheldon Keefe cancelled practice the following day, presumably so that the players wouldn't have to face scrutiny from the media. Lastly, Kyle Dubas claiming that the opposing team losing both of their starting goaltenders and so you get to shoot for half the game on a human shooter-tutor is a "no win" situation.

People like to meme and joke about this game and it's obvious why, however, if you look at it from a serious perspective, that 24 hour span truly shows how incompetent this organization is, top to bottom, from its soy-infused GM, to its cowardly coach, to its soft, gutless players. And sitting at the top of shit mountain is Shanahan, the carnival barker, who always somehow manages to escape criticism but should also be gone for allowing this obvious circus to continue unabated for his entire tenure. This organization is completely lacking in accountability and has been for years. We saw this ugliness rear its head again just recently when Keefe had to walk back his (perfectly valid and 100% correct) criticisms of his pampered prima donna stars. The inmates run the asylum in Toronto and this has been obvious to me for years. I'm glad other people are finally waking up to this fact.

You want change and success in Toronto? This entire organization needs to be gutted, top to bottom. Shanahan needs to go, Dubas needs to go, Keefe needs to go and this core needs to be blown into unrecognizable pieces. Then you start building from the ground up once more. Yes, it's horrendous luck (and just so Toronto) that when they finally draft and develop and hit on so many great picks that they all turn out to be spoiled immature children that worship at the shrine of failure when it comes to team success, but continuing to "run it back" for years and years with the same result is an even bigger L that is entirely self inflicted and completely unnecessary.

When they signed JT but needed D men.

 

[613Leafer]

"We can and we will" - the absolute unwavering committment to keeping all four of the main forwards, getting them all signed (even if they were bad deals), and not even considering the trade market given how unbalanced our cap structure was.

That was my first big concern. Then after the Columbus series loss, which was our 4th first round series loss in a row, I further thought moving one of the forwards would be important. The Montreal loss was the final nail in the coffin. Up 3-1 against a vastly inferior opponent, and then just letting themselves get physically pushed around for the next 3 games and blow the series.

 

[613Leafer]

The Montreal loss. I will never get over losing to that fanbase. And I’m not talking about the Montreal fans on this site, I couldn’t care less about them. I’m talking about all the Montreal fans in my life. Anyway, I went on a very long rant about it once, won’t get into it again. But that loss broke me. I was unwavering for almost fifty years but that loss and how we lost, was the final straw. I’ve only watched a handful of regular season games since. Regular season with this groups of guys means absolutely nothing.

Anecdotally, every single Leafs fan I know in real life has substantially reduced how many regular season games they watch. The season right after the Montreal loss, everyone by the end of the season said they hadn't watched a single game, and that's ~6 fans who all used to watch ~25-50 games a season (and who mostly don't even know eachother - ie it's not one big friend group all encouraging each other not to watch).

I agree that the Montreal one was a true back breaker and the hardest loss so far.

 

[sunstersun]

Montreal series won is an easy Stanley cup trip.

Instead Marner had more delay of game penalties than goals.

 

[Dirty Dan]

2019 against Boston, you're really gonna let them take game 7 AGAIN? I respect Kadri so much because he wanted revenge and meant it, then they traded him away.

 

[leafs in five]

~6 fans

 

[4uston M4tthews]

Game one of round one vs. Tampa.

Source: Florida Man

 

[TonsofPuppies]

Bumping this thread because it is just as relevant as it was when I made it... ALMOST 2 YEARS AGO. The one thing that this organization does better than any other in the entire league is actually not generating money. It's wasting time by failing to address the obnoxiously obvious.

 

[Blowfish]

The day Tavares was signed.

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

If someone put a piece of crap in an Oh Henry wrapper would you buy it and eat it just because you support the brand name?

That's what it feels like being a fan of this team. Like when Coke changed their magic formula. The Leafs tried to re-invent the wheel and failed miserably.

There really isn't a better mousetrap.

This thread was made two years ago and nothing has changed since. But for some reason there are STILL fans paying into this crap. Imagine buying seasons tickets only to not attend any playoffs games.

Because you already know they aren't gonna win.

Some fans get exactly what they deserve in a loser hometown hockey team. Must be hard giving up on a long proud tradition of paying for a mediocre team with greedy owners. Millionaires supporting billionaires.

Cheering for name on the front of the jersey regardless of whatever crap management puts inside.

 

[Raging Bull]

2019 against Boston, you're really gonna let them take game 7 AGAIN? I respect Kadri so much because he wanted revenge and meant it, then they traded him away.

Someone check on this guy.

 

[leafs in five]

If someone put a piece of crap in an Oh Henry wrapper would you buy it and eat it just because you support the brand name?

That's what it feels like being a fan of this team. Like when Coke changed their magic formula. The Leafs tried to re-invent the wheel and failed miserably.

There really isn't a better mousetrap.

This thread was made two years ago and nothing has changed since. But for some reason there are STILL fans paying into this crap. Imagine buying seasons tickets only to not attend any playoffs games.

Because you already know they aren't gonna win.

Some fans get exactly what they deserve in a loser hometown hockey team. Must be hard giving up on a long proud tradition of paying for a mediocre team with greedy owners. Millionaires supporting billionaires.

Cheering for name on the front of the jersey regardless of whatever crap management puts inside.

I doubt that there are many people who eat Oh Henrys because they "support the brand name" but in this scenario where people acquire their chocolate bar preferance like they do their hockey team (usually based on location/hometown or family) and they continue to support the brand (buy and eat the product) even though it doesn't taste good, then I think the Oh Henry fans would do things like hope that Oh Henry sales fall, and for this to cause the people responsible for the the dip in quality to be fired, in the hopes that this will result in a return to the glories of Oh Henry's past

 

[Racer88]

1967