Leafs @ Bruins - Apr. 25th, 7:30pm - CBC, TSN 1050

[Zee]

Perspective is hard this soon after, but despite their young age, there are some issues here.

I think there are some concerns about Matthews.  He was largely ineffective and for a player of his talent and size it is of concern.

There have to be questions about Andersen.  While some games he was great, in three of the games he was not.  Is he consistent enough to be the guy?  That isn’t clear to me.

The defence is bad.  Really bad and if it isn’t fixed there won’t be much chance of being a Cup competitor at all.  Not sure what they do about that.  No more high picks to find a stud D-man.

There were of course some positives, but difficult to see those in the context of a Game 7 loss.  It is so disappointing because the Bruins were there to be taken tonight.

I'm not concerned about Matthews at all.

[wnc096]

The Leafs took a lead into the third period of Game 7 against a team that's absolutely good enough to win the Cup. Be wary of those who say they're a disaster.

— Will (@HeyMyNameIsWill) April 26, 2018

The Bruins are a damn good team. I'm curious to see how Tampa matches up against them.

People forget that the Leafs were UNDERDOGS right???

[Chris]

Perspective is hard this soon after, but despite their young age, there are some issues here.

I think there are some concerns about Matthews.  He was largely ineffective and for a player of his talent and size it is of concern.

There have to be questions about Andersen.  While some games he was great, in three of the games he was not.  Is he consistent enough to be the guy?  That isn’t clear to me.

The defence is bad.  Really bad and if it isn’t fixed there won’t be much chance of being a Cup competitor at all.  Not sure what they do about that.  No more high picks to find a stud D-man.

There were of course some positives, but difficult to see those in the context of a Game 7 loss.  It is so disappointing because the Bruins were there to be taken tonight.

I'm not concerned about Matthews at all.

I know it's only his 2nd year in the league, but I would have liked to see more from him. Marner was dominant and he is also only in his 2nd year. Maybe we'll find out Matthews had a lingering injury problem.

[gunnar36]

People forget that the Leafs were UNDERDOGS right???

Yeah, after games 1 & 2 I don't think there were many doubting that...

[Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate]

Perspective is hard this soon after, but despite their young age, there are some issues here.

I think there are some concerns about Matthews.  He was largely ineffective and for a player of his talent and size it is of concern.

There have to be questions about Andersen.  While some games he was great, in three of the games he was not.  Is he consistent enough to be the guy?  That isn’t clear to me.

The defence is bad.  Really bad and if it isn’t fixed there won’t be much chance of being a Cup competitor at all.  Not sure what they do about that.  No more high picks to find a stud D-man.

There were of course some positives, but difficult to see those in the context of a Game 7 loss.  It is so disappointing because the Bruins were there to be taken tonight.

I'm not concerned about Matthews at all.

Unless it's revealed that he's been playing hurt I agree with BBF on Matthews.  My concerns are that we might be overrating him just a tad.  He got neutralized and the very best of the best find ways not to be.

[Guilt Trip]

I think Kaps and Johnsson stick with the club next year. We need better team D like the Bruins.

[Chris]

I think Kaps and Johnsson stick with the club next year. We need better team D like the Bruins.

No way Kappy isn't with this team next year...unless he's part of a trade for a #1 dman.

[azzurri63]

I wonder if any of the reporters give Babcock a grilling on his ice time distribution. It was evident pretty early on that Gardiner was struggling and Dermott was playing well yet Gardner ends up playing 24 minutes to 11 for Dermott.

Kapanen scored an amazing shorty and be played under 9 minutes??? Like c'mon some of this is on the coach for not managing his team in game

The kids from the Marlies were nice-to-haves; I agree they're generally the better option, but the coach has gone through the entire season leaning on his prime players to pretty good effect and you sort of have to bank on that. I'd like Babcock to be faster on the uptake, but that's just how I see it.

I thought Kapanen and Johnsson should've been up with the Leafs last year instead of Matt Martin and whoever so that they'd be ready to be relied upon this year, but there's also their confidence and developmental readiness to account for. Johnsson said he appreciated the extra time they afforded him with the Marlies, rather than calling him up to be the franchise saviour and yo-yoing him when he inevitably faltered a bit.

Herman I respect your comments on this forum but Gardiner was plain and simple horrible all night. Man if you have the game recorded or a chance to watch it again in it's entirety count the number of mistakes Gardiner cost us today plus all the ill advised bad passes and icing and running around in his own end. Minus 2 in the collapse in 2012 and even better minus 5 tonight. Enough said.

[Rob]

I wonder if any of the reporters give Babcock a grilling on his ice time distribution. It was evident pretty early on that Gardiner was struggling and Dermott was playing well yet Gardner ends up playing 24 minutes to 11 for Dermott.

Kapanen scored an amazing shorty and be played under 9 minutes??? Like c'mon some of this is on the coach for not managing his team in game

The kids from the Marlies were nice-to-haves; I agree they're generally the better option, but the coach has gone through the entire season leaning on his prime players to pretty good effect and you sort of have to bank on that. I'd like Babcock to be faster on the uptake, but that's just how I see it.

I thought Kapanen and Johnsson should've been up with the Leafs last year instead of Matt Martin and whoever so that they'd be ready to be relied upon this year, but there's also their confidence and developmental readiness to account for. Johnsson said he appreciated the extra time they afforded him with the Marlies, rather than calling him up to be the franchise saviour and yo-yoing him when he inevitably faltered a bit.

You pay the coach 6 million a year to do whatever it takes to win. He's got to assess who's playing well and who doesn't have it. It was fairly evident to everyone that Gardiner didn't have it tonight, evident to everyone but the coach. Part of the blame goes to the coach

Winning at all costs isn't his job though.  Throwing the young guys to the wolves and destroying their confidence isn't Babcock's job.  The Leafs are trying to build something long term, and bringing along your younger players is more important. 

[herman]

A lot of great players look pretty plain on a steady diet of Chara.

[Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate]

A lot of great players look pretty plain on a steady diet of Chara.

A 41-year-old Chara who looked gassed out there a lot tonight.

[herman]

I wonder if any of the reporters give Babcock a grilling on his ice time distribution. It was evident pretty early on that Gardiner was struggling and Dermott was playing well yet Gardner ends up playing 24 minutes to 11 for Dermott.

Kapanen scored an amazing shorty and be played under 9 minutes??? Like c'mon some of this is on the coach for not managing his team in game

The kids from the Marlies were nice-to-haves; I agree they're generally the better option, but the coach has gone through the entire season leaning on his prime players to pretty good effect and you sort of have to bank on that. I'd like Babcock to be faster on the uptake, but that's just how I see it.

I thought Kapanen and Johnsson should've been up with the Leafs last year instead of Matt Martin and whoever so that they'd be ready to be relied upon this year, but there's also their confidence and developmental readiness to account for. Johnsson said he appreciated the extra time they afforded him with the Marlies, rather than calling him up to be the franchise saviour and yo-yoing him when he inevitably faltered a bit.

Herman I respect your comments on this forum but Gardiner was plain and simple horrible all night. Man if you have the game recorded or a chance to watch it again in it's entirety count the number of mistakes Gardiner cost us today plus all the ill advised bad passes and icing and running around in his own end. Minus 2 in the collapse in 2012 and even better minus 5 tonight. Enough said.

You're right that Gardiner had a forgettable night (that none of you will forget). What I was talking about has less to do with Gardiner specifically and more to do with the general coaching formula.

[CarltonTheBear]

A lot of great players look pretty plain on a steady diet of Chara.

A 41-year-old Chara who looked gassed out there a lot tonight.

Yeah, he's still 6'9" but he's a shell of his former self.

[azzurri63]

A lot of great players look pretty plain on a steady diet of Chara.

A 41-year-old Chara who looked gassed out there a lot tonight.

Are we talking about Matthews?

[Joe S.]

I honestly feel that the bruins were the better team for the vast majority of the series. I'm glad the the leafs made a series of it and it's unfortunate that the league has a weird ass playoff format.

But these last 2 years have been gravy to me. The real contention clock starts ticking next year in my mind.