Since the NHL is returning in a month. I thought it would be best to do a CAPfriendly bracket where the people voted for who they thought was going to win
On paper; the Leafs easily win, but in reality Torts and his side show antics and his playoff build team could easily beat the weak willed, ultra sensitive Leafs team.
On paper; the Leafs easily win, but in reality Torts and his side show antics and his playoff build team could easily beat the weak willed, ultra sensitive Leafs team.
Jackets only hope is really their d and goaltending hold up rock solid. I’m not a leafs fan but if they start trading chances I don’t see it lasting 4 games....
Were just going to ignore the 4-0 sweep on Tampa last year? Tampa is a much better team than Toronto.
And TO took Boston to 7 in a hard fought series. Boston proceeded to make Columbus look very beatable. Are we going to ignore that as well? Columbus is half the team they were last year and sure they get Jones back but TO also gets Rielly and Muzzin back.
And TO took Boston to 7 in a hard fought series. Boston proceeded to make Columbus look very beatable. Are we going to ignore that as well? Columbus is half the team they were last year and sure they get Jones back but TO also gets Rielly and Muzzin back.
I voted Toronto will win, im just saying it wont be a walk in the park for the Leafs
That is legit the dumbest thing I have ever seen written on here? What are you even talking about?
The odds of winning the 1st pick are better than winning the Cup. This is why the NHL never should have announced that a playoff loser gets 1st Pick. It'll be too tempting for NHL teams to "lose" in the playoff qualifier Round. When the NHL knew it was down to L.A. or playoff loser, they should have kept it a secret until after the play in round was over.
And a healthy Leafs team isn't? They had more and worse injuries than Columbus.
Incorrect. Most of Columbus's offense has been injured, as well as our goaltending - and we had the most man-games lost to injury in the NHL. And we'd be the 8 seed instead of the 9 seed if it weren't for Jones going down. If anything, that makes the parallels even more interesting - Toronto lost its best performers on a defense that gets pointed and laughed at but is actually pretty underrated 'cause of all the unheralded decent depth folks. The same was true of the Jackets' offense - we went without Atkinson and Bjorkstrand and Texier for extended periods, and everybody knows just how horrific of a season Anderson had thanks to injury.
I voted Toronto will win, im just saying it wont be a walk in the park for the Leafs
To be honest it's a complete crap shoot. A best of 5 with a short training camp will mean anything can happen. I won't put much stock no matter what happens. Matthews is a very fast starter he could go off and score 7 in 3 games and it's over or a couple posts and bad luck and the Leafs are in a 2-0 hole and it's over. Nothing will surprise me.
The odds of winning the 1st pick are better than winning the Cup. This is why the NHL never should have announced that a playoff loser gets 1st Pick. It'll be too tempting for NHL teams to "lose" in the playoff qualifier Round. When the NHL knew it was down to L.A. or playoff loser, they should have kept it a secret until after the play in round was over.
Zero players on the Leafs will want to lose. You are just sour and bitter.
Incorrect. Most of Columbus's offense has been injured, as well as our goaltending - and we had the most man-games lost to injury in the NHL. And we'd be the 8 seed instead of the 9 seed if it weren't for Jones going down. If anything, that makes the parallels even more interesting - Toronto lost its best performers on a defense that gets pointed and laughed at but is actually pretty underrated 'cause of all the unheralded decent depth folks. The same was true of the Jackets' offense - we went without Atkinson and Bjorkstrand and Texier for extended periods, and everybody knows just how horrific of a season Anderson had thanks to injury.
Marner missed a month, JT missed 7 games, Hyman missed a month and a half as well.
Marner missed a month, JT missed 7 games, Hyman missed a month and a half as well.
And Jones lost a few weeks at a particularly critical juncture, Korpisalo lost months (thank G-d for Elvis or we'd have been hopelessly screwed; that injury's severity was confirmed literally the day we heard Korpisalo was invited to the All-Star Game), Kukan also lost months, and Ryan Murray was Ryan Murray. Any sob story you want to spin about injuries this past season, we can do it too, only moreso. The only teams that can "compete" with the Jackets' misery on that score are Colorado and Pittsburgh. Columbus lost the most man-games to injury by a healthy margin - only Pittsburgh comes close. And before any claim about relevance of players injured comes up... if one goes by point share lost to injury, Toronto doesn't make the top-5, while Columbus is #2 behind Pittsburgh (and just ahead of Colorado). See: https://www.thestar.com/sports/leafs/opinion/2020/03/01/the-maple-leafs-injury-numbers-arent-as-painful-as-you-might-expect.html
And Jones lost a few weeks at a particularly critical juncture, Korpisalo lost months (thank G-d for Elvis or we'd have been hopelessly screwed; that injury's severity was confirmed literally the day we heard Korpisalo was invited to the All-Star Game), Kukan also lost months, and Ryan Murray was Ryan Murray. Any sob story you want to spin about injuries this past season, we can do it too, only moreso. The only teams that can "compete" with the Jackets' misery on that score are Colorado and Pittsburgh. Columbus lost the most man-games to injury by a healthy margin - only Pittsburgh comes close. And before any claim about relevance of players injured comes up... if one goes by point share lost to injury, Toronto doesn't make the top-5, while Columbus is #2 behind Pittsburgh (and just ahead of Colorado). See: https://www.thestar.com/sports/leafs/opinion/2020/03/01/the-maple-leafs-injury-numbers-arent-as-painful-as-you-might-expect.html
And we still drew even with the Leafs.
Whatever dude, TO had terrible injuries as well, got 15 terrible games from Hutchinson where he let in almost 4 goals a game as well.
I'm not saying Toronto had it easy - not by any stretch. I'm just refuting the assertion that Toronto had "more and worse injuries than Columbus".
Sure, either way I have no idea who's going to win. Matthews could start hot like he usually does and it could be over before it started or it could be the other way around. Its going to be a total crap shoot