When did you know it was over for this group?

[TonsofPuppies]

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.

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[namttebih]

When Mitch held out and whined about the fanbase turning on him.

I was the biggest fan of his before this. I had the unfortunate chance to meet him twice in a short period of time around the contract year. Dude is completely arrogant and unlikable.

 

[New User Name]

Honestly, I never thought this group had it in the first place.

 

[GoonieFace]

Honestly, once Dubas took over and paid these guys big money. The Kadri trade and Tavares signing was the final nail

 

[MSZ]

Same here. It was definitely the David Ayres game that started it all for me personally.

 

[Gary Nylund]

It's not over til it's over.

 

[LeafGrief]

Losing to the Habs. That Game 7 was the low point and completely changed how I interact with this team as a fan.

 

[GoBuds14]

I live in southwestern Ontario, grew up playing hockey, grew up watching the Leafs and therefore a good portion of my social circle are also Leaf fans.

I whole heartedly think the organization is at a point where their short term marketability is in trouble. Almost none of my friends, including myself watch this team anymore, and this trend started last season. Saturday night in particular used to be Leaf night, yet we just don’t care to give them 2.5 hours of our night. They’ve iced the same style of team for 5-6 straight seasons, and the fans can see how this ends, yet management won’t budge, they continue to ice the same style of team.

 

[hotpaws]

The second i heard they paid Johnny Mumbles 11m per .

 

[Nineteen67]

I never felt like they’ve really opened their “window to win“. Every year they go into a season with at least 5 unanswered question hoping that they all work out. The reality is, only one or two actually work.

 

[Nineteen67]

The second i heard they paid Johnny Mumbles 11m per .

Some in of my old text group said it was over the day he signed, however, at the time, I assumed they were going to trade one of the kids and find a #1 D, draft and continue the rebuild.

 

[Canadian Finn]

Captain's first game back to the Island.

That's when the baby pukes ran and hid, leaving their captain to hang.

 

[JL17]

Paid Tavares 11mil and refused to make any changes to the core after the Montreal series.

 

[sparxx87]

When they hired a stick boy/dressing room attendant as their general manager.

 

[DarkKnight]

When handshake lines were a victory. We’ve lost the sport plot.

 

[hotpaws]

Some in of my old text group said it was over the day he signed, however, at the time, I assumed they were going to trade one of the kids and find a #1 D, draft and continue the rebuild.

the discussion on our forum about potentially signing JT was that one of the kids and most were saying Nylander needed to be traded to have enough cap to round out the team

Dubie came out with his ''we can and we will'' and his minions flipped to saying spending half your cap on 4 forwards was the proper way to build a team . lol

i didn't want to sign JT for a number of reasons but mostly because we didn't need a C especially one that you had to overpay as a ufa

Captain's first game back to the Island.

That's when the baby pukes ran and hid, leaving their captain to hang.

JT's not their Captain , he's Dubie's , i thought that was obvious .

 

[egd27]

I think it started for me when Dubas made the deal with Nylander at 4:59 on Dec 1st, and he came back to the team and could barely get through a 30 second shift.

The next one was Game 6 of the 2019 series against Boston. You could just see they didn't have the "killer instinct" that playoff success demands.

 

[hamzarocks]

I give them 10-15 more games

If they still suck then its over for real this time

For today, if we lose we should fire Keefe

 

[57 Years No Cup]

There were many red flags, but the end for me was after the Columbus series.

 

[sparxx87]

Some in of my old text group said it was over the day he signed, however, at the time, I assumed they were going to trade one of the kids and find a #1 D, draft and continue the rebuild.

Those in your group text were absolutely correct. You don't sign a 27/28 year old UFA for $11M to continue a rebuild.

People questioned whether the team would be able to afford the keep their 3 impending RFA forwards and still maintain the quality depth around them. 34/16/88 rookie year had 8-9 rookies total on any given night so they were already going to be hard pressed to keep everyone when all the ELC's expired...

It was inconceivable that Dubas went out and added an $11M UFA before first distributing money to his stars and other secondary players.

"We can and we will"

 

[LeafGrief]

Captain's first game back to the Island.

That's when the baby pukes ran and hid, leaving their captain to hang.

Oh, I forgot about that one. For much the same what that I'll never forgive them for not winning in MTL for JT, it showed that this group doesn't actually play for each other. They have individual pride, but no pride as a group. MTL is where I broke, but I remember listening to that NYI game on the radio with such a sense of dread.

 

[The Hanging Jowl]

the discussion on our forum about potentially signing JT was that one of the kids and most were saying Nylander needed to be traded to have enough cap to round out the team

Dubie came out with his ''we can and we will'' and his minions flipped to saying spending half your cap on 4 forwards was the proper way to build a team . lol

i didn't want to sign JT for a number of reasons but mostly because we didn't need a C especially one that you had to overpay as a ufa


JT's not their Captain , he's Dubie's , i thought that was obvious .

Signing Tavares was the right move because they got him for no assets and the worst case scenario was they could move another player for an equivalent player that fills a role they need *plus* assets. It was a no-brainer. Problem is, that hasn't happened. BTW, Tavares is the best guy on the team recently.

 

[Sammy Kat]

For me it started when Dubas asked the 3 kids if they approved signing Tavares,I was he did what????????
Nylander hold out with losing nothing for me was oh oh we are in trouble.
Matthews get everything his way and all me me me contract followed by Mitch I want eveything too pretty much told me this is not a team but a bunch of greedy me players that don't give a shit about anything but themselves.
Then watching a ton of star players sign with other teams for way less and great team friendly contracts was the final straw and I could not see this team winning.
It also marked the first time ever,even in the non playoff years,that I did not like the majority of the players and no longer watch all the games.
I fully blame Dubas and this all started when he was made GM.

 

[The Mitchician]

Yes The Zamboni incident/accident was very embarassing.

Before that was the blowout in the third to Boston and I recall Chara going back to the bench mumbling."It's over" which got me giddy thinking We were actually going to step into a round two playoff. BUT....nope we choked,...then did the same only in a more embarrsing situation against the Habs. That was a total embarrasment of being a fan of the Leafs.

This team and their egos (especially Mitch) has been thouroughly dissapointing and most likely it is because of the way of what happened after Lou left.

We all were waiting for the boys to grow to men,..Lou supplied some protection, laid out his rules, Now when Dubas takes over, he aims at the Souix, takes away the dress code and now we are left with a bunch of entitled brats who think they already paid their dues to the NHL and probably think they are men. (which they are not)

The boards and corners prove it as we need real men to go into the corners fearlessly.

This soft team under the direction Of Dubas which thinks speed and puck possesion is the only tools they need which makes Dubas a tool! This team would be the best on an open lake where there are no boards.

We need to shake the sugar tree in a big way in order for the rest of the league to feel some sort of panickness when they play us and unfortunately Dubas doesn't get it and probably never watched "tin cup" the movie before in his life but we as fans have watched it over, and over, and over again with this team.

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 is all stemming from a poster who has a dog named Wendel.

The only other dog I would name after a Leaf player is a hot dog because most of them are weiners.

Go weiners go!

Shanny just take over...fire Dubas, trade Mitch, coach the team like Lou would have (unless you can get trotz) and find a replacement for yourself if you feel like bowwing/tapping out...Show some friggin tenacity!

 

[Mess]

The second i heard they paid Johnny Mumbles 11m per .

Ditto

The minute I heard Dubas had signed Tavares for $11 mil I knew Leafs would be in trouble by predicting Leafs internal Salary Cap would now see Matthews and Marner get similar deals ..

My prediction at that time, believing JT contract would act like a magnet and draw others to him and Leafs having 3 players all at double digit cap figures.

Matthews @ $12 mil X 8 years ???
Tavares @ $11 mil X 7 years
Marner @ $10 mil X 8 years ???
Nylander @ $7 mil X 6 years ???

I believed then as I do to this day that you can't invest that much cap in so few players to be Cup competitive.

When Dubas claimed "We can and We will" ... I agreed, but unlike the GM I thought it was recipe for disaster and this would make winning in the playoffs difficult.