“We didn’t have a team as talented as the Maple Leafs. It is quite obvious. Few teams have so many individual talents. However, we managed to play as a team. And that is the whole difference. In terms of the physical aspect, I sincerely believe that we managed to reduce the talent of the adversary.
– Matthew Tkachuk
I had a little thought for Dominique Ducharme, last Friday evening, the former coach of the Canadiens remembering every second of the final match, played two years ago, in Toronto, when his team had just made up a deficit of 1-3 in the series that was considered a mere formality for the Leafs.
“During the game, when the Leafs players passed our bench as both teams made substitutions, I noticed that the opponent’s confidence level went down as the game progressed. had already entrusted Ducharme to me. In the third period, it was even more obvious, they went to their bench with their heads bowed. I knew at that time that we had them in the cables, unable to find a solution to get out of the quagmire in which they were entangled.
Unable to shake Carey Price as they were unable to sow doubt in Sergei Bobrovsky. Unable to score goals at strategic moments because the influential players were in deep lethargy. John Tavares, Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews and William Nylander have still not understood that during the playoffs, those who do not want to step out of the comfort zone that we appreciate so much during the regular season, sink into a some mediocrity.
The Panthers won because they are a team that does not measure effort. She rushes, she strikes, she fights, she plays with boundless energy, knowing very well that talent has shortcomings when it is not paired with constant effort.
Certainly, some would say that the Maple Leafs were unlucky, that they were not well served by adversity.
Maybe.
But, every spring, we raise the same arguments and we constantly come to the same conclusion. A talented group, perhaps the most talented in the league, but where is the team?
Drunk Promise
Oh, she fascinates her followers in September, she maintains hopes in December, and in April, she shows up for the big tournament with a well-stocked arsenal, with everything you could possibly want for the ultimate battle.
But, she never respects the instructions required by the series.
Now what should we do?
The players may repeat that they form a united group, the results give another version.
They are on the wrong track.
Will we finally drop the ax?
The Shanaplan plan, nickname given to Brendan Shanahan, the president of hockey operations, fails every season. The efforts made by Kyle Dubas come to nothing, they do not meet the needs of the team.
Sheldon Keefe? He was never able to establish the character that makes the difference between an excellent team and a team ready to take on the most demanding and ambitious challenges.
They are ten who will be able to take advantage of their free agent status without restriction. But the two skaters who will hold the attention are Auston Matthews and William Nylander who will be free like the wind at the end of the next season.
The leaders of the Leafs, who will they be, will have until 1er July to offer them a new pact. After which, the window will close for trading.
Will they want to continue their career in Toronto or will they want to explore friendlier markets?
Matthews wanted to find himself in such a situation otherwise he would have signed an eight-season pact four years ago. The possibility of playing at his home in the United States is attractive. Who does not dream of evolving in a large American market, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas or even markets like Florida with the Lightning or the Panthers, Matthews will have the firm intention of testing the market.
A similar journey
Will he take the same route as Matthew Tkachuk when, on a certain Sunday evening last summer, he advised the Calgary Flames: “Thank you for the chance you have given me, but the time has come to leave. I don’t want to play in Calgary anymore, it’s up to you.”
Maple Leafs leaders will have to react quickly.
Hurry up.
Those who could succeed Dubas and Shanahan will have quite a challenge to face when they settle in the offices of a concession plunged in doubt and above all unable to form “a team” in the true definition of the word.
family affair
Marc Staal has found a buyer in Florida. We were looking for an experienced defender, capable of providing the necessary depth to all teams.
The Panthers offered him a one-year contract. Accepted. The price: $750,000.
Eric Staal has an interesting track record. During his time in Montreal two years ago, he played an important role with young players. At the start of last season, the Panthers were trying to find a good old center player to play on the fourth line. A call to Eric Staal: interested? Yes. Contract $750,000.
Jordan Staal, the youngest of the family, is the captain of the Carolina Hurricanes. He will be an unrestricted free agent from 1er July. An impact player in the role entrusted to him by his coach Rod Brind’Amour. Contract: $6,000,000.
If he leaves Carolina, he will certainly find a team ready to file an interesting pact.
coveted duel
The Staal family will hold an arguably coveted reunion since the start of the playoffs as the Hurricanes and Panthers advance to the Eastern Conference Grand Finals.
A scenario that few observers had considered.
Both teams made it to the Grand Finals by knocking out four top teams: the Devils and the Islandersk (they were the worst team in the group of 16, but hey). The Panthers struck out the first-seeded Bruins and the Maple Leafs, a team with high hopes after the elimination of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Bill Zito, the Panthers’ vice president and general manager of operations, has shown a lot of flair by welcoming Matthew Tkachuk, who changed the image of the team, to Sunrise and by obtaining two veterans offering them minimum wage.