LizardKing51 Wrote:I dont see Mats as a failure, I see the franchise as a failure, 38 years and not even a place in the finals! With the money that team has, and the way it gouges its fans on tickets and to not even make it to the finals in the last 10 years is a slap in the face to the fans imo. Yeah they had a couple close ones (93 and 02 come to mind) but Im surprised the fans dont revolt, if I was a Leaf fan Id be pissed off at the team for that. The message I always got from Leaf fans and the management is that they want to win and the expectations are to win the cup year after year, well they have a funny way of showing it. Ane yeah my Habs have been mediocre since we won the cup in 93 and lost Patrick Roy (that hurt us big time) but the expectations had been lowered in Montreal, and the people there couldn't accept it, but they had to. Its pained me to watch detroit, NJ and Colorado win the cup year after year, while my team didnt even make the playoffs or lose out in the first round. But I had to accept it, but I sure didnt like it. I think the opposite can be said for Toronto, the Leafs have been a solid regular season team and done well in the playoffs for the last 10 years or so, but surely you Leaf fans have to be frustrated and angry that you havent at least gotten to the big dance? I would be.
I guess the point is, has the Leafs orginization done everything it could or should of to win the cup in the last 10-15 years, when it was possible for them to do so? Unlike in the Ballard years.
This is the kind of thinking I don't understand. How can anyone say that the Leafs
aren't doing everything they can to win? The Leafs are a business, and the best part of the NHL business is the playoffs. The players don't get paid their regular salaries for the playoffs, the ticket prices are higher, the TV advertising sells for more, etc etc etc. So for EVERY team out there, the best thing you can do for the business is to play every possible home playoff game there is.
What should the Leafs have done differently? Signed Bill Guerin and Bobby Holik for $9 million per? Signed Pierre Turgeon for $7 million per? The Rangers PROVED that trying to buy yourself a championship through free agency was not the model of success over the past 10 years. The Leafs' biggest problem - time and time again - is a piss-poor drafting record.
Another problem with the Leafs - as I see it - is that their style of game (puck possession, up-tempo) didn't work in the playoffs in the Eastern conference, and they've never had a goalie steal them a series like other teams from the East have had. If you look at the recent teams that have come out of the East - pre Tampa - it was New Jersey, Carolina, Buffalo, and Washington. What did those teams have in common? They were trapping teams that capitalized on other teams' mistakes and had a goalie who played spectacular for stretches of time. Cujo lovers refuse to admit it, but Cujo has ALWAYS shit the bed when he's been needed most. Ever notice where he played his best playoff hockey? Edmonton. Why? Expectations were low. When the Leafs (and Detroit) needed him to steal a series or outplay the other goalie, he simply couldn't do it. Just like how he's been brutal in international play (World Cup 96 anyone?).
To say that Sundin is the problem is pure idiocy and sounds like a guy who doesn't watch the games (I mean to not even know that the Leafs have gone final four TWICE with Sundin as captain while arguing that he's the problem?!? Weak). Sundin is the heart and soul of the team. He's the all time Maple Leaf leader in GWGs. He's the alltime NHL leader in OT goals. He's hardly the problem. As Gretzky proved in LA, and as Messier proved in Vancouver, if you don't have the depth, it doesn't matter how good you are. The poor Leaf drafting has cost them the depth that they've needed to go to the next level.
hock: 
