Time to End the Shanaplan
Photo From CTV News
Sorry
for the huge gap between articles on this blog but sometimes life gets in the way,
and you have to deal with more important things. The blog is back so let's talk
about some things. The Toronto Maple Leafs were in Boston for game 7 of their first-round
series and once again Toronto sees their season end in the opening round of the
playoffs. The Leafs managed to give us a sense of hope by forcing a seventh
game thanks to two unbelievable games from Joseph Woll. Going into last night’s
game we got the news that Matthews who had been dealing with some illness would
be available to play. Great news, right? Well then there were rumblings surrounding
the status of Joseph Woll. Nick Kypreos was the first to suggest something was
up about Woll but then when Elliott Friedman started tweeting about it, it pretty
much confirmed that Ilya Samsonov would be starting. My reaction to Samsonov
starting? I was fine with it he was the starter going into the series and in his
last start in Boston, game 2 he was a huge factor in the Leafs leaving Boston with
a split.
I’m not going to break down each period we all watched the game we all know the
outcome, but with Toronto being eliminated last night I have some thoughts on
what needs to happen to the Toronto Maple Leafs. First changes need to be made
at the very top. Shanahan has been the team President since 2014 he has been
here for 10 years. Leaving out the teardown and tanking season under Shanahan
this team has won one series in eight years. This core has stayed the same the
entire time. Kyle Dubas in his media conference after losing to Florida hinted
at breaking up the core and lost his job. Brad Treliving was brought in by
Shanahan and for his first season, I think Brad did a decent job. Sure, there
were questionable signings, but you can say that about every GM in this league the
simple fact that the Leafs have one series win in 8 years is enough to fire him.
Next to
go is Sheldon Keefe and his staff. Now anyone who has followed this blog knows
I am a Sheldon Keefe fan, and you can’t deny he has done well as Leaf coach in
the regular season but unfortunately couldn’t find success in the playoffs. I
have defended Keefe many times, but I don’t think I can do that anymore. Last
night Keefe was asked about Toronto’s struggles to get out of the first round
and his response was “Opponents set up gameplans for the Leafs to beat
themselves”. No Sheldon your opponent’s set up game plans to beat you and your
players that’s how coaching works. If your team loses a game, it is usually
because your opponent in this case the Bruins designed a game plan to beat your
Toronto Maple Leafs and guess what? it worked They play Florida on Monday while
you pack up your office after another season.
The
Leafs need to move one of the core players, but the question is who? Because
they are all locked into their contracts. Matthews starts his extension next season,
but you aren’t moving him he is going to be one of the franchise's greatest goal-scorers
and even though he missed a few games this series he was still a factor regardless
of what line he was on. Nylander starts his 8-year extension this summer, so he
isn’t going anywhere, and he has been the team's most consistent playoff player.
Nick Kypreos suggested the Leafs buy out John Tavares. Tavares finished with 29
goals and 65 points…no he may not be performing up to his salary anymore, but
he is still an impactful player. John Tavares, I call him the little thing king
because he does so many things that won’t show up on a score sheet, but they
are a key factor in a big goal for the team. A great example would be his
faceoff success or even his drive to the net in game 5 leading to the Knies
overtime goal.
That
would now just leave Mitch Marner, it would be difficult for the Leafs to move
him because his no-trade clause is intact, but I think a change of scenery
would benefit Marner because I think his getting out of the spotlight in
Toronto would be beneficial for him. I don’t know Mitch on a personal level,
but he gives me the impression that he reads what the media says about him, and
the team and he lets it get to him so maybe leaving Toronto would be the best
thing for him.
One
very frustrating thing for Leaf fans was the team’s power play. Sure, they
finished 6th overall in the regular season but they went 1-21 for an
embarrassing total of 4% Toronto for a few years has had special team issues as
soon as the playoffs start. They don’t seem to be able to handle a team with an
aggressive penalty kill and when they run into an aggressive team they don’t
know how to adjust. This series exposed that because there were many times when
Toronto couldn’t even enter the Bruins zone. Guy Boucher was brought in by the
Leafs to manage the power play but my question to that is simply why? Guy is a
good coach don’t get me wrong, but he has always been a defense-minded coach.
So, my question why would you bring in a coach whose strength is defence and
have him run a power play when Toronto could have used his strengths and had
him manage the blue line?
This
summer has the makings of an eventful one for the Leafs, but I want to give
fans a heads up that changes are going to be coming but be prepared for this
team to likely take a step backwards.
Thanks as always for reading.
You can blame anyone you like but until they get rid of a totally useless coach nothing changes.
ReplyDeleteI think Keefe and his staff will be replaced who comes in remains to be seen
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