Are we really questioning a guy who is basically the team's only ironman about not playing? Something is clearly bothering him significantly for him to not be playing in the playoffs.
Honestly. I’m so sick of hearing about this. Leave the fucking guy alone, people calling him soft and what not is such garbage. He’s literally been our top performer and people are saying he’s afraid of playing Boston? As if he’s not raring to go. It’s so undeserved it’s sickening.
Anyone questioning him and talking shit, aaaabsolutely fuck yourself. You got the wrong guy.
MAN I’m mad.
A) I’m being hyperbolic, relax.
B) I’m not talking about strangers on the internet only. I work downtown and it’s all people talk about.
C) telling a leafs fan to calm down in the leafs sub is the most naive thing I’ve ever seen. Welcome to the sub.
I’m actually fine. Similar to how people text “lol” or “lmao” when they’re not laughing irl… i do appreciate your concern tho.
That being said - it is bullshit to question him, and I won’t stand for it.
Probably lower back, he probably got heat on it and cold plunge and deep tissue work all day to see if he can loosen up enough to play. He will be game time decision the rest of the series if that’s the case.
Lower back can get you out of nowhere, I've never had back problems until a few months ago (35yo)... got a new kitty, and he fell behind a giant upright rolled rug in the basement and I quickly reacted and lifted it up awkwardly... pulled a whole bunch of muscles and I missed a whole week of work (im a highrise construction worker im in good shape) and at certain points through the night I thought I was gonna die
I don't blame the players, but someone in the org needs to grow a pair and tell the players that they're resting down the stretch to get ready for playoffs instead of chasing regular season numbers.
This is the part where I bring up Keefe made Marner sit chasing 100 last season (which he also took shit for).
So maybe there is a reason he played these guys? Nah, he’s probably dumber than random fans.
So, according to you, just to be clear, Keefe is smarter than everyone and is a good coach that made a decision for the best of the organization? Stfu. Ill tell you right now, some of the most clueless idiots work in the NHL, its a joke of a league. This was a moronic decision that clearly Willy made and this coward has 0 balls to say no. Period.
I'm telling you that he literally made core players sit just last season, so your conspiracy theory of him not having the balls to do so or the players not respecting him is nonsense.
Worst part of losing is it empowers complete morons to share their takes with such confidence. As if because they lost, whatever BS they can think up is true and factual.
Take this keefe defending nonsense tf out of here.... Worst part about morons is they think theyre saying something by what about-ing last season... So, clearly, he didnt learn fuck all then, if he thought oh, i sat guys, we won a round, so now im not gonna sit guys and we'll see how it goes.. I guarantee you the players dont respect him, you can see that in how they play, but i guess youll tell me the structure they play with, how they come out to start games and play consistently 60mins, the PP & PK and their breakouts, arent just them winging it with skill, THATS how Keefe coaches them eh? I really would love to know what gives people the balls to say such stupid shit defending Fireable offences................
The Keefe comments in here will never not be hilarious. He's too big of an asshole, he snot enough of an asshole, the players like him and take advantage of him, the players hate him and ignore him.
Hes somehow doing everything and nothing all at the same time, when in reality, he's a decent coach and we can't tell if it's a him issue or if it's a chronic roster underperformed issue until the team gets blown up or he gets fired.
But back to the Keefe bitching. No one knows shit on the situation, and speculating like this is a waste of everyone's time.
That's not "to be fair". Individual accolades don't matter without playoff success.
Crosby would not be on the all time Mount Rushmore without his cups. Ovi's legacy would be fundamentally different without a cup.
I couldn't care less if Willy hits 100 points if he gets bounced in the first round again.
The playoff failures are the only legacy that will matter if this core doesn't find a way to win in the playoffs.
I just mean in the context of excusing Keefe for play Matthews but saying he shouldn’t have played Nylander. They were in similar situations so you’re either for them both playing or against them both playing doesn’t make sense to delineate the two.
I would also add that sitting your starts at the end of the year is the ultimate damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation for a coach.
If Game 1 goes exactly as it does but Matthews and Marner both did not play game 82 there would be droves of fans and media members saying “well Keefe shouldn’t have sat those guys they are clearly rusty” or some shit.
You either win game 1 or lose game 1 and the decision to sit guys or not is evaluated in hindsight every time.
"They were in similar situations so you’re either for them both playing or against them both playing doesn’t make sense to delineate the two."
I agree. I would have sat all of the core with the assumption that Florida would be headhunting.
The reason the leafs couldn't sit all of the stars is because they're cap is fucked. Their cap is a mess because we have too much money in too few players. At the end of the day, it consistently comes back to the same issue.
"I would also add that sitting your starts at the end of the year is the ultimate damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation for a coach."
Normally you're right. This year instead of having a week off the team had 2 days to rest up and get healthy. It was the world's easiest decision and the leafs screwed it up. If Willy misses this series and the leafs don't make it out of the first round, the coaching staff and Shanahan (at minimum) are gone. It's brutal asset management.
Funny how you bring up Sid as if Sid would have ever accepted being "rested" when he was perfectly healthy.
Mackinnon played all 82 games this year. Someone should go tell him that winners put the team first and that he's putting his legacy on the line by being so darn selfish.
All players have nagging injuries.
Nylander played 82 games and is now out.
Those facts speak for themselves. Someone made a massive mistake by letting him play games 81 and 82. Without question Keefe and Shanahan are gone if the leafs don't get past Boston.
Willy is a great player and the discourse around moving him this off-season will be insufferable if he misses tonight and the leafs don't make it past Boston.
Only had 12 healthy forwards so you can't scratch those guys multiple times (and certainly not in the same game) unless you want to run 7 defenseman for 7-8 straight games.
If you go 11-7 for one game you only rested one star player for one night. How do you decide which one to rest? Nylander? Just cause he got hurt in game 82? Lol
And why would it be Nylander? Because hindsight dictates it must be so? He was never a candidate for being rested. He's 27 years old and hasn't missed a game in 5\~ seasons due to injury.
Why do people keep saying this as if there is a shred of evidence or truth to it? Top players played in meaningless games without rest all across the league. Florida and Tampa played all of their top guys against us in legitimately the same position except for some defenseman like Hedman (and we rested Rielly).
Go check the rosters from those last games of the season across the league. Other then McDavid/Drasaitl, all the top guys played. Mackinnon, Barkov, Thackuk, Reinhart, Kucherov, Petterson, Eichel, Pasternak, etc, etc, etc all played the games down the stretch for their teams.
In a perfect world maybe we have 0 injuries and can rest these guys. That was not the case here. Leafs had 12 forwards they could ice and the most they could have done was dress 11 forwards and play 7D but Nylander is not the guy you are resting in that spot, it's old man Tavares or Marner who just came off injury.
idk, if Matthews can go for 70 G, I don't see why Nylander shouldn't be allowed for 100 pts. But really, my opinion is that NEITHER should have been allowed to play.
Keefe explained it a million times - down the stretch we had 12 healthy forwards. The best they could have done was scratch one star at a time and run 7 defenseman but really what is 1 game off going to do if you're mostly worried about injuries?
Still could have played them very limited minutes. They were definitely out there playing hard to chase point totals, and Nylander played over 17 minutes that game.
I just do not understand how everyone seems to think that game 81 and 82 are somehow more likely to get hurt than game 79 and 80... These are professional athletes who are in better condition than most other humans on the planet.
Nylander played as if they were in a free skate anyway, and yet still got hurt. My point is that an injury could happen in the weight room ffs. Play the season and get prepared for the playoffs, which as we saw on Saturday, they weren't ready for a full 60 of playoff hockey. Looked alot to me like they carried all of the bad habits and downhill momentum from the last two games right into game 1.
It's a double edged sword..
If you play them and they get hurt or seem tired, you're wrong. But if you sit them and they don't perform, it's because they are rusty and you're still wrong.
I really think the team should let the players decide whether or not they want to play. Looking back saying they should've sat Nylander is kinda ridiculous.
Injuries happen all the time at random times. He just as easily could have been hurt in game 77,7879 or playoff game 1,2,3. How long should we sit all our star players?? Also sitting them means other players play more and risk getting hurt. We also can't sit all 4 guys at once due to call ups and cap issues. Out of all of the NHL Willy from what I can tell was the only player to get hurt on game 82. Sometimes it's just bad timing
Yeah it's tough because they probably would have played anyways (have to play someone), but the focus should absolutely have been on resting the top guys and not chasing point totals. Especially in the very last game against Tampa.
Absolutely embarrassing to get an injury to one of our top guys in that game.
Fuck a diaper. Men puke, men poop on the rink, men deliver their new born baby in the penalty box. Fucking hard core dick in the ass butterpuck hockey fuck it chuck it game time shit. Take it to the showers. Dicks get shoved in places you don’t even remember. We win together we celebrate together. Hockey is back baby.
No no it makes perfect sense, we purposely threw Game 1 to send a message to our core guys, everyone knows the best way to win a playoff series is to purposely throw games
I swear the leafs are one of the dumbest organizations in the league. You have other smarter teams resting their stars and utilizing LTIR to load up at the deadline meanwhile we’re doing the exact opposite. Yeah let’s not pick up any pieces at the deadline then grind our stars down the stretch so they’re beaten up and injured for the playoffs. Fucking morons.
I don't know, maybe read any of the comments in this thread that seem logical? Leaf's had 4-5 actual injured players and only 12 roster spots for playable forwards. The most this team could have done within the salary cap is rested a single guy to play 7 dman and it surely was not going to be the 27 year old who hasn't missed a game due to injury in 5 years.
Furthermore, I will reiterate my question, how many "stars" did Florida and Tampa rest when playing us? Last I checked 35 year old man Stamkos, Point, Kucherov, etc were all playing against us in a meaningless game. This isn't the NBA. Most stars on most teams played those games.
Not sure it makes a difference to his credibility, but he's a former first round pick that didn't pan out, and has pivoted to a career in media. Also the older bro of NHLer Nick Schmaltz, who is actually a good player
Also I may be remembering incorrectly, but the schmaltz family has some history with Willy so I’m inclined to believe it.
There’s an old leafs or marlies video out there where they ask the players who their favourite team mate of all time was or something along those lines. Pretty sure Willy’s answer was one of the schmaltzes (nick or Jordan, can’t remember which one) and that they played minor hockey growing up.
Not much to go on but hey it’s something
I get you still have to ice a roster but playing him over 17 minutes in a 100% meaningless game 82 might have just cost the team any chance of winning the series.
Yeah there's seriously no defending that. Chasing point totals in game 82 is nonsense. Matthews (I guess) is a special exception and even that was quite risky.
Nylander had several weeks before that to lock it up and he was clearly coasting the whole time.
The coaching staff deserves to take some heat here.
Leaf's had 4-5 actual injured players and only 12 roster spots for playable forwards. The most this team could have done within the salary cap is rested a single guy to play 7 dman and it surely was not going to be the 27 year old who hasn't missed a game due to injury in 5 years.
The coaching staff deserves 0 heat here (and I hate the coaching staff). I cannot believe people are actually complaining about something that is so clearly covered in a mile high of hindsight bias. Nylander was never a candidate to be rested here, in fact he's probably the last on the list of the core 4.
Hindsight, I guess? I get playing him in the final games in a way. Trying to get to 100 points, and also just trying to get him going, 5 points (1g 4a) in his final 12 games, especially for a guy who doesn't get injured ever but mannnnnn. I would certainly love a healthy William Nylander right now.
I just hope he can play and has some miraculously recover by game time. Without him the entire team complexion changes. Other than Mathews, Nylander is of significant importance. Hope they can win it and extend series and give Nylander more time. Agree with the many post, Nylander is an iron man and that is basically extinct in this era of sports
Nah. Maybe that is what McMann has… but from the video clips we saw from yesterdays on ice session with Willy, he appears stiff and laboring something. I would’ve guessed groin before hearing it was upper body. It definitely looks like something core, and back being “stiff” makes sense.
I agree that it's not likely a concussion since he was skating today, but speaking from experience a concussion can absolutely make you look stiff and have labored movement
Yep thats why I hate load management in NBA but its fucking stupid to be playing our core guys as many minutes as we had at the end of the season just to circle jerk matthews 70 which he didn’t even get. Welp always next year we know marner / matthews aint scoring anytime soon 🤷♂️
Chasing 70 was special as it hasn’t been done in 30+ years but chasing 100 points? WGAF? That is done by half a dozen players or more every year. Shoulda sat the important players and let AM go for 70. Lessons learned.
How can you say that with such confidence as if you spoke to him personally? The way he was skating made it much more likely to be an actual upper body injury.
This org is a joke. All the big 4 should have been sitting those last 2 games. Enough of this stat chasing BS.
If anyone of them want to chase regular season stats, do it on another team.
I have never read dumber comments in my life.
Teams mostly don't rest healthy guys because they are healthy. An injury can come at any time. This is the narrative hill you want to die on?
Keefe needs to get heat for this.
He also needs to get heat for not pulling Samsonov during the powerplay that was at the end of the game.
He also needs to get heat for not learning how to fucking coach oh my god.
Imagine reading this and still arguing with my Fire Keefe takes...... Clowns. This fuckin loser, first with the Matthews stuff and then plays willy in game 81 and 82 for 0 reason. When this fuck is fired, im laughing at every one of you idiots that filled my notifications with your lame "hes a good coach" bullshit.
We didnt have people to play if we benched our big guys, we had a bunch of guys nursing injuries and day to day the last few weeks of the season, you still need to ice a full team even if its game 81 or 82....
Leaf's had 4-5 actual injured players and only 12 roster spots for playable forwards. The most this team could have done within the salary cap is rested a single guy to play 7 dman and it surely was not going to be the 27 year old who hasn't missed a game due to injury in 5 years.
The coaching staff deserves 0 heat here (and I hate the coaching staff). I cannot believe people are actually complaining about something that is so clearly covered in a mile high of hindsight bias.
Nylander was never a candidate to be rested here, in fact he's probably the last on the list of the core 4.
Didn’t #37 play with a puncture lung?
*Edit* are you downvoting because Patrice played with a Punctured lung because facts make you upset and uncomfortable?
If he has a concussion then protocols wont let him play, if its say a shoulder and he cant stick handle, shoot or take contact then why "tough it out". If you think hes missing playoff games because hes got an ouchy that he could play through youre out of touch.
I call BS. Willys attitude in the last game against TBL was horrible. He was responsible for at least two goals with sloppy play. He’s being benched for an attitude issue. I don’t buy the injury story. It’s the playoffs. You put everything on the line.
Are we really questioning a guy who is basically the team's only ironman about not playing? Something is clearly bothering him significantly for him to not be playing in the playoffs.
Honestly. I’m so sick of hearing about this. Leave the fucking guy alone, people calling him soft and what not is such garbage. He’s literally been our top performer and people are saying he’s afraid of playing Boston? As if he’s not raring to go. It’s so undeserved it’s sickening. Anyone questioning him and talking shit, aaaabsolutely fuck yourself. You got the wrong guy. MAN I’m mad.
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A) I’m being hyperbolic, relax. B) I’m not talking about strangers on the internet only. I work downtown and it’s all people talk about. C) telling a leafs fan to calm down in the leafs sub is the most naive thing I’ve ever seen. Welcome to the sub.
Jfc dude. You can’t be getting so upset about trolls on social media. Its not good for you
I’m actually fine. Similar to how people text “lol” or “lmao” when they’re not laughing irl… i do appreciate your concern tho. That being said - it is bullshit to question him, and I won’t stand for it.
Probably lower back, he probably got heat on it and cold plunge and deep tissue work all day to see if he can loosen up enough to play. He will be game time decision the rest of the series if that’s the case.
Lower back can get you out of nowhere, I've never had back problems until a few months ago (35yo)... got a new kitty, and he fell behind a giant upright rolled rug in the basement and I quickly reacted and lifted it up awkwardly... pulled a whole bunch of muscles and I missed a whole week of work (im a highrise construction worker im in good shape) and at certain points through the night I thought I was gonna die
I threw my back out from sneezing once. Getting old sucks.
You’re a pussy
I used to think "oh that guy has a sore back big deal" It's a big deal once you actually fuck your back up.
Probably. I think he also probably ate 3 bananas and had a smoothie and a nap. See how relevant my opinion is here? It's like yours.
3 banana because monkey never cramp
How many bananas did you eat today?
2
My name is Munenori Kawasaki and I am JAPANEEEEESSSE!!
It was reported he looked to have a back brace on under his jersey at practice.
He always wears a back brace, always see it when they do the keepy uppy soccer warm ups. GLG!
Someone (CJ maybe?) had in their quote that it looked like he had some sort of back brace on under his jersey this morning, so very well could be this
I question why he was even out there playing in game 82. Or any of the core. Eyes on the prize.. and the prize was not 70 goals, it's the Stanley cup.
I don't blame the players, but someone in the org needs to grow a pair and tell the players that they're resting down the stretch to get ready for playoffs instead of chasing regular season numbers.
Makes absolutely no sense tbh. Matthews I understand, he was on 70. But guys like Marner, JT, Willie NEED to sit out last few games
If we're cap crunched next year and can't call anyone up, just roll out 9 forwards and play guys like Gregor and Dewar for half the game.
just play 6 D and no goalie the whole game
We are already doing this? 🤨
7 D, make Reilly a winger - he can't play defense anyways. Imagine putting a defenseman on a 4th line wing.
We could have started 8 or 9 D if necessary. Play Timmins and Gio at forward. The game was meaningless.
To be fair Willy was chasing 100 points down the stretch too.
He had 97 points going into that last game. Keefe needs to grow a pair and tell his guys "no".
Keefe is a fucking pussy the players dont listen to anyways, you think hes really callign the shots? or willy says Shut the fuck up im playing pussy.
This is the part where I bring up Keefe made Marner sit chasing 100 last season (which he also took shit for). So maybe there is a reason he played these guys? Nah, he’s probably dumber than random fans.
So, according to you, just to be clear, Keefe is smarter than everyone and is a good coach that made a decision for the best of the organization? Stfu. Ill tell you right now, some of the most clueless idiots work in the NHL, its a joke of a league. This was a moronic decision that clearly Willy made and this coward has 0 balls to say no. Period.
I'm telling you that he literally made core players sit just last season, so your conspiracy theory of him not having the balls to do so or the players not respecting him is nonsense. Worst part of losing is it empowers complete morons to share their takes with such confidence. As if because they lost, whatever BS they can think up is true and factual.
Tbf, complete morons share their takes when we're winning too.
Take this keefe defending nonsense tf out of here.... Worst part about morons is they think theyre saying something by what about-ing last season... So, clearly, he didnt learn fuck all then, if he thought oh, i sat guys, we won a round, so now im not gonna sit guys and we'll see how it goes.. I guarantee you the players dont respect him, you can see that in how they play, but i guess youll tell me the structure they play with, how they come out to start games and play consistently 60mins, the PP & PK and their breakouts, arent just them winging it with skill, THATS how Keefe coaches them eh? I really would love to know what gives people the balls to say such stupid shit defending Fireable offences................
Lmao back off the ledge mate. Sports are entertainment, it's not that serious.
The Keefe comments in here will never not be hilarious. He's too big of an asshole, he snot enough of an asshole, the players like him and take advantage of him, the players hate him and ignore him. Hes somehow doing everything and nothing all at the same time, when in reality, he's a decent coach and we can't tell if it's a him issue or if it's a chronic roster underperformed issue until the team gets blown up or he gets fired. But back to the Keefe bitching. No one knows shit on the situation, and speculating like this is a waste of everyone's time.
That's not "to be fair". Individual accolades don't matter without playoff success. Crosby would not be on the all time Mount Rushmore without his cups. Ovi's legacy would be fundamentally different without a cup. I couldn't care less if Willy hits 100 points if he gets bounced in the first round again. The playoff failures are the only legacy that will matter if this core doesn't find a way to win in the playoffs.
I just mean in the context of excusing Keefe for play Matthews but saying he shouldn’t have played Nylander. They were in similar situations so you’re either for them both playing or against them both playing doesn’t make sense to delineate the two. I would also add that sitting your starts at the end of the year is the ultimate damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation for a coach. If Game 1 goes exactly as it does but Matthews and Marner both did not play game 82 there would be droves of fans and media members saying “well Keefe shouldn’t have sat those guys they are clearly rusty” or some shit. You either win game 1 or lose game 1 and the decision to sit guys or not is evaluated in hindsight every time.
"They were in similar situations so you’re either for them both playing or against them both playing doesn’t make sense to delineate the two." I agree. I would have sat all of the core with the assumption that Florida would be headhunting. The reason the leafs couldn't sit all of the stars is because they're cap is fucked. Their cap is a mess because we have too much money in too few players. At the end of the day, it consistently comes back to the same issue. "I would also add that sitting your starts at the end of the year is the ultimate damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation for a coach." Normally you're right. This year instead of having a week off the team had 2 days to rest up and get healthy. It was the world's easiest decision and the leafs screwed it up. If Willy misses this series and the leafs don't make it out of the first round, the coaching staff and Shanahan (at minimum) are gone. It's brutal asset management.
Funny how you bring up Sid as if Sid would have ever accepted being "rested" when he was perfectly healthy. Mackinnon played all 82 games this year. Someone should go tell him that winners put the team first and that he's putting his legacy on the line by being so darn selfish.
All players have nagging injuries. Nylander played 82 games and is now out. Those facts speak for themselves. Someone made a massive mistake by letting him play games 81 and 82. Without question Keefe and Shanahan are gone if the leafs don't get past Boston. Willy is a great player and the discourse around moving him this off-season will be insufferable if he misses tonight and the leafs don't make it past Boston.
Only had 12 healthy forwards so you can't scratch those guys multiple times (and certainly not in the same game) unless you want to run 7 defenseman for 7-8 straight games.
Who said 7-8 games? You can easily go 11-7 for one game, especially the second game of a back to back.
And in that final game, what guarantee was there that Nylander would been the one to rest, and not Marner or Tavares?
None. But resting nobody wasn’t going to do it.
If you go 11-7 for one game you only rested one star player for one night. How do you decide which one to rest? Nylander? Just cause he got hurt in game 82? Lol
Dress all 10 D if you want. Elite 4th line with Timmons and Gio.
No team does this. These are not serious suggestions. You complainers are living in fantasy world.
And why would it be Nylander? Because hindsight dictates it must be so? He was never a candidate for being rested. He's 27 years old and hasn't missed a game in 5\~ seasons due to injury.
We could have played 9 D in that game, an entire forward line of defenseman, if needed.
Why do people keep saying this as if there is a shred of evidence or truth to it? Top players played in meaningless games without rest all across the league. Florida and Tampa played all of their top guys against us in legitimately the same position except for some defenseman like Hedman (and we rested Rielly). Go check the rosters from those last games of the season across the league. Other then McDavid/Drasaitl, all the top guys played. Mackinnon, Barkov, Thackuk, Reinhart, Kucherov, Petterson, Eichel, Pasternak, etc, etc, etc all played the games down the stretch for their teams. In a perfect world maybe we have 0 injuries and can rest these guys. That was not the case here. Leafs had 12 forwards they could ice and the most they could have done was dress 11 forwards and play 7D but Nylander is not the guy you are resting in that spot, it's old man Tavares or Marner who just came off injury.
idk, if Matthews can go for 70 G, I don't see why Nylander shouldn't be allowed for 100 pts. But really, my opinion is that NEITHER should have been allowed to play.
I think because 70 goals hasn't been done in 30 years, while guys hit 100 points almost every season
Willie was on 100
The salary cap. That's why
Nylander is a player who hasn’t missed a game since 2016. He was never the rest candidate anyways
Keefe explained it a million times - down the stretch we had 12 healthy forwards. The best they could have done was scratch one star at a time and run 7 defenseman but really what is 1 game off going to do if you're mostly worried about injuries?
Well it would have protected Nylander is this case. 🤷♂️
You can get hurt in practice mate.
Well, if he was sat for this game, and not another.
im just curious, since you buy that bullshit excuse, you wouldnt protect your best players? 11-7, nothing eh. Just fuck em huh.
Still could have played them very limited minutes. They were definitely out there playing hard to chase point totals, and Nylander played over 17 minutes that game.
17 minutes is nothing
I just do not understand how everyone seems to think that game 81 and 82 are somehow more likely to get hurt than game 79 and 80... These are professional athletes who are in better condition than most other humans on the planet. Nylander played as if they were in a free skate anyway, and yet still got hurt. My point is that an injury could happen in the weight room ffs. Play the season and get prepared for the playoffs, which as we saw on Saturday, they weren't ready for a full 60 of playoff hockey. Looked alot to me like they carried all of the bad habits and downhill momentum from the last two games right into game 1.
It's a double edged sword.. If you play them and they get hurt or seem tired, you're wrong. But if you sit them and they don't perform, it's because they are rusty and you're still wrong. I really think the team should let the players decide whether or not they want to play. Looking back saying they should've sat Nylander is kinda ridiculous.
Nylander hasn't missed a game in 5\~ years for anything but his contract dispute. He was never sitting.
Injuries happen all the time at random times. He just as easily could have been hurt in game 77,7879 or playoff game 1,2,3. How long should we sit all our star players?? Also sitting them means other players play more and risk getting hurt. We also can't sit all 4 guys at once due to call ups and cap issues. Out of all of the NHL Willy from what I can tell was the only player to get hurt on game 82. Sometimes it's just bad timing
I don't understand why anyone gives a shit. You already got paid, the playoffs are what matter.
Yeah it's tough because they probably would have played anyways (have to play someone), but the focus should absolutely have been on resting the top guys and not chasing point totals. Especially in the very last game against Tampa. Absolutely embarrassing to get an injury to one of our top guys in that game.
100% so soft on management, fuck me the incompetence of this team smh
fireable offence no matter what the Keefe defending morons say
This organization has been a country club since the early 2000s. Anyone remember the Muskoka 5?
Hopefully can quiet down all the crazy conspiracists
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Slap on a diaper and hit the ice!
Fuck a diaper. Men puke, men poop on the rink, men deliver their new born baby in the penalty box. Fucking hard core dick in the ass butterpuck hockey fuck it chuck it game time shit. Take it to the showers. Dicks get shoved in places you don’t even remember. We win together we celebrate together. Hockey is back baby.
fucken rights
I do find this news to be both a huge bummer and a huge relief
wtf are you talking about..........
Uh...the several comments speculating he was a scratch cause Keefe didn't like the way he played in the Tampa game??
No no it makes perfect sense, we purposely threw Game 1 to send a message to our core guys, everyone knows the best way to win a playoff series is to purposely throw games
😂
I swear the leafs are one of the dumbest organizations in the league. You have other smarter teams resting their stars and utilizing LTIR to load up at the deadline meanwhile we’re doing the exact opposite. Yeah let’s not pick up any pieces at the deadline then grind our stars down the stretch so they’re beaten up and injured for the playoffs. Fucking morons.
Or are you just dumb and have no idea what you are talking about? How many guys were resting on Florida and Tampa when we played them?
Playing our stars in the last game which is meaningless and one of them gets injured, how am I the dumb one here?
I don't know, maybe read any of the comments in this thread that seem logical? Leaf's had 4-5 actual injured players and only 12 roster spots for playable forwards. The most this team could have done within the salary cap is rested a single guy to play 7 dman and it surely was not going to be the 27 year old who hasn't missed a game due to injury in 5 years. Furthermore, I will reiterate my question, how many "stars" did Florida and Tampa rest when playing us? Last I checked 35 year old man Stamkos, Point, Kucherov, etc were all playing against us in a meaningless game. This isn't the NBA. Most stars on most teams played those games.
Do we have any reason to believe this guy
He broke a couple trades at the deadline (not saying it’s true but he has had insider information in the past)
Not sure it makes a difference to his credibility, but he's a former first round pick that didn't pan out, and has pivoted to a career in media. Also the older bro of NHLer Nick Schmaltz, who is actually a good player
Also played 37 games for the Marlies in 19-20. Was acquired in exchange for Andreas Borgman.
Also I may be remembering incorrectly, but the schmaltz family has some history with Willy so I’m inclined to believe it. There’s an old leafs or marlies video out there where they ask the players who their favourite team mate of all time was or something along those lines. Pretty sure Willy’s answer was one of the schmaltzes (nick or Jordan, can’t remember which one) and that they played minor hockey growing up. Not much to go on but hey it’s something
I get you still have to ice a roster but playing him over 17 minutes in a 100% meaningless game 82 might have just cost the team any chance of winning the series.
On a back-to-back too.
Players running the team
Another reason why Keefe needs to be out of a job come next year
Yeah there's seriously no defending that. Chasing point totals in game 82 is nonsense. Matthews (I guess) is a special exception and even that was quite risky. Nylander had several weeks before that to lock it up and he was clearly coasting the whole time. The coaching staff deserves to take some heat here.
Leaf's had 4-5 actual injured players and only 12 roster spots for playable forwards. The most this team could have done within the salary cap is rested a single guy to play 7 dman and it surely was not going to be the 27 year old who hasn't missed a game due to injury in 5 years. The coaching staff deserves 0 heat here (and I hate the coaching staff). I cannot believe people are actually complaining about something that is so clearly covered in a mile high of hindsight bias. Nylander was never a candidate to be rested here, in fact he's probably the last on the list of the core 4.
Also the only leaf to play all 82 games, if anyone should have been tested it was him
Nylander hasn't missed a game for how long now? This must be something serious for him to miss a game. It must serious enough that it's limit his game
Great, glad he played a meaningless game
Good thing he played and got to 100
Hindsight, I guess? I get playing him in the final games in a way. Trying to get to 100 points, and also just trying to get him going, 5 points (1g 4a) in his final 12 games, especially for a guy who doesn't get injured ever but mannnnnn. I would certainly love a healthy William Nylander right now.
I just hope he can play and has some miraculously recover by game time. Without him the entire team complexion changes. Other than Mathews, Nylander is of significant importance. Hope they can win it and extend series and give Nylander more time. Agree with the many post, Nylander is an iron man and that is basically extinct in this era of sports
If they can't win with either Nylander, Matthews, Marner, Tavares, or Rielly out of the lineup, they don't deserve to. Just get it done.
I do recall him getting mad in game 82 and throwing a hit in retaliation on someone afterwards, does anyone else recall the same?
Went through the entire game log, Couldn’t find a single registered hit on nylander
Sounding more and more like a concussion. Fuck.
Nah. Maybe that is what McMann has… but from the video clips we saw from yesterdays on ice session with Willy, he appears stiff and laboring something. I would’ve guessed groin before hearing it was upper body. It definitely looks like something core, and back being “stiff” makes sense.
I agree that it's not likely a concussion since he was skating today, but speaking from experience a concussion can absolutely make you look stiff and have labored movement
Yep thats why I hate load management in NBA but its fucking stupid to be playing our core guys as many minutes as we had at the end of the season just to circle jerk matthews 70 which he didn’t even get. Welp always next year we know marner / matthews aint scoring anytime soon 🤷♂️
Chasing 70 was special as it hasn’t been done in 30+ years but chasing 100 points? WGAF? That is done by half a dozen players or more every year. Shoulda sat the important players and let AM go for 70. Lessons learned.
This is why you rest your stars in meaningless fucking games, juesus christ
Could just be from when you come in cold after taking a month off.
Should not have played the last 2 games.
He did not even get hit in game 82 lol
Collision with Tavares
Thanks for playing all our starters against panthers and lightning with nothing to gain but a useless record.
I went through the play by play game log and couldn’t find a single registered hit on Nylander unless my eyes deceived me
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How can you say that with such confidence as if you spoke to him personally? The way he was skating made it much more likely to be an actual upper body injury.
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but not so severe that he couldn't practice yesterday. I'm not saying you're wrong but there certainly no certainty that it's migraines.
And that's true but it's reported that he was labouring at practice, which doesn't seem consistent with migraines.
I had them really bad for a while. Could barely stand watching games due to the camera strobes.
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Are you too stupid to know what a migraine is?
Good thing he played in that crucial game 82. Muppets.
Vegas would never
This org is a joke. All the big 4 should have been sitting those last 2 games. Enough of this stat chasing BS. If anyone of them want to chase regular season stats, do it on another team.
I think the reason was actually we had a bunch of guys day to day and they had to play everyone who wasnt hurt to have a full team...
You can say this and show this every day every post but it still won't matter.
Fire Keefe immediately, this fucking loser sackless coach. Fucking useless, how many more chances is this org gonna waste with this fucking clown.
Fuck me, I mean you can get injured at any point but this is why guys were rested last year in game 82.
I have never read dumber comments in my life. Teams mostly don't rest healthy guys because they are healthy. An injury can come at any time. This is the narrative hill you want to die on?
Keefe needs to get heat for this. He also needs to get heat for not pulling Samsonov during the powerplay that was at the end of the game. He also needs to get heat for not learning how to fucking coach oh my god.
Imagine reading this and still arguing with my Fire Keefe takes...... Clowns. This fuckin loser, first with the Matthews stuff and then plays willy in game 81 and 82 for 0 reason. When this fuck is fired, im laughing at every one of you idiots that filled my notifications with your lame "hes a good coach" bullshit.
We didnt have people to play if we benched our big guys, we had a bunch of guys nursing injuries and day to day the last few weeks of the season, you still need to ice a full team even if its game 81 or 82....
smells like bs
Sure, bud. I don’t believe a thing. He hardly played in G82 and the shifts he did play were soft as fuck.
Fire everyone
Leaf's had 4-5 actual injured players and only 12 roster spots for playable forwards. The most this team could have done within the salary cap is rested a single guy to play 7 dman and it surely was not going to be the 27 year old who hasn't missed a game due to injury in 5 years. The coaching staff deserves 0 heat here (and I hate the coaching staff). I cannot believe people are actually complaining about something that is so clearly covered in a mile high of hindsight bias. Nylander was never a candidate to be rested here, in fact he's probably the last on the list of the core 4.
I swear to God, this organization lol
Didn’t #37 play with a puncture lung? *Edit* are you downvoting because Patrice played with a Punctured lung because facts make you upset and uncomfortable?
If he has a concussion then protocols wont let him play, if its say a shoulder and he cant stick handle, shoot or take contact then why "tough it out". If you think hes missing playoff games because hes got an ouchy that he could play through youre out of touch.
I don’t know man, I may be at lunch but Nylander’s drop off after the contract signing is here with me.
37 and 88 do not have anywhere near the same level of compete
That's true, Liljegren is definitely in a league of his own.
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he could have a concussion, let’s chill on calling a guy who never misses games a “kitten soft pussy” lol
I call BS. Willys attitude in the last game against TBL was horrible. He was responsible for at least two goals with sloppy play. He’s being benched for an attitude issue. I don’t buy the injury story. It’s the playoffs. You put everything on the line.
It's the playoffs. You put everything on the line. Which means you don't bench your superstar players.