If Mitch wins the Cup in Vegas this year or next year, does that say something about the culture in Toronto? Are guys like Matthews and McDavid doomed in big Canadian markets like Toronto and Edmonton? Will these big stars with generational talent have to leave Canada to win the Cup?
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I think people posting stuff like this were/are the problem lol
Fresh starts can be fun, they should be, this isn’t about Toronto
Fans are the bigger problem, especially in Toronto
Someone posting his a home address and his father in law having to call him and let him know tells you all you need to know about Toronto.
News flash. Nobody is going to want to play there from Canada. I’m forever a Mitchy supporter bc of the way that fan base treated one of their own…
Have his teeth always been so big
If Vegas wins it won’t be because of Mitch. Now if he shows up in the playoffs goes on a tear and scores the gwg in the final i’ll shut up but i don’t see it. Now Toronto isn’t gonna get shit done until they get a fuckin shrink to follow the team around and fix those goofs. Im 100% convinced it’s mental for the Leafs.
Uh yea.
Vegas has already won a cup.
Toronto cant get past 2nd round.
Most likely scenario is that neither Vegas nor Toronto win the cup in next few years, and the question about what is / was the problem will remain an unanswered mystery.
Still, would be fun if either of them wins.
Toronto is A problem. It’s not always THE problem.
When Kessell was traded, he was a 30-35 goal scorer sent to a team with the best 1-2 punch in the world and they were former champs.
Marner is a 100pt player on the team with one of the best depths and also former champs.
Honestly both cases are right player for the right team
Mitch will drop 120pts this year, followed by 4 points in 4 games in the first round and then revert to his old ways when the chips are down. When the checking gets tight Marner turns into David Copperfield.
He wanted all of the glory with none of the responsibilities, he complained that fans would snap pictures of him in public, and that some had the gall to even ask to take one with him *gasp*
The death threats are unacceptable, bar none. Half of those fans aren’t even fans of Toronto and are just in it for the meme. BUT literally every professional athlete gets them when they blow up a $10 parlay with +5000 odds lmao. 10 ply soft shit. Nylander takes the damn subway to games and he had it way worse than Mitch ever did.
It’s truly a shame it’s come to this, he should have been in bronze in Toronto, but his legacy will be a quitter, having a poor attitude and his dickhead father.
I’m hoping for the Conn Smythe timeline because that would be hilarious
Yes, Canadian markets are suffocating for NHL players. They can’t live a normal life. It’s fine when you are young and carefree, get a family and have kids and you can’t go to anything without someone taking your picture will wear you down. Play in almost any US city and that will rarely happen, if ever.
I thought about commenting on the actual question and then I decided to take my own advice and just wish him success and happiness in this new chapter.
I don’t think it can be blamed solely on the organisation, but there probably is a mentality/pressure because of having not won a cup for so long. Players are people and with that level of pressure, I can see why they’d crumble every year with either a lack of self belief or just generally under the pressure of being ‘the ones’. Even more so when the fanbase is so passionate and dedicated as Toronto’s.
The Toronto situation reminds me a hell of a lot of the Argentinian football/soccer team. There was so much toxicity and fan pressure on them to win a world cup because they hadn’t won since the 80s- especially on the backs of their big players such as Messi- and the moment they actually managed to win one? It was like a huge weight was lifted from their shoulders. Sometimes talent isn’t enough if you haven’t got the belief, luck and general mentality to handle such high pressure.
Toronto management and the fans are the problem.
I hate this conversation so much. Let’s say there is truth to this notion that there is too much pressure playing in Canada. What are you then implicitly saying about hockey players? That they’re mentally weak.
In every other sport, the stars seek out the markets with the biggest spotlights. They want the pressure because that means they matter. Are hockey players so mentally fragile that they can’t be expected to perform at their best in a market where they matter?
Hockey players, quite frankly, could not even fathom the media and fan pressure that European and South American soccer stars are under, or NFL quarterbacks, etc. So either save me the pity party or admit that you’re too mentally fragile to be a star athlete.
OH neat, ANOTHER high profile Canadian talent on a Canadian team goes to a Southern US team.
IMO, Canadian cities are not the problem. I think players in general wanna play for teams that they see a potential of winning with. Canadian cities have pressure yes but so does Boston, so does Chicago, so does New York etc. I think ultimately the most important thing, is who you put in charge of your team. Who the GM is. It starts at the top and when the top is incompetent, the incompetence will trickle down all the way to the bottom. You may get lucky with some draft picks, but you gotta be consistent with your draft picks. If you look at Toronto for example, in my opinion, this is a team that they built for the regular season. There are players that get you to the playoffs, and there are players that get you through the playoffs. Toronto didn’t have enough of the second type. And when you don’t have enough of those type of players, then more pressure is put onto the core to deliver. The core can’t do everything, they need a good supporting cast. You need big goals from unlikely players when your big players are inevitably going to be covered. Depth is the key to winning a Stanley Cup imo.
If I look at Montreal now compared to the past decade or two, just look how different the atmosphere and team is here now. And what’s changed? Well they have GM’s that are competent, they have a draft team that delivers on a way more consistent basis, and their player development is way better. That starts at the top.
Now it remains to be seen if free agents are gonna wanna sign here, but from what it looks now, this is the same city with the same fans and things are way more positive now than they used to be. It’s like I said, when the top is incompetent then that will trickle down to the bottom. The most important part of building any team is having a GM that knows what he’s doing.
I’m more concerned about Torontos draft record than the culture situation. Riellys their only drafted and developed dmen * on the roster.
Who cares. Bye Mitch. We didn’t win anything with you so like…whatever
Yes. Toronto is the problem.
Marner didn’t do himself any favors but the toxicity of the fans. This has nothing to do with saying shit online, that’s expected. It’s the posting personal information, photos of his family, harassing him at home, etc that went way too fucking far.
Matthews is about to find out real soon how bad it can be without Marner there to deflect all the fan hate.
Will the Maple Leaf fan base just focus on their own fucking team. Jesus christ
About the culture?
Or cap management?
Or draft record ?
Coaching ?
There is so many variables. And yes they probably failed their cup window because of one or more of the above, like many teams.
I find it absolutely hilarious that the fans are tired of this story. Really? Oh NOW you say it’s too much coverage??? Well guess what? That is exactly how the rest of the fans in Canada feel when it’s hockey season and the TSN and Sportsnet cram Leaf coverage down our gullet 24-7. It’s all they talk about. There could be a huge story but they show the Leafs game highlights first. So many shots of Matthews sitting on the bench spitting. That’s a good drinking game by the way. But seriously, Marner was your recent scapegoat. The team stinks, and you let a 100 point player walk. Nothing in return. And I’m laughing because no one is blaming Matthews. He floats and we will see the pressure get to him this year. Leaf fans have done this for years. It was Kessel before, and Larry Murphy before him. It starts at the top as another person noted here. Treliving did the same thing in Calgary. Lost Gaudreau and Tkachuck for almost nothing. Yes they got Huberdeau but I mean come on. The fans don’t make it any better, but it’s also the media coverage, the incompetent management and brutal drafting. Good luck this season.
Goodness gracious. I know therapy is expensive, but the mental energy that has been expended on this break up is a lot.