The Cobra
04-10-2016, 04:51 PM
Cobra.....
What a difference a year makes, what a difference of who`s in last makes. Last year at this time the Toronto media was busy ripping the Oilers and Sabres for "purposely" tanking for the rights to draft Connor McDavid 1st over all.........but this year it`s the Leafs so the spin on tanking is different. Last year the idea of tanking was deplorable (Toronto media) and teams guilty should be penalized(Toronto media)....this year it is nothing less the disguised(lmao) geniuses hard at work. MLSE has once again duped their fans.....losing now is a good thing(to MLSE)....and losing seasons over the next couple years is a better thing because we get better draft picks. If Leafs Nation actually buys this kind of slop MLSE and their media is feeding us having losing teams decade after decade after decade looks good on us. Things are indeed looking up in Leafland.........of course it is...we`re in last place...everything and anything is up.
Thumbs up to the Maple Leafs' “perfect tank"
By Dave Hodge
http://www.tsn.ca/polopoly_fs/1.380873.1445534677%21/fileimage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/maple-leafs-mike-babcock.jpg
Maple Leafs Mike Babcock, CP
The Maple Leafs’ 30th-place finish has been described as the “perfect tank.” Here’s why.
Following the February 29th trade deadline, when their dressing room became a clearing house for free agents-to-be, the Leafs played well enough and won often enough to avoid the look of a team that was determined to lose.
In many of their defeats, they came up just one goal short. And all the while, they remained, quite respectably, in last place.
Near the end of the season, there were only two games that, had they won them, could have cost the Leafs the most favourable draft lottery odds. The first was Wednesday’s 5-1 loss on home ice to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
A Toronto win that night would have allowed the Edmonton Oilers to sit still in 30th place, but that was the night the Oilers said farewell to Rexall Place, and if it was ever important to win a meaningless game, that was the time, never mind one more first overall draft choice.
Edmonton’s win that night freed the Leafs to win again if they wished and they did, to the tune of Thursday’s 4-3 overtime decision in Philadelphia that caused the Flyers some temporary concern for their playoff future.
There was no way the Leafs could be accused of tanking when they upset a playoff-bound team on the road, thus avoiding a loss that would have cemented their 30th-place finish.
And so it was that last night that would decide last place. If the Leafs gained a point or two in New Jersey, and the Oilers failed to do the same in Vancouver, Toronto would finish 29th. The second game, only two, mind you, that had to be lost to guarantee the best odds in the draft lottery.
http://www.tsn.ca/polopoly_fs/1.391665%21/fileimage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_300/auston-matthews.jpgAs they had done against Columbus in the first one, the Leafs scored first against the Devils, so there was more anti-tanking evidence, but they didn’t score thereafter and another 5-1 loss in New Jersey made it official - the 30th-place Leafs own a 20 per cent chance of landing the number one draft choice and the prize, Auston Matthews, that seemingly comes with it.
The Leafs never played well enough to rise above last place. They never played badly enough to be accused of intending to finish behind every other team. They did manage to lose twice when it absolutely mattered.
It was the “perfect tank.” “Thumbs down” if that’s what they intended. “Thumbs up” for making it hard to tell.
What a difference a year makes, what a difference of who`s in last makes. Last year at this time the Toronto media was busy ripping the Oilers and Sabres for "purposely" tanking for the rights to draft Connor McDavid 1st over all.........but this year it`s the Leafs so the spin on tanking is different. Last year the idea of tanking was deplorable (Toronto media) and teams guilty should be penalized(Toronto media)....this year it is nothing less the disguised(lmao) geniuses hard at work. MLSE has once again duped their fans.....losing now is a good thing(to MLSE)....and losing seasons over the next couple years is a better thing because we get better draft picks. If Leafs Nation actually buys this kind of slop MLSE and their media is feeding us having losing teams decade after decade after decade looks good on us. Things are indeed looking up in Leafland.........of course it is...we`re in last place...everything and anything is up.
Thumbs up to the Maple Leafs' “perfect tank"
By Dave Hodge
http://www.tsn.ca/polopoly_fs/1.380873.1445534677%21/fileimage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/maple-leafs-mike-babcock.jpg
Maple Leafs Mike Babcock, CP
The Maple Leafs’ 30th-place finish has been described as the “perfect tank.” Here’s why.
Following the February 29th trade deadline, when their dressing room became a clearing house for free agents-to-be, the Leafs played well enough and won often enough to avoid the look of a team that was determined to lose.
In many of their defeats, they came up just one goal short. And all the while, they remained, quite respectably, in last place.
Near the end of the season, there were only two games that, had they won them, could have cost the Leafs the most favourable draft lottery odds. The first was Wednesday’s 5-1 loss on home ice to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
A Toronto win that night would have allowed the Edmonton Oilers to sit still in 30th place, but that was the night the Oilers said farewell to Rexall Place, and if it was ever important to win a meaningless game, that was the time, never mind one more first overall draft choice.
Edmonton’s win that night freed the Leafs to win again if they wished and they did, to the tune of Thursday’s 4-3 overtime decision in Philadelphia that caused the Flyers some temporary concern for their playoff future.
There was no way the Leafs could be accused of tanking when they upset a playoff-bound team on the road, thus avoiding a loss that would have cemented their 30th-place finish.
And so it was that last night that would decide last place. If the Leafs gained a point or two in New Jersey, and the Oilers failed to do the same in Vancouver, Toronto would finish 29th. The second game, only two, mind you, that had to be lost to guarantee the best odds in the draft lottery.
http://www.tsn.ca/polopoly_fs/1.391665%21/fileimage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_300/auston-matthews.jpgAs they had done against Columbus in the first one, the Leafs scored first against the Devils, so there was more anti-tanking evidence, but they didn’t score thereafter and another 5-1 loss in New Jersey made it official - the 30th-place Leafs own a 20 per cent chance of landing the number one draft choice and the prize, Auston Matthews, that seemingly comes with it.
The Leafs never played well enough to rise above last place. They never played badly enough to be accused of intending to finish behind every other team. They did manage to lose twice when it absolutely mattered.
It was the “perfect tank.” “Thumbs down” if that’s what they intended. “Thumbs up” for making it hard to tell.