Why the Leafs lost

 

On Sunday night, the Toronto Maple Leafs lost the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs to the Florida Panthers. They didn't just lose.  They lost ignominiously.  They played without heart.  What kind of team comes out flat for a decisive seventh game playoff in their home arena.  Thousands of fans were cheering for them.  They should have been pumped.  They were not.

The Maple Leafs, as presently constituted, are not built to prevail in the post-season.  They do very well in the regular season, but they can't seem to get past the second round of the playoffs.  They lack something.  Depth?  A winning spirit?  They certainly lack the ability to rise to the occasion.  

As members of the team pack their bags and head to golf courses, it's time for a post-mortem.  The Leafs' defeat may finally signal the end of the Core Four, and it's about time!  The Leafs were never going to win the Stanley Cup with so much of their cap devoted to four players.  As for team president Brendan Shanahan, his future with the Leaf organization is very much in doubt.  The Shanaplan is effectively dead.  It has failed to bring home Lord Stanley's Jug, a feat that has not been accomplished by Toronto's NHL team since 1967.  

Mitch Marner is expected to be the first member of the Core Four to leave the team.  It's doubtful that the Leafs will pay him the kind of money he'll be asking for.  Number 16 (my favourite number) was booed off the ice on Sunday night.  He has likely played his final game in a Leaf uniform and will seek free agency.  However, I don't think Marner deserved so much of the blame for the team's poor performance.  Where was Captain Auston Matthews?  He seemed to be missing in action.  I am not questioning Matthew's talent as a goal scorer.  He's a great player.  He scored 69 goals last season.  Unfortunately, he has never been a prolific scorer in the playoffs.  He has never dominated when it's all on the line.  He's no Sidney Crosby or Mario Lemieux or Wayne Gretzky or Connor McDavid.

On August 23, 2023, Auston Matthews signed a four year, $53,000,000 contract with a cap hit of $13,250,000 per season.  His contract expires at the end of the 2027-28 season, when he will be 30 years old.  So, he's going to be around for a while.

Matthews' performance this season has not been as strong as it was last season because he has been plagued by an injury.  I doubt he is 100 per cent.  However, it is not Matthews' injury that really concerns me.  It's his lack of leadership skills.  He doesn't seem able to rally his team.  I don't understand why he has replaced John Tavaras as team captain.  Tavaras is much more mature and far more experienced,  He demonstrated his maturity by not whining and complaining when the "C" was taken away from him.  He just continued to help the team.  He scored 34 goals as a 34-year-old this season.

Mitch Marner

Auston Matthews

William Nylander will also be around for a while, too.  In January of 2024, Nylander signed an eight year, $92,000,000 contract with a cap hit of $11,500,000 per season.  His contract expires at the end of the 2031-32 season when he will be 36 years old.  

On July 1, 2018, John Tavares signed a seven year, $77,000,000 contract with a cap hit of $11,000,000 per season.  His contract with the Leafs expires at the end of this season.  He will turn 35 in September.  After the Game 7 loss to Florida, Tavares said that he wants to remain in Toronto.  That's not surprising because he's married with a family, and he wouldn't want to uproot them.

When asked about his future, Mitch Marner replied, "Pretty devastated.  I don't have any thoughts right now . . . I've always enjoyed this team.  I haven't thought about anything [with my future].  Just trying to put my best foot forward and come here and try to win hockey games and help try to win that ultimate goal."

Ah, yes.  Mitch knows that ultimate goal is not a great regular season.  The ultimate goal that Marner alluded to is the Stanley Cup.  It has eluded the Toronto Maple Leafs for 58 long years.  Now that they are officially eliminated from this year's competition, I'll be cheering for the Edmonton Oilers.  A Canadian-based team has not won the Cup since the Montreal Canadiens in 1993, almost 32 years ago.  It's about time we brought Stanley home to a city and a country where hockey really matters.

- Joanne

Vocabulary Quiz:- Names of Colours

 

Number 16 Vocabulary Quiz #9

Can you identify ten words that are names of colours.  Test your knowledge.  Ready! Set! Go!

1. Vermillion

A.  A bright yellow

B.   A brilliant red colour

C.   A white vanilla colour

D.   A peach colour

E.   A rusty orange colour

2.  Ochre

A.  Light purple

B.  Very dark blue

C.  Yellow to deep orange or brown

D.  Light pink

E.  None of the above

3.  Titian

A.  Lemon shade

B.  Bright silver

C.  Brownish-orange

D.  Golden 

E.  Lime coloured

4.  Indigo

A.  Dark green with yellow tinges

B.  Pale blue with yellow tinges

C.  Orange-blue colour

D.  Greenish-blue colour

E.  Deep blue colour

5.  Fuchsia

A.  Pinkish red

B.  Light grey

C.  Bright orange

D.   Dark purple

E.   Light purple

6.  Periwinkle

A.  Dark orange

B.  Light orange

C.  Greenish-blue

D.  Dark purplish-blue

E.  Light purplish-blue

7.  Bisque

A.  A shade of dark orange

B.  Shade of pale orange

C.  Cream colour

D.  Light red

E.  Shade of light yellow

8.  Khaki

A.  Light shade of green

B.  Dark shade of green with a  slight yellowish tinge

C.  Dark shade of green with a heavy yellowish tinge

D.  Light shade of tan with a slight yellowish tinge

E.   Light shade of tan with a heavy yellowish tinge

9.   Xanadu

A.  Greenish-grey hue

B.  Brownish-grey colour

C.  Purple-blue hue

D.   Purple-grey hue

E.    Greyish-black colour

10.  Magenta

A.  Light red

B.  Light orange

C.  Bright orange

D. Purplish red

E.  Light yellow and soft purple

ANSWERS

1.  B

Vermilion is a brilliant red colour.  Example: "I saw vermilion streaks of sunlight in the sky.

2.  C

Ochre is yellow to deep orange or brown,  It is a natural earth pigment..

3.  C 

Titian is a brownish-orange colour.  The term originates from an an Italian artist named Titian who would paint women with a tint of red hair.

4. E

Indigo is a deep blue colour.

5.  A

Fuchsia is a pinkish red colour.

6.  E

Periwinkle is a light purplish-blue.

7.  B.

Bisque is a shade of pale orange.  Think of the creamy soup from which it takes its name.

8.  D

Khaki is a light shade of tan with a slight yellowish tinge.  It is used by armies for uniforms and equipment, especially in desert regions, where it provides camouflage.

9.  A

Xanadu is a greenish-grey hue,

10.  D

Magenta is a vibrant purplish-red colour.

- Joanne

Democracy is alive and well in Canada

Canada has just held a federal election. The campaign ran for just 36 days.  The result: Democracy is alive and well in this country.  Why do I say that?  Not because Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives failed to form the government.  I have made no secret of the fact that I am not enamoured of Poilievre's policies and I certainly wish the Conservatives had a leader who was more of a centrist.

To his credit, however, Poilievre delivered a dignified concession speech, as did Jagmeet Singh of the NDP and Mark Carney of the Liberals.  All three delivered speeches that were gracious, especially Singh, whose party had a difficult night.  He resigned because he lost his own seat in British Columbia and the NDP was reduced to 7 seats, losing official party status.  Many NDP supporters voted strategically in order to prevent the Conservatives from forming the government.

Poil

Singh

Poilievre, for his part, did not attack the other leaders. He did not refuse to concede.  He did not blame anyone or anything for the fact that his party did not win the election.  He merely said that the Conservatives fell just short of finishing the job.  Meanwhile, Carney spoke of humility and admitted that he had made mistakes.  He said he intended to serve as prime minister of all Canadians.  Can you imagine Trump or JD Vance saying something like that?  Never in a million years.  There was no talk by any of the leaders of the election being stolen or rigged.  How refreshing!  How civilized!  How democratic!

Carney

The road ahead will not be easy.  Canadians face challenges that they have never faced before.  Since Donald Trump is abandoning U.S .leadership in the world, Canada must form new trade alliances.  Canada and Europe must fill the leadership void.  Our great nation must provide some stability in a world of Trumpian chaos.

- Joanne

Canada's crucial election

Today Canadians face the most consequential election in our nation's history.  In this election, we will choose which direction this country is headed.  The biggest issue is confronting Donald Trump.  The unstable U.S. leader wants to break us.  He challenges our sovereignty.  He repeatedly says that he wants us to be the 51st state.  He wants our natural resources.  He is not joking.  He means what he says.

Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada is not the answer.  He could never really stand up to Trump, because the two are cut from the same cloth.  If Poilievre were a beer, he'd be "Trump Lite." He has only distanced himself from Trump because of Trump's tariff threats.  However, Poilievre is far more right wing than Joe Clark and Robert Stanfield.  He and Stephen Harper have made sure that there is no "progressive" remaining in the name of the party.  The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada has truly become The Conservative Party of Canada.

Poilievre has spent a lot of time and money telling Canadians that Canada is broken.  Isn't that reminiscent of the way Trump's claim that only he could fix America?  Poilievre will do noting to combat climate change.  In fact, he talked about getting rid of paper straws  and bringing back plastic straws.  Doesn't that echo Trump's attitude toward the environment?

Poilievre wants to cut government spending drastically.  He wants to cut taxes.  He will cut much-needed social programs to pay for his tax cuts.

Poilievre claims that he will be tough on crime.  At the same time he sparks fears.  Yes, the public must be protected, but the answer is not so one-sided.  It's not either/or.  We must also deal with the social problems that contribute to crime.  Dealing with root causes won't put an end to crime, but it will help.  Spending money on building more jails, as has been done in the U.S., will not solve things either.

Poilievre

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s lack of explicit condemnation of far-right individuals and groups is a silence that speaks volumes about his willingness to court voters with more extremist views, according to those who study extremist movements.

And as incidents continue to mount in which Poilievre is photographed rubbing shoulders with people openly supporting far-right causes, questions will continue to mount about how open the Conservative leader is to more polarizing ideologies, they say.

Teresa Wright

iPolitics

April 29, 2024

Here is a headline from CBC news - January 9. 2025

Elon Musk praises Poilievre, mocks Trudeau as he steps into Canadian politics

"Poilievre is simply dialed into the truth behind the anti-human globalist agenda,” 

- Far-right U.S. conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.  

Jones is best known for losing a $1 billion defamation lawsuit brought by the families of the Sandy Hook school shooting.  He has also described Poilievre as "the real deal." 

Dennis Prager, a conservative commentator, notorious for once lamenting that "the Left has made it impossible to say the N-word, praised Poilievre in an episode of Dennis Prager Podcasts.  

“He’s a good-looking guy, I hope he becomes Emperor of Canada."

- Dennis Prager praising Pierre Poilivre.

Note;  I encourage everyone to vote and to embrace democracy.  I have already voted in advance polling.  

- Joanne