Ice Cold Takes: Maple Leafs fans are whining about having to play the Bruins again

Ice Cold Takes is a humor column focused on what is trending around the NHL. This week’s column is going to kick off with a bang.

BANG!

Wow, did this week’s column ever kick off with a bang. There’s about a month of NHL regular season left, which means for a handful of teams, the playoffs start now. Carolina, Montreal, Pittsburgh and Columbus will fight for the last seed in the ice cream division and the two wild card spots in the East. Montreal has one more game played than the other three, so let’s all hope they

get caught up in a scandal, fold the franchise and burn down the stadium

don’t make it.

The Western Conference is slightly more convoluted but the teams that are in now probably have the best chance of making it to the playoffs.  Colorado and Arizona are on the outside looking in and don’t be surprised if it stays that way (Although the Coyotes have been hot lately).

There are two virtual locks for round one of the NHL playoffs. The Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs and the Columbus Blue Jackets losing.

Trending Up

Brad Marchand 

Really? Again? Yes, again. Not only has Brad Marchand been hilarious in the media this week, taunting Leafs GM Kyle Dubas with a top-notch troll job, he’s also one of the best human beings in the NHL.

https://twitter.com/jmurphx11/status/1103157777474695168

Hockey players are some of the nicest people on Earth. Marchand gets a lot of hate for what he does on the ice but it’s important to also celebrate what these guys are doing in their respective communities for the people that look up to them. Love you, Brad.

Jillian is a massive Bruins fan who is suffering from a rare genetic connective tissue disorder called EDS. She went semi-viral a little while back for light-heartedly chirping Brad Marchand after he visited her in the hospital (there’s a back story to the chirp). In case you aren’t up to speed, here is Jillian’s story:

Seeing that Brad Marchand and his wife Katrina took the time to not only befriend Jillian, but to tour her around the locker room, crack jokes and generally brighten up her day is truly incredible. All the best to Jillian in her fight with EDS and let’s hope the Bruins can keep rolling!

Travis Konecny 

Mic’d up hockey players never disappoint, but Konecny has an all-time line here: “I was born at night, not last night.”

Trending Down

Playoff format

The playoff format isn’t perfect but NHL hockey teams are much closer in skill level than other sports. The parity in the league is matched only by the NFL and even that is questionable (Damn Patriots ruining everything). The playoff format debate is a story this year because Toronto is upset.

As it stands now (and likely will continue to stand until the playoffs) the Toronto Maple Leafs will have to face their Achilles heel, the Boston Bruins, in round 1 of the NHL playoffs. Is this ideal? Not really, because these two will likely finish as the third and fourth best teams in the league. Still, you don’t hear Bruins fans whining about it.

The Leafs are finally good and all they want to do is complain that their road to the Stanley Cup is too hard. Please! You’re going to see the Bruins on the road to the Cup at some point so why not overcome those demons in the first round. We all know it’s going seven and we all know it’ll be a very close game. I guess it’s harder to enjoy when you’re on the losing end of it.

When Toronto fans spit out their pacifiers and start flailing around in their high chairs, it’s time to change some diapers. For the record, I’m not opposed to the NHL going with a 1-8 playoff format. I’m just opposed to them doing it because Toronto is scared. Speaking of Toronto, let’s check in with a devoted member of the Leafs faithful. Warning: This video is disgusting (and probably an accurate representation of Leafs Nation).

He’s true to his word. Completely unnecessary, especially for a regular season game, but you can’t call this man a liar.

New York Islanders fans

Speaking of trash fan bases, New York Islanders fans are at the bottom of the barrel. John Tavares wasted 10 prime years playing his heart out on garbage teams in New York before choosing to play in his hometown of Toronto and this is how you treat him?

Islanders fans boo’d the hell out of Tavares, so much so that Toronto had to throw him a pregame ceremony at their following home game that made it seem as though he had done something heroic. The guy got a standing ovation for playing a game in a city he used to play in. How brave!

This isn’t about the Leafs response, though. This is about garbage New York fans who yelled, boo’d and threw their old jerseys at Tavares as he walked off the ice during pregame skates. Your team is currently better than they ever were with him. This is like getting a divorce, marrying a supermodel and then trashing your wife on Facebook. Move on, New York. It literally couldn’t be easier to take the high road here. My God.

Devan Dubnyk 

While I think any shootout in any game is a complete horse sh*t cop out way to win, I disagree with Dubnyk that a player slowing down gives him an unfair advantage. In this shootout goal, Ryan Johansen looks like a video game player after a sibling unplugged his controller for a split second before scoring.

It’s a brilliant move. It’s tough for the goaltenders, sure, but it also presents them with a risk/reward decision to make. Stay home and try to save the puck or reach out and poke check it, making Johansen look like an idiot. You think Dominik Hasek was letting this one in? Hell no! Goalies need to adjust, as players did, until the NHL gets rid of the stupid shootout once and for all.

The league should at least up the 3-on-3 time to 10 minutes instead of five. If no one scores in 10 minutes of trading odd-man rushes, they deserve to go to a shootout.

Keep your head up.