Former Leaf shreds the Buds for being blown out at home in Game 1
Former Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman turned analyst, Carlo Colaiacovo took to the stand on "First Up" and ripped the Maple Leafs Game 1 performance to shreds on Wednesday - and rightfully so.
He went on a 2-minute tirade and discussed how the Maple Leafs took things too lightly heading into the post-season, believing the Tampa Bay Lightning were wounded prey and would be able to waltz in and take the over series from the get-go.
Instead, the experienced, grizzled Lightning team that has represented the Eastern Conference in the Finals the past 3 seasons tore them apart. While many blame the referees and the incessant calls going against them, Colaiacovo didn't care too much about that and believes the referees had very little to do with the actual outcome.
"Like come on, you guys wanna sit here on a Wednesday morning and complain that the referees screwed you? No we're not doing that, you take the loss because this is what this Maple Leafs team has done a lot of the last couple of years. But don't sit here and take the loss and sound like a bunch of sore losers doing it either. It is what it is, they had a couple of bad calls but at the end of the day they didn't lose because of the referee, they lost because they didn't show up to play.
"You had a team that had everyone believing they were ready for this moment after 12 months of having to live with another playoff disappointment and that's the performance they came out with? They played scared yesterday, they played like a defeated team before they even showed up."
He didn't stop there as he blames the Maple Leafs for not readying themselves properly against a venerable opponent. After 6 consecutive post-seasons where you're ousted in the first round, you need to come to the rink ready and up to the task full well knowing what your opponent is going to be bringing to the table.
"They played like like a beardless bunch of boys that showed up against a Tampa team that was a bunch of bearded bunch of guys with hairs on their chest and names on the cup and said 'welcome to the playoffs'. People forget that they're playing the Tampa Bay Lightning, a team that regardless of how you think they played in the regular season, and maybe we fell into that trap too, they're a team that is built to have success at this time of year because that's all they've known how to do for the last 3 seasons. So if you're not gonna show up and play with the same type of attitude and show up with the same type of physical appearance... then you can't expect to win"
It's only 1 game out of a best of 7 series but the Leafs just forfeited home-ice advantage for the time being with that massacre. Penalties, shaky defense, and abnormally weak goaltending cost them dearly and that's not something that can be present all at once against a Lightning team - or any playoff team for that matter.
Game 2 is scheduled for tomorrow night and you'd have to expect that they will come out swinging to start the game. The Lightning won't back down from a fight and the Leafs' top players have to out-match them and be more disciplined. The mental fortitude of this team was put into question after last night and that's something that has cost them year after year.
"They showed up and played like a beardless bunch of boys against a bearded bunch of guys with hairs on their chest." - Colaiacovo on the Leafs being taken to the woodshed in Game 1 on home ice
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