Head Coach Jon Cooper spoke to the media following the Bolts 5-3 loss to the Toronto Maples Leafs on Monday night at Scotiabank Arena.
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3 Comments
Leafs fan here. What's happened to the Bolts? I used to dread when the leafs would play the Lightning because I was always worried a leaf player was going to get hurt because the Lightning always played so hard, rough, in your face, hit every damn minute, just constant pounding, by EVERY lightning player, and a forecheck so hard and fast that our D never got a chance to figure out their next move and cough up the puck or toss it out to center and the Bolts come right back in again. I used to think, "Man, those guys (lightning players) would go in the trenches for each other and die for each other, I wish the leafs would do that!"
This year, at least from my perspective, the team seems a bit slower, doesn't have that same dog-on-a-bone mentality for the puck, and just not as tough to play against. Honestly, I used to dread those games but now I miss them. 😕 I hope the Lightning get some of that team toughness back (having just a few players on the team doing it just isn't the same as when the team as a whole is all on the same page). I miss their "All for one and one for all" mentality (or if it's still there, I guess I don't see that translating into their on-ice game/attitude like previous years). Then again, I also miss seeing Stamkos there.
Gotta love Toronto media lol. "Please tell us about how great you think the leafs are?"
Keeping the core together was the right decision. I knew eventually they would break through in a league that is ultimately getting younger. They're turning into men, and they're starting to believe.