Okay, this is it, you all get one question of one member of the Leafs management team or coaching staff. Anyone at all is fair game, and all question topics are allowed.
Katya: My question is for Kyle Dubas. Do you think, Kyle, that it’s possible to build a playoff winner, and are you trying to do that, or are you actually just working the process until the percentages align, the bounces go your way, and random variance floats your regular season winning team to the Stanley Cup?
Fulemin: I know I’m not helping much, but the honest answer is that I have nothing I want to ask Kyle Dubas. Either he has a creative offseason planned where he’ll find a way out of the box luck and big contracts have trapped him in, or he doesn’t. If he does, his next moves will speak for themselves. If he doesn’t, his previous moves will already have spoken for him.
Species: Kyle, what are your current opinions on pipelines? Do you think we need to start expansion or twinning of the pipelines that supply raw, crude players to the Maple Leafs via the refinery terminals at Exhibition and St. John’s, or do you think pipeline expansion isn’t necessary because we can pay for refined players to be shipped in by rail from other provinces, or from the US? I ask because the volume and quality of crude talent transferred via the Leafs pipeline appears to be decreasing rapidly, and it may further decrease to nothing after this draft, but that infrastructure doesn’t appear to be your priority any longer, and is sitting there aging while you instead buy refined players on the futures exchange. You used to vocally make a case that pipelines are essential to the success of the Leafs Nation economy. Have you changed your position on that?
Hardev: Dear Sheldon, did you genuinely want Thornton in the lineup (including on the first line), or did you feel like you had to. If it’s the latter, why? Also if it’s the former, whyyyy? You also practiced the Hyman Line a lot in the regular season, why was it never tried in the playoffs? Mikheyev and Engvall were going pretty well and it was clear the team needed some umph.
Dear Manny Uncle, stop making us look bad! All your sisters and aunties have chappals at the ready in case you need some motivation to get the power play going next season.
Dear Kyle, I know you believe in Marner, but there might come a time where you have to admit you were wrong. I hope you will accept that decision if/when it comes, because I am currently living in fear that you won’t.
Dear Greg Moore, Marlies fans have lots of questions for you. Namely why and the inaudible sounds of pulling hair from skin. What I want to know is was the team this year just trying to get through the pandemic, or was the lifelessness dating back to last year a symptom of something else. I get that the defense at the very end of the season was mostly made up of brand new rookies, but there is still so much disorganization even from the guys who have been here a while. A bad team can still be well-coached; be in the right places and do the right things and still get scored on. I just have major concerns about the commitment and motivation on the ice.
[Editor’s note: Hardev has broken all the rules of this post, but I can’t penalize him because it’s the playoffs.]
Now it’s your turn, what do you want to know, and who do you most want to answer for what they’ve done or not done?