Lars Eller takes a shot at the Leafs following a tough loss.

Some serious trash talk after a loss.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 5 years ago
Lars Eller takes a shot at the Leafs following a tough loss.
Justin Cooper/CSM/Zuma

The Toronto Maple Leafs have had a jam packed schedule to kick off the 2018 - 2019 National Hockey League regular season but in spite of that they have come out of the gate hot and have largely run over their competition on their way to a 5 - 1 record on the season thus far.

In spite of their hot start however it seems that not everyone is a believer int he Maple Leafs and in fact some NHL players appear to still believe that the Leafs are a rather mediocre bunch. Toronto is currently on a 4 game winning streak, a streak that was extended on Saturday night when the Toronto Maple Leafs took on the Washington Capitals. Now you would think the Capitals players to be humble in defeat after going down by a score to 4 - 2 against the Leafs over the week end but Capitals player wasn't so gracious. 

Following the Capitals defeat at the hands of the Leafs, Capitals forward Lars Eller was asked to comment on the young and exciting Leafs team that had just defeated his Capitals. Not only did Eller not sing the praises of the Leafs but in fact he appeared to take some passing shots at the Leafs' in spite of the fact that they had just defeated the defending Stanley Cup Champions. Eller instead used the opportunity to praise the likes of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin but make no mistake about it he was also talking a poorly veiled shot at the Maple Leafs in the process as well.

"We were just playing against Crosby and Malkin, so everything kind of drops off from there," said Eller following Saturday's match up. "It's not that special, to be honest. It's a good team, like a lot of others."

That's some serious talk coming from Eller but it's also worth noting that Eller has a long standing rivalry with the Leafs organization. Although the Capitals and Leafs usually only face one another a few times per season under the NHL's current format, the former first round draft pick spent 6 of his first 7 seasons in the National Hockey League as a member of the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs and Leafs have a well documented and long lasting rivalry and no doubt that was ingrained in Eller during the first several years of his professional career. 

Thankfully for Eller, as well as every Leaf fan who wants to see him back up his trash talk, the Leafs and the Capitals are set to face off at least 2 more times during the regular season and additionally could very well end up facing one another in the postseason should both teams live up to the expectations laid out before them this season.

Now to be fair to Eller it wasn't just pure disrespect coming from him following the Leafs big win over the week end, the veteran forward and now Stanley Cup Champion clearly recognizes the talent on the Leafs roster. In spite of stating that the team is not particularly special he did add that he expects them to be competing come the 2019 NHL postseason.

"They'll probably be a playoff team, I would think."

[pub]


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