Commander Clueless

Makes you wonder what he could do if he actually trained. Sort of like the Babe Ruth of hockey. Except without the tiny legs. Or the whole "legend" part.

A bold move, bringing Owen out of retirement. Someone's got to mentor the kids, though. Might pot a few on Hodgson's wing. Oh wait, Ted. Yeah that could be a good hire. And hey! No kicking the Canucks while they are down! Unless you are Roberto Luongo's twitter account. That's okay.

Fighting that is staged (like 95% of the Leafs' fights last year) serve no real purpose in my mind, except fan entertainment. They are entertaining when they don't detract from the game, which in my mind, happens often. That said, when the going gets rough, being on the winning side of tough is a distinct advantage for the team. Nothing gets the team going like winning the match of hatred. That is extremely situational, though, making enforcers not a great return on investment. Players that can play AND fight are valuable. Like Mark Fraser last year, before he fell back down to Earth. Like a meteor. And made the Coltonorrsaurus Rex extinct.

@yave1964 Not at all! It'll get more attention there probably. It's a bit desolate around these parts. Think I saw a tumbleweed earlier.

@yave1964 Agreed that the Leafs' intensity level has dropped. They are still winning, but this is a different same team as last year (as much sense as that makes). Gone are the Mighty Mighty Maple Leafs. Their defensive game has slumped as well. Last year their penalty kill was on of the best...this year it's one of the worst. Somehow they seem to win, but it's mostly thanks to a potent offense that runs pretty much through Kessel, and Bernier saving their bacon. It's actually pretty crazy how bad they are for goals against compared to their current position in the standings. To be fair to Randy on the goonery front, Fraser, Orr, and McLaren have played like garbage this year. Last year they were all decent energy guys, but this year - ouch. I think (know) they were counting on Clarkson providing more than he has in terms of intensity (never mind scoring...that seems to be a lost cause at this point). Gleason has actually been very good for the Leafs. He's been a steadying presence back there that they desperately needed. They still do need more defense, though. The 7 defense thing seems to be helping, at any rate. At least in the short term.

Lately, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle has favoured opting out of his traditional goonerific 12th forward in exchange for a 7th defenseman on his bench. This 7th defenseman, one Paul Ranger, has responded by providing valuable minutes for the team; an excellent comeback for the man who had earned the nickname "Ranger Danger" from some fans for his frightening defensive gaffs earlier in the season. This welcome change in his game also has the added benefit of reducing the minutes of Dion Phaneuf and Carl Gunnarsson to a more realistic range, as well as taking even strength minutes away from Cody "Just Kidding I'm Still Just a Powerplay Specialist" Franson. Additionally, Carlyle has sung the praises of his ability to now double-shift forwards at certain points in the game to produce more offense. On the other hand, the Leafs have been giving up 3rd period leads in recent games, a frightening trend that brings back memories of the Game That Shall Not Be Named. Obviously this is a small sample size, but one has to wonder if exhausted forwards that already struggle with a two-way game might have something to do with it. Or maybe us Leafers are just paranoid. It is key to note that this Leafs team utilized 3 enforcers last year: Mark Fraser, Frazer McLaren, and Colton Orr. This year, all 3 have not played well. Fraser was traded. McLaren was waived (not picked up). Last year, the Leafs led the league in fights - a trophy which I believe they have forfeited to the Flyers this year. Now, Carlyle (who has always seemed to want an enforcer in his lineup) is running with no enforcers on a semi-regular basis. He seems to be content with less fighting, handled mostly by Tim Gleason and David Clarkson's Jessica Albatross of a contract. So what do we think about Carlyle's strategy? Is it a good idea? Is it bound to fail long term? Is it a viable strategy in the playoffs, should the Leafs make it again this year? The choice is yours. Choose wisely.

I obviously have no insight into what Nonis' prospective deals would have been on deadline day (according to him he made more phone calls than he ever had trying to make something happen), but doing nothing may have been the right call. The problem with the Leafs right now is that they don't really need a "depth" type player. They need a high end defenseman, and (to a lesser extent) a #1 center. They have decent depth at all positions, but their needs are bigger pieces. Those types of pieces weren't really available from the looks of things. Maybe draft time we'll see Mr. Nonis make some moves. I mean, adding depth never hurts, but they don't really have a) much cap space, or b) much in the way of picks/prospects to move at this point. The only thing I could have seen them realistically go for given what happened on deadline day was a 3rd line center, but with Bolland hopefully returning soon and Holland playing decent in a stop-gap role (and the aforementioned cap issues), I don't blame Nonis for standing pat. @jammer2 Ugh...the Clarkson deal may handcuff Nonis this offseason. I didn't like the deal when it was signed, but I thought to myself "self, you are darn good looking. But enough of that....at least Clarkson can bring a needed element of "go to the net-edness" to the Leafs". But no, sadly he has been not only not worth his contract, but completely invisible. Not even grinder-level aggressiveness and energy. He's practically begging for a buyout at this point. Awful, awful signing. Right when the Leafs FINALLY got rid of their bad contracts and buyout hits, Nonis does this. Go figure. @flyercanuck The Leafs came out of the gate flying, and then crashed hard for awhile there which is when Philly caught up. The Leafs made a big surge before the Olympic break that has continued. I don't have the stats handy, but their last 20-30 games have been really good. Leafs always seem to be up and down. Hopefully that stabilizes.

As a fan of a team that didn't make the playoffs for a very long time before last year, I can tell you I watch a lot of hockey in the 1st round, and then it fades. By round 3 I've degraded to vague interest, but it picks up a bit in the finals. For me, the most fun is in the 1st round when it's action packed. Let's just say that didn't change at all when my team got booted out in the 1st round.

The Leafs have lost a lot of their "truculence/goonery" this year compared to last year. The ineffectiveness and consequent trade of Mark Fraser, combined with the loss of Leo Komarov and the relative ineffectiveness of Colton Orr and Frazer McLaren has made the team a fair amount "softer" than last year. Carlyle has been running 11 forwards and 7 defense on a fairly regular basis instead of opting for even a single enforcer, which shows you the difference from the glory days of yesteryear running 3 of them. The enforcer only comes in with teams with enforcers (i.e. playing McLaren against Philly). Also, their penalty kill has gone from one of the best in the league to one of the worst (but that's another story). Passive, sure....but when it comes to hockey, we are "passionate" - which is really just another way of saying we aren't very nice. As far as the Canadian team drought goes, you are right...it's not looking good this year. With Vancouver's apparent collapse, the Canadian teams with the best chances are the Leafs and Habs...which is a little sad. I mean they are pretty high in the East right now, but I don't think either team is ready on paper for cup contention. Could always be surprised, though. Currently I'd be impressed if the Leafs make it into the playoffs with a bottom 5 goals against stat, but so far so good.

@WingNut722 I completely understand that, but I wouldn't underestimate the value of having him for the playoffs and of having time to negotiate a contract before he hits the open market. In all likelihood, Detroit could also explore packages that don't include Tatar. I'm also not 100% they should even be buyers this deadline. They have a good amount of young talent that is up and coming. Waiting until the offseason, as you mentioned, may be the best course of action.

I think you are underestimating Vanek here. He's a great player. Tatar is an excellent young player, but if you have to give him up for a Vanek, in my mind, you do it. Now of course that would be assuming you could theoretically sign him and fit him under the cap, as well as what else you may or may not have to give up, etc.

Well true, but I don't think that has really any bearing on my point. The sprinting is just an example of domination, albeit a weak one when compared to women's hockey. I'm trying to say that one or two countries dominating a sport doesn't make it any less of a legit Olympic sport. If, hypothetically, Jamaica and the US held all the medals in sprinting going back a decade, would there be talk of removing that sport? No. If a sport is considered an Olympic sport than it should be part of the Olympics, regardless of who wins. Taking away women's hockey just because it's dominated by two countries is a silly notion. If men have Olympic hockey, then women have the right to compete too. You can't take away one without taking away the other and not be accused of descrimination. It's not Canada or the States' fault that other countries don't have the interest or the program to compete at the Olympic level.

Let's be honest, they can't get rid of women's Olympic hockey. It would be considered descrimination, and rightfully so. If men's hockey is a legitimate Olympic sport, then so is women's. It has nothing to do with one or two countries dominating a sport or not that make it a legitimate sport. Jamaica and the States tend to dominate sprinting events, but that doesn't make it any less of an Olympic sport. The better question is when do they get rid of the penalty for bodychecking? Or, conversely, get rid of bodychecking in men's Olympic hockey? Make the rules the same.

I don't really remember, but I think there was some voodoo and rumours of some questionable things regarding a goat... Whatever happened, though, it seems to be working lately. I'm kind of sad to see the Olympic break.

Well, its official. Leafs are 11-2-1 in their last 14 games....thus, in future losing streaks, I will be creating threads to counter them.

David who?

So clearly all that was needed for a 5 game win streak was some good ol' bellyaching! Man, I can't believe it took me so long to think of that! Why doesn't everyone try it?

Hey, that's what they get for saying they like facing lots of shots! It's their own fault really. Leafs are amazing at the "pinch-oops-crap" dance.

I think Dubnyk has had the short end of the stick for a while in Edmonton. Not quite sure what his top end will be, but I would not be surprised to see him make a comeback. On the flip side, I feel a bit bad for Scrivens if he gets hung out the same way. Eakins loves him though, so he may shine. Best of luck to Big Ben Scribbles.

It really depends on the return for Kadri of course, but I would think that dealing him now would be a bad choice. He's really the only center on the team that may have that high end potential in him (well, Holland might have an outside shot). But hey, we'll see! Word on the street is that they would trade Kadri, but only if another center was coming back. I'm not sure what type of return I, as a fan, would expect for Kadri, but I bet the market right now would be a buy low scenario. Apparently, though, the Leafs had received an offer involving a good winger, which is really not what they need right now. By my count, they need centers and right-handed defensemen that can play actual defense. For the 15 games or so we've seen Bolland, he's been great in a Leaf sweater, but that injury pronededness is frightening. Yes, I just used the word "pronededness". I like Stastny despite his struggles in recent years, but cap space may be an issue for our beloved perpetual underdogs. Especially if they want to bolster the D. Fortunately, next year some dead cap will clear up, but contracts like Gleason (replacing Liles' contract) and Clarkson may still hurt a bit. In their defense, Gleason has been pretty decent thus far and I am happy to have Clarkson, but the money....it's just too much. I'm really hoping they don't let McClement get away - without him, the Leafs PK is scary. I'll also be sad if they let Kulemin walk.

@yave1964 Kadri actually has looked much better at center than he has on the wing. Unfortunately, his "sophomore" (sort of) season isn't doing him any favours right now. Also, his best buddy Lupul has dried up a good amount too, effectively nullifying the Leafs second offensive line that was a big reason for their success last (sort of) year. But yes, the center position is still rather weak. I'm not sure keeping Grabovski would make much difference to the situation as, on paper at least, it still looks roughly the same. He may be an improvement over Bozak offensively (although this year Bozie has 22 points in 24 games compared to Grabovski's 33 points in 44 games - so he's been pretty decent), but even with Grabo in there we're still lacking the exact same thing - a top flight center. There is still hope Kadri can develop into that, but, we'll see. Although the Grabovski buyout is still a little mind boggling, it really does boil down to getting the third line duty thanks to chemistry between Kadri-Lupul and Bozak-Kessel, and then Carlyle's perception of him not being a good 3rd line center (which I don't think is necessarily true). But that's water under the bridge. Anydangway, the Leafs beat Boston last night - so clearly all we needed was a good ol' complaining session.

Laviolette would certainly fit this team's current style of play better, although personally I'd rather see them conform to the coach's style, rather than conform the coach to their style. Maybe Carlyle doesn't have the personnel to play his ideal style, but if they could play like they did when they saw some decent success last year and early this year, then I don't see the problem. It's almost like they collectively said "screw it! It's too hard!". That, or Carlyle tried to adjust the system and fell flat on his face. That's certainly one theory about Domi's head. The other popular one is an adamantium skull I think. Alas, Bernier. He had looked so good to start. In all fairness, he has been doing quite well...but can't seem to get support. Reimer has been decent as well but again, the team around him insists on playing pond hockey.

Even though I was only six at the time, it has to be the '93 Leafs-Kings series. Because **** me. Totally kidding. It's like the pinnacle of modern Leaf hockey, ending in tragedy, that so many Leaf fans still bellyache about. How sad is that? In (not so) recent history, I'd have to say the 2002 Leafs vs. Islanders series with all the violence. I can't believe how much they let slide in that series, but it was intense hockey.

I see your point, but even with the Selke, very rarely do you see it go to the pure defensive specialists. Selke winners seem to need to have some sort of decent offensive game as well.

It's clearly awarded to the best overall defenseman in the league that year, including both offensive and defensive abilities. They have been doing a great job balancing both sides of what makes a defenseman valuable to their team. I mean, just look at the selection of Erik Karls....pfffhahahahahaha. Wait, are there any Sens fans on this board? Am I about to get Sens-smacked? No but really they should just give it Lidstrom. Retired? What does that have to do with anything? This year, Mr. Keith is looking like he'll win by a fair margin, and honestly it would be well deserved.