hobie

I've been watching Sandin and I notice that he actually body checks, he doesn't just stick check so he is considerably different than Rielly and Barrie. He has a very good chance to become a more well balanced d-man than those 2. Lily probably feels under the gun, make a couple mistakes and he's done, with the Muzzin injury he might feel freer and we might get a better view of his true potential. The prevailing opinion on him when in the A was that defensively he's more developed than Sandin. I'm just hoping they both can learn to not just be puck watching, TO's lone non puck watcher now is Muzzin and before him it was Kostka.

I think the point is, is that TO somehow couldn't become a Cup winner and we have good reason to believe that the core of what we have now might not be excused away sometime in the near future. TO couldn't make it past the first round in the last 3 playoffs and that seems horrible but considering the quality of the opposition I don't find that was anything to be really upset about. How important is it to keep the core forwards together, tonite's game is a prime example. Matthews and Marner couldn't get it done so Nylander and Tavares rose to the occasion. While it's important that a team needs good to great defense, no team can go far without scoring. Pitts. won a Cup because they could score and their lone superior d-man was injured. Hainsey played on the top d pairing. What worked for Pitts was having superior forwards that bought into the necessity for them to help defend, maybe not Kessel. Chicago won a Cup with Niemi in net, Niemi was essentially a backup grade goalie thru his career. When healthy I think TO has a decent enough d to win in the playoffs but that's only if the forwards are willing and able to be responsible. Trading away one of our superior forwards would be a disaster, improving the d would be ideal but there needs to be a way to do that without sacrificing what's great about the team. I'm sort of happy that Rielly and Ceci are injured because if TO is going to be stronger/better in the future it's probably going to be because Sandin and Liljegren are gaining valuable experience, now. That's NHL experience not AHL experience, we need them to develop, now, so they can support what might be a dominant team in the future.

I think the reason the picks didn't pan out is because TO wasn't draft invested, make the playoffs was the mantra at that time. TO has had some pretty good draft choices in spite of itself like Damphousse, Kaberle and many more but TO wasn't prepared to wait so they traded choices before or too quickly after the draft, no Niedermeyer, no Rask. John Ferguson Jr. consulted with the powers that be and recommended TO do a Shanaplan, he was told no, his job was to ensure that TO make the playoffs. TO wasn't spending anything on scouting, it looked like TO's draft choices were selected from The Hockey News' or the like's ratings. The teams were better but the price of that modest success was no Cup for 53 years.

Ya, it was also the era where TO never got over the hump, traded away draft choices constantly looking for the fading star that was more fading than star. In '67 TO won with an old lineup but that lineup was basically comprised of career Leafs and we have a chance to see that again but maybe this time the cast might be younger. I didn't expect TO would be even able to make the playoffs this year, too much money in too few hands but I expect as the Cap rises TO will be able to add quality depth and truly contend.

A good team forces the opposition to adapt to it, adapting to another team means your team isn't good. I saw that TO is 4th in the NHL at possession at close to 53%, that's superior team territory and that's in spite of giving the puck away so much.

The top 6 players listed were 28 or more so if they didn't win they weren't going anywhere ever. Time will tell with the team we have now.

TO isn't a chip and chase team, essentially they'd be gifting the puck to the opposition, that's the game Babs wanted TO to play, it didn't work then... On the PP Nylander either gets the puck into the opposition's end or he passes to the player likely to get there, it's an awesome talent, a true asset that Keefe isn't exploiting. I would like to know why? Thru all of this TO's PP has been awesome, top 4 in the league and since Keefe took over it's been better than when Babs was presiding but I think it could be better.

After last night I thought it best to pen my frustrations. I thought Keefe dropped the ball last night, Carolina was on their game and TO didn't have enough to reply but essentially Keefe couldn't find a way to help them reply, didn't seriously appear to be trying. TO lost to Buffalo last Sunday and I noticed the Eichel line had considerable icetime against TO's 4th line, I don't know why or how that was possible but that kind of innovation is something TO could've used last night. TO's PKing is questionable most nights and a lot of that has to do with goaltending which isn't something that can be fixed this year. Using 3rd and 4th liners to kill penalties, except for Marner, isn't working, hasn't been working and probably won't in the future. It might work for other teams but TO isn't other teams, that needs to change. Use Ny, Matthews and JT to kill some of those penalties, it might not work but we won't know if it isn't tried. PKing is a special team function so why not use special players to kill them. Boston uses Bergeron and Marchand, Florida uses Barkov, other teams use their best players to PK, why doesn't TO? Marchand is in the top 6 for scoring so him having the added PK responsibility doesn't seem to negatively affect his offense. On a night where TO's top 2 lines weren't, it wouldn't have hurt to break up the duos, TO has the forward depth to create reasonably potent 3 lines. Mixing up the bottom 2 lines wasn't a proper response. TO limped into the playoffs last year, played crappy from Xmas on, last year, and thru that Babs mostly kept the lines together. That didn't work with a relatively healthy lineup last year and isn't again this year. Keefe had TO winning when he first took over and he was mixing and matching constantly, even the big 4, we need more of that, maybe. Why oh why isn't Nylander bringing the puck up ice when TO is on the PP, he's TO's best at that and it isn't even close, man that's frustrating. Or even better move Spezza onto TO's top PP unit, he's TO's 2nd best at moving the puck and then TO might have options and be far less predictable. It's really something that TO's 2nd most physical d-man is it's smallest d-man, Sandin. Holl shouldn't be playing with Muzzin, he's horrible, he plays like Rielly, stick only, never uses his size. Holl and Dermott are TO's worst d-men, Marincin is even better by a small increment, they should be on the 3rd pairing. Marner needs to be fined every time he blind backhand passes, and doubly fined when his ill advised passes don't have a hope of being successful. His play is horrendous, he's MIA for most of the games and only noticed when he's again making his patented giveaway passes. This isn't the Marner we loved, it's odd Matthews had the ability to disappear in plain sight but has grown this year to become vital pretty well all the time while Marner is regressing. Marner well always get his points but for each point he's becoming a liability, what, 4 times per game. That penalty on Clifford was BS last night but it was reputation based and that's the problem with having his type of player. He's taken at least 3 poorly timed penalties since he's been with TO and he doesn't draw penalties, considering how poorly TO PKs he's essentially a liability. I'd love TO to augment the lineup with more physicality but that physicality needs to be without the other junk that results in penalties. Let's just hope that was a one off night, some nights the other teams are simply better and that doesn't make TO bad.

Carolina did to TO what TO did to Pitts so it happens. Marner was right, his play lately has been horrible, he doesn't create anymore he simply blind backhand high risk passes rather than explore his options. As the first year after the AM and MM this should be the worse year, I thought that what Dubie did to shore up the team was pretty good, ideal no. For the life of me I don't understand why Nylander isn't bringing the puck up ice during the PP, he's the best TO has at doing that, the best at establishing possession after passing or entering the opponent's blue line, it's maddening. As for taking shots I think TO couldn't make a pass, couldn't establish themselves in the Carolina zone ever after the 1st period. I saw a d to d pass that was like 2 feet that was into the receiver's feet and that was while not being harassed, Carolina was truly on last night, TO wasn't. Not liking this Clifford, he hits but he frequently takes penalties at the wrong time of the game like late when TO's behind. He shouldn't have been penalized for his goalie collision last night, that was a reputation call. This was another night I didn't feel Keefe was on the ball, he's pulling a Babs, leaving the duos together, AM & MM and JT & Ny, even tho they obviously don't have chemistry for this game. Also, I noticed that against Buffalo last Sunday the Eichel line got significant icetime against TO's 4th line, that was good coaching by the Buffalo coach. This was one of those games that teams have to simply move on from.

Well we saw a good team tonite, TO has the talent to thrive in the current NHL, it needs the leaders to lead and the followers to follow. TO's d was excellent tonite but that was because they had the proper support from the forwards, it isn't TO's d that's horrendous it's the commitment from the forwards to help defending. TO's lack of bruisers wasn't missed tonite, TO's speed had Pitts. on edge all night, TO out manned Pitts., out skated them, it's what TO should be.

I think TO was/is built to win via possession and offense and when those aren't working something must be done to shake it up, refind the chemistry. There might be other ways to win but this team isn't built to suit those other ways. Edmonton was essentially built to win the same way and many have said that their best/All-Star d-man couldn't check his coat. They were never a superior defensive team but they could/did win because of their scoring and goaltending. TO's goaltending has been sub par this year, TO's d has been iffy in the past yet TO has managed multiple 100 point seasons. It doesn't matter how good the d is if a team has bad goatending. TO's d hasn't been the best in the past, isn't the best this year and might continue to be a problem in the future, that's the result of a cap system. Balance, covering all bases isn't possible, watering down what's superior about a team to prop up what's bad probably just means you'll end up with a more balanced mediocre team.

I don't think there's anything wrong with how the $s are allocated, pay the better players what they're worth then be happy when they are the better players. Expect the Cap to move making their salaries a reasonable consideration. It would be great if all GMs could deal with Pastrnak's agent but that's not always possible. After this year Tavares' contract has 5 years left. Crosby signed in 2013/14 for 8.7 mil per which was 13.5% of the cap, Matthews signed for 11.6 mil. per which is 14.2% of the cap.

It's still up to the Leaf players, Keefe and Dubie. Last year TO had a .500 record from Xmas to the end of the year, that isn't good enough to make the playoffs from here on in. It's interesting TO changes coaches then goes on a fantastic stretch where they basically dominated , thru that stretch TO continued to get scored on a lot but TO was being, mostly, the team Dubie was looking for, a possession and goal scoring beast. Now the opposition is still scoring against TO but TO's offense is down to a dribble. When teams change coaches there is usually a spike where the team wins for awhile but not normally for 20 games yet TO did so what has changed? I often think coaches get in their own way, they all believe that defense wins, pay attention to details, hustle, be responsible is the common mantra. I don't think that mantra suited this Leaf team with Babs and I doubt it will with Keefe's Leafs. The changes we're seeing makes me feel TO has gone full circle right back to Babsian hockey, the passive box in the d zone both 5v5 and when PKing, the stretch pass, forwards vacating the d zone to early, 1 player harassing the opposition in the opposition's zone, not adapting to what's being seen like continuing with the same lines when nothing is happening, grousing about the players after the game and there's more. You can't do the same old, same old and expect things to improve. Now it might make sense to stay the course and the results might improve, who knows. I would like to see Keefe really change the lines, really shake it up because right now non of the lines are doing well. Kerfoot/Matthews/Spezza Engvall/Tavares/Hyman Clifford/Nylander/Marner Korshkov/Malgin/Kappy Barrie/Holl Muzzin/Sandin Dermott/Marincin The lines and d pairings shouldn't be written in stone, whoever has the jam should be get the most icetime and if these aren't working try something different next game. Matthews/Tavares/Spezza Engvall/Hyman/Marner Kerfoot/Nylander/Korshkov Clifford/Malgin/Kappy and on and on. Keefe has fallen in love where he's allowed the lines to settle but it might be true that familiarity breads predictability and with some teams that might not be ideal.

Winning tonite would be nice but thank God there's March coming up, the struggle gets significantly easier unless TO continues to pile on the injuries.

After losing to Boston what is the next step, becoming a Cup finalist or Cup winner, I'd say. TO extended Boston to 7 games last year, they met the physical challenge so they are taking huge steps but the quality teams are in the east.

I watch Leaf games, if the Leafs don't make the playoffs I don't watch. I don't watch, the Junior championships at Xmas, Olympic games even if Leaf players are involved, WHO, Spengler Cup matches, I only watch Leaf games. I hate defensive games, I want excitement, scoring and ultimately for TO to win. This is proving to be one of TO's most entertaining years, wins like 8-6 are fun, exciting, thank God Babs is gone. I think the NHL needs to inject more excitement into the games and I think icing should be icing whether the team is Pking or not and like during regular play the team that ices the puck shouldn't be able replace the players.

One thing we should appreciate about the Leafs is that they try to match their effort to their opponent. TO hasn't been playing that well but so hasn't their opponents, the opponents that are also trying to make the playoffs.

Due to the CBA TO won't be able to acknowledge that Muzzin has been signed until March , the rumor is that he's signed for 4 years at $5.5 mil. per year. After 49 games this year Muzzin has 17 points, for the last 5 years Muzzin has had 40ish points, I take this as a sign of decline, he's going to be lucky to post 25 points. His physicality isn't as noticeable so what I think makes him a superior d-man isn't as prominent this year and now TO is going to sign him for 4 more years. I'm thinking TO might be signing a far more expensive version of Hainsey. Many think that the reason TO isn't doing well this year is because TO overpaid the big 4 but is that really true. I think TO isn't doing as well as it might, is because too much bad money is tied up in too many bad players. I couldn't understand why TO is paying Kappy and Johnsson over 3 mil. per based on 1 year's production. What's even worse is that those 2 couldn't help TO during the stretch run last year, the bulk of their production came early when all players pad their stats. Those 2 paired with Kerfoot make for a very meh 3rd line and that 3rd line plays against other team's 3rd lines, the opposition's 3rd lines a far cheaper than TO's. Kerfoot also got 3+ mil. but at least he has a 2 year history of scoring 40 points and he had a reputation of being defensively responsible, not sue of that tho. Anyway TO's future depends on value so I hope Dubie has a better grasp of what represents value for TO than what I feel I'm seeing.

Ya, it's not looking great for TO right now but really does it matter. In a perfect world TO should be well established as a top contender and as a Cup favourite but the world isn't unfolding as we Leaf fans want/need. You think we have it bad, how about if TO finished 62-16-4 and then lost in the first round of the playoffs to a team that didn't make it to the finals, a team that barely made the playoffs. Their core was Kucherov 25, Hedman 28, McDonagh 29, Point 22, Stamkos 28 so really there shouldn't have been any excuses.During the playoffs only Kucherov missed a game from the core, TB has a good/great d, toughness, incredible scoring capability, a top quality core piece at every position and they easily defied parity but they only lasted 4 games in the playoffs. So what can be learned from TB, I think it's if your team is in the right place(the zone)when entering the playoffs anything is possible. TO is in the east and there are many good regular season teams in the east, TO is currently tied for 4th overall in the west, but how many of those good regular season eastern teams are actually good, actual Cup contenders and are they actually better than a healthy TO. Come playoff time TO might actually be healthy and in the playoffs. My only concern is TO making the playoffs right now and health will be a major determining factor. TO lost in the 1st round of the last 3 playoff years, terrible yes, but TO lost to a Cup winner, a Cup favourite and a finalist and thru all three years TO lost to far more mature/experienced teams than what TO was. I think we've seen tremendous progress from Matthews and Nylander this year, I don't know how much better Marner can get but I know the size of his heart expands when needed and this is making me feel far more comfortable about TO's future both immediate and in the distance.

Would Colton Orr have been so dum as to take that penalty tonite. Did TO exhibit greater courage because of Clifford? Leo hit everything that moved, did that make him effective?

I read somewhere that Clifford didn't have a fight this year then on TV it was mentioned he has had 3 fights this year.

Let's hope Campbell isn't a lateral to Hutchinson. His stats appear better but he tended for a team who's reputation was defend first, how will his stats endure in TO. Clifford like all aging physical players doesn't hit like he used to, no fights this year, yet still has 45 minutes in penalties. TO's PK isn't that good so is an undisciplined 3rd/4th liner with a waning physical reputation something TO needs, we shall see.

I thought you were saying TO doesn't have the right players because you've stated TO should start shedding players before the TDL. These players with this coach are well positioned to make the playoffs and perhaps even do well. Holl and Sandin look to me to be quality players that TO has now and will into the future, Engvall and Mikeyev are substantial adds this year, I really like the way the team is looking right now and I think it's going to be dangerous especially if it ever gets fully healthy. Hy/Matthews/Marner Mikheyev/JT/Ny Johnsson/Engvall/Spezza Tima/Kerfoot/Kappy I think this forward group can do a lot of damage especially when supported by an active d, something we'd never see with Babs. Rielly/Barrie Muzzin/Holl Sandin/Dermott or Ceci This is the best lineup I can remember TO having in about 20 years and I'm expecting a lot from it.

TO isn't a finished product but I think it's on the right path. TO has 59 points in 50 games and needs, probably, 39 points in the last 32 games to at least make the playoffs, I don't think that isn't something that's possible. If TO does get 98 points that would only be 7 points less than 2 years ago so I don't think this is a down year, it more than likely is a year where TO will make the playoffs a different way, not accumulating significant points early in the year. TO's d isn't ideal but then that's the case with most teams, the ds of any team will never be good enough if the forwards don't buy into participating. Last night Holl pinched and Marner was in the area to back him up, Marner put in a very token backup effort and Nashville scored. The d isn't the problem as Babs had claimed and I'm sure Keefe would also. Wasting TO's forward depth to prop up imaginary defensive problems might in fact be counter productive, it might and probably would send the wrong message to the forwards that would be left. The forwards have to be invested in defending for any team to succeed and bringing in supposed d upgrades might contribute to the forward mindset of not needing to defend. I don't think a mini rebuild makes any sense, in any way. The players need to learn to thrive under pressure, they need to understand how essential they are to the success of the team, they need to take ownership of the results instead of having excuses like bad defenders/bad coaching/injuries/youth. They need to take ownership of the results, a sign of maturity and the path to successes.

Players that TO might draft might take between 3 to 5 years before they're ready for the NHL. In essence they won't be available to TO during much of the prime of what TO has now, what TO has now could possibly be very special if the proper support is accumulated, now. I think loading up on draft choices should be a strategy for teams that are rebuilding like TO did after jettisoning Kessel and Phanny. I think TO should strike while the iron is hot otherwise the window could pass quite quickly.