Otter

I think many Flyers fans can agree that Ristolanian was pretty damn awful last season and played extremely slow on defense. I just wonder if Torts becomes the head coach how he will play with Torts foot up his *** ? Will that just slow him down more or will that light a fire up his ***?  

#1. Rick Tocchet- He was already considered a replacement midway through the season for Bowness before negotiations broke off. Could they resurface and Tocchet become the head coach next season for the Dallas Stars? There has to be some interest in him from the FO.

#2. Jeff Halpren- The Assistant Head Coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning has to be given some of the credit of the success of what the Lightning have done these past years and especially with the success of the power play. He also played a few seasons with the Stars and could easily be a good addition as head coach behind the Stars bench.

#3. Marc Savard- the head coach of the OHL Windsor Spitfires. He has zero experience coaching in the NHL, but has been a very successful coach of the Spitfires. He also coaches one of the top Dallas prospects and has helped him turn into an offensive weapon this past season. He deserves an interview. 

2 hours ago, Brewin Flames said:

I'd love to have him come back for one more year....get more ice time, i still feel like he's got gas in the tank.

 

Records to break as well.

Yeah, he might have a little gas left in the tank, but sometime during the season he is gonna have to refuel those tanks and right now gas is extremely expensive. 

Fiala says....

Torterella will definitely light a fire under the team because that is what he does. He will have players who love him and players who hate him because his coaching style will be totally different from the previous. The fans will either love his style or hate his style of coaching. It also will also come with success or not.  My main concern with the signing of him is what happens if he comes up with some sort of disagreement with how he is coaching with the GM Chuck Fletcher? Torts isn't gonna take #%*! from Fletcher when it comes to the way he coaches the team or any aspect of what goes on the ice. I don't know how that will work. 

Just now, CoachX said:

I choose hate!

 

I believe there are a lot of fans who choose that as well. 

Just now, CoachX said:

I think the NHL only exists so the Flyers have a place to play..... I will say this, unrelated, I went to Stars vs. Flyers back in the fall. Nice venue you guys have. It wasn't for the friggin Cowboys, I might like Dallas

I think it is great to be that passionate about your team, but it is also great to be passionate about the game in general. Oh well. Yes the venue we have is nice. The Cowboys are either a love or hate type of thing for most people. 

3 minutes ago, CoachX said:

I dont watch the playoffs if the Flyers arent in them, so I wouldn't know

Your loss. 

I am a huge Dallas Stars fan, but I am also a huge NHL fan in general as well. 

1 minute ago, CoachX said:

It's really simple....Flyers arent in the playoffs, therefore they suck!

 

And like I said, the Stars are no longer in the playoffs and have missed the playoffs many times, but that doesn't make them any less entertaining. 

Playoffs Suck.... Say What?????

I never understood this logic.

#1: The Stanley Cup Playoffs and NHL Hockey and specifically the Dallas Stars regular season hockey for the most part is family time for myself and my two boys ages 10 and 8. My boys play Ice Hockey in a Rec. League and enjoy picking out special plays that the players make and I enjoy watching them do this as well. This is a time for me to pass down a passion that I enjoy to my boys and hopefully one day they will do the same with their kids. 

#2: The Dallas Stars have not won the Stanley Cup since the 1998-99 season when I was just a tween gal at the time approaching my teenage years. So it has been a very long time. There have been seasons where the Stars have not made the playoffs at all or like this seasons exited early. That has not stopped me from watching the rest of the games because they are entertaining.  Watching talented players from other clubs that I regularly do not get to watch because I am watching my Dallas Stars is a treat. Players such as McDavid, Vasilevskiy, Gaudreau, Mackinnon and others make it very enjoyable to watch the playoffs in its entirety.

#3: In the end this is a game we are watching and sports in general to bring enjoyment and entertainment into our lives. Not make us miserable and think they suck. There is enough going on in the world that already does suck so sports should be something that is far from that. 

Just now, Math said:

 

If he gets a hattie, I'm wondering what sort of things will be thrown on the ice.

Water Bottles of course.

2 minutes ago, 3 Palmateers said:

With the Leafs you just never know. Thornton was up with Matthews and Marner when he was here. Simmonds has been on PP1. 

 

Heck, they moved Rielly off PP1 for Gio in the playoffs. 

 

The Leafs are in a perpetual training camp situation. It does not matter if it's Game 7 or the middle of a season. Always experimenting. Always tinkering. 

 

I like that early in a season, but it's endless. 

 

Gio will likely play on all pairs next season. 

 

Just a quick comment on Rielly. He's just horrendous defensively. Very very low on his game and potential to improve there. He's nice offensively. Not special but a very good player in that regard. Sandin has some real potential offensively as does Liljegren. Sandin has the want to and great attitude for hitting and defensive play. His body is just not there yet. Liljegren is inconsistent like most young Dmen.

 

Overall, the D corps is pretty depressing and that's punctuated by Gio looking so good there because the rest are so bad. 

 

Leafs will remain top-heavy with suspect D and goaltending. Another likely 1st round out. Better be careful as teams like Detroit build toward respectability. Montreal will reload and Ottawa has some nice pieces. 

I believe all teams tinker throughout the season to find the right combinations on lines and there is nothing wrong with that at all but there comes a time where consistency has to come into play and that should be towards the end of the season and definitely within the playoffs. There should not be tinkering going on during the playoffs unless the team has some sort of major injury that disrupts the system. 

6 minutes ago, Math said:

 

If we give Pavelski an 8-year extension, Pavelski/Robertson could be a legitimate contender 

I love Pavelski, but I am not sure about 8 years. ROBO is definitely a future 50 goal scorer for the club. 

7 minutes ago, Math said:

Benn/Seguin (Some days in 2015)

Not last season. 

I haven't watched the Toronto games exclusively this past season, but I also imagine they had injuries come into play during the season and some of those injuries were probably on the defense. That can also affect the other dmen TOI. Like I said, I don't know where the injuries fell during the season but I can guarantee you the Leafs had them. 

As for next season we can sit here and speculate as to say how many minutes he will skate per game or what line he will play. That will not be determined by us in the end and will be a decision that comes down to the coaches that know a hell of a lot more than we know about these players as they see them practice every single day. 

Just now, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

Normally, I wouldn't want too much rest, but in the case of the Bolts now, they do have some players that are hurting and could use it.
Especially Brayden Point.

But also others who took beatings in this series like Cirelli, Cernak, and Nick Paul.

I was especially thinking of Brayden Point. 

Plenty of rest awaits the Lightning while they await the winner of the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers. 

Definitely benefits the Lightning for the next round. 

Just now, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

Ooof...worse than a stick to the face...

Stammer took an ASS to the face. Bloodied him up, but Florida is not penalized.
No rule broken! 

Hopefully Stamkos has all his teeth.

That always makes for good conversation. 

How did your mouth and face get bloodied and messed up?

Stamkos, "I took an ASS to my face." 

4 minutes ago, NHL HHOF said:

Joe Thornton is playing tonight!

He is in the lineup.

3 minutes ago, 3 Palmateers said:

Gio was a 3rd pairing guy almost exclusively in Toronto and in the playoffs. 

 

He saw only 20 minutes, or more, ATOI in 5-of-20 regular season games. 

 

Logged 20, or more, in only the OT game. 

 

The thing with him is that most of Toronto's D corps look so bad, defensively, that Gio looks like a potential Norris candidate in comparison.

 

Speaking to defensive capabilities:

 

Rielly is atrocious.

Muzzin was a shell of himself. 

Lyubushkin was physical which nobody else was not even a hurt Muzzin

Brodie was solid

Holl just brutal

Liljegren lots of promise but nowhere near ready

Sandin weak as they come and not ready for a steady role on D

Gio knows what the heck he's doing and isn't afraid out there

 

Overall, just solely on defensive play, he was probably our 1st or 2nd best defensive Dman. 

 

He's at the end, though. I don't think there's all that much left for him and found the fawning over him a bit much. I was impressed, initially, because you did notice it right away. He knows what to do and doesn't look jittery. He's lost a step. Looked foolish a few times that nobody really ever commented on because he was built into this incredible stretch piece and pedestalized.

 

It could be worse. I just wish they'd commit to a Liljegren and get him stronger and Sandin, too. These guys at the ends of careers really are just hanging on hoping for one last shot at glory that just never comes in Toronto. 

 

 

I thought Gio was exclusively on the 3rd pairing in Toronto and I did not think he logged 20 minutes or more very often in Toronto. 

I definitely don't watch the Maple Leafs as closely as you do, but I believe most view Rielly as having some potiential as a good dmen. The same can be said for Muzzin and Brodie. You are correct that Liljgren may need to take that next step next season and move up to the 2nd line. That again leaves Gio in the bottom half with the like of Holl and Sandin, and Lybushkin if those are actually who are on the team next season. I still don't see Gio sniffing 20 minutes next season unless there are injuries. 

Nope, Hand Pass by Cirelli  No Goal 

0-0 

Just now, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

Apparently it did.
No goal.
 

Yep, the way Palat reacted and pretty much stopped playing it seemed from that alone it hit the netting. 

Did the puck touch the netting or did it not? ..... Only Palat knows.

Like I said a few hours earlier the formula the Lightning have been using that has been successful this series has been filling the lanes and blocking the shots and all else fails then there is Vasy. Even in tonights game where the Panthers are outshooting the Lightning 17 to 3 the Lightning continue to have success because they continue to do these things and on the scoreboard is a big fat zero for the Panthers in the 1st period. 

3 minutes ago, FireDillabaugh said:

Him being listed on the 3rd pairing really has no relevance.  The link I posted clearly shows the facts of the TOI/G.

 

I understand where he "might" be slotted on the depth chart.  But, the facts appear to point out that Toronto plays their defensemen fairly equally in each game.  There's exceptions here and there(including Giordano being the exception from time to time where he got big minutes).  But, for the most part, if you look at their TOI/G, they are fairly equal.  And that's the issue that I would have with this signing if I'm a Toronto fan.  If he were the dman that he was in '18-19, that's one thing.  But, he's not that player anymore, and his play doesn't deserve much more ice time that ~13 minutes, imo.

 

But, in order for that to happen, they have to have a few dman that get those additional minutes.  And, while they're good NHL dmen, players like Rielly, Brodie, Muzzin or even Holl are not exactly what would be considered to be "stud NHL dmen" who are locks to play 25-30 mins a game.

You're correct that the time on the ice is significant, but the coaching staff should have the mindset with the dmen they already have in place in Rielly, Brodie, Muzzin, and Holl that they should get more ice time in the future due to production and quality of play. We both are not coaches and I think we can see that. It also isn't that the Leafs threw tons of $$$ at Gio so that is also making me think they will have no problem using him in a limited role.