flyercanuck Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 @yave1964 I don't know...maybe Carlysle needs to go. That team in front of Reimer OR Bernier refuses to play defence. I doubt Carlysle is coaching them to NOT play D, so that tells me they aren't listening to their coach....who hasn't been there long enough to tune him out but has certainly been there long enough to teach his team that they do, in fact, have to backcheck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 @flyercanuck This team has done better with Carlyle than any of the previous coaches in the last decade. EVERY team in the NHL had made the playoffs since the last time that the Leafs had, I personally think Carlyle has done a wonderful job of giving this team an identity. He ran Grabovski out, he did not want to play the Carlyle way and was banished to the fourth line and then bought out. Carlyle is a hard nosed guy who has made this a tough team to play against. In regards to the blue line, Franson blocks shots with the best of them and Phaneauf us talented. Gleason who came over from the Hurricanes fights but really is not much of a player. Gardiner and the rest all have plusses. Frankly I do not understand that what is a talented blue line manages to give up 40 shots a night. I agree with you that something needs addressed with this but with all the plusses in the column for Randy I cannot see him getting whacked. The Leafs are relevant again or at least can see relevant from their house and warts and all Carlyle has been a large part of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 @yave1964 When you miss the playoffs for a decade, you HAVE to have some talent. What's their identity? They refuse to play D and leave every game up to their goalie to win? Wonder how that's going to pan out for them. They were tough to play against last year. This year theyre not. They get outplayed almost every single game. I honestly can't believe they're still in the playoff hunt. They rely on one line to score all their goals and their goalie to bail them out. Even if they hang on and slide into the playoffs they won't be hard to figure out in a 7 game series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 @flyercanuck He's only one guy, but wow could the Leafs use Bolland's skill set right about now. He does everything they don't, backchecks like a demon, plays a sound positional game and does not give the puck up easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 @jammer2 Yip. And they'll likely either have to overpay to keep him or let him walk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evilmonkey Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 @jammer2 Yip. And they'll likely either have to overpay to keep him or let him walk.the sad thing is he was better in the like 15 games he played then clarkson has the entire season yet we wont be able to pay him what hes likely wanting because we paid clarkson so much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 @Evilmonkey I feel your pain. I'm surprised Holmgren didn't offer Clarkson more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Clueless Posted March 22, 2014 Author Share Posted March 22, 2014 @yave1964 When you miss the playoffs for a decade, you HAVE to have some talent. What's their identity? They refuse to play D and leave every game up to their goalie to win? Wonder how that's going to pan out for them. They were tough to play against last year. This year theyre not. They get outplayed almost every single game. I honestly can't believe they're still in the playoff hunt. They rely on one line to score all their goals and their goalie to bail them out. Even if they hang on and slide into the playoffs they won't be hard to figure out in a 7 game series. As a Leafs fan I have to agree with this. Yave is right that Carlyle gave them an identity, but you are also right that this year they lost it. Completely. They are no longer a team that is hard to play against, they are a team that rides Kessel and Bernier and refuses to play defense. Such a contrast from last year and I don't know what happened. I don't think it's time to rid ourselves of Randy yet, but he needs to get this 18-wheeler back on track or it's going straight off the cliff again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 @Commander Clueless I find it hard to believe Carlysle is coaching that style of play. Which means the team just isn't listening to him. At the start of the year I thought "this won't last long (that style) because the coach won't allow it". But here we are in March and those guys are still playing river hockey. And they will never be mistaken for the 80s Oilers talent-wise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 @Evilmonkey Either the Leafs are just plain ol' not listening, or Caryle is a brutal coach, but either way, they need to change things up for next year. The only way I see Caryle back is if the Leafs win a minimum of 2 playoff rounds, which is a nearly an impossible task with the brand of defense they are employing. Teams just don't magically change their ways just cause it's a 7 game series. In the end, the Leafs will go as far as Bernier takes them, assuming he returns to health. I'm not a huge Riemer fan, but he takes a bad rap from a lot of Leaf fans, he has a very respectable lifetime save percentage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Clueless Posted March 23, 2014 Author Share Posted March 23, 2014 @Commander Clueless I find it hard to believe Carlysle is coaching that style of play. Which means the team just isn't listening to him. At the start of the year I thought "this won't last long (that style) because the coach won't allow it". But here we are in March and those guys are still playing river hockey. And they will never be mistaken for the 80s Oilers talent-wise. I thought they would tighten up too, and that Carlyle would never allow them to continue down this path of pond hockey. But he has. I don't understand what's happening, but it's not pretty. If he's lost the room, he needs to be replaced. @Evilmonkey Either the Leafs are just plain ol' not listening, or Caryle is a brutal coach, but either way, they need to change things up for next year. The only way I see Caryle back is if the Leafs win a minimum of 2 playoff rounds, which is a nearly an impossible task with the brand of defense they are employing. Teams just don't magically change their ways just cause it's a 7 game series. In the end, the Leafs will go as far as Bernier takes them, assuming he returns to health. I'm not a huge Riemer fan, but he takes a bad rap from a lot of Leaf fans, he has a very respectable lifetime save percentage. Reimer's a good goalie I think, but he has been brutal lately. He's just lost his will to compete in Toronto...or something. It's crazy. Not that his team has been helping him out, but the soft goals are backbreakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightning fan Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 I just don't get it. Why are the Leafs seemingly always so mediocre? When I look at that franchise everything about it screams mediocre. Is it because, while being in the largest hockey market and being Hockey Mecca, there is not much pressure to actually win the Stanley Cup? It seems to me the fans are just hoping to squeeze into playoffs year after year... Is it because the ownership doesn't give a damn about winning? The Leafs have the most loyal fanbase in the league; it is not a fickle crowd, the games are guaranteed to be sold out and the TV ratings will always be great no matter what kind of on-ice products the fans get to watch. Is it the scouting? They seem to lean to drafting 3rd line grinders with their 1st round picks. The Leafs are a big mystery to me. One hypothetical, would anything change if Toronto got a second NHL team? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightning fan Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 I thought they would tighten up too, and that Carlyle would never allow them to continue down this path of pond hockey. But he has. I don't understand what's happening, but it's not pretty. If he's lost the room, he needs to be replaced. Reimer's a good goalie I think, but he has been brutal lately. He's just lost his will to compete in Toronto...or something. It's crazy. Not that his team has been helping him out, but the soft goals are backbreakers.You'd have to think Reimer is as good as gone after this season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 @Commander Clueless I think they lost Reimers "compete" level when the coach threw him under the bus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Clueless Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 You'd have to think Reimer is as good as gone after this season. I would assume so. @Commander Clueless I think they lost Reimers "compete" level when the coach threw him under the bus. Well that certainly didn't help, but I think he lost something well before that. Something about losing the starter job seemed to throw him off. Mind you, he didn't get a game in for a good while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Clueless Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 Sadly, my theory that the Leafs are toast this year seems to be coming true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 My mind is blown, a five game pointless streak has dropped them into a tie with the Wings with the rest of the pack. Reimer has been hideous the team having been outscored 19-12 during this stretch. JVR with one point and a -5. Kadri 1 point and a minus 4. plenty of blame to go around. To me it seems the team has zero confidence with Reimer and they play a tentative game with him in net. Bernier is the only one who can right this ship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightning fan Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 LOL, my brother is a Leafs fan and he's going nuts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Clueless Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 My mind is blown, a five game pointless streak has dropped them into a tie with the Wings with the rest of the pack. Reimer has been hideous the team having been outscored 19-12 during this stretch. JVR with one point and a -5. Kadri 1 point and a minus 4. plenty of blame to go around. To me it seems the team has zero confidence with Reimer and they play a tentative game with him in net. Bernier is the only one who can right this ship. They've imploded. Again. It's ridiculous. I don't even know if Bernier could right the ship right now. He's been awesome this year so he might be able to, but they are playing like headless chickens. This team is playing like Ron Wilson is back at the helm. The players are frustrated too. It seems they do, in fact, suck again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evilmonkey Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 yes in deed they do and it looks like the playoffs are a pipe dream now, nonis better do some major changes in the off season or he should be fired along with carlyle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 They've imploded. Again. Something is coming down the pipe line for them......... Riddick Bowe vows to KO Maple Leafs coach after loss Riddick Bowe ✔ @riddickboweFollowIf the @MapleLeafs lose tomorrow im going to knock out Randy Carlyle. One punch between the eyes #TMLtalk #Leafs #LeafsNation #BoweLeafsBowe http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/riddick-bowe-vows-to-ko-maple-leafs-coach-after-loss-170729322.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podein25 Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 (edited) @OccamsRazor Yikes. I don't think Carlyle is the problem. There is only one thing of true value on that team, a player you can build around, and that's Bernier. He's let some weird goals in, and some bad ones, but he has had more than 40 shots per game like 15 times, almost a third of his starts. He's had multiple 45+ shot games. 50! He must wake up in cold sweats, pucks coming at him from all directions, some deflected 4 times on their way to him. Others going 90 mph from the dead slot. The terror of it all. Like Clockwork Orange. Otherwise, give me a healthy Dave Bolland and maybe Morgan Rielly. Maybe. The rest? Yuck Edited March 27, 2014 by Podein25 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Otherwise, give me a healthy Dave Bolland and maybe Morgan Rielly. And he is being rushed they didn't learn anything from Luke. He isn't ready and it shows... a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Clueless Posted April 1, 2014 Author Share Posted April 1, 2014 @Podein25 Yeah I don't know if I'd go that far, but something needs to change. Leafs have some good players, but the team structure (or maybe style, I don't know) is just off. Or something. I don't think any rational Leafs fan ever thought we were cup contenders, but we went from a post lockout scramble to make the playoffs to a full fledged rebuild to an epic collapse under Wilson. Then we finally, FINALLY made the playoffs in a shortened season and had an epic collapse in game 7. "But it's okay!" we said. "We're finally seeing progress!". Sadly, almost a decade after this whole debacle began, and where are we? Back to fighting for 9th place. At least there's youth on the team now, I guess. It's a start. @OccamsRazor Leafs were kind of in an awkward position with Rielly, from what I read. They thought he wouldn't benefit from another season in the WHL and, while maybe not completely ready for the NHL, he has been quite good for the Leafs. Not amazing, but good with flashes of brilliance. The quote on why Schenn stuck around was more along the lines of "because our defense was terrible". So yeah, bit different of a situation I guess. Plus they drafted Schenn in part for his highly touted "NHL readiness", which I think most people look back on as untrue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podein25 Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 He isn't ready and it shows... a lot. Yeah agreed. Thus the "maybe" from me. He might be ruined by this time next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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