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I don't understand?


hobie

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The Leafs are supposedly a poor defensive team in need of a better defense and an offensively balanced dynamic team?

 

TO plays Calgary, is outshot 48 to 29 yet wins 2 to 1 in a shotout? In fact TO has only outshot the opposition 6 times for the entire year. I do know of a a rating stat called corsi that evaluates teams based on their number of shot attempts which anoints teams with high numbers of shot attempts as superior but I think teams that can actually get their shots on net are superior.

 

If TO is a superior offensively gifted team then why are the constantly outshot?  Are the forwards that I want to believe are superior really not? If they are superior then why isn't TO outshooting the opposition at least the majority of the time?

 

I would think that if a team is constantly being outshot then they are also constantly being out possessed, out played both statistically and visually. To a large degree TO's d is contributing offensively so it appears the d is supporting the offense adequately and even tho the team is being outshot the team keeps winning. If the forwards aren't outshooting the opposition, out possessing the opposition then they aren't doing their job in spite of supposed talent.

 

At the same time TO continues to win, 6th best record in the NHL, tied for 1st in GF, and the defensive record is seemingly improving to about average after the horrendous Oct. stats. The defensive record is constantly improving even tho many of us believe the defense requires a massive upgrade but is that the truth. Decreasing the shots on net is a team accomplishment where the d makes sense out of the chaos in their d zone with the help of the forwards while the forwards with the d support create chaos in the opposition's end. The stats and what I'm seeing don't support what TO is accomplishing so is it sustainable? Are the forwards holding up their end of what is needed for any team to win?

 

This year reminds me of previous renditions of Leaf teams where a hot start that happened in spite of overwhelmingly bad stats eventually fizzled and TO would finish outside of the playoffs. Generally the fizzling happens in earnest in Feb. but the signs were in evidence thru the whole year.

 

It's going to be a wild year, already has been.

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What I'm seeing is reminicent (dang, I knew I was going to spell that word wrong) :(  of the Leafs teams from the early to mid 2000's. They can score, but they lean too heavily on their goaltender to get them wins. 

 

I guess you could say the Leafs are efficient offensively. They don't need 40 shots a game to put up big goal numbers (which is good). Ideally that's what you want. Offensive efficiency. More goals on less shots.

 

The problem is most certainly defence. The Leafs are being out-shot because they are a very weak team in their own end. In the games I've been watching, they have been giving the puck away a lot, giving high quality scoring chances to the opposition, and they get hemmed into their own zone for long periods of time. They still don't have a "shutdown" defenceman that simply stops opposing forwards in their tracks. They have guys that can move the puck, but none of them know how to play a strong defensive game. 

 

This style of play isn't sustainable. At some point Andersen is going to wear down and the team is going to start giving up ugly goal totals again unless the D gets corrected.  My two cents.  :)

 

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