WordsOfWisdom Posted February 21, 2020 Author Share Posted February 21, 2020 3 hours ago, hobie said: 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. That's why I'd be reluctant to make a trade that weakens our forward group. It doesn't help us to cripple our offence in the name of grabbing an elite defenceman. I still think it has to be done through the draft. You just can't build good teams in today's NHL. Bettman's cap doesn't allow it. None of the teams in the NHL today would be able to hang with any of the teams from the 80's or early 90's. There are 31 teams today that (if they're lucky) have ONE good line. If you went up against a team like Detroit or Colorado circa 1996 with one of these modern teams, today's team would get their ass handed to them. We would put out the Matthews line and Colorado would counter with Forsberg's line. Then we have Tavares's line and Colorado would put out Sakic's line. Then we're out of gas and Colorado goes to their third line with Ricci/Keane/whoever. Or Detroit with Fedorov, Yzerman, Larionov, etc.. Those teams were three lines deep and a checking 4th line that could decapitate the players today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobie Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 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. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted February 21, 2020 Author Share Posted February 21, 2020 43 minutes ago, hobie said: 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. It was MUCH better all around. Good to see Andersen have a great game as well. He needed one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted February 23, 2020 Author Share Posted February 23, 2020 Updated: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted February 23, 2020 Share Posted February 23, 2020 Soft as baby poo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted February 23, 2020 Author Share Posted February 23, 2020 3 hours ago, flyercanuck said: Soft as baby poo. I think the player's wives probably hit harder. Probably bigger and more physically intimidating too. Maybe we should put them in skates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobie Posted February 23, 2020 Share Posted February 23, 2020 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. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted February 23, 2020 Author Share Posted February 23, 2020 1 hour ago, hobie said: 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. A timeout and a public flogging would have been nice too. I haven't seen Keefe scream and yell at the players yet. This was the moment to tear a strip off this group for the cameras/media to see. 1 hour ago, hobie said: 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. TO's PKing is horrendously bad. Something has to change there. However, typically teams would kill penalties using their 3rd and 4th line guys. If they're not killing penalties, what else are they doing right? But I agree... if we can't defend we might as well just try for short-handed goals. Put Matthews, Marner, Nylander, and Tavares out there to kill penalties. No "D" whatsoever. Four forwards and just hang around the blue line looking to intercept passes for break-aways. It couldn't be worse than what they're currently doing. 1 hour ago, hobie said: 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. Here's a question: Whatever happened to "chip and chase" hockey? When you have all five Carolina players standing up at the blue line, why aren't the Leafs dumping the puck in and going after it? They keep doing these backward and sideways passes and they KILL their momentum. They've got four guys standing still (who can't enter the zone) and the puck carrier is trying to skate through five red shirts. It's insane. It's puck-possession obsession. They should be coming up ice full speed (all five guys) and shoot the puck in. Use that speed to go after it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted February 23, 2020 Author Share Posted February 23, 2020 1 hour ago, hobie said: That penalty on Clifford was BS last night but it was reputation based This is what really p__ses me off about the "new" NHL. That play was not a penalty. It was a collision involving two players going after the puck. Since the NHL is now a REACTIONARY league, they felt the need to issue a penalty only because the goalie got hurt on the play. It was total crap, and it cost the Leafs another goal. If not for that penalty it's 3-1 and Toronto gets the next two goals making it 3-3. Different game. Is the league going to start calling penalties when players collide with teammates next? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobie Posted February 23, 2020 Share Posted February 23, 2020 33 minutes ago, WordsOfWisdom said: Here's a question: Whatever happened to "chip and chase" hockey? When you have all five Carolina players standing up at the blue line, why aren't the Leafs dumping the puck in and going after it? They keep doing these backward and sideways passes and they KILL their momentum. They've got four guys standing still (who can't enter the zone) and the puck carrier is trying to skate through five red shirts. It's insane. It's puck-possession obsession. They should be coming up ice full speed (all five guys) and shoot the puck in. Use that speed to go after it. 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted February 24, 2020 Author Share Posted February 24, 2020 6 hours ago, hobie said: 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... You don't have to be a chip and chase team to be able to use it in a game when the situation calls for it. It's a tool in what should be an entire toolbox worth of offensive tools with this team. If the team is taking away your ability to skate the puck into the zone, then you start dumping it in. Ultimately, that forces them back. Using the same failing strategy over and over again in a game shows an inability to adapt to what the opponent is doing. Maybe that's the crux of the problem with this Leafs team. They're a good team when they can play THEIR game. However, when the opposing team doesn't allow them to play it THEIR way, they can't adapt and win by other means. (Another baseball analogy coming...sorry...) It's like a batter who keeps hitting into the shift in baseball, and keeps making easy outs. At some point you need to hit the ball the other way. The Leafs haven't shown an ability to change strategy within a game. A good team can beat you THEIR way and they can beat you YOUR way. When you can defeat an opponent at their own game, you know you're finally ready to win a championship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobie Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted February 26, 2020 Author Share Posted February 26, 2020 On 2/24/2020 at 5:02 PM, hobie said: A good team forces the opposition to adapt to it, adapting to another team means your team isn't good. That's all well and good, but I'm talking about the ability to recognize what is/isn't going to work based on what the opponent is doing. If you're in a boxing match and your opponent keeps both his hands down low, are you going to keep trying to hit him in the body where his gloves are protecting or are you going to try to hit him in the face? If the goalie lays on his side and blocks the entire bottom of the net, do you keep shooting pucks low (because that's how your team plays and that's what works best for YOU) or do you ADAPT and shoot high? (That's my point.) On 2/24/2020 at 5:02 PM, hobie said: 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. So clearly it's not just a question of how long you possess the puck. It's about what you do with it when you have it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted February 26, 2020 Author Share Posted February 26, 2020 The Leafs picked themselves up an angel tonight: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted February 28, 2020 Author Share Posted February 28, 2020 Huge win over the Panthers tonight and another angel added to the Leafs schedule: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podein25 Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 12 hours ago, WordsOfWisdom said: Huge win over the Panthers tonight and another angel added to the Leafs schedule: Some days I wish I had the mental capacity to understand your spreadsheets and pictograms. Some days. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 12 minutes ago, Podein25 said: Some days I wish I had the mental capacity to understand your spreadsheets and pictograms. Some days. Not Fridays though Pods...they're for drinkin' 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podein25 Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 3 minutes ago, flyercanuck said: Not Fridays though Pods...they're for drinkin' Yuppers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted February 28, 2020 Author Share Posted February 28, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, Podein25 said: Some days I wish I had the mental capacity to understand your spreadsheets and pictograms. Some days. Well it all started when I made a screen capture of the Leafs upcoming schedule, which was like a "murderer's row" of tough opponents to finish off the month of February. So I printed it out and put a skull & crossbones to symbolize what was ahead for Toronto. Each time they won a game I put an angel pic and for each loss I put a grim reaper pic. The only thing I don't like is how Google displays the schedule in two columns instead of one. It makes it harder to read. Edited February 28, 2020 by WordsOfWisdom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 3 hours ago, WordsOfWisdom said: Well it all started when I made a screen capture of the Leafs upcoming schedule, which was like a "murderer's row" of tough opponents to finish off the month of February. Vancouver? Florida? Carolina? "Murderers row"? Those are all middle of the pack teams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podein25 Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 4 minutes ago, flyercanuck said: Vancouver? Florida? Carolina? "Murderers row"? Those are all middle of the pack teams. Lol. They are all highly skilled though. Unlike the Leafs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted February 29, 2020 Author Share Posted February 29, 2020 5 hours ago, flyercanuck said: Vancouver? Florida? Carolina? "Murderers row"? Those are all middle of the pack teams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted February 29, 2020 Author Share Posted February 29, 2020 5 hours ago, Podein25 said: Lol. They are all highly skilled though. Unlike the Leafs. Hey the Leafs are winning now! 80% chance of making the playoffs for Toronto as of today. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted March 1, 2020 Author Share Posted March 1, 2020 Thought it was only appropriate after another Leafs win! Leafs have managed to cheat death through the toughest part of their schedule DESPITE injury problems! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted March 1, 2020 Share Posted March 1, 2020 10 hours ago, WordsOfWisdom said: Thought it was only appropriate after another Leafs win! Leafs have managed to cheat death through the toughest part of their schedule DESPITE injury problems! Reported for the vid. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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