Maple Leafs 2018 - 19

shack said:

Assuming you are right:
1)how do you know Babcock doesn't see it?
2)maybe he has other reasons for keeping them together.

Once again, somebody who thinks they know more than arguably the most highly respected coach in the NHL. I'm not necessarily saying that you are wrong, but to even just think that you know more than Babcock and his assistants do as to how to construct the lines is really, really stupid. Mind you, what was the feedback you got from Kadri and Marleau when you consulted them about this issue? Was it the same thing that they told to Babcock? What is their chemistry like in the dressing room and off the ice? Did you offer them any suggestions? Did they listen to your advice?

Waiting to hear your insights.

I think you get my point. There is no way you could have even .001% of the information that Babcock has at his disposal, let alone his coaching knowledge and experience. As such, your strong assertions on this matter are highly uninformed, relative to the coach and his staff.

Click to expand...

If Babcock does see it yet does nothing about it then he isn't coaching in the best interest of the team is he? Putting guys together who have no on ice chemistry makes a lot of sense dude.
So my 'strong' opinion on the matter somehow infers in your mind that I think I know more than Babcock. You're fucking logic is loony. Your attempt at mockery and insulting my intelligence borders on the pathetic. Is your self esteem really that low?

glamphotographer said:

Well the Leafs stunk out the joint tonight. Everyone get's on Gardiner but the whole team except for Andersen was terrible. If the Leafs are soft as they are the last 2 games, Leafs go into Tampa on Thursday to get slaughtered. Does Babcock throw Sparks into the Lions den or does Andersen start?

Click to expand...

I don't like hearing the boos for Gardiner and not anyone else. Yes he gave up a bad shorthand goal but some of that blame has to go to Marner who idiotically gave the puck away at the blue line. Where's the boos for Kadri? This due has been horrifically bad this year. He looked so foolish getting his pocket picked by Rantanen on that 2nd goal.

glamphotographer said:

Well the Leafs stunk out the joint tonight. Everyone get's on Gardiner but the whole team except for Andersen was terrible. If the Leafs are soft as they are the last 2 games, Leafs go into Tampa on Thursday to get slaughtered. Does Babcock throw Sparks into the Lions den or does Andersen start?

Click to expand...

They played soft all season, it's the opposition that adjusted. They took away the long pass through the neutral zone and the famous cross pass in front of the net.

The only good thing about Gardiner’s continued gaffs again this year is that, if they even finish the season with him, it should stop them from re-signing him.

He’s not what they need now.
Thanks for your service, bye bye.

glamphotographer said:

Well the Leafs stunk out the joint tonight. Everyone get's on Gardiner but the whole team except for Andersen was terrible. If the Leafs are soft as they are the last 2 games, Leafs go into Tampa on Thursday to get slaughtered. Does Babcock throw Sparks into the Lions den or does Andersen start?

Click to expand...

The Leafs haven't lost 3 in a row all year. I expect them to keep the streak intact by beating the Lightings in Tampa tomorrow:whoo:

jcpro said:

They played soft all season, it's the opposition that adjusted. They took away the long pass through the neutral zone and the famous cross pass in front of the net.

Click to expand...

Indeed. Teams have adjusted to the PP as well. Both 1st and 2nd use the same setup. Some teams use constant motion. Some teams use one timers. Some teams use screens. JVR use to provide screens. Leafs don't use any of these. Always the same setup and plays that just doesn't work any more. Last year's PP looked better with Bozak and JVR.

Leafs are soft. Everyone knows that. I never see any hits to scare the opposition like other teams do to the Leafs defense to cause turnovers. They supposedly are a team built for speed but they just don't seem to have it. Vegas used speed last year.

It won't happen but I'd like to see Hyman with Matthews and Nylander like last year. They were dominant 5 on 5. Matthews never get those goals anymore from the slot where Hyman digs out the puck along the boards and feeds him.

I'd like to see Marner with Marleau and Kadri like last year and make that a shut down line. Kadri has tremendous chemistry with Marner and Kadri has shown to thrive in a shut down role.

That would leave Tavaras with Johnson and Kapanen. Tavaras has shown in all his years in NYI that he makes his linemates better. Forget matching Tavaras against the other teams best line. Let him play against weaker lines.

jcpro said:

They played soft all season, it's the opposition that adjusted. They took away the long pass through the neutral zone and the famous cross pass in front of the net.

Click to expand...

Yep, the Leafs have to make ajustments in a hurry. The PP is predictable and teams know how to defend it. Unlike the western conference where Colorado only 4 won of their last 15, they are still in playoff position. In the tougher Eastern conference only 4 wins in 15 games and your looking at draft lottery for Jack Hughes.

mynameisearl11 said:

The Leafs haven't lost 3 in a row all year. I expect them to keep the streak intact by beating the Lightings in Tampa tomorrow:whoo:

Click to expand...

On Thursday, not tomorrow. I hope your right but I can't see the Leafs beating Tampa.

K Douglas said:

I don't like hearing the boos for Gardiner and not anyone else. Yes he gave up a bad shorthand goal but some of that blame has to go to Marner who idiotically gave the puck away at the blue line. Where's the boos for Kadri? This due has been horrifically bad this year. He looked so foolish getting his pocket picked by Rantanen on that 2nd goal.

Click to expand...

jcpro said:

They played soft all season, it's the opposition that adjusted. They took away the long pass through the neutral zone and the famous cross pass in front of the net.

Click to expand...

Agree completely.

The Leafs aren’t a hard team to play against. They don’t wear you down and are predictable. Gardener takes the most flack but he’s not the only one that screws up.

Line matching our number one line against Col and Boston didn’t work. Our depth is the advantage. The other team should match the leafs.

And give Kadri a role. He needs a defined job like he got last year and he will score. Putting him and Tavares on the same PP seems useless as it is redundant and Kadri doesn’t get the puck.

Johnny Utah said:

Agree completely.

The Leafs aren’t a hard team to play against. They don’t wear you down and are predictable. Gardener takes the most flack but he’s not the only one that screws up.

Line matching our number one line against Col and Boston didn’t work. Our depth is the advantage. The other team should match the leafs.

And give Kadri a role. He needs a defined job like he got last year and he will score. Putting him and Tavares on the same PP seems useless as it is redundant and Kadri doesn’t get the puck.

Click to expand...

I always look back and remember what it took for the Wings or Capitals to win the Cup- amazing teams on paper. Simply put, talent is not enough. Even in today's no touch hockey. Unlike most team sports, hockey requires total commitment by the whole team to get through the playoffs. Leafs just don't have IT, yet.

I can't believe that the Canadiens are only a point behind the Leafs in the standing today. Leafs have been playing as if they have their playoff spot guaranteed for a while now. Now, they should be more focus and play desperate hockey because that playoff spot may not be there for them after the break from the all-star game. I am willing to bet that Matthew is not 100% from his last IR stint. His shoulder is probably not strong enough since he came back. He scored one goal in the last 10 or something? Don't want to alert fans panic on the team but every team is going through a dog days of winter! Then again who knows Leafs are playing to avoid Boston in the first round of the playoffs? (Silly me! LOL)

Well looks like Leafs are putting Hyman back with Matthews. And Nylander also. And Johnson with Tavaras. Only thing missing is switching up marner to play with Kadri and Kap with Tavaras

Perhaps it is in Tavaras contract to play with Marner forever

While it's true that even the greatest teams in history would go through bad stretches in the long haul of a regular season, sometimes these bad stretches could also be hints of inherent flaws that were to get magnified as the season went on. This is why GMs are paid big bucks to do their jobs. In the current Leafs' case it's up to Dubas to identify these problems and determine if they are temporary or if they're serious flaws that need to be addressed.

Most fans or curious lookers would identify two main areas of concern of this current core, i.e. "defence" and "grit". Other than the Oilers of the 80's, I can't think of another cup winner that didn't have these key elements in their game and won with purely offence.

I didn't like the hiring of Dubas but then I thought I should trust Shanahan's judgement. After all he has turned this franchise from being the worst team to a team full of "promises" and who am I to doubt his decision of promoting Dubas over Lamoriello and Hunter ?

So far the best move Dubas has made was the signing of Tavares, but I'd say it had more to do with Tavares's eagerness to fulfill a childhood dream of playing for his home team. There are many questions marks on his other major moves and he hasn't done anything to make me feel that I was wrong about his hiring.

As a fan though, and now that he's already hired, I think it's only fair that we should give him time to prove to us fans and to his boss that his hiring was justified and deserving. I tend to look at the big picture rather than individual game results. This regular season will be considered successful if they can hang on to 2nd in the division. Then how they perform in the playoffs will be the ultimate judgement.

I don't really care if they have to play the Bruins again. If they want to be real contenders, that's the first hump they have to get over. From the four games against them this year they gave no indication that they're ready to do that. Again, it's up to Dubas to identify the issue and address them accordingly. It'll be interesting to see what moves he make by the trade deadline.

Oilers are bad example. Their offense was so superior to every other team it overshadowed the fact they had grit and defense. They just played a style that sacrificed defensive hockey cause they could outscore teams easily. Kevin Lowe, Paul Coffey, Charlie Huddy, were they not defensemen? They had plenty grit on 3rd and 4th lines. They had gritty pluggers like Hunter, McClelland, Semenko, among others. Even some of their stars had grit. Messier and Andersen were scary gritty. Messier was the modern day Howe with his elbows.

superstar_88 said:

Oilers are bad example. Their offense was so superior to every other team it overshadowed the fact they had grit and defense. They just played a style that sacrificed defensive hockey cause they could outscore teams easily. Kevin Lowe, Paul Coffey, Charlie Huddy, were they not defensemen? They had plenty grit on 3rd and 4th lines. They had gritty pluggers like Hunter, McClelland, Semenko, among others. Even some of their stars had grit. Messier and Andersen were scary gritty. Messier was the modern day Howe with his elbows.

Click to expand...

You're right and your point basically backs up mine. We'll see how Dubas addresses these issues, or if he sees them as such at all.

Tampa is rolling and Vesilevsky on fire, he got a shutout vs Dallas. If he gets the start against the Leafs, I'm calling it an ugly one for the Leafs.

smuddan said:

You're right and your point basically backs up mine. We'll see how Dubas addresses these issues, or if he sees them as such at all.

Click to expand...

He won with that philosophy in the AHL but the AHL is not the NHL. NHL has a salary cap. AHL does not so in the AHL one can certainly accumulate much more talent than other teams without worry of salary. And so can build a team with much more skill that can overcome heavy. But heavy is needed in the NHL playoffs. Babcock knows that. He's already stated it loud and clear. Vegas came close with speed but ultimately Caps heavy made them wilt.

The Marlies 4th line last year was a very good line. Bracco was a healthy scratch. Borgman also or maybe he was injured. Leafs 4th line looked decent at one time with Ennis and Lievo but now not so much.

glamphotographer said:

Tampa is rolling and Vesilevsky on fire, he got a shutout vs Dallas. If he gets the start against the Leafs, I'm calling it an ugly one for the Leafs.

Click to expand...

Will Messrs. Mathews and Nylander show up to-night? They have been MIA for too many games.

There were actually 2-3 games recently when the Leafs were looking to feed Nylander the puck so he could get a goal. Forget Nylander, play your own game and try to win the game instead.

Saw a poll on Sportsnet asking mostly leafs fan which trio would you rather have (or is better, I don’t fully remember):

Tavares, Marner and Matthews or Stamkos, Kucherov and Point.

Something like 60% chose the Leafs.

It’s not even close. Tampa Bay is destroying this league for a reason. Those three guys are insane. We don’t watch enough hockey of the non leafs variety, but we only wish Marner and Matthews matches Point and Kucherov one day.

Could Sparks have won this game. Probably not. Anderson was tremendous. Leafs got some bounces. Made up for the puck luck from last game. They played well nevertheless. Lighting move the puck around like the globetrotters. Leafs matches up well vs TB. Leaf defense don't get hit. Gardiner looked good. He played a safe game. Kapanen is fast.