Comedy Platinum out of Toronto - "Canada's Team" quest for the Cup

[Bloody Brian Burke]

I don't read the fancy stats, but my eyeballs tell me the Leafs spend way WAY too much on the perimeter. Laine can score 100 goals a game and I don't care, I love Matthews' game.

And the forwards seem to go in far too deep, and are missing rebound opportunities. Usually standing around each goal post when a shot is directed at the net.

Has the BOS POS that nudged Marincin into the boards received a call from DoPS yet?

Didn't watch Saturday but don't believe anyone on Boston received a call.

Can't really blame the forwards or shot selection for last night though. Varlamov was just on a bounce-back mission after that nightmare in Montreal the night before. Leafs win that game 9 times out of 10, and maybe not this year but maybe next or the year after 40+ shot totals will be the norm and more will be going in. It'll happen soon enough.

And yeah, ignore the "Leafs should've taken Laine" nonsense. Matthews' shooting percentage is 12.4% right now. He's 8th among forwards in shots taken and 3rd in shot attempts. If that percentage crawls up to the 14-15% range elite centres in the league tend to hover around you're looking at a guy who will be potting 40 goals a year on a regular basis and that's without mentioning his good possession stats or his ability to create chances for linemates.

Giving him a better LW than Zach Hyman would be help, too.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

I just wish Jeremy Bracco was a LW - the Leaf RW prospect had his 26 game(!!!) OHL point streak snapped in London last night.

 

[BGDave]

that's without mentioning his good possession stats or his ability to create chances for linemates.

All of this plus, I love how he is willing to go to the net. He doesn't hang around the periphery waiting for a shot (which will be blocked, yes I am looking at you Nylander). Auston has enough grit to his game already, and you can see he will be elite very, very soon. Sure, he sometimes is in the wrong place defensively, but he already gets that he needs a true 200 foot game.

Laine can score 50 a year, I don't care, Auston was the right pick. No doubt.

 

[DragonfromTO]

Didn't watch Saturday but don't believe anyone on Boston received a call.

Can't really blame the forwards or shot selection for last night though. Varlamov was just on a bounce-back mission after that nightmare in Montreal the night before. Leafs win that game 9 times out of 10, and maybe not this year but maybe next or the year after 40+ shot totals will be the norm and more will be going in. It'll happen soon enough.

And yeah, ignore the "Leafs should've taken Laine" nonsense. Matthews' shooting percentage is 12.4% right now. He's 8th among forwards in shots taken and 3rd in shot attempts. If that percentage crawls up to the 14-15% range elite centres in the league tend to hover around you're looking at a guy who will be potting 40 goals a year on a regular basis and that's without mentioning his good possession stats or his ability to create chances for linemates.

Giving him a better LW than Zach Hyman would be help, too.

There will be no replacing Jonas Hoglund Jr.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

There will be no replacing Jonas Hoglund Jr.

That's some deft comparison work right there.

Also, I'm now terrified.

 

[DragonfromTO]

That's some deft comparison work right there.

Also, I'm now terrified.

It's not really (meant to be) a fair name in that they're not really similar players. And I know it's still very early, so I'm not really THAT scared of Hyman being permanently chained to Matthews' leg just yet. But I remember the last time we had a great centre in Toronto who was good enough to be a "just play him with anyone, he can carry them" type of guy, and my mind starts to wander to bad places. Why can we never just play good players with other good players?

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

It's not really (meant to be) a fair name in that they're not really similar players. And I know it's still very early, so I'm not really THAT scared of Hyman being permanently chained to Matthews' leg just yet. But I remember the last time we had a great centre in Toronto who was good enough to be a "just play him with anyone, he can carry them" type of guy, and my mind starts to wander to bad places. Why can we never just play good players with other good players?

I keep trying to remind myself this is still early-goings but when I see 4th line Marner or 4th line Nylander or Toronto Maple Leafs Ben Smith and Matman Hunwak, well, it's easy to imagine the ghosts of the past are lurking.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

What I hate here is he's kinda right. The Hunwak pairing only allows .11 GA60 more than Gardiner-Carrick and 1.14 fewer than Rielly-Zaitsev.

 

[KennyBanyeah]

What I hate here is he's kinda right. The Hunwak pairing only allows .11 GA60 more than Gardiner-Carrick and 1.14 fewer than Rielly-Zaitsev.

I'm starting to lose interest in the whole Corsi/Fenwick thing. I'm finding it less and less reliable as a measure of quality. I don't know if it's the methodology or just poor data collection but it's been leaving me very meh for the last year or so.

Hopefully some of these stats get standardized in terms of data collection and/or the methods get re-worked.

So, in short, I kind of agree with Babcock here myself.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

I am also growing more partial to the GF/A-60 stats.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Terrible stat of the day: the Leafs have led 16 times after two periods, the most in the league.

They have 11 total wins.

 

[dash]

Man, Auston Matthews has a sweet pair of mitts though (not to mention fantastic hand-eye coordination).

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Man, Auston Matthews has a sweet pair of mitts though (not to mention fantastic hand-eye coordination).

That baseball swing would've been some OT winner.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Wonder if this is to do with the blowing leads thing above or more about personnel decisions and how players both on the team and throughout the league are starting to see this management team:

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

In a week where the Leafs played 4 games and outplayed the opposition in each one, including against the two defending Cup finalists, it's a little disappointing to have only come away with 4 pts.

 

[dash]

In a week where the Leafs played 4 games and outplayed the opposition in each one, including against the two defending Cup finalists, it's a little disappointing to have only come away with 4 pts.

I'll say this though, the Leafs are an entertaining team to watch.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

I'll say this though, the Leafs are an entertaining team to watch.

Can't stop shooting, can't prevent shots against.

Doesn't get much better than that for a neutral, eh?

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

What the fuck?

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Is this, like, to troll Randy or something? Does Frankie need a new friend to take drills after the big boys practice now that Holland's gone?

The Goat has 4 pts in 16 Marlies games this year. The Marlies have also lost 11 of 15. Maybe this is to help the Marlies?

I can name at least 4 Marlies I'd like to see get some NHL time ahead of Freddy.

 

[DragonfromTO]

Is this, like, to troll Randy or something? Does Frankie need a new friend to take drills after the big boys practice now that Holland's gone?

The Goat has 4 pts in 16 Marlies games this year. The Marlies have also lost 11 of 15. Maybe this is to help the Marlies?

I can name at least 4 Marlies I'd like to see get some NHL time ahead of Freddy.

He's playing a specific role BBB. When you're supposed to be out there winning 55% of faceoffs and you score goals instead, you're hurting the team.