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

[dash]

Nylander might not be as fast as McDavid, but what a silky smooth skater.

 

[Maverick426h]

Nylander might not be as fast as McDavid, but what a silky smooth skater.

First, I have to cut and bang Mrs. Greenhouse.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Nylander might not be as fast as McDavid, but what a silky smooth skater.

He's looked great in every game. 20 pts in his last 20 NHL games. Bless him.

Meanwhile, Buston Matthews has no pts in his past two games. Trade bait?

 

[dash]

Meanwhile, Buston Matthews has no pts in his past two games. Trade bait?

I think patience is the key here

 

[dash]

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Bozak, JVR, Polak and Gardiner were a combined -14 last night. There are at least two names there who need to disappear from this team's roster and fast.

Martin Marincin has had a god-awful start to the season and somehow he led the team in ice time last night.

I want to trust these people but shit like this makes no sense and for everyone expecting Babcock to go into the room post-game and let loose on his team it would make more sense right now if Shanahan went into Babcock's office and kindly asked him about some of the decisions being made.

 

[BGDave]

Bozak, JVR, Polak and Gardiner were a combined -14 last night. There are at least two names there who need to disappear from this team's roster and fast.

Martin Marincin has had a god-awful start to the season and somehow he led the team in ice time last night.

I want to trust these people but shit like this makes no sense and for everyone expecting Babcock to go into the room post-game and let loose on his team it would make more sense right now if Shanahan went into Babcock's office and kindly asked him about some of the decisions being made.

That summed it up very well.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

That summed it up very well.

On the other hand, watching them play the Habs competitively (Leafs were the better team by far all game) was fun as hell.

Trying to weasel my way into some tickets for tomorrow night. I think we're going to get a treat.

 

[BGDave]

After watching the McJesus shutdown, I am now ready to admit I was wrong about sieves, errrrr, Kadri.

I can see him now as a 21st century version of Dino Cicarelli. And if Kadri will embrace that role and go with it, I want him on the Leafs.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

After watching the McJesus shutdown, I am now ready to admit I was wrong about sieves, errrrr, Kadri.

I can see him now as a 21st century version of Dino Cicarelli. And if Kadri will embrace that role and go with it, I want him on the Leafs.

Kadri has oodles more skill than Dino had. A much more defensively-responsible player, too.

Dino sure could take punishment though, and because of his ability to do so in front of the net he'll wind up with somewhere between 500-700 more points than Kadri.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

A few notes & questions, though:

-How much longer am I gonna have to watch Zach Hyman skate with the team's two best players? If he's there to act as the "defensive lynchpin" for two players who don't really have a grasp on how to play NHL two-way hockey yet, it isn't working and wasting that kind of offensive potential on the top line is ludicrous.

-Connor Brown had his best game as a Leaf IMO.

-Tyler Bozak needs to be Robidas'ed:


They are wasting Marner playing him alongside him. Whatever they're trying to do - build value, find a role - it isn't happening and they're going to lose games and impede development if they keep trying to make it.

Would love to have him sit a game and try Matthews-Kadri-Holland down the middle. Won't happen, but worth a shot.

-Anderson was great and still looked bad on both goals. Progress I suppose but less of the Bernier moments would be nice. Seems to be at least one per game.

 

[BGDave]

A few notes & questions, though:

-How much longer am I gonna have to watch Zach Hyman skate with the team's two best players? If he's there to act as the "defensive lynchpin" for two players who don't really have a grasp on how to play NHL two-way hockey yet, it isn't working and wasting that kind of offensive potential on the top line is ludicrous.

-Connor Brown had his best game as a Leaf IMO.

-Tyler Bozak needs to be Robidas'ed:


They are wasting Marner playing him alongside him. Whatever they're trying to do - build value, find a role - it isn't happening and they're going to lose games and impede development if they keep trying to make it.

Would love to have him sit a game and try Matthews-Kadri-Holland down the middle. Won't happen, but worth a shot.

-Anderson was great and still looked bad on both goals. Progress I suppose but less of the Bernier moments would be nice. Seems to be at least one per game.

Agreed. I am all in favo(u)r of someone hooking a bungee cord to Andersen's jock and tieing him to the net. Dude, you aren't Brodeur or Roy. Stay in your place, know your role

All in all though, a good game

/huge, huge Connor Brown fan btw

 

[esls79]

After watching the McJesus shutdown, I am now ready to admit I was wrong about sieves, errrrr, Kadri.

I can see him now as a 21st century version of Dino Cicarelli. And if Kadri will embrace that role and go with it, I want him on the Leafs.

I think it's more difficult to get arrested now than it was back then. Dino spent a night in the clink for flashing his neighbor and it would take a little more than that today.

 

[DragonfromTO]

A few notes & questions, though:

-How much longer am I gonna have to watch Zach Hyman skate with the team's two best players? If he's there to act as the "defensive lynchpin" for two players who don't really have a grasp on how to play NHL two-way hockey yet, it isn't working and wasting that kind of offensive potential on the top line is ludicrous.

-Connor Brown had his best game as a Leaf IMO.

-Tyler Bozak needs to be Robidas'ed:


They are wasting Marner playing him alongside him. Whatever they're trying to do - build value, find a role - it isn't happening and they're going to lose games and impede development if they keep trying to make it.

Would love to have him sit a game and try Matthews-Kadri-Holland down the middle. Won't happen, but worth a shot.

-Anderson was great and still looked bad on both goals. Progress I suppose but less of the Bernier moments would be nice. Seems to be at least one per game.

Bozak probably shouldn't be sitting until he's met the expansion draft requirements. Same thing with trading him really, hanging on to him could definitely keep them from having to expose someone they (and we) like. Just have to ride this out.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Bozak probably shouldn't be sitting until he's met the expansion draft requirements. Same thing with trading him really, hanging on to him could definitely keep them from having to expose someone they (and we) like. Just have to ride this out.

True, but man is it infuriating to watch.

#freemitch

 

[DragonfromTO]

True, but man is it infuriating to watch.

#freemitch

It's funny how his game hasn't really changed and yet now he's being characterized by the media and the masses as weak defensively, when we used to hear all about his defensive chops .

Unfortunately with the way Babcock handles usage that line is kind of the only spot for Marner. The Kadri line is going to be ridden hard and get all of the toughest matchups and while I suppose Marner may be able to handle it that's a really difficult way to break into this league.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

It's funny how his game hasn't really changed and yet now he's being characterized by the media and the masses as weak defensively, when we used to hear all about his defensive chops .

Unfortunately with the way Babcock handles usage that line is kind of the only spot for Marner. The Kadri line is going to be ridden hard and get all of the toughest matchups and while I suppose Marner may be able to handle it that's a really difficult way to break into this league.

It's funny how filling the team with talent can lower perceptions of the less-talented.

I thought about maybe posting a proposal for lines but thought the same thing and frankly have no idea what I would do differently. As long as Bozak (and JVR, for that matter) are here they're kinda stuck.

 

[BGDave]

It's funny how filling the team with talent can lower perceptions of the less-talented.

This.

This.

A thousand times, this.

 

[DragonfromTO]

It's funny how filling the team with talent can lower perceptions of the less-talented.

I thought about maybe posting a proposal for lines but thought the same thing and frankly have no idea what I would do differently. As long as Bozak (and JVR, for that matter) are here they're kinda stuck.

There's some truth to that generally I suppose but I still don't see a ton of defensive zone ability on this roster. And if we're not talking specifically about defense then one can say that Bozak always had talent on his line for contrast.

I always thought Bozak's perceived defensive ability was like the hockey version of "Nichols' Law of Catcher Defense".

"Nichols' Law of Catcher Defense states that a catcher's defensive reputation is inversely proportional to their offensive abilities. Therefore light-hitting catchers get good defensive reputations and top hitters like Ted Simmons wind up with lousy reputations. One can note that many catchers have lost a reputation for glovework once they began hitting better and that the opposite is also true, further reinforcing Nichols' Law."

He was on the first line and wasn't scoring as much or as big a part of the offense in general as his linemates, so a lot of people just figured there had to be another reason he was on that line.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

There's some truth to that generally I suppose but I still don't see a ton of defensive zone ability on this roster. And if we're not talking specifically about defense then one can say that Bozak always had talent on his line for contrast.

I always thought Bozak's perceived defensive ability was like the hockey version of "Nichols' Law of Catcher Defense".

"Nichols' Law of Catcher Defense states that a catcher's defensive reputation is inversely proportional to their offensive abilities. Therefore light-hitting catchers get good defensive reputations and top hitters like Ted Simmons wind up with lousy reputations. One can note that many catchers have lost a reputation for glovework once they began hitting better and that the opposite is also true, further reinforcing Nichols' Law."

He was on the first line and wasn't scoring as much or as big a part of the offense in general as his linemates, so a lot of people just figured there had to be another reason he was on that line.

Maybe, but even friends of mine who pay dick all worth of attention to stats always agreed his defensive play was garbage.

It just never made any sense to me how people thought he brought anything above replacement level for his price tag. His re-signing wasn't Lupul-Clarkson bad but it was pretty ugly.