General Leafs Talk: Post-Olympics Edition

[CarltonTheBear]

Bruce Arthur alluded to this on the radio today, but it's really quite insane that in the era of the OT point you can go 8 straight without getting a single point.

They've had 80 points for 16 days.

 

[bustaheims]

Keep - Van Reimsdyk - Bozak - Kessel
Lupul - Kadri - --------
Kulemin - Bolland - ---------
Bodie - Mc Clement - --------

Reilly - Phaneuf
Gardiner - Gunnarrson
Franson - Gleason
Ranger

Bernier


Fire Carlyle !!

More like this. An upgrade on McClement is needed - someone who can at least contribute on the offensive side of the puck. Preferably one of Goc or Fiddler. If Bolland is willing to sign a cheap 1 year to deal to prove he can contribute again after the injury, then sure, bring him back. Otherwise, I'd much rather see Holland in that spot next season. Franson's going to cost way too much for what he brings, and the Leafs need to improve their mobility on the back end. Since Gleason is probably going nowhere, unfortunately, I don't think there's really room for Ranger next season. I think the plan should be to use the two open spots on the blueline to cycle in guys like Percy, MacWilliams, Granberg, Finn, etc., until two of them show they're ready for full time duty, at which point, Gleason becomes the healthy scratch. As for Bodie . . . I've liked what he brought, but, I think the team might be better served using that spot in the lineup on guys like Broll or D'Amigo.

 

[nutman]

Keep - Van Reimsdyk - Bozak - Kessel
Lupul - Kadri - --------
Kulemin - Bolland - ---------
Bodie - Mc Clement - --------

Reilly - Phaneuf
Gardiner - Gunnarrson
Franson - Gleason
Ranger

Bernier


Fire Carlyle !!

More like this. An upgrade on McClement is needed - someone who can at least contribute on the offensive side of the puck. Preferably one of Goc or Fiddler. If Bolland is willing to sign a cheap 1 year to deal to prove he can contribute again after the injury, then sure, bring him back. Otherwise, I'd much rather see Holland in that spot next season. Franson's going to cost way too much for what he brings, and the Leafs need to improve their mobility on the back end. Since Gleason is probably going nowhere, unfortunately, I don't think there's really room for Ranger next season. I think the plan should be to use the two open spots on the blueline to cycle in guys like Percy, MacWilliams, Granberg, Finn, etc., until two of them show they're ready for full time duty, at which point, Gleason becomes the healthy scratch. As for Bodie . . . I've liked what he brought, but, I think the team might be better served using that spot in the lineup on guys like Broll or D'Amigo.

Why would you not add Kamorov, I would have him back on this team in a heartbeat.

 

[bustaheims]

Why would you not add Kamorov, I would have him back on this team in a heartbeat.

Well, if you were paying attention, you'd see I didn't actually add anyone. I made a couple suggestions at specific positions, but not all of them. I'm just whittling it down to who I think should stick around.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Bruce Arthur alluded to this on the radio today, but it's really quite insane that in the era of the OT point you can go 8 straight without getting a single point.

They've had 80 points for 16 days.

Chris Johnston just tweeted that the Leafs are the only team to go 8 games without a point this season.

 

[bustaheims]

Chris Johnston just tweeted that the Leafs are the only team to go 8 games without a point this season.

It's actually pretty impressive in a really sad kind of way.

 

[caver]

Why would you not add Kamorov, I would have him back on this team in a heartbeat.

Well, if you were paying attention, you'd see I didn't actually add anyone. I made a couple suggestions at specific positions, but not all of them. I'm just whittling it down to who I think should stick around.

I see your logic in cutting more defencemen. I left Phaneuf off because he has failed badly in this late season swoon. I think this team has some decent talent to work with...but ,like most, I am p*ssed off...

 

[bustaheims]

I see your logic in cutting more defencemen. I left Phaneuf off because he has failed badly in this late season swoon. I think this team has some decent talent to work with...but ,like most, I am p*ssed off...

I get that. I also get some of the ire directed towards Phaneuf. He hasn't been great during this collapse, but, I'm pretty convinced he's playing hurt. That doesn't totally excuse his play, but, it does at least partially explain it. He was much better earlier in the season. He may not a be a great #1 defenceman, but, he's still a top pairing guy and, when he's healthy, he's the best all around blue liner the team has.

 

[hockeyfan1]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/leafs-beat/mirtle-epic-collapse-proves-leafs-are-far-from-being-a-cup-contender/article17732588/

 

[mc]

So what's the magic number for elimination?

 

[L K]

So what's the magic number for elimination?

The Leafs max out at 92 points if they win their last 6 games.  They can have a maximum of 33 ROW (the 1st tiebreaker).

Atlantic #1 - Boston - Leafs can't catch
Atlantic #2 - Montreal - Leafs can't catch
Atlantic #3 - Tampa - Needs 1 point to eliminate the Leafs
WC#1 - Detroit - Needs 8 points with at least 3 ROW wins to eliminate the Leafs.  9 points eliminates the Leafs outright.
WC#2 - Columbus - Needs 10 points of any kind to eliminate the Leafs
9th - Washington - Needs 12 points to eliminate the Leafs
11th - New Jersey - Needs 15 points to eliminate the Leafs

 

[CarltonTheBear]

This is the forwards powerplay production since coming back from the Olympic break:

And of course, no real changes have been made to the powerplay during that slump.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Bruce Arthur. I enjoy his work, doesn't come across as snarky when he does a serious piece:

Going into Sunday night, here were the top 15 teams in even-strength save percentage, so as to wean out the effects of special teams: Boston, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Colorado, Phoenix, Tampa Bay, Toronto, Montreal, the Rangers, Anaheim, San Jose, Buffalo, St. Louis, Philadelphia, and Columbus. Phoenix is in danger of missing the playoffs, partly because the West is full of terrors. And Buffalo will miss the playoffs, because the Sabres are a garbage barge fire that scored 1.84 goals per game, 30th in the NHL.

The Leafs aren?t in the West, and they can score ? after Saturday night they were 12th in the league in goals scored. The only teams that are in the top half of the league in both even-strength save percentage and goals scored per game are Anaheim, Boston, St. Louis, Colorado, San Jose, Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, and Toronto. If these numbers hold, then in the last five years 35 teams will have finished in the top half of both measures. And three ? Toronto this season, Carolina in 2010-11 by two points, and Anaheim in 2009-10, under Randy Carlyle ? will have missed the playoffs. All three, coincidentally, were poor puck-possession teams.

That?s how bad this team was defensively, and that?s really all we?re talking about here. Barring a miracle, they have wasted a career year from Jonathan Bernier, and a career year from Phil Kessel and their first line, and a killer power play.

...

Puck possession isn?t a magic thing. It doesn?t explain every team, if only because teams have goaltenders and special teams and varying degrees of skill, and hockey is like the inside of a thundercloud besides. It can be subverted from game to game. But it?s a basic tenet of hockey: It?s usually good to have the puck. It?s usually good to get shots on goal, especially in today?s game, when goaltenders are so good that being beaten clean makes goalies look soft, and deflections make up a huge part of the game. Every playoff team says so, before and after every game. Gotta get traffic in front, and pucks on net.

It?s not complicated, even though it?s hardly a straight line, but there are clearly deep fissures in the foundation of this Toronto team, which were papered over for a time. General manager Dave Nonis is going to have to make a decision about whether Carlyle is helping, and to these eyes, it doesn?t look like he is. MLSE president and CEO Tim Leiweke is going to have to wonder about the health of the jewel of the empire, which has now collapsed in one way or another for three years running. There is a skeleton of a reasonable team in here somewhere. But it has been swallowed, and the math only tells you one big reason why.

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2014/03/30/toronto-maple-leafs-astonishing-collapse-the-result-of-historically-bad-defence/

 

[bustaheims]

At least the team keeps finding different ways to achieve the same results.

 

[ZBBM]

"Historically bad defense."  "Papering over."  I would suggest they don't apply the latter to the former.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Some comments from Ron Wilson on watching the Leafs go through what he went through:

?It was just a few weeks ago when they played so well in Anaheim and L.A.,? said Wilson. ?I mean, what?s happening now, it?s not about goaltending. A lot of nights when I watch the Leafs this year, I think to myself they should be down 4-0, but they?re up 3-2. It?s not goaltending, I don?t think.

?I watched the last two games this weekend; I thought they played OK in those games, but right now they?ve got no puck luck. It?s like maybe they used up all their puck luck earlier in the season when they were getting outshot but still won games. You might say they had a lot of puck luck in those games and it?s dried up now. A lot of the players are squeezing their sticks right now, which tends to happens in these situations.?

Wilson thought the Leafs were on their way to ending the losing streak Saturday at home to the Red Wings.

?I thought after the first period against Detroit on Saturday they would pull away at some point,? said Wilson. ?But it never happened; they made a couple of catastrophic errors, like a giveaway at the wrong time. You ask yourself, ?Why would a guy make a mistake like that, it?s a total lack of awareness.? That?s kind of what clouds your mind when you?re in a slump like this.

?You wonder why a defenseman didn?t back up a forward in a certain situation or why a forward missed a backcheck. ? When it?s going bad, those things snowball and there?s not much you can do to stop it.?

http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl/post/_/id/29813/former-leafs-coach-wilson-feels-the-pain

 

[dappleganger]

Some comments from Ron Wilson on watching the Leafs go through what he went through:

http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl/post/_/id/29813/former-leafs-coach-wilson-feels-the-pain

Nice to see Ronny climbing out from under his rock at an opportune time.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Some comments from Ron Wilson on watching the Leafs go through what he went through:

http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl/post/_/id/29813/former-leafs-coach-wilson-feels-the-pain

Nice to see Ronny climbing out from under his rock at an opportune time.

He was head coach when something similar happened to the Leafs, and Lebrun contacted him for his comments.  Hardly 'climbing out from under his rock at an opportune time.'  How is it opportune for him to bring up the comparison with this collapse and his?  Hey look I was head coach for a collapse too!!

 

[dappleganger]

Some comments from Ron Wilson on watching the Leafs go through what he went through:

http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl/post/_/id/29813/former-leafs-coach-wilson-feels-the-pain

Nice to see Ronny climbing out from under his rock at an opportune time.

He was head coach when something similar happened to the Leafs, and Lebrun contacted him for his comments.  Hardly 'climbing out from under his rock at an opportune time.'  How is it opportune for him to bring up the comparison with this collapse and his?  Hey look I was head coach for a collapse too!!

I believe these are his first public comments since his departure, that's what I have a problem with. He chose to wait to comment on the Leafs misfortunes, making himself not look so bad. He's a little weasel.

 

[Redleaf]

Some comments from Ron Wilson on watching the Leafs go through what he went through:

http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl/post/_/id/29813/former-leafs-coach-wilson-feels-the-pain

Nice to see Ronny climbing out from under his rock at an opportune time.

He was head coach when something similar happened to the Leafs, and Lebrun contacted him for his comments.  Hardly 'climbing out from under his rock at an opportune time.'  How is it opportune for him to bring up the comparison with this collapse and his?  Hey look I was head coach for a collapse too!!

I believe these are his first public comments since his departure, that's what I have a problem with. He chose to wait to comment on the Leafs misfortunes, making himself not look so bad. He's a little weasel.

I'm sure there's something to this.