Habs @ Leafs - Mar. 22nd, 7:00pm - CBC, SN 590

[Capn_Crunch]

These guys are pros..and expected to play as such. Reims let's in a weak early goal and you can see the life sucked out of the team yet again.

But as badly as we played...I blame the horrjble reffing.
Lups punched in the face and no call, price has the puck in the trapezoid and no call.....then throw in the horrible call that cost us the game winner and you have  game not dexides as it should be. By the rules. I really hope that the nhl looks at some way to hold them more accountable as the current system clearly isnt working.

Montreal had one powerplay. ONE. Toronto couldn't kill off a single penalty. Yea, good luck on that whole Nhl holding them accountable thing.

Edit: Mon had two PP's. Really, the game was pretty even and mostly controlled by Montreal. Don't pretend like the Refs did anything to screw over Toronto.

Im not pretending anything. That goalie interference call was a unforgivable. Mtl dman shoves a leaf into price and we give up the gamewinner on the pk when the game had a nice rhythm and would have been an exciting finish. That blown call killed any momentum we had going. Plain and simple. Reims softies dont help either tho.He gives up way to many early and late goals that completely deflate the team.

 

[Andy007]

The Leafs have to kill a penalty. Plain and simple. Price did embellish and JVR did get pushed but he also did slide into Price. It's a borderline call that can be easily swept to the side if the Leafs kill a freaking penalty for once.

Let's not ignore the fact that the Leafs need elite goaltending to win a game. Their defensive play and coverage is absolutely abysmal. It might take missing the playoffs to get this message through but maybe that has to happen; this team is going nowhere with this joke of a system.

 

[ZBBM]

Gardiner is awesome.

As a forward.

Gardiner is at his best (BOS playoff level) when he plays like the last two games: flying around like a pinball, creating chaos in the opponent's end, skating and puckhandling.  It's exciting to watch and potentially effective.  Unfortunately, it leaves an already porous defensive team wide open to odd-man rushes.  And it de-structures a team that hardly has any to begin with, and what little it has is so poorly matched to the team's strengths that you get disaster unless the goalie is superb.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Doesn't really do that at all but instead actually contributes to the Leafs having more time in the offensive zone than in their own end.  But you also famously (in song and dance) ragged on Kessel so maybe you just hate offensive minded players.  Could be worth looking into by a clinical NHL forum psychologist.

 

[ZBBM]

Doesn't really do that at all but instead actually contributes to the Leafs having more time in the offensive zone than in their own end.  But you also famously (in song and dance) ragged on Kessel so maybe you just hate offensive minded players.  Could be worth looking into by a clinical NHL forum psychologist.

Yeah, I know you're trying to sell that argument as a way of avoiding admitting that he's not good defensively.

Don't be so uncritical of your fave players.  Kessel, Gardiner, and Phaneuf for that matter all have major defensive holes in their games.  You might consider valuing defense a bit more, since, you know, it kind of wins championships. 

And for the record, the suggestion of mine that really seems to have pushed your button was merely that they ought to trade Gardiner over the summer IF they could get someone comparably skilled as a defensive defenseman.  Hardly a way-out idea.

 

[Peter D.]

Reimer bails out team all last season plus most of when he plays this season, nobody says anything.

Team can't bail Reimer when he has a rough 5 game stretch, the guys a bum who shouldn't be a NHL starter.

Yeah. But it's always a case of what have you done for me lately.

It's frustrating that Reimer had an opportunity to take control again, but unfortunately he pissed it away. Not even a single point this week. If the team fails to make the playoffs, we all look back to this week. Both fairly and unfairly.

 

[bustaheims]

And for the record, the suggestion of mine that really seems to have pushed your button was merely that they ought to trade Gardiner over the summer IF they could get someone comparably skilled as a defensive defenseman.  Hardly a way-out idea.

It's a pretty way-out there idea if they don't address the other issues with the team's defensive play first. Also, I'm not sure there really are younger comparably skilled defensive defencemen that can have the same kind of positive impact on the team that a guy like Gardiner can. Defence first guys tend to be pretty limited in their impact on the game. I'd rather try to develop Gardiner into a more well-rounded player (which, I'd say, we've seen enough glimpses of to believe is a possibility) than swap him for a guy whose impact will mostly be felt due in part to his lesser ability to contribute to the team's puck possession.

 

[Strangelove]

I don't even buy the idea that Gardiner is bad defensively. His ability to control the puck at both ends of the ice make him a huge defensive asset, and any defensive troubles caused by his pinching are far, far outweighed by the positive impact it has in the offensive end.

Gardiner is probably one of the last people on the team they should even consider trading, least of all for a "defensive defenceman" (which effectively amounts to a defenceman who can't score).

 

[Bullfrog]

Yeah, I know you're trying to sell that argument as a way of avoiding admitting that he's not good defensively.

Don't be so uncritical of your fave players.  Kessel, Gardiner, and Phaneuf for that matter all have major defensive holes in their games.  You might consider valuing defense a bit more, since, you know, it kind of wins championships. 

So does giving it 110%, keeping things simple, and taking one game at a time,.

True fact.

 

[Redleaf]

We are NOT a playoff team kids....

No with Reimer in net, I agree. On the other hand, The team plays way more like one with Bernier between the pipes. So, my guess is they miss out unless Bernier returns real soon.

 

[Kin]

On the plus side, there's plenty of room on the Raptors bandwagon. 3rd in the east!

 

[Stickytape]

We are NOT a playoff team kids....

No with Reimer in net, I agree. On the other hand, The team plays way more like one with Bernier between the pipes. So, my guess is they miss out unless Bernier returns real soon.

Looking back at the last 4 games, I can't shake the feeling that we come out of those with around 5 points with a healthy Bernier.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

We are NOT a playoff team kids....

No with Reimer in net, I agree. On the other hand, The team plays way more like one with Bernier between the pipes.

No they don't, they simply have received elite goaltending to bail them out.  With Bernier in net they've still been getting outshot by a ton all season long, he's just played like one of the top goalies in the league.

 

[Redleaf]

We are NOT a playoff team kids....

No with Reimer in net, I agree. On the other hand, The team plays way more like one with Bernier between the pipes.

No they don't, they simply have received elite goaltending to bail them out.  With Bernier in net they've still been getting outshot by a ton all season long, he's just played like one of the top goalies in the league.

Playoff teams are bailed out quite often by elite goaltending. It really wouldn't be anything new.

 

[bustaheims]

Playoff teams are bailed out quite often by elite goaltending. It really wouldn't be anything new.

Sure, but, playoff teams don't require it in 95% of their games, like the Leafs have this season.

 

[Redleaf]

Playoff teams are bailed out quite often by elite goaltending. It really wouldn't be anything new.

Sure, but, playoff teams don't require it in 95% of their games, like the Leafs have this season.

Where did you pull that number from?

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

We are NOT a playoff team kids....

No with Reimer in net, I agree. On the other hand, The team plays way more like one with Bernier between the pipes.

No they don't, they simply have received elite goaltending to bail them out.  With Bernier in net they've still been getting outshot by a ton all season long, he's just played like one of the top goalies in the league.

Playoff teams are bailed out quite often by elite goaltending. It really wouldn't be anything new.

Which teams?  If those teams need elite goaltending to have a chance to make the playoffs like the Leafs, then the same criticisms apply to them.  But I doubt any playoff team in the league faces the issue to the degree that the Leafs do considering they are on pace to give up the most shots in history.

 

[bustaheims]

Playoff teams are bailed out quite often by elite goaltending. It really wouldn't be anything new.

Sure, but, playoff teams don't require it in 95% of their games, like the Leafs have this season.

Where did you pull that number from?

Have you watched the Leafs this season? I'd say that's a fairly accurate estimate based on their season so far.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Playoff teams are bailed out quite often by elite goaltending. It really wouldn't be anything new.

Sure, but, playoff teams don't require it in 95% of their games, like the Leafs have this season.

Where did you pull that number from?

Have you watched the Leafs this season? I'd say that's a fairly accurate estimate based on their season so far.

Leafs have outshot their opponents 14 times this season and have been even in shots 2 times.  That leaves 56 times the Leafs have been outshot by the opposition.  56 times in 72 games, or 78% of their games.

 

[Redleaf]

We are NOT a playoff team kids....

No with Reimer in net, I agree. On the other hand, The team plays way more like one with Bernier between the pipes.

No they don't, they simply have received elite goaltending to bail them out.  With Bernier in net they've still been getting outshot by a ton all season long, he's just played like one of the top goalies in the league.

Playoff teams are bailed out quite often by elite goaltending. It really wouldn't be anything new.

Which teams?  If those teams need elite goaltending to have a chance to make the playoffs like the Leafs, then the same criticisms apply to them.  But I doubt any playoff team in the league faces the issue to the degree that the Leafs do considering they are on pace to give up the most shots in history.

You honestly don't believe there have been playoff teams that didn't depend on elite goaltending to win games?

I'm not sure what point your arguing now? That they're not a playoff team, so they won't make it?