Marlies Talk 13/14

[Stickytape]

It's true, they haven't trailed yet.  Even just thinking that they've scored first in eight straight is impressive.

They got a little lucky on a number of chances tonight, and MacIntyre was a little scrambly, but he was there when they needed him to be.  It was a wild one.

 

[Redleaf]

Game 1 against Texas, 17:20 left in the 3rd, getting outshot 29-16..... aaaaand they're up 3-0.

Well integrated systems between big club and farm.  They won 5-1 and are now 8-0 in the playoffs.

They were only outshot 50-19 to pull off that 5-1 win.  Unreal.

Somebody tweeted that the Marlies haven't trailed at any point of their 8 playoff wins.  Assuming that's true, that's just astounding.

Does anyone else think Nonis and Burke may have been on to something with a system that didn't have the right mix of toughness and skill to work on the big club yet, but now does on the farm club, with Burkes draft picks starting to fill out the majority of this Marlies roster?

 

[seahawk]

It's true, they haven't trailed yet.  Even just thinking that they've scored first in eight straight is impressive.

They got a little lucky on a number of chances tonight, and MacIntyre was a little scrambly, but he was there when they needed him to be.  It was a wild one.

I hope it does hold up, but you've got to think that is going to bite them soon. Especially at this point as they are now facing the best team in the AHL's regular season.

 

[Highlander]

For some reason, most folks don't give Burke and hence Nonis the credit due them.  We are stocking the farm with a lot of talented young players and I am really looking forward to seeing them play on the big team soon. And last years draft is starting to look really good drafting Bibeau in the 6th round.

 

[crazyperfectdevil]

For some reason, most folks don't give Burke and hence Nonis the credit due them.  We are stocking the farm with a lot of talented young players and I am really looking forward to seeing them play on the big team soon. And last years draft is starting to look really good drafting Bibeau in the 6th round.

While I do think we have made steps in the right direction..i don't think anyone is going to go out of their way to praise mediocrity..the praise will come with results..winning the calder cup would be a step in that direction.

 

[L K]

For some reason, most folks don't give Burke and hence Nonis the credit due them.  We are stocking the farm with a lot of talented young players and I am really looking forward to seeing them play on the big team soon. And last years draft is starting to look really good drafting Bibeau in the 6th round.

To an extent, sure.  But the players who are leading the Marlies right now are projecting as 3rd/4th liners in the NHL for the most-part.  A guy like McKegg might have a bit more potential as a 2nd liner and Holland (not a draft pick) as well. 

Ultimately though, the Leafs have one playoff appearance over the Burke-Nonis era and while having Kadri and Rielly in the NHL is good it is still the big and dumb draft picks (I mean truculent and pugnacious) in Brad Ross, Tyler Biggs, Jamie Devane that set the team back where Burke took big guys over guys with actual talent.

This is great to watch the Marlies go on a deep run, but we aren't really watching a bunch of guys who are going to step in and be top 4 defensemen and top 6 fowards on the Leafs in the coming years.  I do hope that Nonis/Shanahan and Carlyle pay attention and recognize that a guy like D'Amigo should be in the lineup as a regular and not a guy who gets dumped for Colton Orr.  I hope they see that Holland and Ashton should be given every opportunity to form a 3rd line for the team next year too.  This isn't a great free agent crop and wasting cap money on bad acquisitions isn't going to get the Leafs anywhere. 

 

[lamajama]

Judging by the ranking of the Leafs prospects overall (28-29th IIRC by The Hockey News) it's astounding they are doing so well.

 

[bustaheims]

Judging by the ranking of the Leafs prospects overall (28-29th IIRC by The Hockey News) it's astounding they are doing so well.

It's surprising, but, you also have to remember that a lot of the prospects that put teams higher in the rankings than the Leafs aren't playing in the AHL, and the Leafs have a lot of guys that are well suited for the style of hockey you see played at that level.

 

[crazyperfectdevil]

anyone find hear what the longest playoff winning streak in the ahl is?  I imagine the marlies have to at least be getting in the ballpark

Edit:  Did some digging.  Apparently there have been a few unbeaten teams in the calder cup. 

Cincinnati joins the AHL in 1949-50, but it is the Indianapolis Capitals who are the talk of the league. Led by future Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Terry Sawchuk, the Capitals roll through the playoffs unbeaten to claim their first Calder Cup championship.

Brett Hull explodes into the AHL in 1987, winning the Dudley "Red" Garrett Award as AHL's top rookie. Hull notches 50 goals with Moncton in his only AHL season. The AHL employs a shootout to break ties in 1986-87. Hershey wins the 1988 Calder Cup, rolling through the postseason unbeaten (12-0).

and perhaps there are others.  So I guess the marlies are just going to have to win them all.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Holland now has 5 goals and 7 points in 5 playoff games, and 17 points in 19 games total with the Marlies between the regular season and playoffs.  26 points in 29 total AHL games this season with Toronto and Norfolk.

 

[Redleaf]

Judging by the ranking of the Leafs prospects overall (28-29th IIRC by The Hockey News) it's astounding they are doing so well.

I think the better way to look at them is how they fit into the system the Marlies (and Leafs hope to) have employed. As a unit they are very effective, and I'm beginning to wonder if the original plan Burke and Nonis had is starting to take shape, at least at the Marlies level.

One or two of these guys, when given time with the big club, probably won't make much of a difference. But once they have 4, 5 or 6 of them dispersed throughout the Leaf lineup (surrounded with elite skill), I would wager that we see a more effective, mentally tough, strong willed team start to emerge.

These lunch pail guys that Burke liked so much at draft time, will become the heavy lifters and room makers for guys like Kessel, Rielly, and JVR to spin their magic out on the ice in the coming years.

To paraphrase Spott , "When your hardest workers are also your best players, you know you've got something"

 

[L K]

anyone find hear what the longest playoff winning streak in the ahl is?  I imagine the marlies have to at least be getting in the ballpark

Hershey won the 1988 Calder Cup going 12-0.  They won the first two games in their 1989 playoff run before losing a game.  The twelve wins in a row to sweep the 1988 Calder Cup playoffs set the record for most consecutive playoff wins in a single playoff year.  So they had a 14 game winning streak over two years.

 

[seahawk]

anyone find hear what the longest playoff winning streak in the ahl is?  I imagine the marlies have to at least be getting in the ballpark

Hershey won the 1988 Calder Cup going 12-0.  They won the first two games in their 1989 playoff run before losing a game.  The twelve wins in a row to sweep the 1988 Calder Cup playoffs set the record for most consecutive playoff wins in a single playoff year.  So they had a 14 game winning streak over two years.

Hershey was close, but they don't hold the record. From the AHL website.

Most Consecutive Games Won - 15
Cleveland Barons - 1964 (9), 1966 (6)

 

[seahawk]

In case anyone wants to check in on the AHL Eastern final between St. John's and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Game 1 will be on Rogers ch. 369 starting in 30 minutes. St. John's will host Games 1,2,6, and 7 in this series so I suspect all 4 of those will be available compliments of Rogers TV 9.

 

[moon111]

It's the Leafs 3rd, 4th lines, defensive defensemen that really failed them.  And this is just the core the Marlies will hopefully provide.  Stats don't measure quality of a shot very well, so all in all, maybe the system is working.

 

[L K]

It's the Leafs 3rd, 4th lines, defensive defensemen that really failed them.  And this is just the core the Marlies will hopefully provide.  Stats don't measure quality of a shot very well, so all in all, maybe the system is working.

No, giving up 50 shots is never an indication that a system is "working".

 

[OldTimeHockey]

It's the Leafs 3rd, 4th lines, defensive defensemen that really failed them.  And this is just the core the Marlies will hopefully provide.  Stats don't measure quality of a shot very well, so all in all, maybe the system is working.

Consistantly giving up 50 shots is never an indication that a system is "working".

Fixed

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

It's the Leafs 3rd, 4th lines, defensive defensemen that really failed them.  And this is just the core the Marlies will hopefully provide.  Stats don't measure quality of a shot very well, so all in all, maybe the system is working.

Consistently giving up 50 shots is never an indication that a system is "working".

Fixed

Fixed. 

 

[Redleaf]

It's the Leafs 3rd, 4th lines, defensive defensemen that really failed them.  And this is just the core the Marlies will hopefully provide.  Stats don't measure quality of a shot very well, so all in all, maybe the system is working.

No, giving up 50 shots is never an indication that a system is "working".

No, but scoring more goals than the other team on a consistent basis, regardless of the shots on goal, is usually a pretty good indicator something is working. That happened for more than 3/4 of the season last year until some key injuries occurred, two extremely tired goal scorers stopped producing, and a goaltender went into slump and derailed it all in quick order.

I think they definitely need to tighten up on defence and work on cutting down on the shots against next year. But as long as they put up enough W's to clinch a spot next season, I'm certainly not going to lose sleep over what the shot clock reads after every game.

 

[bustaheims]

No, but scoring more goals than the other team on a consistent basis, regardless of the shots on goal, is usually a pretty good indicator something is working. That happened for more than 3/4 of the season last year until some key injuries occurred, two extremely tired goal scorers stopped producing, and a goaltender went into slump and derailed it all in quick order.

Even before the major slump to end the season, the Leafs were basically a .500 team with a nice looking record thanks to their success in the shootout. So, while I guess doing something roughly 50% of the time could be considered a consistent basis, it's not exactly the kind of consistent basis where you can say something is working. And, it really wasn't even 50% of the time. It's more that they weren't outscored by their opponents ~50% of the time. They were only outscoring their opponents in actually hockey 45% of the time.