NHL WC 2014 - Leafs @ Wings - Jan. 1st, 1:00pm - CBC, SN 590

[Bender]

The HBO series has been pretty boring so far honestly.

 

[hockeyfan1]

Happy that the Leafs won.  Not so much that it came in a shootout.  This team needs to start winning in regulation.  The line of Bozie-Kessel-JVR seemed to be providing the offensive histrionics for the Leafs. 

Anyways, glad that this Winter Classic wil go down in the record books for a hockey game attendance-shattering record.  And that our Leafs were a part of it.  Great "snow-globe" effect!

 

[Kin]

With respect to the standings, maybe. It would be a deliciously cruel irony if, after years of whining that the team's inability to win in a shootout has cost them the playoffs, what is appreciated in the GDTs as the team's newfound success in the shootouts ends up costing them the playoffs.

Well, except it won't cost them the playoffs. It's not like being bad at it would help.

But with respect to what's evidence of a good team playing well, I don't think my concern is a great exaggeration of the importance what a SO win after coughing up a lead means. They're not good. Terrible teams don't get that far, sure. So, by process of elimination, I guess it's the mediocre teams that build their seasons on pity points and the skills competition. And mediocre teams tend not to make the playoffs or, owing to the rarity of being seeded against a terrible team in the postseason, get bounced quickly.

I don't think that anyone would argue that coughing up the lead is good, just that getting the win is ultimately good and that scoring in overtime isn't fundamentally better.

But if the general point you're making is that the Leafs are a mediocre team, I can't argue with that. I'd just rather watch a mediocre team eking out wins.

 

[hockeyfan1]

Daniel Alfredsson is the only active player to have scored the most goals so far in one's career against one team...the Leafs, according to Elias Sports.

Source:  Sportsnet

 

[L K]

Daniel Alfredsson is the only active player to have scored the most goals so far in one's career against one team...the Leafs, according to Elias Sports.

Source:  Sportsnet

?  Alfredsson's 34 goals are the most goals scored by an active player against the Leafs.  That's a pretty meaningless record.  Especially as 34 goals in 82 games isn't exactly anything truly spectacular. 

Take for example Ovechkin with 26 goals in 31 games.

 

[Zee]

jonasTSN1050: That was just the second Leafs road win in the past 12 games.

Don't look now but Leafs have won 3 straight.

Those wins should be asterisked. The Leafs have 45 points. Jersey, Rangers, Ottawa are all within 4 points, have better records over the last ten, and beat the Leafs in the ROW tiebreaker. If they close the gap, all these SO wins won't do the Leafs much good at all.

This makes 10 times they've given up the lead late in the third and let the other team force overtime (conversely, they've done this thrice). If they're to make the playoffs, they will, at some point, need to start closing out games in regulation.

You can asterisk them all you want but given that this team has been playing poorly and still finding ways to win is encouraging to me. More attention to detail and they could be solid in the 2nd half of the season.

 

[Andy007]

Peter Holland - 3:44
Morgan Rielly - 0:19 in OT

Understand, I do not.

Jay McLement- 20:20

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

Daniel Alfredsson is the only active player to have scored the most goals so far in one's career against one team...the Leafs, according to Elias Sports.

Source:  Sportsnet

?  Alfredsson's 34 goals are the most goals scored by an active player against the Leafs.  That's a pretty meaningless record.  Especially as 34 goals in 82 games isn't exactly anything truly spectacular. 

Take for example Ovechkin with 26 goals in 31 games.

The quote itself seems to have no identifiable meaning.

 

[Tigger]

I enjoyed the heck out of that game, nice win. First time in a while I've cared enough to yell at my monitor.

 

[Highlander]

Agreed with both Tigger and Andy, my wife and I enjoyed the game in a very big way at the Tap Hause in Cave Creek Az and went nuts when Bozak scored. Thank god for Bernier whom held them in there. The Leafs did play like they wanted to win and they did.
This may be the beginning of something very good.

 

[Zee]

When is Bolland back?  We need him to soak up those McClement minutes.

 

[Madferret]

A gimmick decided by a gimmick, how fitting. How many more of these games are left to play this year? 4? Another 3 point game...

 

[L K]

Jay McLement- 20:20

At 5on5 the Leafs score 1.52 goals/60 minutes with McClement on the ice.  This is a trade off as the Leafs only give up 1.39 goals/60 minutes for a net +/- of 0.13 goals/60 minutes.

The 3rd line has been exceptional defensively, even at 5on5 in terms of preventing goals (and against tough competition), but it completely destroys the offensive capabilities of the team.  It's definitely a strategy choice to give up offense in favour of defense, but Carlyle is too rigid with it.  Especially with Bozak back now, the Leafs should be slowing down the McCLement minutes.  The team would likley benefit more by having someone with a little more offensive jam. 

 

[mr grieves]

But if the general point you're making is that the Leafs are a mediocre team, I can't argue with that. I'd just rather watch a mediocre team eking out wins.

Sounds sort of odd from you. That was always been my position on the relative merits of Bozak and Grabovski, MacArthur and Clarkson, who's on the fourth line, etc.: they're more likely to win on the margins/eke out a few more victories by futzing with the roster's margins, and I'd like to see them eke out as many as they can now that they're not in complete shambles.

I mean, the shootout wins this season have been satisfying. With JvR, Raymond, Bozak, and Lupul they have a pretty exciting bunch of shooters. On one level, I appreciate the skills competition more than I used to. But you can only say "I'll take the 2 points!" so many times before you start see a more brutal and inevitable playoff exit than last year or doubt that they're even going to make the playoffs at all if they can only rarely win any other way.

 

[Kin]

Sounds sort of odd from you. That was always been my position on the relative merits of Bozak and Grabovski, MacArthur and Clarkson, who's on the fourth line, etc.:

I think I've been relatively consistent about that though. If the difference in personnel moves between what you want and what the team does is the difference between a 97 point team that gets knocked out in the first round in a 6 game series and a 91 point team that gets swept out of the first round by a disinterested Pittsburgh team, I'm not going to tear out my hair and deride the team's decisions as the greatest tragedy in human history.

That said, I'm always going to want the team to win, by hook or by crook. Especially if their mediocrity is a foregone conclusion.

But you can only say "I'll take the 2 points!" so many times before you start see a more brutal and inevitable playoff exit than last year or doubt that they're even going to make the playoffs at all if they can only rarely win any other way.

Well, me, I can say "I'll take the 2 points!" an endless amount of times and deal with the losses as they come. I am fully able to compartmentalize my thoughts on the team's future and enjoying their wins, especially a game like today.

 

[Peter D.]

I'm probably in the minority, but the novelty of these outdoor games hasn't worn off for me. I love them.

 

[bustaheims]

I'm probably in the minority, but the novelty of these outdoor games hasn't worn off for me. I love them.

I think they're overdoing them this season, but, otherwise, yeah, one or two a season is great.

 

[L K]

I'm probably in the minority, but the novelty of these outdoor games hasn't worn off for me. I love them.

I think they're overdoing them this season, but, otherwise, yeah, one or two a season is great.

Yeah, I think the 20 games they are putting on later this year kind of kills the unique nature of the games.  I think the one territory they have left to change things up is going to a neutral site to try and build a fanbase in other locations.  I'm not sure if there is enough fan interest to accomplish it, but do something like an outdoor game in Kansas City/Seattle/Quebec City.  Just put two premiere teams in that location either for network purposes (a New York type team) or for local interest (quality of teams).

It might be a way to judge fan interest for expansion/relocation in those communities and keep the Winter Classic fresh.

Caring about the result just made the game a heck of a lot more fun.  Watching the players enjoying themselves was great but then adding on the value of the 2 points at the end made it really nice.  I couldn't really care much about the end result in the other ones. 

 

[Kin]

I'm probably in the minority, but the novelty of these outdoor games hasn't worn off for me. I love them.

I think they're overdoing them this season, but, otherwise, yeah, one or two a season is great.

I think that's true but I really only hold it against the later games. The first one of the year is always fun.

 

[bustaheims]

I think that's true but I really only hold it against the later games. The first one of the year is always fun.

I agree. Really, I hold it against all the outdoor games that aren't the Winter Classic or the Heritage Classic. The rest of the "Stadium Series" are the issue.