Speculation: Is TOR easy to play against?

[ottomaddox]

I was listening to Hockey Central a couple of days ago. Jeff Merak, Nick Kypreos, and Doug Maclean all agree that the leafs are easy to play against. That outside of Martin there is no one on the team who brings physicality to the line-up.

Do you agree? Other than a top 4 D, should the leafs look for more physical forwards at the deadline.

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[Lebanese Leaf]

The Leafs are not finishing glorious scoring chances. That is what we should be concerned about. Offense has to wake the f*** up.

 

[Cor]

This doesn’t make sense.

Hyman is a bit of a jerk
Kadri is a real jerk
Komarov is a real jerk
Carrick when he wants to be is a jerk
Martin is a jerk
Polak is a dumb jerk
Zaitsev is tough to play against.


Quiet frankly, two of our “two guys go play against” in Polak and Komarov, are hurting us.

 

[SprDaVE]

They aren't a physical team to play against. Not sure that means they are an easy team to play against though. Not sure why both go hand in hand. They are bad hot takes with very little thought.

I remember when we had some awful teams under Burke, we had some tough guys on the team and we were at the top of the hits and fights ladder. Were we harder to play against despite being a bad team? No.

Want to guess who are among the bottom 10 in hits? What about fights? On the flip side, guess who are the top 5 teams in hits this season. This will give you your answer.

Teams are good and tough to play against because they have speed, skill and a combination of great goaltending and depth. Physicality is a secondary asset that rarely ever makes a difference between a good and bad team.

 

[ToneDog]

Other than Martin, who should teams keep their heads up for ? Leo hits but not many have the impact like Martin's hits. Teams also don't have to worry about being punished in our end while they cycle pucks and set up shop in front of Andy. Borgs is capable but hard to do from the pressbox.

 

[Critical13]

I don't care about "physicality", what we really lack is that "oh f***" speed we had last season. We put the fear into enemy defence, especially ones that couldn't skate. We'd be up and down the ice 3 times a shift.

Now...well our transition game is slower than a glacier. Half the time we're transitioning and the opposition is able to turn a transition play into a 2 v 5. Clamping down on D means less cheating, and less cheating means our speed is negated.

 

[ottomaddox]

They aren't a physical team to play against. Not sure that means they are an easy team to play against though. Not sure why both go hand in hand. They are bad hot takes with very little thought.

I remember when we had some awful teams under Burke, we had some tough guys on the team and we were at the top of the hits and fights ladder. Were we harder to play against despite being a bad team? No.

Want to guess who are among the bottom 10 in hits? What about fights? On the flip side, guess who are the top 5 teams in hits this season. This will give you your answer.

I see your point, but do teams leave TOR with wins free of:

bruises
soreness,
sweat
scratches/cuts
punches to the face
feathers ruffled
Etc.

???

 

[SprDaVE]

I see your point, but do teams leave TOR with wins free of:

bruises
soreness,
sweat
scratches/cuts
punches to the face
feathers ruffled
Etc.

???

I mean they leave with either a win or a loss. We should be focusing on winning a hockey game, not physically hurting teams.

I don't think the Lightning cares that they are bruising the other team, they are too busy winning hockey games.

I'm sure the Oilers feel good about themselves knowing they are first in the league in hits and teams leave their building with a couple more bruises. I'm pretty sure the opponent doesn't care since you know, they keep winning against them.

 

[ottomaddox]

I mean they leave with either a win or a loss. We should be focusing on winning a hockey game, not physically hurting teams.

I don't think the Lightning cares that they are bruising the other team, they are too busy winning hockey games.

I'm sure the Oilers feel good about themselves knowing they are first in the league in hits and teams leave their building with a couple more bruises.

I think we need to look no further than tonight's game against OTT. If TOR doesn't score on their chances early in the game, then can they get into a physical 60 minutes where eventually OTT's board work/checking take over?

I know OTT have had their struggles this season, but could TOR beat them in a 7 game series?

 

[ShaneFalco]

Other than Martin, who should teams keep their heads up for ? Leo hits but not many have the impact like Martin's hits. Teams also don't have to worry about being punished in our end while they cycle pucks and set up shop in front of Andy. Borgs is capable but hard to do from the pressbox.

I agree with this. We may have some chippy players in Kadri, Komarov, Hyman etc but noone who can forecheck and punish guys along the boards

 

[SprDaVE]

I think we need to look no further than tonight's game against OTT. If TOR doesn't score on their chances early in the game, then can they get into a physical 60 minutes where eventually OTT's board work/checking take over?

I know OTT have had their struggles this season, but could TOR beat them in a 7 game series?

Ottawa isn't make the playoffs, so it doesn't matter.

Penguins didn't win the cup by physically dominating teams.

 

[ShaneFalco]

I think we need to look no further than tonight's game against OTT. If TOR doesn't score on their chances early in the game, then can they get into a physical 60 minutes where eventually OTT's board work/checking take over?

I know OTT have had their struggles this season, but could TOR beat them in a 7 game series?

Always

 

[WTFMAN99]

Hard to play against? No.

You can check the Leafs and not really feel any repercussions for it, our team is soft.

We aren't stifling defensively.

Our system allows many shots against.

 

[ottomaddox]

I agree with this. We may have some chippy players in Kadri, Komarov, Hyman etc but noone who can forecheck and punish guys along the boards

Yes. Hyman used to hit harder and recover the puck pretty good.

I love Uncle Leo, but his small man big game is declining.

 

[SprDaVE]

Hard to play against? No.

You can check the Leafs and not really feel any repercussions for it, our team is soft.

We aren't stifling defensively.

Our system allows many shots against.

I can agree here that they are easier to play against, especially in the last couple weeks, because of their inability to score, cut down on shots against and making you pay for mistakes PP, turnovers, etc.

They were very hard to play against in the first couple months.

 

[Mess]

If the Leafs had a big power forward LWer, then a player (like many complain about) in Hyman can be upgraded on and demoted to suit his skillset.

I've suggested letting JVR go and perhaps signing James "the real deal" Neal and making a Neal -- Matthews -- Nylander line.

Basically Leafs need more size, strength in order to be able to play a bigger/heavy game themselves as they're too small and soft and easy to defend against. IMO

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

yes, but it's nothing to do with physicality. We don't skate and we don't really pressure the other team like we used to, and that makes us easy to beat. When we skate other teams into the ground and beat them to every puck and force them into bad decisions, we're a nightmare to play against

 

[WTFMAN99]

I can agree here that they are easier to play against, especially in the last couple weeks, because of their inability to score, cut down on shots against and making you pay for mistakes PP, turnovers, etc.

They were very hard to play against in the first couple months.

I think the one thing that made the Leafs tough to play against early on was that ANY opening to score we converted on. Without that though, we're damned easy to play against.

I was even thinking the other day how nice it would be to have a different ingredient at 3C. Bozak doesn't add anything that we don't already have throughout the roster. Obvious not this high end but play style comparisons, a "prime" Dave Bolland, David Backes, Ryan Kesler, Brayden Schenn. Just tough to match up against. Kadri kind of gives that but we need more guys that can still score (that's the way the league is now, skill and speed) but would love some more "balls" on this team. Right now we're paper soft and don't seem to come up with the puck at all when we go into the corners save for Matthews, Hyman and Kadri coming out with it. Everyone else seems scared to get their hands dirty.

 

[Stephen]

They get knocked around a little because they are a young, skilled team trying to play a heavier game instead of fine honing their speed and skill game. When they're engaging on the board, cycling, etc. they spend a ton of energy in the trenches while mitigating their strengths. Doesn't make a ton of sense.

Also, our tougher players aren't that tough. Komarov used to be a super pest and would throw big hits on a regular basis but I think the game's caught up with his body and now he's on energy saver mode half the time. What is he, 5'11"?

The role Kadri plays is usually suited for a 6'3" power forward in the Backes mould. Kadri should be put in a more offensive role. A guy like Josh Anderson out of Columbus looks like a way better two way physical center on checking duty if you want that kind of center on the third line.
Marleau and JVR are kind of gentle giants. Gauthier has been nice, but he's not naturally mean or nasty.

 

[firstemperor]

I would say yes. We are one of the more heavily scouted teams in the league, our system has become predictable.

We don't generate any more speed through the neutral zone as often as we use to, which would utilize our skill more and make us more of a dynamic team that is harder to game plan against. Some of our more relied-upon players in the past like.. say, Gardiner has regressed immensely in terms of being an effective PMD and now lives by a low % stretch pass and a lack of urgency to skate more often than not.

Our back-end also really struggles exiting the zone cleanly and clogging the blue-line/neutral zone as well as other teams. I think it could be personnel more than anything (possibly also a systemic issue) but Dermott has definitely stabilized the pairings a bit. Right now, we're not a hard team to play against. Good teams impose their will around others around the league more regularly, the games they lose tend to be just bad breaks/puck luck. We lose games right now, because we deserve to lose.

 

[WTFMAN99]

They get knocked around a little because they are a young, skilled team trying to play a heavier game instead of fine honing their speed and skill game. When they're engaging on the board, cycling, etc. they spend a ton of energy in the trenches while mitigating their strengths. Doesn't make a ton of sense.

Also, our tougher players aren't that tough. Komarov used to be a super pest and would throw big hits on a regular basis but I think the game's caught up with his body and now he's on energy saver mode half the time. What is he, 5'11"?

The role Kadri plays is usually suited for a 6'3" power forward in the Backes mould. Kadri should be put in a more offensive role. A guy like Josh Anderson out of Columbus looks like a way better two way physical center on checking duty if you want that kind of center on the third line.
Marleau and JVR are kind of gentle giants. Gauthier has been nice, but he's not naturally mean or nasty.

Anderson is strictly RW but he's a good player. I think he's playing hurt lately though, pretty disengaged.

 

[ShaneFalco]

Doesn't help when they get boxed in their own end far too much

 

[rent free]

yup. they aren't physical at all. i'm surprised teams don't just skate through our defense to the net.

 

[Menzinger]

Physicality isn’t the reason the team isn’t winning - it’s the lack of goals.

Yzerman built the Bolts on speed and skill and has his eyes focused on the Stanley Cup this season.

 

[Mats13]

Yes. The problem with this team right now is GRIT.

So obvious, why didn't the rest of us see this? We just gotta hit and punch our way to goals.

We don't need our offence to wake up or to acquire a top 4 dman. No, we need to be more physical.

Just

What a joke.