Pre-Game Talk: Leafs at Flyers Nov 2nd

[MyBudJT]

Muzzin practicing in an red (injured) jersey.

Looks like he may miss a game or two, but won't be out for long!

 

[Trapper]

Quite a few Leafs games end with, Why?

Don’t forget How??? and What!!! plus a few more choice adjectives I can repeat here.
Rhymes with Duck - Duck - Duck!

 

[Nineteen67]

Did you notice St Louis last year?

I’m not sure that’s relevant, but either way, yes, I followed them and there is a basic math equation that says the odds of it happening again in my lifetime are not good.

 

[Gary Nylund]

As I remember Buffalo was in 1st place in NHL last year around this time. and I think St Louis was near the bottom. and we can all remember how things turned out.
The Leafs will be fine. They may run a 5 game win steak now. But they are closer to having the right team than last year. I think still a couple heavy pieces away both upfront and on D but heading in right direction on personnel.

Then again, they may go the entire season without winning 5 in a row.

 

[Nineteen67]

Quite a few Leafs games end with, Why?

A little over 50%.

 

[DarkKnight]

Fred Sheeran

View attachment 271497

Geez Andy get a bigger pad, lol.

 

[Suntouchable13]

Leafs need to go on a run and separate themselves from the likes of Florida and Montreal. Right now, they are officially out of a playoff spot. Gotta work hard to get in. It's not a cakewalk. Just because they are so talented doesn't mean jack.

 

[Cor]

*cringes* top pairing Justin Holl

 

[Cor]

Looks like Tavares is back tomorrow!

 

[Buds17]

*cringes* top pairing Justin Holl

I definitely did a double take looking at the pairings. Hmm...

 

[MyBudJT]

Cue the complaints that Nylander is back on PP2.

Nice to see Mikheyev joining a PP unit. He's deserved it!

 

[Zybalto]

So get Tavares back but lose Muzzin for a couple of games?

I miss this team being unusually healthy.

At least Dermott is back and should have his legs going a little more after being on the shelf so long but hes no Muzzin.

Got a feeling we'll be seeing some pond hockey tomorrow night which should be fun to watch but its gonna come down to the goaltending IMO.

 

[Nineteen67]

Do you expect them to continue to play at their current level or do you expect we'll see a change in their playing level?

if the past 78 games are any indication, without any changes, one could easily assume they’ll hover around 500 and only win about 30% of their games against good defensive teams.

 

[MyBudJT]

if the past 78 games are any indication, without any changes, one could easily assume they’ll hover around 500 and only win about 30% of their games against good defensive teams.

We are undergoing changes. We're getting healthy.

At least half of the last 78 games, we were missing key players due to injury.

Also, we're a young team, that has effort issues. If there is any coach that should be able to fix that, its Babcock... Babcock's teams has a long history of being hard working and a system that is tough to play against.

 

[Kiwi]

*cringes* top pairing Justin Holl

Holl to pair, Barrie bottom pair

That's aggressive

 

[razkaz]

*cringes* top pairing Justin Holl

Might work. Holl hasn't really been that bad. Might change playing top pair minutes though

 

[MyBudJT]

Holl to pair, Barrie bottom pair

That's aggressive

Its also incorrect

 

[Nineteen67]

We are undergoing changes. We're getting healthy.

At least half of the last 78 games, we were missing key players due to injury.

Also, we're a young team, that has effort issues. If there is any coach that should be able to fix that, its Babcock... Babcock's teams has a long history of being hard working and a system that is tough to play against.

Mike Babcock?

 

[BertCorbeau]

Its also incorrect

Thank baby Jesus

 

[deletethis]

That would have been setting Holl up to fail. Totally unfair ask of him. However he could handle the odd shift with Rielly if Babcock wants get Rielly on the ice for more shifts.

 

[Gary Nylund]

We are undergoing changes. We're getting healthy.

At least half of the last 78 games, we were missing key players due to injury.

We've been healthier than most teams over these 78 games, come on now.

Also, we're a young team, that has effort issues. If there is any coach that should be able to fix that, its Babcock... Babcock's teams has a long history of being hard working and a system that is tough to play against.

I'm pretty sure this ancient history impresses exactly nobody and the last 78 games indicates the exact opposite.

 

[Kiwi]

Its also incorrect

Where's Barrie? With Marincin on the bottom pair?

 

[Trapper]

We've been healthier than most teams over these 78 games, come on now.



I'm pretty sure this ancient history impresses exactly nobody and the last 78 games indicates the exact opposite.

Yeah I don’t know about all that stuff but if you approach every game with speed, skill and aggressive up and down the ice you should be fine during some injury time.

There is more parity this year, for the past few seasons we didn’t have to worry about Ottawa/Buffalo/Detroit/Florida/Montreal/etc. Now a few seem to be on the rise so you can’t sleepwalk and be passive for stretches.
We need the win Saturday against a team in back to back.

 

[MyBudJT]

Where's Barrie? With Marincin on the bottom pair?

I don't know the pair orders. Barrie probably gets 3rd highest minutes... Marincin will likely be 5 or 6.

But the pairs in practice were:
Rielly - Ceci
Marincin-Barrie
Dermott-Holl

 

[SeaOfBlue]

I don't know the pair orders. Barrie probably gets 3rd highest minutes... Marincin will likely be 5 or 6.

But the pairs in practice were:
Rielly - Ceci
Marincin-Barrie
Dermott-Holl

Would be a good way to showcase Marincin for a trade. A couple of games where Marincin and Holl may need to actually play legit bottom pairing minutes and Dermott has to play top 4 minutes should not kill us, but it may intrigue some teams if Marincin does well enough.

Who knows, maybe Marincin is exactly what Barrie needs. He'll definitely need to step his game up now that he does not have someone as good as Muzzin there with him.