Pre-Game Talk: Leafs visit the Bruins

[Optimist]

 

[Stigma]

""

Incredible. Six months ago, most had him in the Abramov range of prospects, but here he is.

 

[zeke]

Abruzzese and Knies are the wildcaughts, that make discussions on planning for next years roster incredibly difficult. These guys have been fantastic at the College level, and pretty good in the Olympics... but we have no idea what we've got for the NHL level. If either, both, or neither make an immediate impact, it can drastically change our direction for next year.

Robertson/Knies/Abbruzzese/Steeves....pretty much have to keep a spot or two open for the kids next year imo.

 

[therealkoho]

on my way to Montreal with my young lads to see a Pink Floyd cover band, so no Leafs for me tonight, but as always GLG

 

[inthe6ix]

The Bs aren't heavy tho.

Yeah you're right, I will reserve that for the Blues.

 

[kb]

View attachment 523369

One is available in April, the other in June/July.

 

[stickty111]

He hasn't even practiced yet so no, I didn't think they'd place him over Simmonds. I know the 4th line has struggled badly, but there is Clifford there as well.

I'm happy with this for the record, even if I didn't think they'd play him on his first day with the team.

Especially with not having knowledge of systems and stuff. All though players grasp those pretty quickly I think, and coaching staff will be communicating to him in the game about it I guess.

 

[Fogelhund]

Robertson/Knies/Abbruzzese/Steeves....pretty much have to keep a spot or two open for the kids next year imo.

Maybe even Holmberg too.

 

[inthe6ix]

Matthews - Marner gonna have another beautiful night. What a damn good line.

4-3 Leafs

Hope so, they are terrified of Marner who owns them (24pts in 15 games) like Pasta does a number on us.

 

[Twine Tickler]

playing Abruzzese is the right call. Not many games left on the schedule that will have a playoff intensity. This is one of them. If he is going to be an option for us in the playoffs, then we may as well see what he's got now.

no time like the present

also, he played college hockey at Harvard in Boston so this will just be a natural debut. A la Matthew Boldy (Hopefully)

 

[Gonzothe7thDman]

B's fans lurking in our thread so they can post motivational fodder for their own lol

Sad part is the same ones that are copy/pasting things to make fun of over on the Bruins boards are the same ones who have shit tier takes of their own.

I thought there used to be a rule about cross posting between forums for the purpose of ridiculing but I must be mistaken. I don't see the point in it considering every fanbase has their nuts in it that post dumb things.

 

[riffle]

on my way to Montreal with my young lads to see a Pink Floyd cover band, so no Leafs for me tonight, but as always GLG

"Don't leave me now" ...I have "High hopes"... it is "Never too late"... for you to change your mind and "Stay"... home to watch the Leafs even though it is likely to be "Absolutely curtains"... for them tonight.

Enjoy the show with the lads.

 

[SprDaVE]

Sounds like Abruzzese isn't playing tonight after all. Makes a little more sense to me.

 

[stickty111]

Sounds like Abruzzese isn't playing tonight after all. Makes a little more sense to me.

Well thats too bad. Probably the right call though

 

[leafsfan5]

Jesus Christ, Kyle Clifford?

4th line should barely play

 

[Burnie97]

TEAM	SEASON	GP	H/GP	W	L	T	OTL	PTS	PTS%	G	GA	PP%	PK%	S/GP	SA/GP

Ottawa Senators	2021-22	65	29.57	23	36		6	52	.400	169	211	18.5	79.9	30.06	33.29
	Nashville Predators	2021-22	66	29.08	38	24		4	80	.606	215	192	24.4	79.6	29.52	31.85
	Boston Bruins	2021-22	65	26.57	41	19		5	87	.669	198	172	23.7	81.6	35.75	28.85
	New York Rangers	2021-22	66	26.17	42	19		5	89	.674	199	170	26.4	81.4	28.82	31.79
	Montreal Canadiens	2021-22	66	25.47	18	37		11	47	.356	167	245	13.9	74.4	29.65	34.21
	Tampa Bay Lightning	2021-22	65	25.43	41	18		6	88	.677	213	178	20.7	81.3	30.23	29.88
	Florida Panthers	2021-22	65	25.37	44	15		6	94	.723	261	187	23.4	79.6	36.98	30.71
	New York Islanders	2021-22	64	25.23	28	27		9	65	.508	173	172	20.5	82.9	29.14	32.17
	Pittsburgh Penguins	2021-22	67	25.03	40	17		10	90	.672	222	173	22.0	86.3	34.60	30.48
	Chicago Blackhawks	2021-22	67	24.79	24	33		10	58	.433	180	233	21.3	75.7	28.61	32.51
	Washington Capitals	2021-22	68	24.35	37	21		10	84	.618	220	195	19.5	80.7	31.25	29.32
	San Jose Sharks	2021-22	65	24.28	29	28		8	66	.508	171	202	18.9	84.8	29.05	31.89
	Winnipeg Jets	2021-22	67	23.57	32	25		10	74	.552	208	203	21.8	75.3	32.67	32.66
	Minnesota Wild	2021-22	64	22.94	40	20		4	84	.656	232	198	20.3	76.2	32.77	31.75
	Vancouver Canucks	2021-22	68	22.88	32	27		9	73	.537	190	192	21.6	72.8	32.25	31.88
	Dallas Stars	2021-22	64	22.84	36	25		3	75	.586	185	190	22.7	78.0	30.55	31.14
	Carolina Hurricanes	2021-22	66	22.77	44	15		7	95	.720	221	155	24.5	89.4	33.80	28.67
	Philadelphia Flyers	2021-22	66	22.42	21	34		11	53	.402	171	229	13.2	75.5	30.47	34.03
	Seattle Kraken	2021-22	66	22.33	21	39		6	48	.364	174	232	15.0	73.3	29.00	29.05
	Edmonton Oilers	2021-22	67	22.22	37	25		5	79	.590	230	216	26.4	76.6	33.63	31.70
	Calgary Flames	2021-22	65	22.06	40	17		8	88	.677	229	160	23.9	84.5	35.77	29.23
	Arizona Coyotes	2021-22	66	21.89	20	41		5	45	.341	167	236	13.8	73.5	25.77	35.48
	Colorado Avalanche	2021-22	66	20.91	46	14		6	98	.742	250	183	24.9	78.4	35.24	31.29
	Anaheim Ducks	2021-22	67	20.63	27	29		11	65	.485	185	213	22.9	80.7	29.61	32.96
	Vegas Golden Knights	2021-22	68	20.51	36	28		4	76	.559	212	205	19.1	78.6	34.15	30.10
	Los Angeles Kings	2021-22	68	20.41	36	23		9	81	.596	193	191	17.0	75.4	35.07	28.59
	St. Louis Blues	2021-22	65	20.37	36	20		9	81	.623	228	185	25.8	82.6	30.65	31.40
	Toronto Maple Leafs	2021-22	65	19.55	41	19		5	87	.669	237	196	29.2	84.2	34.63	30.69
	Columbus Blue Jackets	2021-22	66	19.02	32	29		5	69	.523	212	244	19.2	77.5	30.02	35.39
	New Jersey Devils	2021-22	66	18.59	24	37		5	53	.402	200	235	18.3	81.2	32.03	31.09
	Detroit Red Wings	2021-22	66	17.91	26	32		8	60	.455	186	251	17.4	72.4	29.68	33.44
	Buffalo Sabres	2021-22	67	14.85	24

Kind of scrambled table but mainly just showing hits per game. The stat near the start of the table. Bruins our 3rd in hits per game. Leafs are 28th.

Not making an argument one way or the other. There's many ways to win... but Bs still hit.

 

[riffle]

Sounds like Abruzzese isn't playing tonight after all. Makes a little more sense to me.

You hate to read into this more than might be there, but did they not think he was ready, or did he tell them he wasn't good to go? Or, was it never the plan to have him play at any time for tonight's game?

Are they going to debut him in that potentially wild grudge match with Winnipeg?

 

[inthe6ix]

Sounds like Abruzzese isn't playing tonight after all. Makes a little more sense to me.

Damn, that sucks. Would have at least brought Simmer back in; have no faith in Clifford, sadly.

Feel he is a bad penalty waiting to happen every shift.

 

[leafsfan5]

The Bs aren't heavy tho.

It’ll take people a while to realize the Bruins are as soft as we are lol. Long gone are the days of Chara, Lucic etc

 

[1specter]

The Bs aren't heavy tho.

I believe they're a top 5 team in hits and fights and they're also an elite possession team. If they're not 'heavy' then I'm not sure who is. If you're just talking about straight up size, that's a different discussion but 'heavy' is a play style / mentality as much as it is physical size. Even then it's not like they are particularly small either, they have a big bruising bottom six and on defense McAvoy, Carlo, Lindholm and Forbort are all huge.

Also funny to see Ladyfan liking your comment, she sure loves to lurk and crosspost to the Bruins board.

 

[SprDaVE]

Jesus Christ, Kyle Clifford?

4th line should barely play

He was pretty good last time around. He at least tried to hit people. He's not that good but I wouldn't be surprised if he was a little more noticeable than Simmonds.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Keefe just really wants to have a brutal 4th line I guess

 

[inthe6ix]

You hate to read into this more than might be there, but did they not think he was ready, or did he tell them he wasn't good to go? Or, was it never the plan to have him play at any time for tonight's game?

I hope they told him ahead of time what the plan was - hate to think he got tickets for his friends and family to come out and see him, and gets scratched without warning.

 

[zeke]

Sounds like Abruzzese isn't playing tonight after all. Makes a little more sense to me.

Poop.

 

[ACC1224]

I fully expect Keefe to start that 4th line with Abruzzese.

Doubt the kid plays. Tough spot for your first NHL game.