Pre-Game Talk: Lightning vs Leafs | January 28th, 7pm EST | TSN

[Pi]

Healy might as well count down the days until Rogers replaces him. Time to start looking for work south of the border.

I hope so. I don't mind constructive criticism because we know that our team isn't even close to being as good as we want them to be but Healy is just an idiot who spews random crap.

When we don't win SO's theya re after the Leafs, when we win SO's it gets even worse.

 

[LeafOfBread]

This will be tough. Tampa usually has our number, and they're an excellent team this year, firing on all cylinders while having great coaching (Jon Cooper is awesome) and playing together as a strong, cohesive unit. Ben Bishop has also been unreal and is having a Vezina-calibre season.

They have lots of young talent and depth on offense and haven't missed a beat despite missing Stamkos...young guys like Johnson, Killorn, Palat, etc have filled the void while their older guys like Filp, Purcell and of course MSL have all been excellent as well.

Even the D has performed very well considering that on paper it's not the best group, but Hedman is having the best season of his career thus far, while Gudas, Carle, and their other depth guys like Sustr, Brewer etc have all played well.

Very impressed with how much they turned things around since last year.

 

[FlareKnight]

This will be tough. Tampa usually has our number, and they're an excellent team this year, firing on all cylinders while having great coaching (Jon Cooper is awesome) and playing together as a strong, cohesive unit. Ben Bishop has also been unreal and is having a Vezina-calibre season.

They have lots of young talent and depth on offense and haven't missed a beat despite missing Stamkos...young guys like Johnson, Killorn, Palat, etc have filled the void while their older guys like Filp, Purcell and of course MSL have all been excellent as well.

Even the D has performed very well considering that on paper it's not the best group, but Hedman is having the best season of his career thus far, while Gudas, Carle, and their other depth guys like Sustr, Brewer etc have all played well.

Very impressed with how much they turned things around since last year.

So basically the odds are so stacked against us that the universe has to give us a break and let us win right ?

 

[LeafOfBread]

So basically the odds are so stacked against us that the universe has to give us a break and let us win right ?

Well, we have the speed to match them, and historically the Leafs have done well against Ben Bishop, so not all is against us. Depends which Leafs team shows up, as usual

 

[LeafOfBread]

Bishop actually has some ugly, ugly numbers vs the Leafs...

5GP, 2-3-0, .872 sv%, 3.24 GAA

Of course, it might've just been Ottawa syndrome since I believe all but 1 of those games came with the Sens. And the Sens have pretty much been our ***** for a few years now.

 

[Paradoc]

Bishop actually has some ugly, ugly numbers vs the Leafs...

5GP, 2-3-0, .872 sv%, 3.24 GAA

#slumpbustertime!

Yeah but watch him player very well against us.

 

[Paradoc]

Hedman has 6 points in his last 2 games. He's been playing very well for a defenseman who was suppose to be labeled as a bust a couple of seasons ago.

 

[TheThrill81*]

Time for the Leafs to go greased lightning.

 

[Hotlanta]

Hedman has 6 points in his last 2 games. He's been playing very well for a defenseman who was suppose to be labeled as a bust a couple of seasons ago.

When was he labelled a bust? But I wouldn't be surprised since people are labelling Larsson a bust and he is on the same learning curve. You can never call a D a bust till they are at least 25 (Cody Franson ). Usually takes them till at least 27 to hit their prime.

 

[Pi]

When was he labelled a bust? But I wouldn't be surprised since people are labelling Larsson a bust and he is on the same learning curve. You can never call a D a bust till they are at least 25 (Cody Franson ). Usually takes them till at least 27 to hit their prime.

Larsson isn't a bust...he's just had a lot of downs in his career and the coaching in NJ hasn't helped much either.

I would love to find a way to get Larsson on our team. IMO, he's a guy that can definitely play 20-25 minutes of good hockey when he develops.

Top pairing D potential.

 

[Schennanigans]

I didn't realize we got out of the wildcard spot and now 3rd in division. Would be great if we can keep moving forward. Though Montreal with 2 games in hand. Hope we can get back in the win column.

 

[Mess]

Talk about not using injuries as an excuse for failure.

Lightning are the poster child to support this, as missing Stamkos one of the best players on the planet and not missing a beat as a team tied for 2nd in the Eastern conference standings.

Our Leafs are not missing a Stamkos but are not able to keep up with the Lightening. TB finished 3rd last overall last season while the Leafs made the playoffs.

Why are TB outperforming the Leafs this year?

 

[Schennanigans]

Better goaltending. Bishop is finally making them relevant in between the pipes.

 

[Raging Bull]

I think the Lightning were a good team last year, they just didn't get good enough goaltending.

 

[Igy]

Talk about not using injuries as an excuse for failure.

Lightning are the poster child to support this, as missing Stamkos one of the best players on the planet and not missing a beat as a team tied for 2nd in the Eastern conference standings.

Our Leafs are not missing a Stamkos but are not able to keep up with the Lightening. TB finished 3rd last overall last season while the Leafs made the playoffs.

Why are TB outperforming the Leafs this year?

Great coaching.

 

[Pi]

Talk about not using injuries as an excuse for failure.

Lightning are the poster child to support this, as missing Stamkos one of the best players on the planet and not missing a beat as a team tied for 2nd in the Eastern conference standings.

Our Leafs are not missing a Stamkos but are not able to keep up with the Lightening. TB finished 3rd last overall last season while the Leafs made the playoffs.

Why are TB outperforming the Leafs this year?

Coaching is miles better and so is the system.

With the Leafs...you still have no idea what kind of team you are going to get on any given day.

Tampa comes to play every night and is dialed in...

 

[Mess]

Better goaltending. Bishop is finally making them relevant in between the pipes.

Using TB as a gauge to measure the Leafs progress.

So Ben Bishop at .934 sv% > Bernier @ .925

Therefore TB (without Stamkos) > Leafs in standings.

Where would TB be with Stamkos Cup competitors?

TB was a bottom 5 lottery team last season, just like our Leafs the prior one (Rielly), why aren't we seeing similar team improvement with goaltending improvement?

If not for Bernier (7th best sv%) would Leafs be a lottery team? Similarly if Leafs were missing their best player Kessel for months would they be better or worse in the standings?

 

[Schennanigans]

Using TB as a gauge to measure the Leafs progress.

So Ben Bishop at .934 sv% > Bernier @ .925

Therefore TB (without Stamkos) > Leafs in standings.

Where would TB be with Stamkos Cup competitors?

TB was a bottom 5 lottery team last season, just like our Leafs the prior one (Rielly), why aren't we seeing similar team improvement with goaltending improvement?

If not for Bernier (7th best sv%) would Leafs be a lottery team? Similarly if Leafs were missing their best player Kessel for months would they be better or worse in the standings?

TB will be where they are now or up there with the other top 2 with Stamkos. The Leafs would not be a lottery team without Bernier, Reimer is still almost as good. If we were missing Kessel we'd be worse. We don't get a lot of scoring outside of that line.

 

[BonMorrison]

This gon' be a tough one.

 

[Mess]

TB will be where they are now or up there with the other top 2 with Stamkos. The Leafs would not be a lottery team without Bernier, Reimer is still almost as good. If we were missing Kessel we'd be worse. We don't get a lot of scoring outside of that line.

With or without the Rocket Richard trophy candidate Stamkos TB would be in a similar position?

They seem to be playing extremely well without him, but that seems hard to believe that he has no impact on the team results.

 

[Pi]

With or without the Rocket Richard trophy candidate Stamkos TB would be in a similar position?

They seem to be playing extremely well without him, but that seems hard to believe that he has no impact on the team results.

Not really.

Pittsburgh played well without Sidney Crosby and they are playing at the same level with him.

When a team loses it's star player, the team comes together and performs at a higher level to make up for it.

Look at the Sens last year...everyone said: "WOW, look at this Sens team without Karlsson, Spezza, Michalek"

The media hopped right into the bandwagon: "They are Cup contenders with a healthy Spezza, Karlsson and Michalek" Look at them now...right where we expected them to be.

It's a fairly simple concept: Lose a star player, other players on the team step up to fill their void.

 

[Mess]

Not really.

Pittsburgh played well without Sidney Crosby and they are playing at the same level with him.

When a team loses it's star player, the team comes together and performs at a higher level to make up for it.

Look at the Sens last year...everyone said: "WOW, look at this Sens team without Karlsson, Spezza, Michalek"

The media hopped right into the bandwagon: "They are Cup contenders with a healthy Spezza, Karlsson and Michalek"

It's a fairly simple concept: Lose a star player, other players on the team step up to fill their void.

Would that be true for Toronto is they were missing Kessel for an extended period of time?

How come Leafs struggles were blamed on missing secondary players like Bozak and Bolland, when teams even absorb the loss of star players like Stamkos and continue to have success?.

Your theory doesn't seem to apply to our Leafs.

 

[Schennanigans]

With or without the Rocket Richard trophy candidate Stamkos TB would be in a similar position?

They seem to be playing extremely well without him, but that seems hard to believe that he has no impact on the team results.

Well with him who's to say that they wouldn't be better and perhaps the favorite to capture the presidents trophy. Like I said they would be the same or better, but probably better.

 

[JackJ]

David Alter ‏@DavidAlter590 7m
Leafs lines at practice
JVR-Bozak-Kessel
Lupul-Kadri-Kulemin
Raymond-Holland-Bodie
Ashton-McClement-Orr-McLaren
Bolland-Smith

Solid line.

 

[Mess]

Well with him who's to say that they wouldn't be better and perhaps the favorite to capture the presidents trophy. Like I said they would be the same or better, but probably better.

I think it suggests TB is a solid team because even if you take away one of the top players in the NHL they continue to perform as a top team in the conference.

I don't think our Leafs could do that.

If TB beats our Leafs despite one hand tied behind their back (missing Stamkos) it does make a statement towards our Leafs and their competitiveness in comparison. Stamkos is often a Leaf killer in past Leaf losses.