Pre-Game Talk: Maple Leafs vs Winnipeg Jets - Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017

[RightyYourWrongy*]

Seriously?

Taken a dead last team the season before with anywhere from 7-9 rookies in the lineup on any given night and with a maximum of 3 quality NHL defencemen and has them in a playoff spot with 25 games to go...

Yea, he's totally ****ed us over.

And who was coach last season when we had a historically bad one?

Babcock runs a good system. Defensively it's looked atrocious here but in Detroit it was good (Detroit generally limited their opposition to sub-25 SA).

But where he loses the pot is his lineup decisions, his inability to adapt, his strict adherence to linematching even when it's not working.

Look at Matthews, Nylander etc. splits home-vs-away. Or away from Babcocks micromanaging at home (last change).

This year alone we have had a ton of questionable lineup decisions:

Smith, Hunlak TOI, Rielly no PP (offesnive D-Men who looks terrible now with no defense or offense), Nylander yo-yo'd around the lineup, Hyman attached at Matthews hip, Leivo stapled to the bench, Corrado's career ruined, etc.

 

[ULF_55]

It is likely that the better team Tuesday will win.

Laine is the leading rookie scorer with less games played.

Hard to overlook the facts, regardless of circumstance.

It is up to Matthews and Marner to change that.

 

[Leafy Undergrowth]

I dread these storyline games. I just fear exactly what happened against the Jets the first time.

 

[The Podium]

I personally don't care if Laine wins the calder, I do, however, care about the floods of fans, both Leafs and otherwise, that will tell us relentlessly how management ****ed up not taking Laine despite Matthews being the better and more important player.

 

[Trapper]

I personally don't care if Laine wins the calder, I do, however, care about the floods of fans, both Leafs and otherwise, that will tell us relentlessly how management ****ed up not taking Laine despite Matthews being the better and more important player.

These people will find anything to harp on. Laine wins or Matthews wins. If Laine wins, Leafs should have drafted him. If Matthews wins it was because Laine was injured.
There will still be an if, and or but.

"Never argue with stupid people. They will drag you down to their level, and then beat you with experience."
-Mark Twain-

 

[Rick74*]

Jets are on a bit of a streak right now. Leafs need to absolutely come out of the gate flying.

If they don't, prepare for a long night and many posts detailing Winnipeg's inferiority complex regarding anything Toronto related.

 

[Raym11]

I like both Laine and Matthews and think they have equal potential points wise maybe even a slight edge to Laine in his best years, but i'd never trade Matthews for him after watching Matthews play. The exact player we have needed and i would build a team around. Winnipeg got their guy too.


Matthews needs a revenge-trick after last time but with the way our goaltending has been we'll probably need to win a barn burner

 

[Optimist]

The games on my birthday, oh boy, Matthews please score a lot and win the game.

Happy birthday. My birthday is Wednesday. But I think I'll celebrate it on Tuesday..

 

[nuck]

Any chance Marner returns? He is the rookie to watch tomorrow.

Matthews scores at an 85pt pace on the road and a 45pt pace at home. Willie scores at a 65pt pace on the road and a 45pt pace at home. Laine scores at a 60g pace at home but a 27g pace on the road. None of these three are strong bets to fill the net in Toronto.

Marner however scores at an 85pt pace at home and a 50pt pace on the road. I think the Leafs need to let visiting teams do the line matching or at least do a drill down. There are five teams with over 100g at home but none with more than 94g on the road. That is the expected advantage with the last change, but the Leafs are almost dead even home and road, due in large part to Willie and AM not producing with the line match "advantage". Any thoughts on this anomaly?

 

[Budsfan]

 

[BertCorbeau]

Given the nature of the last couple of Jets games I wouldn't be opposed to sitting Marner again to make sure he's 100% healthy.

 

[Suntouchable13]

This is a good game to sneak in McBackup in.

Feb 21 Winnipeg
Mar 2 @Los Angeles
Mar 7 Detroit
Mar 16 @ Tampa Bay
Mar 23 New Jersey
Apr 3 @Buffalo
Apr 9 Columbus

Andersen doesn't play back-to-back, or more than 3-4 games in a row, or start more than 80% of the season.

What about in the playoffs (if Leafs make it)? He will start every single game no matter what. So, giving him more than 3-4 games in a row should be fine. Andersen will start this game, there really is no debate.

 

[RightyYourWrongy*]

What about in the playoffs (if Leafs make it)? He will start every single game no matter what. So, giving him more than 3-4 games in a row should be fine. Andersen will start this game, there really is no debate.

There should be.

We won't make the playoffs with Andersen. We have a very large sample now (20 games) to look at what his game is - and it's trending downward bigly.

And if you break it up in smaller segments - it's worse.

If the playoffs are the ideal, McElhinney has to start more.

 

[Suntouchable13]

There should be.

We won't make the playoffs with Andersen. We have a very large sample now (20 games) to look at what his game is - and it's trending downward bigly.

And if you break it up in smaller segments - it's worse.

If the playoffs are the ideal, McElhinney has to start more.

Leafs are not going to make the playoffs on the back of McElhinney. He is a career backup. If they won't make it with Andersen, they won't make it with McElhinney either. He is not some young, prospect goalie. He is a career journeyman backup. He had a good game, he did his job, don't push him to be something he is not.

 

[Leafblooded]

There should be.

We won't make the playoffs with Andersen. We have a very large sample now (20 games) to look at what his game is - and it's trending downward bigly.

And if you break it up in smaller segments - it's worse.

If the playoffs are the ideal, McElhinney has to start more.

You're going to be sorely disappointed either way. Why rag on the 5 mil man when your proposed starter has proven to be many levels worse?

 

[RightyYourWrongy*]

Leafs are not going to make the playoffs on the back of McElhinney. He is a career backup. If they won't make it with Andersen, they won't make it with McElhinney either. He is not some young, prospect goalie. He is a career journeyman backup. He had a good game, he did his job, don't push him to be something he is not.

McElhinney is better than Andersen. Until that is not true, you start him.

Right now - McElhinney is our best chance. Give him some rope and if he falters tug it back.

We won't win with Andersen. His play in his last 20 is evidence of that.

 

[RightyYourWrongy*]

You're going to be sorely disappointed either way. Why rag on the 5 mil man when your proposed starter has proven to be many levels worse?

Wrong. I have zero expectations of this team being a playoff team.

Drafting high this year is silly. This draft is said to be one of the worst.

So you try and win as many as you can to start a culture of winning (and accountability).

Andersen is a sieve. Sorry, it's true. The players don't trust him either, that's very evident in their play infront of him.

 

[A1LeafNation]

Leafs are not going to make the playoffs on the back of McElhinney. He is a career backup. If they won't make it with Andersen, they won't make it with McElhinney either. He is not some young, prospect goalie. He is a career journeyman backup. He had a good game, he did his job, don't push him to be something he is not.

Leafs have a shot of making the playoffs if Andersen is not on pace to be overworked. He is showing that jumping from 40 starts to 64 starts is a big jump.

What not space him out and give him a workable schedule until the playoffs begin. We have a capable backup to fill in a for a few games.

 

[TLeafsFan]

Incredibly, there are 5 or 6 Leafs this season that could see over 20 goals!

Matthews could get to 40!
Kadri 35+!
JVR 30+!
Marner 20+!
Nylander 20+!

There's also a chance one or both of Brown and Bozak could get there, too. If they both do, that would make for 7 Leafs forwards (more than 2 lines worth) with 20 or more goals!

Feels good, man.

 

[Keato]

Perhaps luckily for me, this game will be blacked out on Gamecenter. I'll probably just do my best to avoid everything related to the internet after 5 PM tomorrow.

 

[Daisy Jane]

Leafs have a shot of making the playoffs if Andersen is not on pace to be overworked. He is showing that jumping from 40 starts to 64 starts is a big jump.

What not space him out and give him a workable schedule until the playoffs begin. We have a capable backup to fill in a for a few games.

considering he played 55 games last year i doubt that it's a big jump.

 

[Menzinger]

This "rivalry" with the Jets has got to be the most forced thing in the NHL - the teams have no history between one another. Even Laine and Matthews have no real animosity /history between them - they've never once played in the same league until they made it to the NHL.

That said, I hope the Leafs absolutely crush the Jets at the game

 

[ULF_55]

This "rivalry" with the Jets has got to be the most forced thing in the NHL - the teams have no history between one another. Even Laine and Matthews have no real animosity /history between them - they've never once played in the same league until they made it to the NHL.

That said, I hope the Leafs absolutely crush the Jets at the game

I hope the Leafs absolutely crush the opposition at every game, except in a tank ...

 

[Chandrashekhar Limit]

This "rivalry" with the Jets has got to be the most forced thing in the NHL - the teams have no history between one another. Even Laine and Matthews have no real animosity /history between them - they've never once played in the same league until they made it to the NHL.

That said, I hope the Leafs absolutely crush the Jets at the game

NHL wants a Caps v Pens thing I guess. I hate them and their lame fans so I don't mind

 

[BertCorbeau]

This "rivalry" with the Jets has got to be the most forced thing in the NHL - the teams have no history between one another. Even Laine and Matthews have no real animosity /history between them - they've never once played in the same league until they made it to the NHL.

That said, I hope the Leafs absolutely crush the Jets at the game

Wasn't it the first Leafs game in Winnipeg since the Jets returned, where they booed Reimer or Phaneuf for some reason?

Generally speaking the fanbase has seemingly hated Toronto for no apparent reason from the start. It's a really bizarre fascination.