Injury Report: Mike Kostka - Broken finger (Mod warning post #146)

[Cor]

I actually think Kostka and Komisarek are similar in that regard when it comes to hockey IQ, and not being able to think & react fast enough at the NHL pace to be effective NHLers.

The AHL pace is slower and you have more read and react time, but in the NHL players are quicker and on you faster, removing time and space and players that can't adjust make costly mistakes and turnovers.

Komisarek was only an NHL player when clutch and grab was allowed to slow down opponents giving defenders more time. New rules require different player to be effective, for those that can't adapt to them.

Komisarek was an all-star in the "new" NHL....

I'm not a huge fan of Komi, but he is an NHL player. His salary has given him a bad rap because he isn't a 4.5M dollar player.

I liked Komi's play at the beginning of the year, and then he got taken out and Kostka got put in. Liles was taken out and Holzer was put in as well. It didn't make sense.

We have O'Byrne now, so there is 0 reason to have Komi come up. But I still would have liked to have seen Komi under Carlyle. I think he would have won some people back over.

 

[Budsfan]

I'm not a great fan of Kostka and it's obvious we are going to have to upgrade our defence in the off-season but he was one of the few Defencemen, able to head man the puck and get it out of our end, in last night's game and I think, that's what Carlyle sees in his game.

 

[FlareKnight]

At the very least Kostka out of the lineup gives the powerplay a bit of a boost. That was what I could never understand. He never did anything worthwhile on the PP, but rain or shine Kostka was on that damn powerplay.

It's not going to solve all the problems, but if you can upgrade (through act of God) then you do it. It's not like he's going to be a staple on the defense in the future so might as well try other options.

 

[agropop]

Gardiner please. Someone who can skate the puck in the right direction...

 

[Crispy Crust]

Gardiner please. Someone who can skate the puck in the right direction...

I can't wait until Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner are fixtures on the back-end. Puck possession and nice crisp breakout passes from the D-zone to the neutral zone. Man our breakout needs serious work.

 

[darty]

Not pleased he's injured, but glad he won't be in the line-up for game 2.

 

[Eternal Leaf]

I can't wait until Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner are fixtures on the back-end. Puck possession and nice crisp breakout passes from the D-zone to the neutral zone. Man our breakout needs serious work.

Absolutely.

You can see the need of a Morgan Rielly in this team. 2-3 years down the road, hopefully he's a offensive stud for us from the backend and we can stop worrying about this nonsense.

 

[Phion Keneuf]

Middle finger to the haters!
Oh wait, it's broken... Keep on hating!

 

[Stephen]

I know Kostka wasn't good yesterday but the whole team showed a poor performance. It's funny how you guys choose one guy as a scapegoat. Yes, I would choose to put in Gardiner over Kostka at this point, but you're still judging him unfairly.

I still say Kostka>>>Komisarek

The only capacity Kostka should be associated with the Leafs is as a fan. He's just unfit to play, and the heavy reliance on him is a waste of time. When the Leafs play him, they are deserving of the problems he brings to a roster.

 

[Diatomic]

Absolutely.

You can see the need of a Morgan Rielly in this team. 2-3 years down the road, hopefully he's a offensive stud for us from the backend and we can stop worrying about this nonsense.

Hopefully Carlyle is gone or he won't ever give Rielly a chance. I'd love the coach that developed our young players coach this team in the future. Unless Rielly can grow 5 inches and put on 30pounds I don't see him being one of Carlyle's favourites.

 

[agropop]

I can't wait until Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner are fixtures on the back-end. Puck possession and nice crisp breakout passes from the D-zone to the neutral zone. Man our breakout needs serious work.

Lol, what breakout?

 

[Semantics]

Hopefully Carlyle is gone or he won't ever give Rielly a chance. I'd love the coach that developed our young players coach this team in the future. Unless Rielly can grow 5 inches and put on 30pounds I don't see him being one of Carlyle's favourites.

Rielly is 205 lbs at age 18, so he's really solid for not being that tall. It's likely he'll fill out to at least 215-220 in a few years, which is the same kind of build Ray Bourque had. He also did really well on most of the strength tests at the draft combine. I don't expect (or want) him to be a super physical player, but he should be able to hold his own against the biggest forwards and hopefully avoid injury.

I'm more worried about Carlyle playing Rielly but turning him into a plug who only chips the puck up the boards instead of skating/passing it out and joining the rush. Or as I call it, the "sand trap" breakout/transition system.

 

[Crispy Crust]

Lol, what breakout?

good point. There is no breakout.

 

[Future]

I think it's kind of karma he broke his finger. Was afraid of blocking a shot that directly lead to a goal against, and did it again that lead to another goal against, and breaks his finger anyways.

I don't know, stuff has a weird way of happening. I'll tell you that.

 

[TMLeafer]

What play did he break it on? Looked to me that he finished the game, am I correct?

 

[Diatomic]

What play did he break it on? Looked to me that he finished the game, am I correct?

You are correct, he played till the final buzzer.

 

[yakfish]

Well, if a broken finger is what it takes to get Kostka out of the line up then I am happy. Hope it heals quickly for his sake though.

 

[Wendelstache]

As much as Kostka flat out sucked in the first game, Fraser was a lot worse.

If we are to be pointing any fingers, it would be these 2.

Hopefully, we can get better play from them going forward.

Than again, it can't get any worse.

 

[Purity*]

As much as Kostka flat out sucked in the first game, Fraser was a lot worse.

If we are to be pointing any fingers, it would be these 2.

Hopefully, we can get better play from them going forward.

Than again, it can't get any worse.

It could be worse... We could be playing Pittsburgh instead and probably get scored on 7-8 times with that kind of defensive effort last night.. Bruins have some pretty good forwards but they are not even close to the juggernauts in the Penguins offense..

God could you imagine how bad they'd destroy us?

 

[achtungbaby]

What play did he break it on? Looked to me that he finished the game, am I correct?

Was he on the ice for that final dust up at the end? I can't remember which Leafs player was punching the B's player in the back of his helmet as I was crying into my wine glass at that point. If that wasn't him and he broke it earlier in the game, you have to hand it to him, he's a tough SOB.

 

[DPyro]

I'm not a great fan of Kostka and it's obvious we are going to have to upgrade our defence in the off-season but he was one of the few Defencemen, able to head man the puck and get it out of our end, in last night's game and I think, that's what Carlyle sees in his game.

And he didn't see this in Jake Gardiner?

 

[ITM]

As much of a longshot as this might be, when Gardiner is activated, you've got to greenlight the offense in him as well. Watching Karlsson and Subban, sure there might be mistakes here and there, but the plusses outweigh the minuses. And our goal scored last night was (albeit on the PP) directly related to our D pinching.

Against a system like the Bruins', some unorthodoxy might help.

 

[TheOtherSide]

Can't believe he played with a broken finger, this should put him in the Bob Baun level of all time Leafs greats. Get well soon Mike!!

 

[Ari91]

It's kind of bittersweet. I'm not going to celebrate his injury but at the same time, this ensures that one of ROB or Gardiner gets into the lineup. Depending on Franson's injury or how strongly Carlyle feels about Fraser's play, both guys could get a shot in the next game.

 

[pcruz]

As much of a longshot as this might be, when Gardiner is activated, you've got to greenlight the offense in him as well. Watching Karlsson and Subban, sure there might be mistakes here and there, but the plusses outweigh the minuses. And our goal scored last night was (albeit on the PP) directly related to our D pinching.

Against a system like the Bruins', some unorthodoxy might help.

During the playoffs, the pluses of an offensive minded defenseman don't outweigh the minuses of their lack of positioning and tendency for giveaways. Especially not less physical players while playing against "The Big Bad Bruins". They didn't get that nickname by being tall and evading taxes.

The argument that our one goal was caused by pinching from the blue line is true, but so is the argument that the 15 odd man rushes given up were as well, and so were at least 2 goals against. Losing math in that case, and in the playoffs, even math is more frowned upon than looked up to.

Gardiner will be a really good offensive d-man, but he's too much of a liability right now.