GodEmperor
Registered User
- Oct 12, 2017
- 2,919
- 3,168
I know this is late, but as one of the most preeminent bad boys on HF, I have a habit of catching unfair bans due to my brash #Swag.
Anyways, let's get into it.
Nylander and Matthews:
Really bad, simply put. Although I think Willie should be held to a higher standard, 1.His father was in the NHL and thus he should know more what to expect and how to deal with it 2.He is a year older. I would grade Matthews a D and Willie a D-
Babcock:
Cost us the series with his bone headed decisions, Komarov>Johnssen, Komarov on the PP, Komarov on the 1st line, Komarov on the team at all. The level of stupidity is insane, this isn't even a blunder, this is Magnus Carlsen sacrificing his queen on the 3rd move of the game for fun level of stupidity. Literally ANY fan could see Komarov was done, but Babcock and his gud pros essentially cost us the series.
The 2nd game we were down 1-0, but were carrying play and then Komarov took that dumb too many men on the ice penalty because even he was probably surprised to be on the 1st line and we were done.
Babcock also played our top 3 in the playoffs LESS time than any other top lines combined, yep 16/16 as far as Marner, Willie and Auston in TOI. Gud coaching indeed. I also don't get why he didn't call out that soft floater JVR, I woulda bashed the f*** outta him in public and tried to get him going a few times, he obviously doesn't respond to softer love, so give him the tough stuff.
Another strange thing was his desire to grind Hainsey into dust during the season, but never use our young players like that, utter stupidity yet again.
Ofc we can't double shift the plug JVR who does nothing but be great on the PP when we're actually on the PP, nor can we keep Matthews, Willie and Mitch out there for the full 2 unless they get tired, gotta roll the lines so Marleau, Bozak and others can stink it up. Can't copy Pittsburgh for some reason. Babcock gets an F-
Andersen:
Completely pedestrian, awful in game 1-2, great in game 3, ok in game 4, great in 5-6 and mediocre in game 7. Also refuses to take responsibility, really pathetic attitude tbh, hurr durr "we did this wrong" "we didn't do enough of that"....no more like you gave us Raycroft tier goaltending and if you're SLIGHTLY better, we beat the Bruins with ease. His attitude got under my skin more than his play. Grade C-
Gardiner:
Bad Jake was bad, but unlike Andersen he actually has heart and takes responsibility. I don't know why people want him gone, all top end defensemen make mistakes and I don't see anyone who comes in coming close to his offense, so it's entirely debatable if we even "upgrade" without him as we'll lose a ton of offense if he leaves. Besides, D men like goalies peak isn't 22-28, it's usually 28+, I like his attitude and I still think he can get better, people forget that Brent Burns and countless other d men didn't come into their own until 30+. Grade C-
Kapanen:
EXTREMELY impressive, his speed was unreal, he hit and he showed a ton of heart. I f***ING LOVE THIS kid, get JVR the f*** outta here unless he wants to take 5x4 or 4x5 and play Kap. Grade A-, he literally was our best player at times
Marner:
Excellent series, played like the Mitch we all love. Grade A
JVR:
I want him gone, unless we nickle the f*** outta him, I do NOT want this soft floater back. I also highly doubt that his game impact is even that much when you factor in how poor his intensity and defensive play is. Wouldn't be surprised if a 20 goal effort from Kap or Johnnie is better for the team due to their other contributions, grade D+
Closing thoughts:
I thought that it was EXTREMELY impressive that the team basically could've easily won this series despite having their best 3 players (Willie, Auston, Freddie) disappear and Babcock do his best to sabotage the team with his gud coaching.
I also think that Boston with slightly better goaltending and calls (as much as I hate them) could've easily pushed Tampa and Tampa was very fortunate to get out of the series the way they did, so I think Toronto would've been fine v Tampa, not saying they win, but I definitely see them pushing it to 6+ with our players performing even decently.
I'm personally all for paying the price for Tanev (1st+2nd) and trying to get Tavares at a discount (not paying 10 million for him though, 9 is ok and if he does 8 that'd be amazing) and going all in. This team is extremely close and as long as we take away Babcock's option to destroy our team with insane decisions (i.e signing or having plugs near our team), I could see the team doing very well next year.
Anyways, let's get into it.
Nylander and Matthews:
Really bad, simply put. Although I think Willie should be held to a higher standard, 1.His father was in the NHL and thus he should know more what to expect and how to deal with it 2.He is a year older. I would grade Matthews a D and Willie a D-
Babcock:
Cost us the series with his bone headed decisions, Komarov>Johnssen, Komarov on the PP, Komarov on the 1st line, Komarov on the team at all. The level of stupidity is insane, this isn't even a blunder, this is Magnus Carlsen sacrificing his queen on the 3rd move of the game for fun level of stupidity. Literally ANY fan could see Komarov was done, but Babcock and his gud pros essentially cost us the series.
The 2nd game we were down 1-0, but were carrying play and then Komarov took that dumb too many men on the ice penalty because even he was probably surprised to be on the 1st line and we were done.
Babcock also played our top 3 in the playoffs LESS time than any other top lines combined, yep 16/16 as far as Marner, Willie and Auston in TOI. Gud coaching indeed. I also don't get why he didn't call out that soft floater JVR, I woulda bashed the f*** outta him in public and tried to get him going a few times, he obviously doesn't respond to softer love, so give him the tough stuff.
Another strange thing was his desire to grind Hainsey into dust during the season, but never use our young players like that, utter stupidity yet again.
Ofc we can't double shift the plug JVR who does nothing but be great on the PP when we're actually on the PP, nor can we keep Matthews, Willie and Mitch out there for the full 2 unless they get tired, gotta roll the lines so Marleau, Bozak and others can stink it up. Can't copy Pittsburgh for some reason. Babcock gets an F-
Andersen:
Completely pedestrian, awful in game 1-2, great in game 3, ok in game 4, great in 5-6 and mediocre in game 7. Also refuses to take responsibility, really pathetic attitude tbh, hurr durr "we did this wrong" "we didn't do enough of that"....no more like you gave us Raycroft tier goaltending and if you're SLIGHTLY better, we beat the Bruins with ease. His attitude got under my skin more than his play. Grade C-
Gardiner:
Bad Jake was bad, but unlike Andersen he actually has heart and takes responsibility. I don't know why people want him gone, all top end defensemen make mistakes and I don't see anyone who comes in coming close to his offense, so it's entirely debatable if we even "upgrade" without him as we'll lose a ton of offense if he leaves. Besides, D men like goalies peak isn't 22-28, it's usually 28+, I like his attitude and I still think he can get better, people forget that Brent Burns and countless other d men didn't come into their own until 30+. Grade C-
Kapanen:
EXTREMELY impressive, his speed was unreal, he hit and he showed a ton of heart. I f***ING LOVE THIS kid, get JVR the f*** outta here unless he wants to take 5x4 or 4x5 and play Kap. Grade A-, he literally was our best player at times
Marner:
Excellent series, played like the Mitch we all love. Grade A
JVR:
I want him gone, unless we nickle the f*** outta him, I do NOT want this soft floater back. I also highly doubt that his game impact is even that much when you factor in how poor his intensity and defensive play is. Wouldn't be surprised if a 20 goal effort from Kap or Johnnie is better for the team due to their other contributions, grade D+
Closing thoughts:
I thought that it was EXTREMELY impressive that the team basically could've easily won this series despite having their best 3 players (Willie, Auston, Freddie) disappear and Babcock do his best to sabotage the team with his gud coaching.
I also think that Boston with slightly better goaltending and calls (as much as I hate them) could've easily pushed Tampa and Tampa was very fortunate to get out of the series the way they did, so I think Toronto would've been fine v Tampa, not saying they win, but I definitely see them pushing it to 6+ with our players performing even decently.
I'm personally all for paying the price for Tanev (1st+2nd) and trying to get Tavares at a discount (not paying 10 million for him though, 9 is ok and if he does 8 that'd be amazing) and going all in. This team is extremely close and as long as we take away Babcock's option to destroy our team with insane decisions (i.e signing or having plugs near our team), I could see the team doing very well next year.