Post-Game Talk: Buds shine in the sunshine state!

[skacore]

If Kap can play that speed/grit game then its time to put him with Tavares & Nylander.

Hyman Matthews Marner
Nylander Tavares Kapanen
Engvall Kerfoot Spezza
Clifford Goat Malgin

No no no no on Kapanen. He shines on the 3rd line why move him back to top 6 where he doesn’t belong? He’s a DIY offence type of guy, he doesn’t need to take the puck away from Tavares and nylander.

 

[mix1home]

Why did I decide to get married on Feb 27th.. wrong night for an anniversary

Well, I guess an idea to wait until July with marriage looked as bad then as marrying on Feb 27th is looking now.

 

[Menzinger]

Goaltending is such a strange position to spend a ton of money on. Even goalies like Bob and Price (or others) have their few years of dominance but level out. And then you can’t afford a decent backup in slump/injury times.

The tandem is really looking like the way to move forward.

Interesting enough thats essentially where the "fancy stats" crowd is moving towards.

Personally im down for a 1a/b situation for the future and just ride the hot one at any given moment

 

[Randy Randerson]

In the 7 minutes head to head against Barkov last night:

CF%: 86.38
xGF% 95.58

Pretty sure Quenneville was trying his best to keep Barkov away from Matthews as he was just getting dominated.

Fewest goals against/60 REL this year by a center (900 minutes+)

1. Matthews
2. Kopitar
3. Larkin

It's almost like Matthews is what Barkov has the reputation of being

 

[Martin Skoula]

No no no no on Kapanen. He shines on the 3rd line why move him back to top 6 where he doesn’t belong? He’s a DIY offence type of guy, he doesn’t need to take the puck away from Tavares and nylander.

I don't know why people think having an elite 3rd liner is a bad thing. Having a Grabner take advantage of Matthews/Tavares' leftovers in the playoffs is a good thing.

 

[WillNy29]

View attachment 328251

4 straight baby

Hit them with the 4?

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Hit them with the 4?

 

[Rogie]

Love Spezza even more...

"The move no one saw was Jason Spezza talking to Andersen between periods. Andersen hadn’t been very good, allowing three goals on the first six shots. The team tied the game despite him. Spezza had a word with the goalie."

“I was just really focused on trying to calm down,” said Andersen. “Spezza was great with me in the first intermission, trying to settle me down a little bit and help get the belief back. Obviously it was a tie game so we were able to start over.”
What did Spezza say? “He just calmed me down a little bit.”

Embarrassing, overpaid, forget the playoffs, fire the GM — emotions run high in this week’s Maple Leafs Mailbag

I guess it shows self awareness that he knew he had to calm down, ON THE OTHER HAND, it would be better if he just simply 'was calm'.

 

[crump]

I guess it shows self awareness that he knew he had to calm down, ON THE OTHER HAND, it would be better if he just simply 'was calm'.

“help get the belief back” doesn’t inspire much confidence.

 

[unitedstars87]

It's almost like Matthews is what Barkov has the reputation of being

Careful, people don’t want to hear a leafs players being this damn good.

 

[Randy Randerson]

Careful, people don’t want to hear a leafs players being this damn good.

Not until they leave here at least...hell, Kadri turned into a legit 2nd line center who you can count on for 30 goals as soon as he landed in Colorado

 

[lottster14]

Time to keep this up against a Canuck team that wont have markstrom in net tomorrow. Right before California road trip.

Massive..

 

[sittler rules!!!]

Wait a week for what? If you said our season is over then you were wrong, end of story.

Ever hear of the old cliche "it's not over til it's over"? There's truth in there and the truth is, this thing is far from being over.

I meant wait a week before we start planning the parade route. We have seen this act before.

 

[sittler rules!!!]

They win a couple and people are talking about the cup already. Sorry to rain on your parade, but this team still lacks a goalie able to stop pucks in the first and a top4 rhd. Good teams win games by dozens and you are celebrating a win vs Florida who have no lineup to talk about. Florida wins one, Leafs lose one, and it is tight race again.

Yes, I just got ripped here because I had said basically the same thing uou did

 

[Shanwhatplan]

I have probably been one of the more negative posters on here. I have always liked this team. It’s just that it’s so frustrating when the team plays so poorly, and you know they are better than that. And to have been in the playoffs 3 straight years, you tend to believe the growth will continue.

However, sometimes you need to take a step back before you can continue moving forward, and I believe this is what’s happening to us. Our core is obviously young, and there is bound to be growing pains along the way. This is what we are experiencing this year. I have been as guilty, if not more so, of expecting this team to be a juggernaut (offensively, not defensively) most of the time, and it hasn’t happened. I’m attributing that to our youth, again, growing pains.

As well, Dubas did not handle the negotiations with our big 3 well at all. I feel he was definitely not ready for that. However, I will reserve judgment on him until after this summer. It seems fairly obvious to me that sacrifices will have to be made on offense in order to strengthen our defence. And in order to get a top 2 rhd, if one is available, will cost us more than Kapanen, who I like much more than Johnsson, especially since he has added this edge/nastiness to his game. So let’s see what this team looks like next season.

If this team has truly turned a corner, I can see us earning a postseason berth, as opposed to backing in. However, I believe we will once again bow out in the first round (even though I tend to be a pessimist, I’d love to play Boston and finally “slay the dragon”; but I feel we match up better with Tampa).

When this team plays the right way, they can beat anybody. And with our top 2, not 3, defensemen (sorry Cody Ceci) out, maybe this will force the boys to continually play a solid 200 ft game, which would be a huge bonus for when we finally get healthy.

I believe I’ve turned a corner, and will try to be more positive when I post from now on, instead of being so vehemently negative.
Let’s go Leafs!!!

 

[LeafSteel]

Love Spezza even more...

"The move no one saw was Jason Spezza talking to Andersen between periods. Andersen hadn’t been very good, allowing three goals on the first six shots. The team tied the game despite him. Spezza had a word with the goalie."

“I was just really focused on trying to calm down,” said Andersen. “Spezza was great with me in the first intermission, trying to settle me down a little bit and help get the belief back. Obviously it was a tie game so we were able to start over.”
What did Spezza say? “He just calmed me down a little bit.”

Embarrassing, overpaid, forget the playoffs, fire the GM — emotions run high in this week’s Maple Leafs Mailbag

Eating crow on Spezza, as I did not really understand his UFA signing this summer, and spent years hating him as a Senaturd.

He's won me over this season, starting with his character, and how he responded to Babcock's inane treatment at the start of the year. Simply put, he was treated very badly unnecessarily, but he put his head down and just did the work.

He now shows such a complete game, with high IQ and you can see the skills are still there. His leadership on the ice is evident, with him going after the Panther player who jammed at Andersen's glove well after the whistle blew, and then him doing this to help settle Andersen down.

I'm glad we have him, and he is becoming one of my favourite Leafs to watch, which shocks the Hell out of me every time I think about it, but it's true. You just can't help liking the guy and wanting to take him out for a beer after the game.

Cheers!

 

[Leaf Fans]

I meant wait a week before we start planning the parade route. We have seen this act before.

Let the big wigs at MLSE plan the route.

 

[Rogie]

I have probably been one of the more negative posters on here. I have always liked this team. It’s just that it’s so frustrating when the team plays so poorly, and you know they are better than that. And to have been in the playoffs 3 straight years, you tend to believe the growth will continue.

However, sometimes you need to take a step back before you can continue moving forward, and I believe this is what’s happening to us. Our core is obviously young, and there is bound to be growing pains along the way. This is what we are experiencing this year. I have been as guilty, if not more so, of expecting this team to be a juggernaut (offensively, not defensively) most of the time, and it hasn’t happened. I’m attributing that to our youth, again, growing pains.

As well, Dubas did not handle the negotiations with our big 3 well at all. I feel he was definitely not ready for that. However, I will reserve judgment on him until after this summer. It seems fairly obvious to me that sacrifices will have to be made on offense in order to strengthen our defence. And in order to get a top 2 rhd, if one is available, will cost us more than Kapanen, who I like much more than Johnsson, especially since he has added this edge/nastiness to his game. So let’s see what this team looks like next season.

If this team has truly turned a corner, I can see us earning a postseason berth, as opposed to backing in. However, I believe we will once again bow out in the first round (even though I tend to be a pessimist, I’d love to play Boston and finally “slay the dragon”; but I feel we match up better with Tampa).

When this team plays the right way, they can beat anybody. And with our top 2, not 3, defensemen (sorry Cody Ceci) out, maybe this will force the boys to continually play a solid 200 ft game, which would be a huge bonus for when we finally get healthy.

I believe I’ve turned a corner, and will try to be more positive when I post from now on, instead of being so vehemently negative.
Let’s go Leafs!!!

Post what you think and believe, there's nothing wrong with that, but be ready to be questioned.

We couldn't be MORE of an offensive 'juggernaut' than we are.
We are first in goals scored in the NHL, and we are first in goals per 60 minutes, so one thing we ARE is an OFFENSIVE JUGGERNAUT.

SORRY