Coach Keefe's line blender thread

[Mickey Marner]

I think he has a pretty good in-game read of the bench. Seems to know who's bringing it on any given night and will make adjustments. Beats predictable behaviour like playing the Gauthier line after every single powerplay.

 

[ottomaddox]

 

[ottomaddox]

I think he has a pretty good in-game read of the bench. Seems to know who's bringing it on any given night and will make adjustments. Beats predictable behaviour like playing the Gauthier line after every single powerplay.

I am not comparing Keefe to Babcock.

 

[Ashdown2]

why does no one consider putting spezza on the top 6 for a while ? sure hes not the spezza of old but hes been by far one of the top 3 leaf over the last dozen games.

just for 1 game i would like to see a major mixup

hyman - matthews - spezza
simmonds - JT - marner
nylander - engvall - gally
mikhe - kerfoot - thornton

 

[TopCheese]

Any chance Robertson or lilijgren play tonight

 

[Leafsfan74]

Keeping it fresh is a unique approach, it prevents opponents from matching lines, especially in short series.

It also keeps players on their toes and motivated. Reinforce that your identity is as a team and not just a group of individuals.

 

[crump]

The only strategy he needs these days is to throw Hyman in there when a line is struggling. Honestly the guy is heart and soul.

 

[orbiter11]

Keefe has been nothing but amazing since coming in. If he did everything that the fanbase wanted and made the obvious moves, what's the point of having a coach? Just put anyone from HF behind the bench and you get the same result.

If Hyman was glued to the first line I don't think we go through the losing streak we went through. Refusing to demote Thornton out of loyalty, I guess has cost us games in my opinion. The only thing he really did was put Maarner with Matthews.

 

[Leafsfan74]

If Hyman was glued to the first line I don't think we go through the losing streak we went through. Refusing to demote Thornton out of loyalty, I guess has cost us games in my opinion. The only thing he really did was put Maarner with Matthews.

Thornton moving up and down is fine, as long as his minutes reflect this.

In my opinion it's not so much line combos as minutes that more determine the outcome. Top players obviously play more than lesser productive players.

ALL have a role of course. Defense wins championships.

 

[orbiter11]

Thornton moving up and down is fine, as long as the.minutes reflect this.

In my opinion it's not so much line combos as minutes that more determine the outcome. Top players obviously play more than lesser productive players.

ALL have a role of course. Defense wins championships.

The defense has kinda improved which is the ironic thing lol. Still whish had had the cap space for Pietro, oh well.

 

[Leafsfan74]

The defense has kinda improved which is the ironic thing lol. Still whish had had the cap space for Pietro, oh well.

This improved defense is going to express itself in the postseason. I almost find that they have become less physical since the start of the season, possibly not wanting to get injured.

I fully expect that once playoffs start, they will be even more effective on the backend. If Dubas can add a guy like David Savard, the Leafs would arguably have the best D in the league. Certainly the best seven.

 

[orbiter11]

This improved defense is going to express itself in the postseason. I almost find that they have become less physical since the start of the season, possibly not wanting to get injured.

I fully expect that once playoffs start, they will be even more effective on the backend. If Dubas can add a guy like David Savard, the Leafs would arguably have the best D in the league. Certainly the best seven.

I quietly think one of the best moves this season was bringing in Bogosian for stability.

 

[Leafsfan74]

I quietly think one of the best moves this season was bringing in Bogosian for stability.

He was the dark horse pick up that convinced me that Dubas was paying close attention.

 

[Clark4Ever]

He tends to stick to certain forward pairings and rotate wingers until something clicks. I like that approach, but sometimes you need to give it some time to get an accurate read and Keefe is trigger happy at times.

 

[ottomaddox]

S O B !!!!

 

[Battle Lin]

you get to change lines...you get to change lines...you change lines....you can change lines....and you....and you....you too...everyone gets to change lines

 

[1specter]

What I don't get is that he'll do everything but break up Matthews/Marner and Nylander/JT. Come on

 

[Battle Lin]

i mean your enforcer is up with your top guys, your skilled guys are on the 4th line, your 3c is your 4c and your 4c is your 3c for some reason, old guys too high, and youngs guys too low, everyone is everywhere and it changes every night

 

[ottomaddox]

i mean your enforcer is up with your top guys, your skilled guys are on the 4th line, your 3c is your 4c and your 4c is your 3c for some reason, old guys too high, and youngs guys too low, everyone is everywhere and it changes every night

Very frustrating I know.

 

[Le Cobra]

S O B !!!!

we need to use this Gif Everytime we win

 

[unitedstars87]

why does no one consider putting spezza on the top 6 for a while ? sure hes not the spezza of old but hes been by far one of the top 3 leaf over the last dozen games.

just for 1 game i would like to see a major mixup

hyman - matthews - spezza
simmonds - JT - marner
nylander - engvall - gally
mikhe - kerfoot - thornton

Spezza has been great. He plays a similar role to Marner and Nylander as puck carriers and driving rushing attacks which is my guess why he never plays with them. He is also much older and benefits with less minutes matched up against other teams bottom 6 where he can be a difference maker. Just my opinion how I feel Keefe sees it but could be way wrong.

 

[OB34KNH]

Spezza has been great. He plays a similar role to Marner and Nylander as puck carriers and driving rushing attacks which is my guess why he never plays with them. He is also much older and benefits with less minutes matched up against other teams bottom 6 where he can be a difference maker. Just my opinion how I feel Keefe sees it but could be way wrong.

Spezza is basically a mismatch on the 4th line. He's supposed to be a "Marner-Lite".
Did you see the Leafs 4th line just mog Oilers' 4th line, when we had Gally - Kerfoot - Spezza as our 4th?
That's insane. All these guys can be offensive dynamos, Kerfoot is a fast skater, can make the right pass --- Gally is a darkhorse, and, Spezza is the ace who can do it all. Very interesting lines by Keefe tonight.

 

[ShaneFalco]

This is a valid criticism I would say:

https://mapleleafshotstove.com/2021...iam-nylander-lead-comeback-leafs-beat-oilers/

It’s about time we talk about ice time allocation. You can’t keep playing Tavares and Nylander 15 minutes a night when they’re flying like this. It’s costing your team goals.
Speaking of ice-time allocation, I’m not sure why Thornton is still playing bumper on PP1. It hasn’t been an effective use of his skillset. When you’re trailing for the majority of the game and your 41-year-old veteran is playing more minutes than Tavares-Nylander, something has gone terribly wrong.
I like the way Sheldon Keefe adapts to a game’s circumstances when it comes to moving Hyman around the lineup or throwing Galchenyuk back up into the top six, but he also deserves some criticism for how he’s handled the minutes of his best players at times this season. Tonight was a perfect example.

 

[ottomaddox]

It's nice that this team has won a couple of games recently. TOR's firepower can make up for a lot of things. I just scratch my head at some of these lines he makes. Not terrible, but certainly odd.

 

[On-the-Fly]

It's nice that this team has won a couple of games recently. TOR's firepower can make up for a lot of things. I just scratch my head at some of these lines he makes. Not terrible, but certainly odd.

As far as the blender goes, Justin Bourne was talking about it a while back on one of his radio hits with Stewie on 590. He was asked because he was part of Keefe's coaching staff.

His response was that this is a hallmark of Keefe's coaching style. If he sees something he doesn't like he will tinker with lines or combos so he knows what he can go to in the playoffs, should he need to switch. Once he's seen something or knows what he's got, he'll switch it up again and again to lengthen his knowledge of usable combos, and not just fall back into the original configuration.


btw. love the dorion gif usage. Fantastic stuff.