ottomaddox
Registered User
Soft balls like this deserve to get knocked out of the park!
Answer:
They are a freaking soft team!!
Has Babcock Been Set Up To Fail?
- Thread starter scotian1
- Start date
Soft balls like this deserve to get knocked out of the park!
Answer:
They are a freaking soft team!!
funny that this shtty coach was chosen for 2 olympics and a world cup by a committee of our brightest hockey minds
of all the possible canadian coaches they picked him , funny that.
GardinerTheForward
Registered User
And he almost made them look foolish by going to OT with Latvia
And if they can Babcock tomorrow the team will somehow be tougher for the next guy?
Leafs adjusted 5v5 stats this year (via natural stat trick):
CF%: 55.25 (4th in NHL)
SF%: 52.84 (9th in NHL)
SCF%: 56.42 (4th in the NHL)
HDCF% 53.13 (10th in the NHL)
Just Offense:
Corsi For/60: 67.62 (1st in NHL)(by a longshot)
Shots For/60: 34.13 (4th in NHL)
Scoring Chances For/60: 32.3 (1st in NHL)
High Danger Chances For/60 8.22 (15th in NHL)
Just Defense:
Corsi Against/60: 54.77 (13th fewest in NHL)
Shots Against/60: 30.46 (15th fewest in NHL)
Scoring Chances Against/60: 24.95 (13th fewest in NHL)
High Danger Chances Against/60: 7.25 (12th fewest in NHL)
Save%:
87.86 (30th in the NHL)
Leafs have been gelling fairly well with all the new bodies with almost every single number above average to great.....except one of course. The only reason this team isnt at least 5-1 is plainly obvious but it feels like half the fanbase is stuck in groupthink talking about the flat earth. Still need some work on special teams but 5v5, the group has been excellent. Shooting % is going to go up as well as save % come November (or so history tells me). Team looks to be decently coached so far though. We can always quibble about little annoyances but some of this stuff is just too over the top. Seems to me the team needs to focus more on finishing their scoring chances as well as creating better quality ones. Feels unusual that this team has actually been better at preventing high danger chances against than creating them when ranked (but still have a positive differential) but its still early and I'd be interested to see how things evolve in a month or two. Freddy did look far more comfortable last game after that first shaky goal which is massive going forward.
CF%: 55.25 (4th in NHL)
SF%: 52.84 (9th in NHL)
SCF%: 56.42 (4th in the NHL)
HDCF% 53.13 (10th in the NHL)
Just Offense:
Corsi For/60: 67.62 (1st in NHL)(by a longshot)
Shots For/60: 34.13 (4th in NHL)
Scoring Chances For/60: 32.3 (1st in NHL)
High Danger Chances For/60 8.22 (15th in NHL)
Just Defense:
Corsi Against/60: 54.77 (13th fewest in NHL)
Shots Against/60: 30.46 (15th fewest in NHL)
Scoring Chances Against/60: 24.95 (13th fewest in NHL)
High Danger Chances Against/60: 7.25 (12th fewest in NHL)
Save%:
87.86 (30th in the NHL)
Leafs have been gelling fairly well with all the new bodies with almost every single number above average to great.....except one of course. The only reason this team isnt at least 5-1 is plainly obvious but it feels like half the fanbase is stuck in groupthink talking about the flat earth. Still need some work on special teams but 5v5, the group has been excellent. Shooting % is going to go up as well as save % come November (or so history tells me). Team looks to be decently coached so far though. We can always quibble about little annoyances but some of this stuff is just too over the top. Seems to me the team needs to focus more on finishing their scoring chances as well as creating better quality ones. Feels unusual that this team has actually been better at preventing high danger chances against than creating them when ranked (but still have a positive differential) but its still early and I'd be interested to see how things evolve in a month or two. Freddy did look far more comfortable last game after that first shaky goal which is massive going forward.
you mean in the tournament where he won the gold medal,,that one?
They’re definitely better than what they’ve shown but the same holes remain. They’re a top offensive team, a middle 3rd defensive team, and goaltending has to be good-to-great if this team is to have a chance.
It appears they still lack jam and that defense isn’t built for the playoffs.
I hope I’m wrong.
Menzinger
Kessel4LadyByng
Yep.
The Bruins won off the Backs of the Bergeron unit's red hot pp -at 5v5 they were relatively neutered
Andersen also didn't help things in game 7...
Edit: typo
Last edited:
No RH PK C was a problem, too. A one legged Zach Hyman was his best option. Credit to Dubas for bringing in Nick Shore. He’ll be a useful addition come playoff time.
PromisedLand
I need more FOOD
After thinking a lot about it I have decided to behind whatever we’ve got. No point in crying, complaining and moaning. By continuing to complain I realized I am losing interest in hockey.
Of course there are going to be game day rants if we don’t win and Babcock stays status-quo; but other than that I think it’s time (at least for me) to get behind the team
After the season is done (hopefully in June and successfully); it will be time to evaluate.
If for some reason Leafs don’t do well then it’s time to not only pass on judgment on Babs but also on Dubas. Actually more so on Dubas because of how he has handled team composition.
Let’s face it us ranting is not gonna change anything anyway.
So am just gonna enjoy the ride come what may......
P.S. this does not mean I will be giving Dubas cult a free pass; if they hijack threads and justify dubas’ moves without any logical reasoning
Of course there are going to be game day rants if we don’t win and Babcock stays status-quo; but other than that I think it’s time (at least for me) to get behind the team
After the season is done (hopefully in June and successfully); it will be time to evaluate.
If for some reason Leafs don’t do well then it’s time to not only pass on judgment on Babs but also on Dubas. Actually more so on Dubas because of how he has handled team composition.
Let’s face it us ranting is not gonna change anything anyway.
So am just gonna enjoy the ride come what may......
P.S. this does not mean I will be giving Dubas cult a free pass; if they hijack threads and justify dubas’ moves without any logical reasoning
I would honestly say Muzzin is more of a top pairing guy than Barrie is. He can play all situations against a high QoC and gets heavy defensive usage.
Top pairing defenders don't generally require as much sheltering as Barrie has received for the majority if his career. Barrie is an amazingly gifted player, you just need to utilize him in a particular way to get the best benefit
Menzinger
Kessel4LadyByng
Carltons Cup
Let's Do This..
- Feb 22, 2018
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PromisedLand
I need more FOOD
Yup. My need for sanity and peace of mind hacked my frustrations with both Babcock and Dubas
Be a hockey fan, it’s a lot more fun! The Wings and Habs are two pretty exciting young teams right now!Yup. My need for sanity and peace of mind hacked my frustrations with both Babcock and Dubas
PromisedLand
I need more FOOD
Be a hockey fan, it’s a lot more fun! The Wings and Habs are two pretty exciting young teams right now!
Actually am watching a lot of Avs games this year
Wings I have no beef with but the habs will forever be my eternal enemy
ottomaddox
Registered User
usernamezrhardtodo
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The CyNick
Freedom of Speech!
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67Leafs67
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- Nov 8, 2014
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I'm tired of the 'big & heavy' mantra. That's not why Toronto will fail to win, nor is it why they've failed to win in the past. Gritty, grinding, players are useful, so long as they also bring offensive, defensive, and transitional value to the team, and that is what those six teams have that balances their roster out...not some supposed physical edge. In fact, Toronto is technically a 'heavier' team that Pittsburgh & Boston, and is 11th in the entire NHL in that metric.
Toronto has been more physical in the past...even a few seasons back we featured Martin, Komarov, & Polak, all big hitters, and big bodies like Boyle & Fehr, as well as relatively physical players like Kadri, Zaitsev, & Borgman...none of that helped us win in the playoffs. In fact, the 2018 Maple Leafs were the 4th heaviest team in the NHL...Boston was 22nd.
Yes, St. Louis was a heavy team, and Washington (to a lesser extent) was as well. But Pittsburgh...heck no! They were 29th heaviest in 2017, and 23rd in 2016 when they won their Stanley Cups. Physicality was not a major part of their success...it was speed, speed, speed, and skill, skill, skill, and goaltending that won them those back to back Cups. Crosby, Malkin, Kessel, Bonino, Kunitz, Guentzel, Hagelin, Rust, Sheary, Cullen....Hornqvist was really the only 'big & heavy' they had among their forwards, and the defense was not exceptionally big either, featuring Letang, Schultz, Daley, & Dumoulin...only Cole was really a big hitter on that team's defense.
All I'm saying is that playing heavy hockey is a good thing, in the sense you need to be hard on the puck, win battles down low, and play with intensity and effort. Toronto's stars like Marner, Matthews, & Nylander need to improve in that area. But Toronto has guys who do great at that, just like every other team, in their bottom & top six...Mikheyev, Moore, Hyman, Tavares, Kerfoot, Johnsson. Big hits have little correlation to possession, let alone goals, let alone wins. Toronto's bigger concern should be team defense, having better structure, situational awareness, and playing as a cohesive, team unit, not individual parts. Also, they need Freddie to be big in the playoffs, like Binnington, Holtby, & Murray have all been for their teams. That is a much bigger factor than 'heaviness'.
tl;dr
Heaviness is a factor, and not totally unimportant...but it is not the major factor behind why the Leafs haven't won, and these teams have. For example, Pittsburgh has the most Cups of these teams in recent memory, and was by no means a 'heavy' team. What made these teams successful, beyond their skilled offensive cores, was incredible goaltending, attention to detail & defense throughout the lineup, good situational coaching, things the Leafs have not had Also, the Leafs have come up against Washington, Boston, Boston respectively in the playoffs, without home ice advantage, and pushed each series to 6+ games, all very close. One more win against Boston, and they could've been in the Cup finals easily.
Mitch Matthews
Registered User
- Sep 13, 2019
- 432
- 309
This team will continue to fail until such time that management gets rid of Babcock.
To the eye, it's obvious this team lacks any semblence of structure. They have no system. Everyone improvising, running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Not the players fault - this is ENTIRELY on Babcock.
To the eye, it's obvious this team lacks any semblence of structure. They have no system. Everyone improvising, running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Not the players fault - this is ENTIRELY on Babcock.
and yet our brightest hockey minds chose him to get the job done anndddddddd
HE DID!!!
