Post-Game Talk: K .... (Leafs lose 3-1)

[weems]

Has Babcock made alot of enemies amongst the refs?

I dont like to buy into all that conspiracy stuff but some of the non calls lately have been laughable.

That response Babcock gave about thinking he knows why we arent getting calls but wasnt going to say is curious also.

 

[Lynk]

Guys got in from new York at 1am, lost dermott early and faced a tough jets team.

Not much more than that.
Move on.

 

[A1LeafNation]

They are one of the highest scoring teams but none of their superstars have superstar like point totals. Depth is great but there comes a time when you can’t afford to just continuously roll your lines. You have to rely on your star players.

We will see if Babcock does that or just watches as Tampa (our most likely opponent) plays guys like Kucherov and Stamkos for 20+ minutes to seal playoff games while we are just happy keeping the game close and rolling 4 lines.

Disagree. Who cares about the regular season when your spot is a lock. Playoffs are a war of attrition. 4 rounds and you hope your stars are fresher than your opponents.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Reading this, you'd swear Komarov was a -4 or something this game. The forwards need to
take the points and defensemen have to handle guys in front of the net.

I mean, he was still our worst player (which isn't uncommon for him). he doesn't have to be a -4 to suck

 

[Gary Nylund]

Look at the advanced numbers. People seriously need to stop acting like the criticism is not warranted.

Yeah for sure. Let's keep in mind though that the goal is to win the cup, and to do that, we will probably need both Leo and Johnsson at some point, plus this was Leo's first game back after an injury and he provides an element that we sorely lack that will be important in the playoffs. Let's give Babcock some credit here and trust that he knows what he's doing. Martin isn't playing any more, he's also a veteran and a gud pro and all that so that should tell people that Babcock is flexible and capable of adjusting. We'll see what happens in the playoffs, if Leo plays every game, plays consistently poorly and Johnsson never gets to play, then there'll be reason to question his moves. For now though, let's just take it easy. I'll be curious to see if Johnsson gets to play in our last 3 games, that'll be a pretty big sign, let's hope he gets at least one more game at some point.

 

[meefer]

This place after a loss

 

[Superstar]

Putting him on the power play is not easing him into gameshape. It’s pure stupidity because he offers nothing out there. Can’t score, can’t pass, doesn’t even stand in front of the net.

Babcock is managing his playing time coming off an injury...he's on the 2nd PP unit with Matthews/Nylander, which is still an experiment that Babcock could afford to do at this stage in the season...Komarov wasn't replacing Marner on the first unit.

 

[Pi]

Disagree. Who cares about the regular season when your spot is a lock. Playoffs are a war of attrition. 4 rounds and you hope your stars are fresher than your opponents.

If you don’t play your stars properly there might not be a round 2. I know that Kucherov and Stamkos are going to play much more than they have in the regular season, they will be double shifted and they will take every possible advantage they can get.

What good are fresh legs if they aren’t in the playoffs.

Not sure if the Leafs will do that. I hope they don’t just roll their four lines when some times call for your star players to play 20+ mins.

 

[garce]

I mean, he was still our worst player (which isn't uncommon for him). he doesn't have to be a -4 to suck

I like Leo, always have, was delighted when he returned from his sabbatical. He is no longer a viable NHLer at least on the Leafs. Babs record speaks for itself but I can buy Komo as PK shit disturber somewhat. But on the PP is lunacy given the weapons Babs has at his bidding.

 

[A1LeafNation]

If you don’t play your stars properly there might not be a round 2. I know that Kucherov and Stamkos are going to play much more than they have in the regular season, they will be double shifted and they will take every possible advantage they can get.

What good are fresh legs if they aren’t in the playoffs.

Not sure if the Leafs will do that. I hope they don’t just roll their four lines when some times call for your star players to play 20+ mins.

We'll see what happens in the playoffs.

Last year was rookie season s for our Stars. So it was much about protecting them as it was getting some experience. This year those guys are our go to players. They should be ramping up as the series goes deeper.

 

[moon111]

why not? Let's think of it this way
Imagine you're on a hike with a 210 pound backpack on your back. You start off fine because you're in great shape, but eventually it weighs you down and you can't continue. It's the same situation here. Take the backpack off and now Kadri is as good as ever once again

Now instead of Kadri not scoring, he gets a goal and an assist, for two points and ends up a -1. Against teams like Boston and Tampa Bay, this one step forward, two steps backwards is not going to get the Leafs anywhere. Since Kadri's lost Komarov, he's been a plus player maybe twice against playoff-bound teams.

 

[Pi]

I like Leo, always have, was delighted when he returned from his sabbatical. He is no longer a viable NHLer at least on the Leafs. Babs record speaks for itself but I can buy Komo as PK **** disturber somewhat. But on the PP is lunacy given the weapons Babs has at his bidding.

He doesn’t even play physical anymore. That was his calling card...now he sometimes just skates by or lays a half hearted hit for the sake of hitting kind of like JvR’s hits.

 

[weems]

He doesn’t even play physical anymore. That was his calling card...now he sometimes just skates by or lays a half hearted hit for the sake of hitting kind of like JvR’s hits.

You cant hit what you cant catch.

 

[Kiwi]

Reading this, you'd swear Komarov was a -4 or something this game. The forwards need to
take the points and defensemen have to handle guys in front of the net.

How does that excuse Komorov from sucking the life out of our 4th line?
Bad is bad no matter how you look at things

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Now instead of Kadri not scoring, he gets a goal and an assist, for two points and ends up a -1. Against teams like Boston and Tampa Bay, this one step forward, two steps backwards is not going to get the Leafs anywhere. Since Kadri's lost Komarov, he's been a plus player maybe twice against playoff-bound teams.

why does Komarov have the worst +/- on the team at 5v5 then?
not that I think +/- is a good stat, but you seem to

 

[stickty111]

why does Komarov have the worst +/- on the team at 5v5 then?
not that I think +/- is a good stat, but you seem to

It only matters because it makes his favorite players like Bozak look good.

 

[The Kessel Run]

it gets a little bit better if you go back to around 20 games, although he's still in the bottom 3rd of starting goalies comfortably. It also doesn't look good that he's getting worse as the playoffs approach. he looks so overwhelmed

His stance looks like it's changed to me.

 

[garce]

Has Babcock made alot of enemies amongst the refs?

I dont like to buy into all that conspiracy stuff but some of the non calls lately have been laughable.

That response Babcock gave about thinking he knows why we arent getting calls but wasnt going to say is curious also.

Really think its a extension of what you see on the main boards here. A lot of the hockey world hates Toronto and the Leafs. Might be deserved. I live in Eastern Ontario and it’s a fact. Classic love them or hate them. Toronto the city is hated in most of Canada, the media is centred there and not liked because of the perceived bias. Often it comes down to eff the Fat cat Leafs and their platinum corporate asshat fan base. And I think there’s a trickle down effect,

 

[Daisy Jane]

Has Babcock made alot of enemies amongst the refs?

I dont like to buy into all that conspiracy stuff but some of the non calls lately have been laughable.

That response Babcock gave about thinking he knows why we arent getting calls but wasnt going to say is curious also.

he came out this week saying he knew why things were as they were but didn't go into it. the general theory is that he called them out last year and they are taking revenge this year.

 

[libertarian]

Relax, the Leafs will last longer than the Jets in the playoffs, that franchise has won zero playoff games.

This is a meaningless game, I will take Matthews' point over Laine's outstanding performance tonight.

Lol. Here I thought that winning the game was important.

 

[leaffaninvancouver]

It only matters because it makes his favorite players like Bozak look good.

I’m fairness people like plus and minus when it suits their agenda. Bozak and Kessel were constantly called out over it.

 

[hockeyes]

he came out this week saying he knew why things were as they were but didn't go into it. the general theory is that he called them out last year and they are taking revenge this year.

I emailed my beer league about how the refs were not calling penalties (slashing) to the point where players were actually having bones broken with no calls despite pretending to be non-contact, we got a LOT of penalties called on us the rest of the year.

Not really relevant since I'd hope the NHL is a lot more professional but people can be be absolute shit heads when confronted with things they don't want to hear.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

I’m fairness people like plus and minus when it suits their agenda. Bozak and Kessel were constantly called out over it.

they were called out because they were lousy defensively and constantly got scored on

 

[Drytoast]

So babs said xrays showed up negative which is great news with dermot

 

[cookie]

Not much you can do though. Marchand will probably start the series with a flying elbow to one of our star players. Chara will probably crosscheck someone's back in half. They're filthy goons. And we're soft as Charmin.

Kadri and Komarov have been relatively clean recently... Possibly saving the dirt for the playoffs methinks. The team itself is super disciplined which should bode well in the playoffs..

As for tonight, the biggest issue was the fatigue and losing Dermott. If you go by natural stattrick's game summary, we actually controlled the game pretty well. In the grand scheme of things, the games we're playing now are warm-up to the playoffs--it makes sense to have guys like Komarov in game shape. Even with so many things going against the Leafs, it's good to see that it was, for all intents and purposes, a one-goal game against a powerhouse team like the Jets. Maybe Babcock can chirp our lack of calls before the playoffs start? Would be interesting.