Sportsnet: Kessel confident of Leafs avoiding tailspin

[Jacques Trap*]

Must be all the calming zen he gets from the night fishing

 

[Ari91]

Players said the same thing after the collapse under Wilson's watch. Then they said the same thing after game 7. Now they're saying it after this collapse. Don't care for the words any more. Please just show me instead.

 

[thewave]

An honest answer would have been...

We played a sloppy style of game all season. We relied on our tenders and didn't control the play enough. It's going to take a lot of work but I think we can pull it together with the new additions we have to the team come the start.

 

[RealisticLeaf55]

I feel like people are crapping on this article too much.

Kessel didn't throw his team under the bus and he points out everything we are saying. We have needed depth and now we can start playing a more possession style of game so we don't face 32+ shots a night. He makes it clear we have a strong offensive team (yes, we do in fact) but the depth will help our top end guys rest so we can use them during last minute situations where we need to tie the game, rather than playing "catch-up" hockey the whole damn game.

The most important factor is now we can play Phaneuf less and keep him playing as a quality defender each night, rather than gassing him half way through the season from mis-using him.

Once again, Kessel didn't pull a Kesler/Cammalleri/E.Kane and whine about how the team played or his relationship with the coach. Maybe it is just me but it goes to show that our locker-room finally gets along and has faith in each other.

 

[Pyrophorus]

I'm sure Shanahan has identified, fatigue, possession and other factors, and has made changes to address them. Whether these moves work or not, has yet to be seen.

I don't expect Kessel to really say anything different.
a fair shot could be the team is good, which played a bad system.

 

[Bardown warrior]

Phil Kessel and the first line isn’t, and wasn’t, the problem. Kessel pulling double shifts, and JVR/Kessel playing in the Olympics, and they and Bozak playing the big minutes that they did…how could they not be exhausted. The problem was the bottom six; they simply were not good enough. And I really do hope that the Leafs have fixed it this year, but we’ll find out.

I didnt say that they were the problem; I say they burned out because of our lack of scoring depth. Not pitting the blame on the first line, and given the predicament they were placed in last season, its understandable that they're production dropped.

 

[Tyler Biggs*]

I didnt say that they were the problem; I say they burned out because of our lack of scoring depth. Not pitting the blame on the first line, and given the predicament they were placed in last season, its understandable that they're production dropped.

I am not saying you did. I am agreeing with your post.

 

[Bardown warrior]

I am not saying you did. I am agreeing with your post.

My bad buddy. Read that wrong

 

[Tyler Biggs*]

My bad buddy. Read that wrong

No worries!

 

[Ace88*]

How do none of you understand it's all lip service? What do you want him to say, "o yea we sucked all last year but jvr and bernie and i saved the team on a nightly basis, expect more of the same because uncle randy is too busy playing with toasters to coach properly"?

Man. You people **** all over phil no matter what he says or does. How you could really expect him to say any different is beyond me. And regardless of whether or not they did actually suck last year, he is totally right.

 

[RealisticLeaf55]

How do none of you understand it's all lip service? What do you want him to say, "o yea we sucked all last year but jvr and bernie and i saved the team on a nightly basis, expect more of the same because uncle randy is too busy playing with toasters to coach properly"?

Man. You people **** all over phil no matter what he says or does. How you could really expect him to say any different is beyond me. And regardless of whether or not they did actually suck last year, he is totally right.

This is exactly what I was saying in a previous post. Couldn't agree more.

 

[Leafidelity]

If Kessel (our best player) doesn't believe in his team, why should anyone else? He could have very easily waffled on the answers like he has in many interviews past. A confident Phil Kessel is a good thing.

 

[BIitz]

If Kessel and JVR's red hot Olympics play had been saved for a Leafs hockey I wonder if we would have staved off that total collapse and at least made the playoffs?

K we'll conveniently ignore Kessel's 28 points in 19 games post new year to Olympics, and the Leafs 12-6-1 record during this time. He was actually producing at a lower PPG clip for USA than he was for the Leafs.

Kessel and JVR really only turned it on during the Olympics.

 

[FlareKnight]

How do none of you understand it's all lip service? What do you want him to say, "o yea we sucked all last year but jvr and bernie and i saved the team on a nightly basis, expect more of the same because uncle randy is too busy playing with toasters to coach properly"?

Man. You people **** all over phil no matter what he says or does. How you could really expect him to say any different is beyond me. And regardless of whether or not they did actually suck last year, he is totally right.

Actually that would have been rather nice .

 

[VaughanBender72]

To be completely honest, the whole team offensively was kessel and jvr. We had no depth when it came to offence. Kadri and Lupul were alright. Bodie, Holland, Smith, Clarkson, Mcclement. Did nothing. Mcclement though is amazing on the pk

 

[Diatomic]

Lol, i'm having Deja vu. Reminds me so much of what was said in game 7 vs the bruins, something along the lines of:

"If we were put into that scenario again 9 times out of 10 we would of gotten a different result"

Bad luck bla bla bla shutup you all suck and you keep giving excuses

 

[VaughanBender72]

I'm sure Shanahan has identified, fatigue, possession and other factors, and has made changes to address them. Whether these moves work or not, has yet to be seen.

I don't expect Kessel to really say anything different.
a fair shot could be the team is good, which played a bad system.

yeah I think Shanahan is really trying to toughen up the team, and make us into a more hitting team. Note Leo komarov who lead the leauge in hits and certain points during the season.

 

[HEAVY DUTY]

hey shanny, want to avoid a tail spin?

fire carlyle.

 

[VaughanBender72]

hey shanny, want to avoid a tail spin?

fire carlyle.

I think Carlyle is a good coach, but no one wants to play for him. The player-coach relation is bad. Whixh means the team is gonna play like garbage.

 

[leburn98]

We need more honesty, like this :

hey shanny, want to avoid a tail spin?

fire carlyle.

Yes, because this never happened when another coach was coaching **cough** Wilson **cough**

Sadly, this team seems to be the touch of death to coaching careers.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

7 points in his last 14 games for Phil, but as I have said all along, it was collective failure by the entire team and not just for the most blame on Dion or Reimer. Plenty went wrong after the west coast trip.

 

[pm88]

same old ****

 

[crump]

Well if Randy ****ing rolls 4 lines, which I'm pretty sure management is telling him to do, then the pressure will be taken off Phil and JVR a lot more and they shouldn't run out of gas. That's the one thing that makes me hopeful. We need scoring from all of our lines because there's going to be nights where our top guys come up dry. It happens.

Out of the gate, I think that's the plan. What happens if/ when the leafs go into a slum, Carlyle starts benching guys and runs with 3 lines again. Somebody goes in the doghouse and everyone is pissy again. Does Nonis have the balls to fire Carlyle after short period of time? Say they come out stinking. 2-7-1 in the first 10 games, hopefully Shanahan has a plan. Watch and see what Nonis does? If he doesn't fire Carlyle does he fire both? How long does he wait to see if the team can correct itself? It's a bunch of new guys so they might take a while to gel. I really hope Shanahan has drawn a line for Nonis and Carlyle so both know the deal. Come out strong and we keep you, if the the team doesn't respond to Carlyle, Nonis needs to know he can't dicker around. Fire Carlyle before the season is over before it starts.

 

[Kyle Doobas*]

To be completely honest, the whole team offensively was kessel and jvr. We had no depth when it came to offence. Kadri and Lupul were alright.

One 35+ goal scorer, one 30 goal scorer, two 20+ goal scorers and two more one goal shy of 20 doesn't look like a team having any particular difficulty scoring goals to me.

I mean, 14th in the league in goals per game isn't amazing, but when you contrast that with a bottom five ranking in goals against per game, it's pretty obvious where the primary issue lies.

 

[p.l.f.]

This is reassuring