Pre-Game Talk: Knock on wood...

[ACC1224]

Is the thinking that Bogosian is dressing for the Leafs tonight?

 

[Pyrophorus]

Road game in Dallas and Nashville still.

That's right

 

[1specter]

Is the thinking that Bogosian is dressing for the Leafs tonight?

yup

 

[Coachcorner]

@Coachcorner maybe we can get a GDT going?

Now I'm treally bout that paper, always sisire!! WOOP WOOOPPPP

 

[ACC1224]

Now I'm treally bout that paper, always sisire!! WOOP WOOOPPPP

Light it up.

 

[Voodoo Child]

Jason Spezza is a student of the game, teacher of the game, he always makes himself available for the press and their bullshit, he makes league min, he can win face offs with one hand blindfolded, he shoots hard and often and here we are, halfway thru the season and there he is clipping along at a 20 goal pace.

He’s a 2.5-3.0 level guy who takes min because he knows he has enough money.

I hope when he retires he gets a vanity position with the team for 2 a year for life.

Simmonds is good too, but not always as visible - he’ll hit and fight and play the front of the net, but sometimes he won’t.

Both have been solid in their tenures with the Leafs

 

[Holls Blackmail]

Every game I swing by the opposing team boards to get a sense of perspective on how they look at the Leafs.

I don’t post because I’m not a chode but I browse.

Believe it or not, most boards treat them with respect - sure there are 1967 and 2004 jokes, my personal favorite is the ‘67 joke after being stomped, like the Leafs not winning a cup since 1967 is relevant to the Leafs today that just beat you 5-1.

Reactions are usually spirited on the Canadian team boards.

Edmonton: The Leafs have superior D, goaltending, depth and management but someone thinks Matthews is almost as good as McDavid, so they all must think that!

Vancouver: I’m feeling good because my $10,000 Christmas bonus ate half a month of rent in my 36 sq/m apartment, but we have to start at 4 and that’s not fair!

And so on.

But never Calgary - they played last night and they don’t even have a GDT up.

Historically, Carmine always said the the Flames are nothing more than a glorified crew.

Let me tell ya a couple of three things..

 

[Voodoo Child]

Let me tell ya a couple of three things..

Listen, they put anybody and everybody on the first line over there, and the way they do it is all f***ed up. Guys don’t put up 1.5 PPG in junior, there’s no top line veteran center on the table.

 

[Holls Blackmail]

Listen, they put anybody and everybody on the first line over there, and the way they do it is all f***ed up. Guys don’t put up 1.5 PPG in junior, there’s no top line veteran center on the table.

5 Canadian NHL teams and we have this Pygmy thing over in Calgary….there’s no scraps on their fight card

 

[Voodoo Child]

5 Canadian NHL teams and we have this Pygmy thing over in Calgary….there’s no scraps on their fight card

They’ve got redundant upper management, bleeds off half the arena deal.

 

[Holls Blackmail]

Listen, they put anybody and everybody on the first line over there, and the way they do it is all f***ed up. Guys don’t put up 1.5 PPG in junior, there’s no top line veteran center on the table.

Murray Edwards has no respect for this game. He’s never been on the ice, not really. Here’s a guy who raped the earth to make enough money to grab the big seat, over his own Mother Earth.

 

[axman15]

I agree that Bogo can be a useful piece on a contending team, I certainly liked him on Toronto. But there’s a reason no team is willing to give him more than a minimum deal. We are no worse off giving those minutes to Lily or Dermott (not even going to include Sandin here because I think he’s already a better player than Bogo).

Let’s not act like Schenn and Bogo are the reason that Tampa has had so much success these past few years. They’re just very, very small pieces of the puzzle.

 

[fahad203]

Jason Spezza is a student of the game, teacher of the game, he always makes himself available for the press and their bullshit, he makes league min, he can win face offs with one hand blindfolded, he shoots hard and often and here we are, halfway thru the season and there he is clipping along at a 20 goal pace.

He’s a 2.5-3.0 level guy who takes min because he knows he has enough money.

I hope when he retires he gets a vanity position with the team for 2 a year for life.

Simmonds is good too, but not always as visible - he’ll hit and fight and play the front of the net, but sometimes he won’t.

Both have been solid in their tenures with the Leafs

While your sentiments about character are true, their output suggests otherwise

Spezza can do all that, does all that from time to time. But his line has become a huge liability due to their inability to skate and keep up
Spezza by himself is still a valuable contributor, but when you add Clifford( which I don't know why) or Nick Ritchie( again I don't know why) his line really slows down

Spezza should also be rotated out, he's 38. Keefe has to recognize that. It's not like Marleau at 38 he could still skate.

Simmonds cannot be in the line up regularly. He's simply not good enough. He'll need to be rotated by I don't mean Ritchie or Clifford. Maybe Anderson or some kid who can actually skate and play.

Simmonds has looked better than last year but he's still not good enough to play regular games

 

[therealkoho]

Could just be a maintenance day for the vet, or maybe he messed up his hand in the fight on Monday.

Really glad to see Matthews out there.

his Mrs just gave birth to their second child, a little girl!


Waynette Jr possibly?

 

[Twine Tickler]

going 11F - 7D tonight. I don't know if that is out of necessity with Simmer being off with the newborn and still on the cap, or if it's just because Muzz coming back against a good Calgary team. Either way, I think we are in tough. We struggle big time with 11F + 7D.

Going to need our big boys to play like beasts tonight. Take advantage of those shifts down the lineup away from tough matchups.

 

[Isaac Nootin]

A lot of Babcock-like "good pro" overrating of Simmonds and Spezza going on in here. If Dubas can get those 2 on a rotation our team will be even better.

What do you expect exactly from a 4th line? They haven't been a liability defensively, and the production is great for 4th liners.

People love to point to NYI as the pinnacle of 4th lines. The identity line (what a joke).

They've produced 21 total points combined on the year for the bargain price of 7.5 million cap hit.

Just Simmonds and Spezza have 28 total points, all for just 1.65 million.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Hopefully we get the old Jack back tonight because I'm not expecting Markstrom to let in 4 or 5 goals, he did play last so MAYBE he's tired and has an off night but I wouldn't bet on it.

Hopefully the old Jack is back tonight and his recent struggles are over.

 

[therealkoho]

Not sure about reuniting Muzzin-Holl. They looked better separated.

Rielly Brodie
Muzzin Liljegren
Sandin Holl

Looks better to me.

Don't mind that, but I think if we're being honest, Muzzin has played his way onto the 3rd pair

 

[therealkoho]

No we don't

If Holl continues like he has been you aren't getting a better top 4RD than him

Good to see you're not bogged down into that tiresome LeaFland narrative. Holl has been solid and has kept things simple in his own end and not doing a whole lot of gambling in the O zone.

 

[Kiwi]

Good to see you're not bogged down into that tiresome LeaFland narrative. Holl has been solid and has kept things simple in his own end and not doing a whole lot of gambling in the O zone.

He seems to be better with the puck on his stick, faster decisions, calm demeanor, good option taking

It's good to see after his start

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Not really. Chychrun, sure, but he also is going to cost a ridiculous amount and doesn't fit our cap structure. Giordano maybe does as well.

Chiarot, Braun, Manson, and Mayfield are not better than him. At best they are equals, and that is assuming they pick up their performance playing for a better team. Myers has potential to be better, but right now he is worse than Holl.

Who else is there?

First off every guy you mentioned Is better than Holl.

But ypu didn't mention Giordano probably because he's LD but LD VS RD Is irrelevant, you didn't mention Risto, or Severson, I'd take both over Holl.

Holl needs to go