Post-Game Talk: Leafs 1:0 Oilers. Who needs Kris Russell when you have McElhinney?

[ACC1224]

I'd forgotten how much fun McDavid is to watch live, no one even comes close to playing at the speed he does.

 

[Pi]

2nd. star of the month for November kind of indicates who the best Leafs was during November, and that doesn't seem to have changed 1/3 through December.

A healthy Matthews and we might be really impressed with where this team stacks up in the league.

Top 5 offense, top 10 goaltending, top 10 defense, top 15 PK, top 10 PP.

Nobody on the Leafs on an unsustainable tear besides the goaltending of Andersen but even when he comes back down to Earth he will hover around his career SV%.

I think the rest of December is the toughest part of the Leafs entire schedule. Go slightly above .500 in the road games coming up and the Leafs have a lot more home games coming and a lot of divisional opponents.

I want the Leafs to comfortably be in second in the division but not win the division. Winning the division is a punishment. You face a tougher team than you would if you finished second.

 

[Voodoo Child]

LOL yeah, this might be right. Man is McDavid ever good, speaking as a hockey fan, he's such a joy to watch.

Our rebuilds got skill and honour.

Their rebuild is 'just pass it to Connor'.

 

[Beaumaris]

I'd forgotten how much fun McDavid is to watch live, no one even comes close to playing at the speed he does.

Shame he’s a wee bit too fast for his line mates.another zero last night.

 

[Pi]

I'd forgotten how much fun McDavid is to watch live, no one even comes close to playing at the speed he does.

Truly a one of a kind player in the NHL.

 

[ULF_55]

Truly a one of a kind player in the NHL.

And it looks like he might have another top 5 pick to play with next year.

Actually, I think he'll have a new coach.

 

[Pi]

And it looks like he might have another top 5 pick to play with next year.

Actually, I think he'll have a new coach.

Will that be enough? Oilers seem to discard valuable players for pennies on the dollar every year. This year it might be RNH.

I knew the Oilers weren't a 100 point team but I didn't expect them to pull a Colorado and look great one year only to completely implode the next year.

For all the problems the Leafs have, we're still going to comfortably make the playoffs and it will only get easier as Matthews and company have more experience.

 

[ULF_55]

Will that be enough? Oilers seem to discard valuable players for pennies on the dollar every year. This year it might be RNH.

I knew the Oilers weren't a 100 point team but I didn't expect them to pull a Colorado and look great one year only to completely implode the next year.

For all the problems the Leafs have, we're still going to comfortably make the playoffs and it will only get easier as Matthews and company have more experience.

Oh, I gotta believe with all the evidence today that a coach can make a huge difference.

Just this year, Canucks and Golden Knights...

 

[Pi]

Oh, I gotta believe with all the evidence today that a coach can make a huge difference.

Just this year, Canucks and Golden Knights...

McLellan isn't the problem. He's not a bad coach but he does have some odd lineups as well.

I can't believe that Puljujarvi didn't get a single second on the PP last night. Here is a 4th overall pick that actually looked real solid last night on McDavid's wing...maybe one of those great passes that McDavid had could have wound up in the net if Puljujarvi was in place of Letestu or Lucic.

 

[Mr Hockey]

McLellan isn't the problem. He's not a bad coach but he does have some odd lineups as well.

I can't believe that Puljujarvi didn't get a single second on the PP last night. Here is a 4th overall pick that actually looked real solid last night on McDavid's wing...maybe one of those great passes that McDavid had could have wound up in the net if Puljujarvi was in place of Letestu or Lucic.

Puljujarvis is just now starting to play decent, since being hooked up with Mcdavid. He has had a lot of healthy scratches and AHL games since the draft. I follow Oilers to watch Mcdavid.

McLellan is an ex Babcock assistant coach, ijs

 

[Beaumaris]

And it looks like he might have another top 5 pick to play with next year.

Actually, I think he'll have a new coach.

New GM will come in first.

 

[ULF_55]

McLellan isn't the problem. He's not a bad coach but he does have some odd lineups as well.

I can't believe that Puljujarvi didn't get a single second on the PP last night. Here is a 4th overall pick that actually looked real solid last night on McDavid's wing...maybe one of those great passes that McDavid had could have wound up in the net if Puljujarvi was in place of Letestu or Lucic.

Sometimes the coach just doesn't work out.

 

[MJ65]

It's a matter of balanced scoring as long as we can keep up with this pace

 

[Mr Hockey]

It's a matter of balanced scoring as long as we can keep up with this pace

If only Babcock knew how to set up his lines, we could be first. lol

 

[stickty111]

I love Babcock and all but this is so true

 

[egd27]

hey what are ya nutty or something

Polak is always on that list

Of course, I must have been more tired than I thought.

 

[Trapper]

And it looks like he might have another top 5 pick to play with next year.

Actually, I think he'll have a new coach.

Top 5?
LOL you know it's 1st overall.
Then I can't wait to hear how much more superior Oilers are to the common folk.

 

[Antropovsky]

Want to impress me? Do it with your eyes closed!

Why should the fact that he can skate so well be a point against him?

If you takeaway how good Matthews is at stick handling in traffic and along the boards, how good would he be?

McDavid is an electrifying player. Even if you took some of his speed away and he can only skate as good as Phil Kessel for example, he would still be an elite player. His vision is incredible, his ability to make plays at that speed is actually more impressive than the speed itself. There are players who can skate fast but can't do anything with the puck at that speed (Grabner etc) and there are players who can make good plays but can't skate fast. Combine both and you have a playmaking version of Pavel Bure which is McDavid.

I'm just wondering about his sustainability over his career, more in a comparison to Crosby... considering his effect on the game is being considered the same as Crosby in terms of being a phenom. Crosby is fantastic in all facets, his skating, his passing, his compete level, his strength along the boards, his starting and stopping etc. Comparing Crosby to current young players, Crosby has Matthews puck handling in tight, his edge work, but he's got johnny hockeys passing, and he has a high compete level, and probably a shot comparable mcdavids now.

Mcdavid is an incredible skater, but he seemed to be lacking in a lot of what Crosby has in terms of overall game.

From what I've seen thus far, id say that if I had a choice between a young 21 year old Crosby and a 21 year old mcdavid. I'd likely choose Crosby.


That's all.... have to say that it's pretty incredible how much better a skater mcdavid is compared to pretty much every hockey player before him.