Leafs are in the bottom 5 in goals against and Bernier has a top 5 sv% in the NHL.
This can mean only 1 thing, that Bernier is not the problem and the rest of the team in front of him is. Bernier can't keep masking the problem.
Never mind going deep in the playoffs the Leafs would be fortunate to even make the playoffs playing as poorly as they do without the puck. The only saving grace to Leafs season to date is 9 SO wins and the best record in the NHL. There is no such thing as shootouts in the playoffs and so game over.
Not sure how Nonis and Carlyle are going to fix this as it hasn't worked all year with the current player personnel.
But did I say that Bernier was the problem? I'm acknowledging the fact that our defensive play is crap. I never once said that it wasn't - I've written about it countless times. it's both on the defensive side & the offensive side as well [which leads to the entire chicken and egg: are the defense so pissed off that the offense doesn't come up and help them sooner, or is the offense not wanting to trust the defense and they'd rather hang back.]. either way - it doesn't help that Franson, and Gardiner are brutal and make the stupidest decisions on the planet. Bar None. I give them credit when they do good stuff, but it doesn't negate that fact.
I also call boo on the 'only saving grace' is the Leafs 9 shootout wins. You don't fluke out 32 wins.Had we won on Thursday, we'd have the same exact record as LA, we've had the same record as LA for a good 2 months now [okay, am cheating, because we barely played in February] Last year we had very good defensive play, a great row , and we couldn't win a shootout if you had a gun to the team's head. This year, we've got a mediocre row, crap defense, and now it's 'our only saving grace." because you know - why not.
I am saying this again:
at the beginning of the season everyone kept saying the Leafs would be 4th-5th in the Atlantic, battling for a wild card spot. and wow. look. 21 games in March, look where we are. tied for 3rd in the Atlantic (4th due to games played), battling for a wild card spot. Even if we had stellar defense - I don't know if we'd be any different in the standings. The team is young. the end. I would be more concerned if this was say... New Jersey, or the Kings with their defense or whatever. We've got
Phaneuf & Gunnarson [stable for the most part]
Gleason and a 20 year old
Gardiner (23 & not smart) and Franson (someone who missed training camp and is hands down one of the slowest defenseman on our team)
Ranger (out of the league for 3-4 years)
THAT'S the back end and before Gleason it was Fraser and or Liles when he finally managed to draw in and it wasn't like he was a saviour. Unless we go all out and steal someone's young defenseman AND another vet - I'm telling you right now - our defense will probably cause us grey hairs next year, and the year before that. for another three years, we're probably going to live and die by our Offense and Goaltending, until Rielly grows into his own, our Leaflings [Percy, Granberg, MacWilliam and Finn - finally figured out who they all were] comes up and THEY know the game. or we get Dan Boyle [yes please!] or Robidas for vet support.
it can't be both ways. we can't go "oh - well we're not a cup contending team." on one hand and then go "well we can't do a deep playoff run, with our team!" with the other. It was freaking obvious for some that we weren't going on a deep playoff run this year, regardless of how wide open the East is. [now - because i'm ME - i believe we can, I've seen run-and-gun teams completely flip the switch. this could happen]
but it's like it's this huge surprise of 'oh well, we could be in trouble." when Bernier and Randy have been saying this for.ev.er. [And Nonis has been saying it since like November - but he's not going to do anything that takes away from the future. so just sit back, and enjoy the rollercoaster drama].
