Pre-Game Talk: Leafs vs Predators

[The Hanging Jowl]

I was pretty happy with the lines before. Tavares needs Marner's help far more than Matthews needs it. It was working fine, they just need to improve the shooting accuracy on the top lines. Weird move.

 

[supermann_98]

Don’t mind rotating the bottom D. I always thought that would be the plan with Sandin Dermott and Liljegren.

Agreed but I'd include Holl to that list

 

[Isaac Nootin]

Let's be realistic here, with Marner, Matthews, Tavares and Nylander manning the top 2 lines, it really shouldn't matter who the 3rd wheel is on either. That's almost 40 million worth of forwards between the 4, earn your money.

 

[Nineteen67]

At some point will this thread be about tonight’s game?

Im expecting it to turn into a bash Dion thread…

 

[zeke]

Agreed but I'd include Holl to that list

Sandin 15gms
Dermott 13
Holl 10
Liljegren 10

 

[Fogelhund]

SIMMONS: Former Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf officially retires, ’proud’ of his career | Toronto Sun

Prior to Tuesday’s game with the Nashville Predators, the Leafs will honour their long-time captain in a pre-game ceremony that might surprise some fans. The current front office, especially team president Brendan Shanahan, has a certain fondness for Phaneuf, who captained the team through many challenging seasons.

Dion was a decent D-man, who was really a victim of expectations beyond his talent level. He had a dangerous slap shot from the blue line for sure, often more dangerous to injure players on his own team, than to score a goal. He came to Toronto to save a team, that really couldn't be saved, which created much of the black mark on his career, through no fault of his own. Tonight, the Leafs honour Dion... hmmm, the leader of terrible teams.

 

[nsleaf]

Don’t talk about mariner have half the Board attacking you remember. it’s a bunch of children that if you don’t think like them they’ll try to pick a fight with you. Couldn’t in real life bunch of keyboard tough guys .I agree with you they need to start earning their money just like in the real world kids think they need to be paid before they prove anything

Only half?

 

[Notsince67]

Only half?

Give the 740 post grizzled vet a break. He has been through hell.

 

[francis246]

Phaneuf to be honoured tonight, wish we got the Phaneuf that was such a stud early in his career, but honestly I liked his game in his early days.

 

[Fogelhund]

Don’t talk about mariner have half the Board attacking you remember. it’s a bunch of children that if you don’t think like them they’ll try to pick a fight with you. Couldn’t in real life bunch of keyboard tough guys .I agree with you they need to start earning their money just like in the real world kids think they need to be paid before they prove anything

This is difficult to get through so early in the morning. I'm not sure if I need a coffee, a shot, or both.

 

[Dekes For Days]

That’s the problem, they would rather win the Rocket, or Art Ross than just winning the Conn Symthe and the Cup.

That's a ridiculous, baseless argument. Of course they'd prefer to win the Cup/Conn Smythe over regular season awards.

 

[ACC1224]

SIMMONS: Former Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf officially retires, ’proud’ of his career | Toronto Sun

Prior to Tuesday’s game with the Nashville Predators, the Leafs will honour their long-time captain in a pre-game ceremony that might surprise some fans. The current front office, especially team president Brendan Shanahan, has a certain fondness for Phaneuf, who captained the team through many challenging seasons.

Dion was a decent D-man, who was really a victim of expectations beyond his talent level. He had a dangerous slap shot from the blue line for sure, often more dangerous to injure players on his own team, than to score a goal. He came to Toronto to save a team, that really couldn't be saved, which created much of the black mark on his career, through no fault of his own. Tonight, the Leafs honour Dion... hmmm, the leader of terrible teams.

Damn wish I was attending tonight now. God those were terrible times, lots of bad memories.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Don’t talk about mariner have half the Board attacking you remember. it’s a bunch of children that if you don’t think like them they’ll try to pick a fight with you. Couldn’t in real life bunch of keyboard tough guys .I agree with you they need to start earning their money just like in the real world kids think they need to be paid before they prove anything

Very mature post, thanks for showing us the path to thoughtful discussion.

 

[fahad203]

Damn wish I was attending tonight now. God those were terrible times, lots of bad memories.

No doubt the early 2010s were pretty bad as a Leafs fans. It was just weird times with larger than life GM in Burke and a captain who never looked comfortable being a captain
But I won't hold that against Dion. He shouldn't have been the captain in my opinion

I was however very excited when we first landed him. Those were some dark times in my personal life, so it was refreshing to get some good news. Dion was truly our last great qb with great shot
If he played today with play makers like JT, Willie and Marner, I bet he gets around 15 goals a season. He would have missed of his shots though

I used love his hits. I still remember the hit on Mike Sauer and Decosta

 

[ULF_55]

Let the discussion be about the upcoming game.

If you want to insult each other go elsewhere.

 

[shaner8989]

Hoping Sandin draws back in, Get Holl out.

 

[ottomaddox]

Pre-game cheer:

Go Leafs Go

 

[inthe6ix]

Keep Drej up there with the big boys and give him love on PP2, and I have a good feeling he'll extend that goal-scoring streak to 4 games tonight.

 

[al secord]

Video tribute for Captain Dion?

 

[Leaf Rocket]

The consistent effort of the boys still is a work in progress tbh, I want more of a consistent game through out the periods, otherwise its not gonna go anywhere. Regardless so far its been a fun season, even though it seems like one half of the tale has been THE WORLD IS ending and the other half is WORLD IS OURS.

I hope Kase keeps it up, loved that he has finally be getting some good puck luck

 

[egd27]

Damn wish I was attending tonight now. God those were terrible times, lots of bad memories.

So does this mean the puck won't drop until around 7:25 ? I tire of pre game analysis and ceremonies easily these days.

 

[AvroArrow]

Phaneuf to be honoured tonight, wish we got the Phaneuf that was such a stud early in his career, but honestly I liked his game in his early days.

Phaneufs only fault was he was thrown into a role that he was not meant for. As a #2 or #3 D-man he was perfectly fine. We expected him to be this stud #1 shutdown D like Chara. Lots of respect for what Dion did here. Yeah he made those bonehead pinches to hit all the time, especially that one where he stepped up to hit Horton in the playoffs...Krejci comes down the wing 2 on 1 and scores..but overall he was a fine player for us and always brought the intensity. He was a good player for us, just bad management at the time.

Iginla is my favorite player of all time, I followed those flames teams pretty religiously. Dion was used regularly with Reghyr who was an absolute stud defensively. It gave him the opportunity to take chances offensively and even step up for hits, knowing he had a very capable partner to cover for him. Iginla was destroying the opposition physically and on the score sheet, he drew a lot of defensive attention allowing the point guys to stay open. We just never had the same surrounding cast to help him out here.

 

[ACC1224]

So does this mean the puck won't drop until around 7:25 ? I tire of pre game analysis and ceremonies easily these days.

That'll be a quick one I would think. I'd expect puck drop around 7:12.

 

[leaffaninvancouver]

Phaneufs only fault was he was thrown into a role that he was not meant for. As a #2 or #3 D-man he was perfectly fine. We expected him to be this stud #1 shutdown D like Chara. Lots of respect for what Dion did here. Yeah he made those bonehead pinches to hit all the time, especially that one where he stepped up to hit Horton in the playoffs...Krejci comes down the wing 2 on 1 and scores..but overall he was a fine player for us and always brought the intensity. He was a good player for us, just bad management at the time.

I mean he was a number 1 defensemen, did you see the garbage we used to pair with with though? He absolutely was responsible for several fringe defenders getting contracts with other teams because he made them look "okay".

I liked Phaneuf, he wasn't the best choice for Captain though. Watching him and Kessel interact was always funny.

 

[kevsh]

I can't believe that in four years these guys haven't settled on which stars play better with other. Or why, given the recent run they're on, Keefe is switching it up now.

It seems like a cop out for a player like Matthews who clearly is not his 100% self, for whatever reason. He's an elite player, let him sort it out rather than constantly juggle his linemates which seems to imply that the problem is not him, it's them.