GoonieFace
Registered User
Ian Tulluch on the coaching staff in this game.
It boggles my mind that a team as talented as Toronto can play in such boring games. I understand the desire to tighten things up defensively, but that doesn’t need to come at the expense of leaning into your strengths (playing with pace, activating your D off the breakout, counter-attacking off the rush). We didn’t see any of that from Toronto in this game (until Matthews decided to singlehandedly take over every shift in the third). Watching how Barrie has been used this year, the team’s current style of play doesn’t seem like a way to get the most out of a roster predicated on speed and skill.
Another quick thing: Dermott plays incredibly in his last game, and his reward? Eight minutes and forty-five seconds of ice time. I’m not sure what the issue is here, but someone needs to give this guy more minutes.
The frustrating part is the coaching staff seems to be pulling them in the other direction (trying to tighten things up defensively, but it’s been coming at the expense of offence). Now, I completely understand the desire to address the Leafs’ defensive issues, but if you’re neutering your team’s offence to accomplish it, that’s not exactly fixing things.
The Leafs need to find a way to extract the most value out of their roster, and they’re not going to achieve that by playing like the Minnesota Wild. This is a team built on speed and skill. If the coaching staff can’t find a way to lean into those strengths (like they did in March and April last season), they might not be around much longer.
He's right. Looking to improve defensively is nice, but we are not winning with this style in the playoffs. This roster just isn't suited for it.
Oh Ian Tulluch says so..but we all really want to know what Jeffler has to say about this.