Loose-Leafs #5 - It's In There, Somewhere.

[Daisy Jane]

Loose-Leafs
First Period: Oh, Mah, God, we Suck!
Second Period: Oh, Mah, God, we're so awesome!
Third Period: A Wash. But I'll say we suck anyway -
Reactions of some Leaf Fans​

The Toronto Maple Leafs after 17 Games
11-6-0 T-2nd in the Eastern Conference

Brief Stats:
Goals For: 2.9 (10th)
Goals Against: 2.4 (7th)
Powerplay: 21.6 (7th)
Penalty Kill: 83.8 (13th)

As of today - Toronto owns the 2nd guaranteed spot in the Atlantic.


Who, or What are We.. Really?

I think the most irritating/frustrating place to be is HFboards after a loss. (Heck sometimes lately, after a win), because the reaction is generally the same: "well, we suck, because we don't play 60 minutes of hockey, so we're just lucky." (we will ignore the fact that there have been years that we've not been so 'lucky.'

And when we lose - "see, this is why the Leafs are pretenders/suck/won't go anywhere, why don't we have "insert this name here. because Oh mah gawd! he would totally have made a difference." And then we have to go through the entire - "well, I'm just being realistic!" "No I'm realistic!" etc.

And now we're getting into the whole "Well if we can't beat team X - we're not a good enough team." But then something that always surprises me (well not really) is when other fans come in and put the kibosh on the fact that "No - the Leafs don't suck." no one takes pause, or even considers it. it's all. "Yes. yes, we do."

Out of the teams we need to measure ourselves against:
, , ,

We've gone .500 against. We lost against the defending stanley cup champions, and the runners up. But we beat the best team in the league right now, and a team that's pretty much the 2nd best team in the east,.

out of the teams who, if today would make the playoffs [who we've played]
, , ,

we are also... shock .500.

And out of teams we've SHOULD have beaten,
, , , , Flyers and Devils

we lost only two. (and we've also beaten Nashville).

And all of this - without dressing a healthy lineup, playing inconsistently, and something something [blame the person you hate here.]. But the thing I feel that's frustrating everyone is that we're not really playing to our potential. (some may argue that we are, and we're just being bailed out by good goaltending).

But if you really look at the Bruins game (and even match it up to the Ducks game (where we won), and the Pittsburgh game (where we won again) (even in the Montreal game in the beginning of the season) you can see the cycle game. You can see the crisp, clear, passing, you see our physical game etc, and it's like.

"it's there! that's what you're supposed to be doing!"

Why don't they do that more often?

I wonder if it is a bit of overthinking. One of our teams greatest strengths is that we've got a lot of players that are very, very, creative and can make magic out of nothing. But because we have to play more conservatively due to the injuries, and just trying to play better, tighter defensive hockey, a lot of that creativity (starting from the backend with Gardiner/Franson) is missing.

Which brings us to our coach.

I do know what I'm doing, you know​

Jeff O'Neil said it yesterday: When he watches the Leafs play - he doesn't necessarily can tell exactly what system we're supposed to be doing. Are we trapping? Are we applying the Boston Forecheck? Are we run-and gunning? Because in a game we literally doing all three things, sometimes in an entire period.

And Randy - since Game 1 has said, you really can't critique a win (because at the end of the day that's the most important part), but at the same time, not playing well will burn us. He doesn't know where things are breaking down (interview after Chicago/Vancouver games). and during practices, according to Mark Masters, & Mirtle he's literally standing in spots on the ice, showing the team exactly where breakdowns are happening, showing them where to execute etc.

So while I certainty can't explain it either - I think there are a few things that Randy should start doing. Maybe it could jump start things.

1: Change the defensive pairings around.

I understand that Randy is all about "pairings" which is why unless we're really not doing well and he "blenders" things up - you always see the same "pair" together.

But I would put Gardiner back on his natural side (left). I'd try pairing up Franson WITH him. I would slide Rielly with Phaneuf (just get Rielly used to playing big time minutes, and I think with Phaneuf, Rielly could really start wheeling and dealing).

Put Fraser and Ranger (or Fraser/Gunnarson) together. and play the seventh defenseman. This will leave us with a shorter forward lineup, but I think that at this time - playing the 7th d behooves us better.

2: Put Clarkson more in the role he had in New Jersey.

I understand that Randy wants to use Clarkson more as our shutdown line (shades of Boston's third line) but at the same time, I think that Clarkson needs to have more powerplay time as well as more offensive responsibilities. I do feel bad for the guy, because he's missed 10 games, then he's not really put into the best situation, and you can tell he's really trying to figure out/feel out his role on the team. (which probably would have been figured out 10 games ago).

3: maybe... perhaps... come up with a new system that the team is able to execute?

This one is tough - because I personally don't know what our system is either. I couldn't articulate it if you had a gun to my head. Personally, if I had to hazard a guess - I would say that our system is very much like Boston, but with more speed. But even though it's there - and you can see it, I think due to all the injuries that we've got - it's not sustainable. So I think that Randy needs to look at the pieces that he has, and try to come up with a system that the team is able to do.

Before anyone does the Jim Mora

​

I have to wonder if Randy is trying to just hammer down "Playoff Play." during the regular season. some teams (LA comes to mind instantly) do do this. But again - it's not really working due to the fact - we're missing people.

But - I do have faith that Randy will figure something out, and you have to think the reason why he's reluctant to change things is for the reason I, and some other fans (not just from our fanbase) are noticing: the way he wants the team to play is in there. they are capable of it, and they are capable of unleashing it at will. It's in there somewhere. I just think that Randy needs to start bending into the wind re: some of his tactics.


Get Well Soon

How badly are we missing him, eh? Our powerplay sure is. We're letting in a PP goal a game now (last night was the first night we've let in two). This is really weird considering we had gone weeks without letting in a-one. Reason: the McClement, but also Bozak.

I have no earthly clue how he managed to tear his hamstring (ow) but I hope he comes back soon. Considering he's not even on a bike yet, I don't think he'll be ready to go for the 21st.


Which means Nazem Kadri you need to step. up (more). His little nasty edge that he had last season is pretty much gone - where did that go?

And while I channel my inner Mariah Carey/Whitney Houston and say I believe in Miracles - please, please let Bolland heal quickly.


Smithson is a beast. (on faceoffs). However he does it, I hope he just starts teaching everyone. I think in two games - he's lost 3? faceoffs? Something crazy like that. This was a good band-aid for the team.

Nonis Watch 2013

You have to wonder if he's got some rods in the fire that no one knows about. (because as we all know the Phaneuf trade was pretty #sneakyassassin). There was something in Nonis's face before he wheeled and strode out of the gm lounge in the TD gardens that pretty much said [to me] that something had to be done slash he didn't think he'd have to do it so soon. (I tried googling, and I don't know how to gif video - maybe it's on hockeystreams. it was right after the goal: Nonis was standing up - had this look of and then about faced and walked right out of there).

We're not really in the position of power here (as the entire world knows we're hurting) - but I wonder if he'll make some moves to try to get Giradi (guy of choice), or just pay up the butt to get better centre help. I could be making a lot out of nothing - but.... I don't know.

Player of the Week
I'll just let this speak for itself​

Totally worth the 2 firsts and a 2nd. Kessel is playing with such an edge this year (and you really have to think a lot of it has to do with the playoffs last year vs. Boston). He's a huge chunk of our offense (a duh). but it's the goals that he's scoring. It's either he's scoring the game tying goal - or the game winning goal. And now he's totally challenging Lupul for the best "Eff this nonsense - I'm going to win this myself." look

And Kessel has only drawn TWO penalties this year. Two.

Still can't believe it took him 10 games to score his first goal. But he has more points & goals than he had in his first 17 games last season. (in perspective, Giroux who finally scored yesterday took 6 extra games to get his first goal - and really hasn't put up much offensively in the way of points like Kessel did last season). Just. Crazy pants.

Week at a Glance


We don't play again until Wednesday. (this stupid schedule).

Wednesday 13th Nov
@ [7:30 start, TSN, GDT by Swervin81]

Friday 15th, Nov
@ [Sportsnet Ontario (find a stream) - 7:00 start, GDT by RaskY]

Saturday 16th Nov.
@ [HNIC - 7:00 Start, GDT by RaskY]

See you next week!

Click to read more...

 

[Hero]

Need a 3-0 week here.

 

[WilliamNylander]

morgan rielly scores his first as a leaf this week

 

[The Winter Soldier]

If we cannot beat Buffalo back to back, it will get ugly here.

JVR may be anointed the #1C after the games in Buffalo. But back to reality when we face a real team again.

 

[Peasy]

Couts would be so good right now. Would improve the PK and could move up and down the line up if someone wasnt playing good.

 

[Fabulous]

3-0 this week would be huge, the Buffalo games I expect us to take both.

 

[Ari91]

HF is drama queen central. Some people on here think black and white with nothing in between. Usually, it's those people that provide the stupidest commentary on these boards. It doesn't make you a realist because you pick apart everything bad that the team does and it doesn't make you any different from someone who praises the team for everything they do even when it isn't deserved. To those who can be rationalize and weigh both sides fairly, these groups of people are just as bad the other.

A great example of this 'realist' crap that goes too far...when people aren't bickering about which one of our goalies are better, the best acknowledgement Bernier and Reimer get is 'oh we wouldn't be winning games if it weren't for our goalies'. Really? Then maybe you should give them a little more love and appreciation rather than use them as mere segues into a discussion about all the things the team does wrong and why they suck.

There are clearly things that the team needs to work on but they've shown glimpses of what they're capable of. Minus the Vancouver game where nothing stood out to me, even against their losses against the 'elite' teams, Leafs have had stretches of great showings against these teams. They need to figure out what they're doing that allows them to get those good stretches of play and do it more often. Based purely on observation, I would guess that they simply need to show more commitment throughout the game (by applying their speed and physicality a lot more consistently). I think the bad play could possibly be due to the confidence they have in their goaltending and goal scoring. I guess it's fine if you're facing the Dubynk's of the league but when you've to get pucks past Rask or Varlamov, you have to show a bit more urgency and motivation in longer stretches of the game. Those kind of goalies aren't going to make it easy for you and in case of Boston, their D aren't going to help you out either.