News Article: Lou Lamoriello vows to be 'realistic not idealistic' this Leafs season

[SprDaVE]

Really good interview. A lot of good answers.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/break...alistic-not-idealistic-this-leafs-season.html

Snippet:

Breakaway: Usually, one win in October and this city goes crazy. There'd be calls for change, or firings. That's not happening on the streets. But how patient are you going to be as the general manager of the team if the losses continue to pile up?

Lamoriello: There's been a plan, there's been a process. You're dealing with a couple of impatient people here in personality and history. I don't want to get into that. But I think we have to be realistic, not idealistic, and make sure whatever decisions are made are made for the right reasons of the total picture. The big picture. I don't think you'll see us get off course no matter what.

Click to read more...

 

[Punch Drunk Loov]

Love it

 

[Guy Boucher]

I think Soshnikov and Brown will be with the Leafs in a month or two.

 

[Leafidelity]

Breakaway: We're seeing success with 19- and 20-year-olds across the league with different teams. The plan as laid out is you're not going to call up your prospects until you think they're absolutely ready. But what do you think the chances are this season that some of your higher-end prospects under 21 will be with the Leafs?

Lamoriello: I won't be surprised if they are. What has been said consistently is that they will determine really when they're ready by how they're playing on a consistent basis. And twofold, it's us knowing who we have here. Who will be a part of the big picture. Remember, most of us are new in this area, the coaching staff and myself. We have to give an opportunity for people to see who they are and then that comes together as far as being ready. Primarily it's them having success where they're at right now. There is no question in my mind that there are between five and seven players at the Marlies who will be playing in the NHL in the near future.

Soon.

 

[SprDaVE]

I think Soshnikov and Brown will be with the Leafs in a month or two.

Don't tease me Mr. Boucher.

 

[FlareKnight]

Good. Let's just stay the course. It's a good plan, let it work.

 

[ACC1224]

Really good interview. A lot of good answers.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/break...alistic-not-idealistic-this-leafs-season.html

Snippet:

Yep, Froese is the start?

 

[Swayze*]

I think Soshnikov and Brown will be with the Leafs in a month or two.

why u say that?

 

[SprDaVE]

Yep, Froese is the start?

Looks like it.

I think they will put the "For Sale" sign up very quickly.

 

[buttman*]

Really good interview. A lot of good answers.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/break...alistic-not-idealistic-this-leafs-season.html

Snippet:

Sounds good, but Lou is living off the coattails of a Devils team that had Stevens, Brodeur and Neidermayer.... He (Devils) haven't won anything in a long, long time and their prospect pool is amoungst the worst in the NHL.

Everyone likes Lou, but to have one of the oldest teams in the league, one of the worst, and one of the worst prospect pools all at the same time makes you wonder. I sure hope Lou can do better here than his last 10 years in Jersey.

Signing guys like Brad Boyes certainly hasn't made me a believer.

 

[OmNomNom]

sorry to chime in (i saw it was a lou comment), but while you worries about lou are fair and the comment that the devils suck is true, something lou couldn't have predicted was both parise and kovalchuk leaving, which really screwed our org over. players were also not receiving paychecks on time due to our cash-strapped owner, so that prob played a factor. lou could never achieve his goals while on our team, so give him some time - with the deep pockets you have, he's going to make good things happen, i'm confident

 

[Joey Hoser]

Regarding that first paragraph:

The media still refuses to accept that fans are on-board with the rebuild eh? Still expecting us delusional homers to lose our minds over losses and demand a Stanley Cup this season.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Lou Lamoriello: First of all, from the positive side is the effort that has been given each and every night. The other night (vs Arizona) was out of the ordinary. The consistency that's been there from what the players have given and what Mike has asked is to me going to be the foundation going forward. What happens in these things is you have to get used to doing it every night, doing it all the time, and doing it right. You're going to go through sometimes what we went through the other night. We have to respond to that.

This is the key thing this early in the season. The players seem to be buying in and have improved their play. Unfortunately due to lack of talent and some piss poor goaltending recently we've achieved only one win.

Sort of off topic, but given the current Babcock thread on the main boards but does anyone else find it weird how a lot of posters on HF want to rush and claim how there's "too many cooks in the Leafs kitchen" or how this whole management team is just a bomb waiting to go off? Seems to me like they act that they have more of a grasp on the situation than the actual men in charge.

Regarding that first paragraph:

The media still refuses to accept that fans are on-board with the rebuild eh? Still expecting us delusional homers to lose our minds over losses and demand a Stanley Cup this season.

I'm getting so tired of that narrative. The circumstances surrounding this team right now are so much different than in the past, of course fans aren't going to react the same way they have in the past. Hell people just have to look back a few years to our last piss poor October start (09-10) to see that things have changed. Back then we were all jumping off a cliff. Now most people couldn't care less.

It's all just to fit this "all Leafs fans are idiots" character the rest of the hockey world has built up around us. It's a pain in the ass having to constantly explain that no, we aren't a bunch of lemmings lined up ready to just run off the ledge but hey, that's just the way things are right now.

 

[Guy Boucher]

why u say that?

Lou and Dubas have made many references that they expect that they will be bringing up some players soon. And why those two? Mainly because there's no contractual reasons not to bring them up (unlike Nylander and Kapanen). Plus Brown already has a full season of pro hockey under his belt and Soshnikov has 2 years of experience.

 

[buttman*]

This is the key thing this early in the season. The players seem to be buying in and have improved their play. Unfortunately due to lack of talent and some piss poor goaltending recently we've achieved only one win.

Sort of off topic, but given the current Babcock thread on the main boards but does anyone else find it weird how a lot of posters on HF want to rush and claim how there's "too many cooks in the Leafs kitchen" or how this whole management team is just a bomb waiting to go off? Seems to me like they act that they have more of a grasp on the situation than the actual men in charge.



I'm getting so tired of that narrative. The circumstances surrounding this team right now are so much different than in the past, of course fans aren't going to react the same way they have in the past. Hell people just have to look back a few years to our last piss poor October start (09-10) to see that things have changed. Back then we were all jumping off a cliff. Now most people couldn't care less.

It's all just to fit this "all Leafs fans are idiots" character the rest of the hockey world has built up around us. It's a pain in the ass having to constantly explain that no, we aren't a bunch of lemmings lined up ready to just run off the ledge but hey, that's just the way things are right now.

The biggest thing for me is that there are other hockey games on that I would rather watch. I seriously have no interest in watching Holland, Clune, Arco, PAP, Boyes, Mancirin, Bernier, Reimer, Lupul, etc. Pretty close to putting Phaneuf and JVR in that category right now.

Only two players I find mildly entertaining are Kadri and Reilly. kadri is not as good as he thinks but at least he gives it his all. Reilly is a tremendous skater with a junior shot but man can he skate. Still is this enough to watch them night in and night out?

there are a dozen teams I would rather watch before the Leafs and I have never said that before. This team is littered with guys that will never be around when and if they start winning. I would wager that only Reilly will be here in 4-5 years. Maybe Harrington but that doesn't mean much.

 

[Ovate]

The biggest thing for me is that there are other hockey games on that I would rather watch. I seriously have no interest in watching Holland, Clune, Arco, PAP, Boyes, Mancirin, Bernier, Reimer, Lupul, etc. Pretty close to putting Phaneuf and JVR in that category right now.

Only two players I find mildly entertaining are Kadri and Reilly. kadri is not as good as he thinks but at least he gives it his all. Reilly is a tremendous skater with a junior shot but man can he skate. Still is this enough to watch them night in and night out?

there are a dozen teams I would rather watch before the Leafs and I have never said that before. This team is littered with guys that will never be around when and if they start winning. I would wager that only Reilly will be here in 4-5 years. Maybe Harrington but that doesn't mean much.

JVR, Kadri, Rielly, Gardiner, Harrington, maybe Bernier, maybe Phaneuf, will all be here in 4-5 years. There's going to be a lot of turnover, but not the entire roster.

Also, still criticizing Rielly's shot? Have you seen the goals he's scored this season?

 

[93LEAFS]

Sounds good, but Lou is living off the coattails of a Devils team that had Stevens, Brodeur and Neidermayer.... He (Devils) haven't won anything in a long, long time and their prospect pool is amoungst the worst in the NHL.

Everyone likes Lou, but to have one of the oldest teams in the league, one of the worst, and one of the worst prospect pools all at the same time makes you wonder. I sure hope Lou can do better here than his last 10 years in Jersey.

Signing guys like Brad Boyes certainly hasn't made me a believer.

They made the Cup finals in 2012, that's not living off the coat tails. They aren't in great shape now but it seems more of the fault lies with the ownership that Lou.

 

[HarrisonFord]

Soon.

What I'm curious about is what the "near future" timeline is that he's referring to, as that probably gives an idea of which players he's talking about. If he's talking about this year, it's probably more like the Froese, Clune, Campbell, Johnson and Frattin's. If he's talking next year, it's more likely the Nylander, Soshnikov, Kapanen and Brown's.

 

[Daisy Jane]

sorry to chime in (i saw it was a lou comment), but while you worries about lou are fair and the comment that the devils suck is true, something lou couldn't have predicted was both parise and kovalchuk leaving, which really screwed our org over. players were also not receiving paychecks on time due to our cash-strapped owner, so that prob played a factor. lou could never achieve his goals while on our team, so give him some time - with the deep pockets you have, he's going to make good things happen, i'm confident

don't worry - most of us knows that was the case

but thanks for the reassurance anyway, it's appreciated

 

[Woll Smoth]

And here I was, almost convinced that Lou was going to steer the ship in the wrong direction.

 

[mcleex]

But I thought we were going to trade JVR and Kadri for Zajac

 

[egd27]

The biggest thing for me is that there are other hockey games on that I would rather watch. I seriously have no interest in watching Holland, Clune, Arco, PAP, Boyes, Mancirin, Bernier, Reimer, Lupul, etc. Pretty close to putting Phaneuf and JVR in that category right now.

Only two players I find mildly entertaining are Kadri and Reilly. kadri is not as good as he thinks but at least he gives it his all. Reilly is a tremendous skater with a junior shot but man can he skate. Still is this enough to watch them night in and night out?

there are a dozen teams I would rather watch before the Leafs and I have never said that before. This team is littered with guys that will never be around when and if they start winning. I would wager that only Reilly will be here in 4-5 years. Maybe Harrington but that doesn't mean much.

Pretty sure that's part of the overall plan. You know, the one where you are looking to the future but still have to put a team on the ice 82 times.