My Thoughts On The Playoff Performance

GodEmperor

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Oct 12, 2017
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I know this is late, but as one of the most preeminent bad boys on HF, I have a habit of catching unfair bans due to my brash #Swag.

Anyways, let's get into it.

Nylander and Matthews:

Really bad, simply put. Although I think Willie should be held to a higher standard, 1.His father was in the NHL and thus he should know more what to expect and how to deal with it 2.He is a year older. I would grade Matthews a D and Willie a D-

Babcock:

Cost us the series with his bone headed decisions, Komarov>Johnssen, Komarov on the PP, Komarov on the 1st line, Komarov on the team at all. The level of stupidity is insane, this isn't even a blunder, this is Magnus Carlsen sacrificing his queen on the 3rd move of the game for fun level of stupidity. Literally ANY fan could see Komarov was done, but Babcock and his gud pros essentially cost us the series.

The 2nd game we were down 1-0, but were carrying play and then Komarov took that dumb too many men on the ice penalty because even he was probably surprised to be on the 1st line and we were done.

Babcock also played our top 3 in the playoffs LESS time than any other top lines combined, yep 16/16 as far as Marner, Willie and Auston in TOI. Gud coaching indeed. I also don't get why he didn't call out that soft floater JVR, I woulda bashed the f*** outta him in public and tried to get him going a few times, he obviously doesn't respond to softer love, so give him the tough stuff.

Another strange thing was his desire to grind Hainsey into dust during the season, but never use our young players like that, utter stupidity yet again.

Ofc we can't double shift the plug JVR who does nothing but be great on the PP when we're actually on the PP, nor can we keep Matthews, Willie and Mitch out there for the full 2 unless they get tired, gotta roll the lines so Marleau, Bozak and others can stink it up. Can't copy Pittsburgh for some reason. Babcock gets an F-

Andersen:

Completely pedestrian, awful in game 1-2, great in game 3, ok in game 4, great in 5-6 and mediocre in game 7. Also refuses to take responsibility, really pathetic attitude tbh, hurr durr "we did this wrong" "we didn't do enough of that"....no more like you gave us Raycroft tier goaltending and if you're SLIGHTLY better, we beat the Bruins with ease. His attitude got under my skin more than his play. Grade C-

Gardiner:

Bad Jake was bad, but unlike Andersen he actually has heart and takes responsibility. I don't know why people want him gone, all top end defensemen make mistakes and I don't see anyone who comes in coming close to his offense, so it's entirely debatable if we even "upgrade" without him as we'll lose a ton of offense if he leaves. Besides, D men like goalies peak isn't 22-28, it's usually 28+, I like his attitude and I still think he can get better, people forget that Brent Burns and countless other d men didn't come into their own until 30+. Grade C-

Kapanen:

EXTREMELY impressive, his speed was unreal, he hit and he showed a ton of heart. I f***ING LOVE THIS kid, get JVR the f*** outta here unless he wants to take 5x4 or 4x5 and play Kap. Grade A-, he literally was our best player at times

Marner:

Excellent series, played like the Mitch we all love. Grade A

JVR:

I want him gone, unless we nickle the f*** outta him, I do NOT want this soft floater back. I also highly doubt that his game impact is even that much when you factor in how poor his intensity and defensive play is. Wouldn't be surprised if a 20 goal effort from Kap or Johnnie is better for the team due to their other contributions, grade D+

Closing thoughts:

I thought that it was EXTREMELY impressive that the team basically could've easily won this series despite having their best 3 players (Willie, Auston, Freddie) disappear and Babcock do his best to sabotage the team with his gud coaching.

I also think that Boston with slightly better goaltending and calls (as much as I hate them) could've easily pushed Tampa and Tampa was very fortunate to get out of the series the way they did, so I think Toronto would've been fine v Tampa, not saying they win, but I definitely see them pushing it to 6+ with our players performing even decently.

I'm personally all for paying the price for Tanev (1st+2nd) and trying to get Tavares at a discount (not paying 10 million for him though, 9 is ok and if he does 8 that'd be amazing) and going all in. This team is extremely close and as long as we take away Babcock's option to destroy our team with insane decisions (i.e signing or having plugs near our team), I could see the team doing very well next year.
 
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PuckMagi

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Apr 13, 2013
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generally agree with your comments.

I think Matthews will be better if given better line mates and more ice time.

I think Nylander will be better if he gets to play center and has some fast skilled line mates also (guys like Johnsson and Kapanen)

I agree that Nylander and Matthews should have been better. I probably put 70% of the blame on Babcock, 30% on Matthews/Nylander.

Seemed like a very frustrating series from the player's perspective.
 

LeafsNation75

Registered User
Jan 15, 2010
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Toronto, Ontario
I also think that Boston with slightly better goaltending and calls (as much as I hate them) could've easily pushed Tampa and Tampa was very fortunate to get out of the series the way they did, so I think Toronto would've been fine v Tampa, not saying they win, but I definitely see them pushing it to 6+ with our players performing even decently.
I know this won't do any good talking about it now but I remember late in the 2nd period of Game 1 Plekanec was complaining that Bergeron or whoever was taking the faceoff should have been penalized for a faceoff violation and that never happened. Seconds later the Bruins scored and made it 3-1. If it was 2-1 going into the 3rd maybe the Leafs comeback.

In Game 5 the Leafs kept getting called for penalty after penalty and in total adding to the frustration the Leafs got only 1 power play themselves during the whole game, where as the Bruins got six total power plays.
 

MR4

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Oct 20, 2014
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??? Willie should be held to a higher standard because his dad played in the NHL? That... doesn't make any sense.
He had to invent a reason to shit on Nylander when our golden boy played just as bad.

It was 7 games, f***ing relax guys.
 
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GodEmperor

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Oct 12, 2017
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He had to invent a reason to **** on Nylander when our golden boy played just as bad.

It was 7 games, ****ing relax guys.

Yeah dude, I'm DYING to "shit on Nylander." It's just so much fun.

Brb changing my name to MinusWillie

??? Willie should be held to a higher standard because his dad played in the NHL? That... doesn't make any sense.

It makes complete sense, I would expect an older, more mature player with a mentor ready to help him to perform at a higher level than he did.

generally agree with your comments.

I think Matthews will be better if given better line mates and more ice time.

I think Nylander will be better if he gets to play center and has some fast skilled line mates also (guys like Johnsson and Kapanen)

I agree that Nylander and Matthews should have been better. I probably put 70% of the blame on Babcock, 30% on Matthews/Nylander.

Seemed like a very frustrating series from the player's perspective.

Yeah for sure, Babcock's usage of players is insane, the whole reasoning behind them not playing a ton in the season was "don't wear them out, pace them" meanwhile we grind Old Man Hainsey into dust and come playoff time, their TOI goes up like 2%. #BabcockLogic
 

ErnieLeafs

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Apr 7, 2009
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I almost forgot how to cringe... Then I read the opening stanza of the OP.

Thanks.
 

Advanced stats

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May 26, 2010
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Uggh who let this character back out?

Did you really have to make your own thread to post your playoff thoughts? From games over a month ago?

I had my thoughts too, but just posted in a relevant thread the day after the series...
 

hamzarocks

Registered User
Jul 22, 2012
20,120
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Pickering, Ontario
Who cares about the playoff performance. It's done with and time to move towards fixing our roster holes for next year. I agree with certain things your saying and disagree with others. Overall I want to discuss the leafs draft and f/a options rather then dwell on a hard fought loss to the bruins.
 

IPS

Registered User
Sep 28, 2017
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Yeah for sure, Babcock's usage of players is insane, the whole reasoning behind them not playing a ton in the season was "don't wear them out, pace them" meanwhile we grind Old Man Hainsey into dust and come playoff time, their TOI goes up like 2%. #BabcockLogic

Insane is the kind way to put it. Any coach who has Leo Komarov leading ice-time should give any reasonable person a disturbing clue into their thought process. He led ice-time several times throughout the season as far as forwards went. Under no circumstances should a player like that EVER lead ice-time.

The vast majority of this board seems completely closed off to the idea that Babcock might actually be a bad coach with bad methods that are outdated and don't work anymore. There are many things in reality that indicate just this yet the majority of this board buries their head in the sand.
 
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deletethis

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Mar 17, 2015
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Exaggerations on both ends. Andersen was certainly highly responsible for the 3 wins. It's a little over the top about Kapanen. He had 1 goal and 6 total SOGs in 7 games. Not what I'd call "very impressive" although his performance (and Johnsson's) was encouraging. Matthews had 10 more SOGs than any other Leaf (27 in 7 games). How bad is that really?
 

GodEmperor

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Oct 12, 2017
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I almost forgot how to cringe... Then I read the opening stanza of the OP.

Thanks.

Np my man, let me know if you ever need help unearthing the stick.

Uggh who let this character back out?

Did you really have to make your own thread to post your playoff thoughts? From games over a month ago?

I had my thoughts too, but just posted in a relevant thread the day after the series...

Can you literally not even? Like omg, making jokes? Uhg cannot believe people do this in literally 2018.

If you bothered to read what I posted, you'd see why I was unable to do that.

Insane is the kind way to put it. Any coach who has Leo Komarov leading ice-time should give any reasonable person a disturbing clue into their thought process. He led ice-time several times throughout the season as far as forwards went. Under no circumstances should a player like that EVER lead ice-time.

The vast majority of this board seems completely closed off to the idea that Babcock might actually be a bad coach with bad methods that are outdated and don't work anymore. There are many things in reality that indicate just this yet the majority of this board buries their head in the sand.

Worst of all, our roster is sick so we can coast to good finishes and we have to hear from people "oh, BUT HOW THEN DO YOU EXPLAIN WHY WE WENT FROM LAST TO PLAYOFFS????? HMMM, GET OWNED BABCOCK H8ERS!!!"

Exaggerations on both ends. Andersen was certainly highly responsible for the 3 wins. It's a little over the top about Kapanen. He had 1 goal and 6 total SOGs in 7 games. Not what I'd call "very impressive" although his performance (and Johnsson's) was encouraging. Matthews had 10 more SOGs than any other Leaf (27 in 7 games). How bad is that really?

Yes he was, he was also highly responsible for our losses.

If you look into his advanced stats, he did well v low and high danger scoring chances, but he let in SO many meh goals (floaters from the line, Chara's goal, the botched 2 on 1s) he killed us.

If he wants to be a number 1, he should be held to that standard, #1s don't have sub 900 sv% in the playoffs.

I would be "fine" with his performance if he also took responsibility which is something Gardiner did after the game, something I can respect in a man and something I don't currently see in him.

Kap was disgusting, he hit and he had SO many chances (think he musta had 4+ breakaways in the series), he could've easily had 3+ more goals and a few more apples.

I don't personally think Matthews generated much high danger scoring chances, although I will agree that some people were exaggerating how bad he was, he just seemed very meh to me, not awful like some people were describing, but not close to how he played in the season either.
 

hfman

Registered User
Oct 30, 2013
3,073
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I know this is late, but as one of the most preeminent bad boys on HF, I have a habit of catching unfair bans due to my brash #Swag.

Anyways, let's get into it.

Nylander and Matthews:

Really bad, simply put. Although I think Willie should be held to a higher standard, 1.His father was in the NHL and thus he should know more what to expect and how to deal with it 2.He is a year older. I would grade Matthews a D and Willie a D-

Babcock:

Cost us the series with his bone headed decisions, Komarov>Johnssen, Komarov on the PP, Komarov on the 1st line, Komarov on the team at all. The level of stupidity is insane, this isn't even a blunder, this is Magnus Carlsen sacrificing his queen on the 3rd move of the game for fun level of stupidity. Literally ANY fan could see Komarov was done, but Babcock and his gud pros essentially cost us the series.

The 2nd game we were down 1-0, but were carrying play and then Komarov took that dumb too many men on the ice penalty because even he was probably surprised to be on the 1st line and we were done.

Babcock also played our top 3 in the playoffs LESS time than any other top lines combined, yep 16/16 as far as Marner, Willie and Auston in TOI. Gud coaching indeed. I also don't get why he didn't call out that soft floater JVR, I woulda bashed the **** outta him in public and tried to get him going a few times, he obviously doesn't respond to softer love, so give him the tough stuff.

Another strange thing was his desire to grind Hainsey into dust during the season, but never use our young players like that, utter stupidity yet again.

Ofc we can't double shift the plug JVR who does nothing but be great on the PP when we're actually on the PP, nor can we keep Matthews, Willie and Mitch out there for the full 2 unless they get tired, gotta roll the lines so Marleau, Bozak and others can stink it up. Can't copy Pittsburgh for some reason. Babcock gets an F-

Andersen:

Completely pedestrian, awful in game 1-2, great in game 3, ok in game 4, great in 5-6 and mediocre in game 7. Also refuses to take responsibility, really pathetic attitude tbh, hurr durr "we did this wrong" "we didn't do enough of that"....no more like you gave us Raycroft tier goaltending and if you're SLIGHTLY better, we beat the Bruins with ease. His attitude got under my skin more than his play. Grade C-

Gardiner:

Bad Jake was bad, but unlike Andersen he actually has heart and takes responsibility. I don't know why people want him gone, all top end defensemen make mistakes and I don't see anyone who comes in coming close to his offense, so it's entirely debatable if we even "upgrade" without him as we'll lose a ton of offense if he leaves. Besides, D men like goalies peak isn't 22-28, it's usually 28+, I like his attitude and I still think he can get better, people forget that Brent Burns and countless other d men didn't come into their own until 30+. Grade C-

Kapanen:

EXTREMELY impressive, his speed was unreal, he hit and he showed a ton of heart. I ****ING LOVE THIS kid, get JVR the **** outta here unless he wants to take 5x4 or 4x5 and play Kap. Grade A-, he literally was our best player at times

Marner:

Excellent series, played like the Mitch we all love. Grade A

JVR:

I want him gone, unless we nickle the **** outta him, I do NOT want this soft floater back. I also highly doubt that his game impact is even that much when you factor in how poor his intensity and defensive play is. Wouldn't be surprised if a 20 goal effort from Kap or Johnnie is better for the team due to their other contributions, grade D+

Closing thoughts:

I thought that it was EXTREMELY impressive that the team basically could've easily won this series despite having their best 3 players (Willie, Auston, Freddie) disappear and Babcock do his best to sabotage the team with his gud coaching.

I also think that Boston with slightly better goaltending and calls (as much as I hate them) could've easily pushed Tampa and Tampa was very fortunate to get out of the series the way they did, so I think Toronto would've been fine v Tampa, not saying they win, but I definitely see them pushing it to 6+ with our players performing even decently.

I'm personally all for paying the price for Tanev (1st+2nd) and trying to get Tavares at a discount (not paying 10 million for him though, 9 is ok and if he does 8 that'd be amazing) and going all in. This team is extremely close and as long as we take away Babcock's option to destroy our team with insane decisions (i.e signing or having plugs near our team), I could see the team doing very well next year.

That's a lot of failing grades you handed out there.

I tell ya, those Leafs who you gave poor grades to are going to be so devasated.

I mean, think about it: "GodEmperor" on the internet gave failing grades to a lot of the Leafs players this year

I don't know if those players will ever recover from this
 
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GodEmperor

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Oct 12, 2017
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That's a lot of failing grades you handed out there.

I tell ya, those Leafs who you gave poor grade to are going to be so devasated.

I mean, think about it: "GodEmperor" on the internet gave failing grades to a lot of the Leafs players this year

I don't know if those players will ever recover from this

Grades are relative to expectations, I would expect people to tune into that. I could have given Plekanec an A and I don't think people would think I thought Plekanec is the "better" player than someone I graded a B or C.

Oh I'm sure they will, thanks for your great contribution, I'm totally devastated myself that instead of engaging with what I said you throw a tantrum as if you think I think that Leafs players care what I say.

I don't know if I'll recover from your post.
 

hfman

Registered User
Oct 30, 2013
3,073
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Grades are relative to expectations, I would expect people to tune into that. I could have given Plekanec an A and I don't think people would think I thought Plekanec is the "better" player than someone I graded a B or C.

Oh I'm sure they will, thanks for your great contribution, I'm totally devastated myself that instead of engaging with what I said you throw a tantrum as if you think I think that Leafs players care what I say.

I don't know if I'll recover from your post.

Oh I think you care about what those Leaf players think about you alright.

The next time they get together at the bar, they're going to be talking about how GodEmperor on the internet gave them failing grades. I expect them to be extremely upset about it.

Do you have any second thoughts on those failing grades you just administered?
 

GodEmperor

Registered User
Oct 12, 2017
2,919
3,168
Oh I think you care about what those Leaf players think about you alright.

The next time they get together at the bar, they're going to be talking about how GodEmperor on the internet gave them failing grades. I expect them to be extremely upset about it.

Do you have any second thoughts on those failing grades you just administered?

Do you have a point to make or are you going to pretend that all posts on any forum cannot be categorized in the same way?

How heated are you right now because I posted about Hockey players on a Hockey forum?
 

bluumax

Registered User
Mar 7, 2008
2,169
185
Finally. Ive been waiting for some anonymous poster's ratings of our players during a playoff series that ended months ago.

Why you starting a thread for this? put it in one of the countless other kneejerk threads, you're only repeating whats been said a thousand times already.
 
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deletethis

Registered User
Mar 17, 2015
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If you look into his advanced stats, he did well v low and high danger scoring chances, but he let in SO many meh goals (floaters from the line, Chara's goal, the botched 2 on 1s) he killed us.
I'm having trouble finding "meh goals" on my advanced stats spreadsheet.

Kap was disgusting, he hit and he had SO many chances (think he musta had 4+ breakaways in the series), he could've easily had 3+ more goals and a few more apples.
Your write, 6 SOGs in total with 4+ breakaways is disgusting. 10 hits in 7 games, 10th on the team in hits. Meh.

I don't personally think Matthews generated much high danger scoring chances, although I will agree that some people were exaggerating how bad he was, he just seemed very meh to me, not awful like some people were describing, but not close to how he played in the season either.

Just from his abilities every shot Matthews takes is a high danger scoring chance.
 

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