New System, New Stats, New Expectations

[AustonMitchWilly]

New System?

Horachek said himself he will be changing the system minimally.

If you watched the game last night you could see it is already much different.

 

[Bluelines]

Let me get this right, we're doing a "Hands Around The World", "Brand New Day" thing because Peter Horacek's Leafs won a regular season game at home on a Friday night and looked like a respectable hockey team?

Sounds like what the OP is asking for.

Takes 3 data points to make a trend, 1st game horrible, 2nd game great. If you were to take anything from the first 2 games is the results were inconsistent, pretty much what we had when Randy was here.

This team is not a new team its the same ole up and down Leafs. It will continue to be the up and down Leafs.

 

[Pyrophorus]

They played well last night, but they did when Randy first took over too. I am not going to jump aboard to pronounce this as a changed team just as of yet.

Let's let the season play out before we can say this is a changed team. 1 good game doesn't earn you that distinction, they have to do that night in and night out.

They finished 6-12.

I agree though, we have to give this some time, 2 home games is a small sample size. All I ask is that they put up a fight against these titans.

 

[Pyrophorus]

Sounds like what the OP is asking for.

Takes 3 data points to make a trend, 1st game horrible, 2nd game great. If you were to take anything from the first 2 games is the results were inconsistent, pretty much what we had when Randy was here.

This team is not a new team its the same ole up and down Leafs. It will continue to be the up and down Leafs.

Goals were the only we were horrible at. All other aspects, we dominated.

 

[Bluelines]

Goals were the only we were horrible at. All other aspects, we dominated.

Two bad line changes that resulted in goals would immediately come to mind that would fall in the horrible category. The Washington game by all measures was an all around old fashioned stinker.

 

[diceman934]

If you watched the game last night you could see it is already much different.

There was no new system...

There was buy in to the system....effort.

The only difference I seen is us not going to a 1-3-1 in the 3rd period..we stayed with the 2--1-2 in the 3rd.

 

[X66]

There was no new system...

There was buy in to the system....effort.

The only difference I seen is us not going to a 1-3-1 in the 3rd period..we stayed with the 2--1-2 in the 3rd.

Maybe the team did buy into what Carlyle said, and that's why they were so terrible lol.

 

[X66]

And I also noticed our D was a LOT more aggressive with pinches etc.

 

[Leafspoison*]

Can we, as a forum community, come together and understand that each and every individual will be asked to be doing DRASTICALLY different things under Horachek than under Randy Carlyle?

Can we, as a forum community, come together and understand that this will lead to different players doing different things, which will bring different outcomes on the ice?

Can we, as a forum community, come together and understand that this will change the negative stats that have piled up in the first 40 games?

Can we, as a forum community, come together start to evaluate the team based on what they're being asked to do, now, and not what they were being asked to do before?

Win, or lose, this team will be different than the one Randy Carlyle iced. As a true fan of this team, a bit of an optimist, and one who cant stand the volumes of negativity and unnecessary BS that people spout off, can we please start to evaluate the NEW Toronto Maple Leafs after their surgery?

Think of the firing of RC like a Breast Augmentation Surgery. We look better, and hopefully we perform better too. So lets stop talking about the saggy-ness and ugliness of the past. The team got some confidence back. A little more pep, a better attitude and a whole lot more pleasing to watch as well.

We are the NEW and IMPROVED Toronto Maple Leafs. Let's talk about them as such, let's evaluate them as such. Please.

NO....on all of it.

 

[ironhorse384]

They showed a commitment to play a 200ft, 60 minute and inspired game last night. They deserve credit for playing, in my view, the most complete game of the season from start to finish. However, that being said, they've shown flashes of this type before and they should be evaluated on a game by game basis. I've been fooled too many times by this team in the past to allow myself to think that they've finally learned how to play the right way only to see them sink back into that lazy no effort hockey that's caused them so many problems in the past. It's going to be interesting to see how they handle themselves against tough opponents on this upcoming road trip.

 

[Leafspoison*]

We broke a losing streak against Columbus.

Plan the parade.

Look, they got rid of the coach. They should have gotten rid of Nonis and half the players.

Go ahead and drink the blue koolaid. I am not buying it.

 

[exporta]

Ron Wilson 29-28-0-7
Randy Carlyle 6-9-0-3

They scored 39 goals and gave up 62 goals in the 18 games when Randy took over. They got shut out 4 times in those 18 games. Their possession numbers got worse. Their shots/game dropped and their shots against/game rose. The Leafs didn't play better when they hired Carlyle, they played worse. The issue is that they came off a long losing streak when they fired Wilson that was never going to be a sustainable stretch of ineptitude.

Sorry, was referring to the previous season. If I recall correctly we were heavily injured going down that stretch and management threw in the towel. We were playing to lose that stretch, resulting in drafting Morgan Rielly. The following season, we made our only playoff appearance and played a much better brand of hockey.

We were also coming off losing 10 of 11. Last I checked, 6-9-0-3 or 15 of 36 points is much better than 2 of 20 possible points.

It`s all irrelevant, because right now we are 1-1 under Horachek which is .500 hockey - way to small of a sample. Carlyle, while brief, did have an impact in his first 66 games as head coach.

 

[KPower]

This new system is amazing.

Expecting to sweep the western road trip easily.

 

[-DeMo-]

And I also noticed our D was a LOT more aggressive with pinches etc.

I sure hope that's not the case as our forwards rarely back up the dmen and that's a receipe for disaster over the long haul

 

[Stephen]

Sounds like what the OP is asking for.

Takes 3 data points to make a trend, 1st game horrible, 2nd game great. If you were to take anything from the first 2 games is the results were inconsistent, pretty much what we had when Randy was here.

This team is not a new team its the same ole up and down Leafs. It will continue to be the up and down Leafs.

They painted a racing stripe on a turd and now it's a new start apparently.

 

[KPower]

They painted a racing stripe on a turd and now it's a new start apparently.

Are you implying that Kessel is not going to back check and block shots like he did last night?

 

[Bluelines]

Are you implying that Kessel is not going to back check and block shots like he did last night?

There is a better chance that Bernier will score a hat trick West coast trip. There is a better chance Dion will score on a break away. There is a better chance the Leafs make a major trade next week. There is a better chance Clarkson goes a whole game without falling on the ice.

Uh...no.

 

[Al14]

That's the spirit.

You can't handle the truth?

 

[agropop]

If we can be a consistent and competitive possession team for the remainder of the season and make the playoffs I'll rethink my capacity for optimism. Until then we'll remain a garage sale on ice.

 

[diceman934]

Just some information to help us put things into perspective....

Bluejacks are just ahead of us in shots against per game..at 27th in the league.

In shots for Bluejackets are 28th as they do not generate many shots as they average 27 per game.

Not that I did not see better effort but it was a game that had a win written all over it with what happened.

 

[JackJ]

The core will lose interest after 4-5 games.

 

[JackJ]

Are you implying that Kessel is not going to back check and block shots like he did last night?

Wait another week or two until he loses interest in the extra work.

Remember, this is the same player who skated 4-5 times during the summer and showed up to camp noticeably overweight. A cattle prod couldn't motivate him.

 

[zeke]

The beauty of a good system is that the players don't have work near as hard for the same results.

Randy's system forced the players to work twice as hard just go keep up with the other team. It was exhausting just to watch it.

 

[CabanaBoy5]

New System?

Horachek said himself he will be changing the system minimally.

Perhaps not an overhaul of the previous system given that it would be difficult to implement in midseason, but very important elements have been changed and enforced. It's hard to judge from one game, but the 5-5-5 system was no where in sight with Carlyle. On the other hand, in the Columbus game you can see the gaps between defence and forwards were smaller and fowards weren't clearing the zone giving the d-men no option to get the puck out of the zone. Pretty important stuff to maintaining possession of the puck, minimizing d-zone time, and shots on goal. I wouldn't underestimate the importance of this "minimal" change to the system.

 

[diceman934]

Perhaps not an overhaul of the previous system given that it would be difficult to implement in midseason, but very important elements have been changed and enforced. It's hard to judge from one game, but the 5-5-5 system was no where in sight with Carlyle. On the other hand, in the Columbus game you can see the gaps between defence and forwards were smaller and fowards weren't clearing the zone giving the d-men no option to get the puck out of the zone. Pretty important stuff to maintaining possession of the puck, minimizing d-zone time, and shots on goal. I wouldn't underestimate the importance of this "minimal" change to the system.

The only change was effort...The 5 5 5 was talked about at the start of the season...

Do you think Carlyle one of the most defensive coaches in the NHL wanted his players to fly the zone?

He never did...