Sportsnet: Problems in the Leafs' dressing room

[pdmuck]

"We've got some talent in this room but for some reason we couldn't nail down our defensive structure." - Cody Franson after last night's loss.

"we couldn't nail down our defensive structure...."

Wow. Just wow.

 

[TheVision]

"We've got some talent in this room but for some reason we couldn't nail down our defensive structure." - Cody Franson after last night's loss.

"we couldn't nail down our defensive structure...."

Wow. Just wow.

Pretty hard to play any kind of Defensive system when core of players (Kessel, JVR, Lupul, Kadri, Raymond, Phaneuf, Franson, Gardiner) could care less about that aspect of the game! You can't have that many O Minded only guys and be successful.

Hopefully some of the Marlies and other prospects will come in with a better mindset.

 

[YearsintheWilderness]

Last in the league in shots against at an AVERAGE of 35.9.

Outshot in 65 of 82 games.

And this isn't new news....the shots against were an alarming stat back in November and December and there was no mid-course correction. That is coaching. A smart coach would've realized they were lucky as s**t to have as good a record as they did by the end of December and do something about the defensive strategy they that resulted in them giving up more shots than any team in the league.

It ain't rocket science.

Not only that, there were interviews with Carlyle back then saying it didn't really matter.

There were clips of some players saying the same things.

There were LOADS of people in here saying...it didn't ****ing matter.

How in the name of living **** does someone at such a high level NOT understand that if the opposing team is shoving literally thousands of pucks up your goalie's arse every year, you're in a world of ****?

It beggar's ****ing belief!

I believe that the fat lump of **** up in the press box also cast doubt on whether the fact that opponents were driving pucks at the Leafs' net AT A RATE HIGHER THAN ANYONE ELSE IN THE ****ING LEAGUE was actually important.

It's like a baseball manager scoffing at the suggestion that it might be a problem that outfielders can't catch the ****ing ball...

IT'S HARD TO COMPREHEND AS I TYPE THIS THAT IS IN FACT SO, BUT IT IS....AND THESE UNCTUOUS, CLUELESS ****S ARE IN CHARGE OF THE TEAM...

 

[TootooTrain]

I believe the comments you mention from the Coach came within the first month or so of the season. At that point it was deemed something they could work out of just like a slump. He was trying to deflect attention from it obviously, not openly admit shots against doesn't matter. Can't take things so literally. There's always a game when it comes to coaches and the media.

 

[Faltorvo]

Some may hate to admit it, but Nonis is not a bad GM. If he believed this team was for real, he would have moved prospects and picks and overpaid at the deadline! He didn't and many on here were incensed. Possibly he knows his team isn't all that good yet?

maybe he had orders from above not to do anything to diminish the chance of the board getting it's all important playoff revenues.

TV content AND

Positive PR spin that somehow "JUST making the playoffs is some big effing deal".

Nonis has only made I effen move that points to trying to build a long term cup contender and that's Berny.

clarktard,bolo , keeping his TD UFAs was nothing more then "JUST get me into the playoffs" moves. Because that's the boards top priority.

 

[Faltorvo]

Pretty hard to play any kind of Defensive system when core of players (Kessel, JVR, Lupul, Kadri, Raymond, Phaneuf, Franson, Gardiner) could care less about that aspect of the game! You can't have that many O Minded only guys and be successful.

Hopefully some of the Marlies and other prospects will come in with a better mindset.

well lets be brutally honest here, this has to be said

and MR learning the ropes

 

[Pyrophorus]

Overblown

Nonis REALLY has to make a mark on this team, with significant moves, anyways.

 

[number72]

I have to say I was wrong about Phaneuf's leadership. And those who warned he would never live up to his contract were right.

 

[TML FTW*]

"We've got some talent in this room but for some reason we couldn't nail down our defensive structure." - Cody Franson after last night's loss.

"we couldn't nail down our defensive structure...."

Wow. Just wow.

Franson needs to GTFO

 

[ldnk]

I love how the Leafs should get rid of the players because of a lack of leadership and accountability in the dressing room, but they shouldn't do the same for Carlyle according to MacLean. Honestly it boggles my mind that terrible executives from the NHL get commentary positions when they finally get fired.

MacLean single-handedly killed the passion of a great smaller-sized hockey market because he had absolutely no idea how to run an organization.

 

[TheVision]

well lets be brutally honest here, this has to be said

and MR learning the ropes

Oddly enough, Morgan looks almost more mature out there than any of those in the core! And I may add, as the season went on and Rielly improved, I think it made Jake better as well. Pretty sad when your 19yr old rookie is a bigger influence on the younger players than your brain dead Captain.

 

[Faltorvo]

Oddly enough, Morgan looks almost more mature out there than any of those in the core! And I may add, as the season went on and Rielly improved, I think it made Jake better as well. Pretty sad when your 19yr old rookie is a bigger influence on the younger players than your brain dead Captain.

oh, I have all the time in the world for guys learning the ropes.

 

[TheVision]

oh, I have all the time in the world for guys learning the ropes.

Yup

And to think we have guys like Percy, Granberg, Finn, MacWilliam, Knodel, and Nilsson all in the system doing just that. With Rielly and Jake, I still believe we have a strong crop of young defenders in our system. It's just a waiting game at this point.

 

[ldnk]

Oddly enough, Morgan looks almost more mature out there than any of those in the core! And I may add, as the season went on and Rielly improved, I think it made Jake better as well. Pretty sad when your 19yr old rookie is a bigger influence on the younger players than your brain dead Captain.

The things to keep in mind with Rielly are that:

1 - He was still awful defensively, just as a rookie he was afforded a lot more rope and the rest of the team sucked too so it didn't matter as much
2 - He's going to go into his 2nd year and a lot of guys slump at some point in that year

 

[TheVision]

The things to keep in mind with Rielly are that:

1 - He was still awful defensively, just as a rookie he was afforded a lot more rope and the rest of the team sucked too so it didn't matter as much
2 - He's going to go into his 2nd year and a lot of guys slump at some point in that year

Oh yes, the sophomore slump....what a load of crap that is; merely an excuse.

That "slump" we love to throw around has less to do with the individual player, and more to do with the rest of the league. Rielly will be given more responsibility next season, will be playing better opponents, who have now seen Morgan for a full season. It will be upto Rielly to adapt to that and become better. So, we shall see if Morgan can elevate his game. And I disagree that he's awful defensively. He had his moments sure, but also made some brilliant defensive plays as well. He's also a mature young man; I'm nowhere near as concerned with Rielly being able to adapt.

 

[colchar]

Not only that, there were interviews with Carlyle back then saying it didn't really matter.

There were clips of some players saying the same things.

There were LOADS of people in here saying...it didn't ****ing matter.

How in the name of living **** does someone at such a high level NOT understand that if the opposing team is shoving literally thousands of pucks up your goalie's arse every year, you're in a world of ****?

It beggar's ****ing belief!

I believe that the fat lump of **** up in the press box also cast doubt on whether the fact that opponents were driving pucks at the Leafs' net AT A RATE HIGHER THAN ANYONE ELSE IN THE ****ING LEAGUE was actually important.

It's like a baseball manager scoffing at the suggestion that it might be a problem that outfielders can't catch the ****ing ball...

IT'S HARD TO COMPREHEND AS I TYPE THIS THAT IS IN FACT SO, BUT IT IS....AND THESE UNCTUOUS, CLUELESS ****S ARE IN CHARGE OF THE TEAM...

You need a Valium. Or a Midol. Either way, you should grab some asap.

 

[colchar]

Then Nonuts thinks this team was good and stands pat at the deadline, and also allowing other teams to steal players like Vanek to Montreal.

Do you not understand that the other team has to agree to take what we are offering? Your comment about allowing other teams to steal Vanek, or anyone else for that matter, are just dumb. And if you think Vanek would have gotten them into the playoffs then I don't know what to say....

 

[jimmycarter]

franson would need to get a clue first to realize he is clueless.

 

[colchar]

The team had serious flaws all season. Lack of depth due to the discarding of grabovski, komarov and MacArthur and major problems in their defensive zone coverage.

Why do people like you keep crying about Komorov? He left to go play in Europe so as to assure himself of a spot on the Olympic team, a spot he didn't think he would get if he stayed in the NHL. He made that decision based on his Olympic aspirations and nothing the Leafs did would have kept him here. Did you not notice that, as soon as the Olympics were over, he started talking about how much he wanted to come back to the Leafs?

I think that Carlyle was really in charge of the personnel changes and nonis was barely involved. The fact that both of them misunderstood this team so badly after the playoff run last season tells you just how outdated Carlyle is as a coach. He doesn't understand modern hockey and is a lousy scout.

Wow. Just wow.

 

[colchar]

This whole discussion is not news the same player who whined to Burke constantly was whining to Nonis. You simply need to cut off the snakes head and ship him out of town no matter the cost!

I posted this 3 years ago so it is old news.

Who?

 

[yubbers]

P to the neuf

 

[happyaccident]

"We've got some talent in this room but for some reason we couldn't nail down our defensive structure." - Cody Franson after last night's loss.

"we couldn't nail down our defensive structure...."

Wow. Just wow.

"We just couldn't nail down a way to stop sucking."

Franson couldn't master the intricate details of defensive structure such as...
If I'm the right dman and the puck is in the left corner, I should probably pay some kind of attention to the front of the net.

 

[L Corncrick]

So, nobody actually knows if people were a problem in the dressing room yet - it's all still conjecture and hearsay, right? I'm making sure this is still understood.

 

[number72]

So, nobody actually knows if people were a problem in the dressing room yet - it's all still conjecture and hearsay, right? I'm making sure this is still understood.

Correct. All we know is the leafs lost 8 in a row and their last 4 in this terrible stretch. We don't know if injuries, poor leadership, infighting, poor coaching system, poor work ethic, inferior hockey players, bad luck etc lead to this collapse.

We also know about a similar collapse under Wilson and the Game 7 collapse which many of these issues first came out and now have arisen. After that we are speculating on what is the common denominator in all these occurrences.

 

[TheVision]

Correct. All we know is the leafs lost 8 in a row and their last 4 in this terrible stretch. We don't know if injuries, poor leadership, infighting, poor coaching system, poor work ethic, inferior hockey players, bad luck etc lead to this collapse.

We also know about a similar collapse under Wilson and the Game 7 collapse which many of these issues first came out and now have arisen. After that we are speculating on what is the common denominator in all these occurrences.

The team is just not that good and incredibly one dimensional?!?!?!

There's a reason Team Russia sucked and a reason Team Canada's boring D First approach won them Gold!