Sportsnet: Problems in the Leafs' dressing room

[Cpt Maple Leaf]

They were playing pretty good before the Olympic break, and then a few good wins and crap. The first game back after the break was horrific at best, and that was a clear indicator that the players are lax and the coaches failed to motivate them. I think the fans also have to share in the blame as they blow so much smoke up these kids' butts that they think that they can do no wrong. I really hope Shanny can purge this poison from within the group.

 

[Parkdale]

They were playing pretty good before the Olympic break, and then a few good wins and crap. The first game back after the break was horrific at best, and that was a clear indicator that the players are lax and the coaches failed to motivate them. I think the fans also have to share in the blame as they blow so much smoke up these kids' butts that they think that they can do no wrong. I really hope Shanny can purge this poison from within the group.

Never blame yourself for the Leafs problems. You and other fans are responsible for their incredible lives. They have not delivered on their contract with fans like you.

 

[Confucius]

They were playing pretty good before the Olympic break, and then a few good wins and crap. The first game back after the break was horrific at best, and that was a clear indicator that the players are lax and the coaches failed to motivate them. I think the fans also have to share in the blame as they blow so much smoke up these kids' butts that they think that they can do no wrong. I really hope Shanny can purge this poison from within the group.

We played a half dozen good games all year, we had miraculous goaltending but mostly blind luck in getting most of our wins.

 

[ULF_55]

We played a half dozen good games all year, we had miraculous goaltending but mostly blind luck in getting most of our wins.

You don't become one of the worst defensive teams in the league in 8 games.

They earned their position.

 

[Faltorvo]

Identify, Pump their tires for max return, search for the best deal, pull the trigger....

no no, I believe nukes are a push button thing these days

 

[BiggestLeafsFanEVER*]

They were playing pretty good before the Olympic break, and then a few good wins and crap. The first game back after the break was horrific at best, and that was a clear indicator that the players are lax and the coaches failed to motivate them. I think the fans also have to share in the blame as they blow so much smoke up these kids' butts that they think that they can do no wrong. I really hope Shanny can purge this poison from within the group.

ha ha no

if there are people who are to blame for none of this it's the fans

 

[Wendigo]

Why doesn't Nonis get some of the blame here?

Yes, I agree, Carlyle has lost the room. I had hoped they would have canned him before Christmas--it was obvious that down the stretch our pattern of being outshot would catch up to us. But WHEN did he lose the room?

I suspect it happened somewhere in the offseason; or at least thats when it galvanized. We see 2 different teams when comparing this year to last year. The moves in the off-season were supposed to address shortcoming, but I believe they did nothing but pull on a thread that eventually made the entire thing become undone.

The MacArthur fiasco--which happened because Mac didn't like Carlyle and vice versa. Had an awesome season this year by the way, miles past Clarkson. Mac is +14 by the way.

The Grabovski buyout -- which made no sense; we had depth problems down the middle LAST season. Granted, Grabo's production is down with the Caps, but he's still a +6, and I suspect he's playing a defensive role in Washington which *GASP* Carlyle felt he wasn't up to.

Two guys who were liked in the locker room, so when you start wondering what happened to the Leafs between this year and last--the "chemistry" is different. We removed this, and added that and what happened? Combustion.

Nonis facilitated these moves. Or moves not made at all (like firing Carlyle earlier in the season, or the trade deadline) Fire his a$$.

 

[Wendigo]

They were playing pretty good before the Olympic break, and then a few good wins and crap. The first game back after the break was horrific at best, and that was a clear indicator that the players are lax and the coaches failed to motivate them. I think the fans also have to share in the blame as they blow so much smoke up these kids' butts that they think that they can do no wrong. I really hope Shanny can purge this poison from within the group.

Are you *** serious??? The FANS? Um the fans are who pay their salaries. You're right though, they were playing good before the Olympic break. BUT, when it comes to the finish of any season, all teams play tighter--except for the Leafs.

 

[Ratboy]

Millard's a tool but at least MacLean has been there and sorta knows what he's talking about.

It wouldn't surprise me. This team needs MAJOR changes.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

Nonis deserves far more blame than Carlyle. Yes their defense is a problem but look at what Nonis gave Carlyle to work with.

Rielly rookie
Gardiner 87 NHL career games before this year
Ranger-0 NHL games played in 3 years, 53 AHL games during that time
Fraser-3rd pairing D
Phaneuf-NHL veteran D
Gunnarsson-NHL average D
Franson-NHL average D with upside to be better, missed almost all of training camp

Why should anybody be surprised at the issues the D had? The collective roster of defenseman is bottom of the barrel Carlyle was set up to fail especially when you consider this was an 82 game season not a 48 game season. Add Gleason which is nice but still overall it's not a great D.

 

[hfman]

this isn't a decent team that all of a sudden turned into a grbage team, this is a decent team that QUIT. For some reason, they stopped. Someone in the dressing room said or did something... the coach said or did something, or one or a few of the players said or did something which caused this group to end their season weeks ago.

Watch them on the ice. They're going through the motions, plain and simple. No one's playing - no one. The coach gave up many weeks ago - just watch him with his hands in his pockets.

Something went down with the team, and whatever it was will probably stay in the dressing room. But again this was a reasonable team that was headed for the playoffs that ran into some sort of rift a little while back - and they just been refusing to play.

Again, it's not a crap team all of a sudden - they're not playing to win, and haven't been for over a month now. Who knows what happened, but whatever it was, caused this collective group to say F* this team and this city, we're out

 

[Stephen]

this isn't a decent team that all of a sudden turned into a grbage team, this is a decent team that QUIT. For some reason, they stopped. Someone in the dressing room said or did something... the coach said or did something, or one or a few of the players said or did something which caused this group to end their season weeks ago.

Watch them on the ice. They're going through the motions, plain and simple. No one's playing - no one. The coach gave up many weeks ago - just watch him with his hands in his pockets.

Something went down with the team, and whatever it was will probably stay in the dressing room. But again this was a reasonable team that was headed for the playoffs that ran into some sort of rift a little while back - and they just been refusing to play.

Again, it's not a crap team all of a sudden - they're not playing to win, and haven't been for over a month now. Who knows what happened, but whatever it was, caused this collective group to say F* this team and this city, we're out

There might be an element of truth to that. Probably not a full on mutiny but maybe a mix of not being able to deal with trouble, infighting and then just throwing in the towel.

 

[hfman]

There might be an element of truth to that. Probably not a full on mutiny but maybe a mix of not being able to deal with trouble, infighting and then just throwing in the towel.

not to mention the thing there with Reimer and his wife... I know that sports players are pretty good at filtering out that garbage, but in today's world where this social media crap is so prominent, maybe that played a role as well, with the Leaf players not liking that incident and adding it to their list of reasons not to play for this team or this city.

Whatever this was, it wasn't a case of hitting a rough patch, bad luck or a slump, it was a case of the players signing off and saying we're not going to play for the playoffs anymore. It probably happened for a list of reasons, not just one - don't like the coach, don't like the fans, don't like the media, don't like eachother - probably a bit of all of that.

Wouldn't be surprised if a bunch of these players are trying to play their way right off of this team and out of this city... Toronto is a destination that many NHL players would rather avoid

 

[Stephen]

Wouldn't be surprised if a bunch of these players are trying to play their way right off of this team and out of this city... Toronto is a destination that many NHL players would rather avoid

I'm not going to blame this city at all for a few bad apples.

What does seem possible to me is that we might have a particularly bad group of players. It's kind of funny that Kessel got picked last for the All-Star game, that Phaneuf is called the most overrated player in the league, that multiple sources come out and say how easy the Leafs are to play against, that Drew Doughty will not hesitate to call us a one dimensional team.

I don't see a lot of respect for this group of Leafs around the league. It's like we have a lot of guys who are considered losers in the league among their peers.

 

[RoadWarrior]

I think the turning point was the massive hit on van riemsdyk by phaneuf. If you look at the replay phaneuf didn't even stop to say anything or help him to his skates. Kessel has been seen sparring with phaneuf and van riemsdyk at various times. These players are selfish and simply don't get along.

If it were up to me I'd trade all 3 of them.

Thank god for Rielly, Gardiner, and Bernier. Granberg looks good after one game. Now they have a chance to add another piece with a top 10 pick.

Shanahan needs to remind nonis that hockey players use skates and being able to use those skates is a prerequisite to being a decent player.

No more clarksons.

 

[ForSpareParts*]

They checked out a long time ago, but tonight it wasn't masked very well.

W
O
W

 

[ForSpareParts*]

Why does Clarkson get mentioned so much in this thread?

Hockey Central is trying to educate you. It's not the 3rd line forward who missed part of the season's fault this team doesn't compete. It's the same core players who were on Wilson's team that need to take the hit here.

 

[happyaccident]

Why doesn't Nonis get some of the blame here?

Yes, I agree, Carlyle has lost the room. I had hoped they would have canned him before Christmas--it was obvious that down the stretch our pattern of being outshot would catch up to us. But WHEN did he lose the room?

I suspect it happened somewhere in the offseason; or at least thats when it galvanized. We see 2 different teams when comparing this year to last year. The moves in the off-season were supposed to address shortcoming, but I believe they did nothing but pull on a thread that eventually made the entire thing become undone.

The MacArthur fiasco--which happened because Mac didn't like Carlyle and vice versa. Had an awesome season this year by the way, miles past Clarkson. Mac is +14 by the way.

The Grabovski buyout -- which made no sense; we had depth problems down the middle LAST season. Granted, Grabo's production is down with the Caps, but he's still a +6, and I suspect he's playing a defensive role in Washington which *GASP* Carlyle felt he wasn't up to.

Two guys who were liked in the locker room, so when you start wondering what happened to the Leafs between this year and last--the "chemistry" is different. We removed this, and added that and what happened? Combustion.

Nonis facilitated these moves. Or moves not made at all (like firing Carlyle earlier in the season, or the trade deadline) Fire his a$$.

Sorry but when you have a dynamic, fast, high-scoring offence and a world of problems on the back end... every genius knows that the thing to do is revamp the offence, dumb down the talent and leave the defense alone.
That's why these guys get paid the big bucks. They're smarter than everybody else.

 

[YearsintheWilderness]

I think the turning point was the massive hit on van riemsdyk by phaneuf. If you look at the replay phaneuf didn't even stop to say anything or help him to his skates. Kessel has been seen sparring with phaneuf and van riemsdyk at various times. These players are selfish and simply don't get along.

If it were up to me I'd trade all 3 of them.

Thank god for Rielly, Gardiner, and Bernier. Granberg looks good after one game. Now they have a chance to add another piece with a top 10 pick.

Shanahan needs to remind nonis that hockey players use skates and being able to use those skates is a prerequisite to being a decent player.

No more clarksons.

Yes, that was a true sign of what a failed leader Homophobic Sluroof is.

 

[RoadWarrior]

Why does Clarkson get mentioned so much in this thread?

Hockey Central is trying to educate you. It's not the 3rd line forward who missed part of the season's fault this team doesn't compete. It's the same core players who were on Wilson's team that need to take the hit here.

Because clarkson is a black hole on offence who hasn't lived up to a fraction of his contract. Just another lazy entitled player on a team full of them.

 

[RoadWarrior]

Yes, that was a true sign of what a failed leader Homophobic Sluroof is.

Nobody wants to suggest that was done on purpose but the video doesn't lie. By all appearances it looked intentional. Phaneuf reacted like it was done on purpose.

What kind of leader injures his own teammates? Carlyle should have stripped the C right after the game.

 

[Trapper]

Nobody wants to suggest that was done on purpose but the video doesn't lie. By all appearances it looked intentional. Phaneuf reacted like it was done on purpose.

What kind of leader injures his own teammates? Carlyle should have stripped the C right after the game.

For those not wanting to dump Phaneuf. Calgary could finish the year 5 points behind us. We will survive and be better for it after shedding 7 mil/year.

 

[frog]

Nobody wants to suggest that was done on purpose but the video doesn't lie. By all appearances it looked intentional. Phaneuf reacted like it was done on purpose.

What kind of leader injures his own teammates? Carlyle should have stripped the C right after the game.

cant believe phanuef would bodycheck his own teammate in the middle of a game. And even more so selfishly take himself out of the play and give san jose a scoring chance to do so.

He could've at least hit vanreimsdyk in practise the next day, but during a game shows that he doesn't have the leadership skills to be a captain and put the team first.

 

[Simcoe23]

cant believe phanuef would bodycheck his own teammate in the middle of a game. And even more so selfishly take himself out of the play and give san jose a scoring chance to do so.

He could've at least hit vanreimsdyk in practise the next day, but during a game shows that he doesn't have the leadership skills to be a captain and put the team first.

C'mon, I want this moron out of here as much as the next guy, but he didn't hit JVR on purpose. He's just really that bad and he missed Marleau.

 

[RoadWarrior]

C'mon, I want this moron out of here as much as the next guy, but he didn't hit JVR on purpose. He's just really that bad and he missed Marleau.

You can argue about the hit itself but look at his reaction. His reaction speaks volumes about his attitude. Just didn't care.

He certainly made no attempt to avoid jvr. I would describe it as accidental on purpose.

Either way this guy is no leader by any standard and he should be traded before his nm clause kicks in if we can find any takers. Stripping him of the Captaincy is the absolute minimum.