stuart5035
Registered User
- Apr 9, 2017
- 328
- 338
It’s no wonder we are such a frustrated lot, we long time Leaf fans! We have glimpsed a powerful offensive juggernaut, we’ve risen out of our seats at their mercurial talent and charisma, marvelled at their flair and inventiveness.
But what have we witnessed for almost a year now, outside of the too few glimpses of their potential? A moribund uncertainty on the ice, an inability to start on time, constantly hemmed into their own zone, running around frantically, too often saved by Anderson. Spineless, neutered at times, standing around like deer would in headlights. Little sustained pressure in the offensive zone, playing on the periphery with few shots getting through, Corsi looking good without the results.
Then along comes the third period of the Chicago game, incredible sustained pressure, Chicago wilting, almost 60 shots. Several commentator remarked about what if they played like that all the time! Was this their true identity? Was the needing an all out attack to have a hope the gateway to how they should always play; to throw caution to the wind?
Kyle Dubas, Please unleash this team! You have played all your cards for this year and it is slipping away. From the Barrie contract, to the pending UFA Muzzin. You’re also using up one of the precious five years before Austin Matthews marches to unrestricted free agency. You cannot afford to wait, this is not a patient long term rebuild.
There is a noose around this team. You get a sense of it at Mitch Marners comments about a year ago at how the Leafs play better on the road because Babcock can’t over-coach. Or when you read recently about a rival team needing to “de babcock” a recent Leaf acquisition (the name escapes me) because of how complex the game had become to that player. There was an earlier hint too when the coach travelled a great distance to visit a couple of players in the summer a few years ago-coaches don’t do that! You must have shaken your head at his overuse of Marleau,?of Hainsey,?of Ceci and so on. Or of Komorov, Polak, etc. And what about the derogatory recent comments about Babcock by more than just a few ex Leafs! And now, the height of stupidity and stubbornness, the permanent loss of nine points due to mismanagement of backup goaltending, points that could mean loss of home ice advantage, at worse missing the playoffs. Do you not see your season in jeopardy due to a stubborn
anachronism of a coach, choking the lifeblood out of something that was meant to soar?
Take the plunge Kyle. It’s intimidating I know, there’s the salary, the distance the team has come the past few years, the pedigree. But what if the players flourish under a players coach, what if the players smiles return, what if they truly overwhelm their opponents in a non stop offensive frenzy? The way you say you’ve built them to?
You can wait, the schedule has been horrendous, and now you have the excuse of Marner being out a month. But this team should be a stallion, able to overcome this. Look ahead at November’s schedule, look at the improvement in Florida, Montreal, Buffalo. You might end up missing the playoffs.
But what have we witnessed for almost a year now, outside of the too few glimpses of their potential? A moribund uncertainty on the ice, an inability to start on time, constantly hemmed into their own zone, running around frantically, too often saved by Anderson. Spineless, neutered at times, standing around like deer would in headlights. Little sustained pressure in the offensive zone, playing on the periphery with few shots getting through, Corsi looking good without the results.
Then along comes the third period of the Chicago game, incredible sustained pressure, Chicago wilting, almost 60 shots. Several commentator remarked about what if they played like that all the time! Was this their true identity? Was the needing an all out attack to have a hope the gateway to how they should always play; to throw caution to the wind?
Kyle Dubas, Please unleash this team! You have played all your cards for this year and it is slipping away. From the Barrie contract, to the pending UFA Muzzin. You’re also using up one of the precious five years before Austin Matthews marches to unrestricted free agency. You cannot afford to wait, this is not a patient long term rebuild.
There is a noose around this team. You get a sense of it at Mitch Marners comments about a year ago at how the Leafs play better on the road because Babcock can’t over-coach. Or when you read recently about a rival team needing to “de babcock” a recent Leaf acquisition (the name escapes me) because of how complex the game had become to that player. There was an earlier hint too when the coach travelled a great distance to visit a couple of players in the summer a few years ago-coaches don’t do that! You must have shaken your head at his overuse of Marleau,?of Hainsey,?of Ceci and so on. Or of Komorov, Polak, etc. And what about the derogatory recent comments about Babcock by more than just a few ex Leafs! And now, the height of stupidity and stubbornness, the permanent loss of nine points due to mismanagement of backup goaltending, points that could mean loss of home ice advantage, at worse missing the playoffs. Do you not see your season in jeopardy due to a stubborn
anachronism of a coach, choking the lifeblood out of something that was meant to soar?
Take the plunge Kyle. It’s intimidating I know, there’s the salary, the distance the team has come the past few years, the pedigree. But what if the players flourish under a players coach, what if the players smiles return, what if they truly overwhelm their opponents in a non stop offensive frenzy? The way you say you’ve built them to?
You can wait, the schedule has been horrendous, and now you have the excuse of Marner being out a month. But this team should be a stallion, able to overcome this. Look ahead at November’s schedule, look at the improvement in Florida, Montreal, Buffalo. You might end up missing the playoffs.
