The Tomas Plekanec Thread

[Spirit of 67]

Random is random.

Every other word is a capital.

It's a theme. It's supposed to look disjointed (my slant on his play so far).

I promise that when his play gets better, I will change the title. I hope he proves me wrong.

Okay. I'll allow it. ; ^ )

 

[Spirit of 67]

The first game where we played the best team in the league. It's like we're trying to find ways to be mad about Plekanec at this point.

Yep. So Leafy.

 

[ottomaddox]

Some people are frustrated/disappointed we didn't address our need on D...Pleks will get unnecessary hate for that unfortunately.

I'll probably be one of those fans. I don't hate anyone. I really want him to help the Leafs and succeed, but I also wanted an upgrade on D.

 

[Polaris1010]

Plekanec was like that kid back in school, who did not know what to do when in gym class.

The other kids would shout ... go ... go ... go ... then he starts running.

On the defensive side, Plekanec did what was expected. That is why he was brought into the organization.

When the play transition to offense, he was that kid. He forgot how to go play offense on the rush because all he did in Montreal was play defense and dump it in for the cycle.

Got to wait a game or two before that starts coming back. He still can skate though.

 

[2legit2quit]

4 Penalty Minutes already .... I think he is a Double-Agent, he is going to scoring an own goal soon. Why do you think Plekanecs was so happy to join the Leafs -- his arch nemesis, after 15 seasons with the Habs?

I say we send him to the AHL so we don't have the risk of him being a double-agent to sabotage leafs' playoffs.

 

[Anatol Trottier]

Plekanec looks like he was lost on the ice yesterday. Don't worry he is better than that. He played with Montreal since he is drafted. He is very reliable all these years with Montreal. Let him play 2-3 games to recovers his game.

 

[ottomaddox]

Tune-in later when I summarize half of Tomas Plekanec's Leaf career.

 

[Bluelines]

Another poor game from our Hab garbage heap pick up. Well on the positive side he cant play any worse than he has, can he?

He was their #2 center? No wonder why they are so horrible.

 

[Trapper]

Another poor game from our Hab garbage heap pick up. Well on the positive side he cant play any worse than he has, can he?

He was their #2 center? No wonder why they are so horrible.

Plekanec is not who he was and definitely not worth a 2nd. A waste of a trade IMO.
Had we given the 4th from Sosh I might have tolerated it better but as it stands this is one management move I hate.
I was coming to terms with not moving the UFAs (at least I don't hate Bozak/JVR as they have been part of this team for years) but we compounded another asset giveaway for unnecessary. I'll never like the turtleneck Hab. I don't want him back, take your 2nd round pick Montreal, you're welcome. Charity.

 

[Bluelines]

Plekanec is not who he was and definitely not worth a 2nd. A waste of a trade IMO.
Had we given the 4th from Sosh I might have tolerated it better but as it stands this is one management move I hate.
I was coming to terms with not moving the UFAs (at least I don't hate Bozak/JVR as they have been part of this team for years) but we compounded another asset giveaway for unnecessary. I'll never like the turtleneck Hab. I don't want him back, take your 2nd round pick Montreal, you're welcome. Charity.

You can clearly see he is on a level that is 2 or 3 steps below our worst player, maybe a product of his environment, maybe he is just old and his due date has past. I HOPE the Hab attitude is not infectious and it poisons our team chemistry.

Granted he has only played 2 games and it will take him a couple of weeks to crank it up from a Hab level of play to a Leaf level of play. If I'm BabcockI got a 2 week timer on him, if he does not pick up his level of play by mid March, he goes straight to the press box and can stay there for the rest of the year.

 

[GoonieFace]

Plekanec is not who he was and definitely not worth a 2nd. A waste of a trade IMO.
Had we given the 4th from Sosh I might have tolerated it better but as it stands this is one management move I hate.
I was coming to terms with not moving the UFAs (at least I don't hate Bozak/JVR as they have been part of this team for years) but we compounded another asset giveaway for unnecessary. I'll never like the turtleneck Hab. I don't want him back, take your 2nd round pick Montreal, you're welcome. Charity.

 

[BertCorbeau]

I dunno, I don't see him as any worse that Moore personally. He seems to be more effective on the forecheck, and has better hockey sense.

He needs practice time to get used to some line mates and the differences in the system. Back to back games with no practice time with two different sets of wingers is a tough adjustment, especially because he's only ever had one team/environment.

Luckily enough the Leafs don't play much over the next two weeks so there is a lot of time to get used to his new surroundings.

I'd give him until the end of March to see if he's adjusted before deciding on your ideal playoff opening line up

 

[Al14]

His attempt to stop a slow sliding puck from crossing the goal line was outstanding!

After seeing that, I'm convinced he's still playing FOR THE HABS!

 

[Liminality]

I dunno, I don't see him as any worse that Moore personally. He seems to be more effective on the forecheck, and has better hockey sense.

He needs practice time to get used to some line mates and the differences in the system. Back to back games with no practice time with two different sets of wingers is a tough adjustment, especially because he's only ever had one team/environment.

Luckily enough the Leafs don't play much over the next two weeks so there is a lot of time to get used to his new surroundings.

I'd give him until the end of March to see if he's adjusted before deciding on your ideal playoff opening line up

I agree, one thing I've noticed with Plekanec so far is it seems like he is pretty good at getting body position on the forecheck. He hustles in there and just takes his space, think that could be a reason why he gets underneath the opposing players skin sometimes. He's just in your face with that type of stuff.

 

[Raging Bull]

2nd Florida goal aside I thought he was fine in a role he shouldn't be in. He can distribute the puck better than Moore and looks good cycling the puck.

 

[Clark4Ever]

I thought he looked much better last night. Still not up to par, but better. I think he'll get there eventually.

 

[Al14]

If he keeps 'playing' the way he has in his first two games as a Leaf, that 2nd round pick should be downgraded to a 7th!

 

[Mess]

35 year old Plekanec looks his age and see his career is winding down in a young man's game built on speed.

 

[IBeL34f]

I liked his aggressiveness on the PK

 

[Warden of the North]

I thought he was much better last night.

One thing that is quite telling about our team speed is that all we heard about Pleks (and Marleau to some extent) is how fast they are for their age but the drop is still very noticeable from our kids to them. The kids are blazing fast and its not even close

 

[Critical13]

I just don't think we should keep trading 2nds for 4th line rental Cs.

Didn't like it last year, don't like it this year.

 

[horner]

Hi family is Montreal.
He has have no practice time .
He has never been traded before.
Getting to know his new teammates.

So far
Good on faceoffs.
He loves to get involved physically.

Previous Boston Bruins games
He can get under Marchands skin and can get him off his game.

 

[Clark4Ever]

I just don't think we should keep trading 2nds for 4th line rental Cs.

Didn't like it last year, don't like it this year.

This is definitely true. If it's a 2nd round pick for a young 4th line centre under control for several years, that's one thing, but I hope this doesn't become a habit.

 

[Cleatus]

While he definitely wasn’t worth a 2nd round pick, I think he’s going to be fairly useful in the playoffs. Not putting much stock in these first couple of games, I’m sure he’ll step it up.

 

[Habs100]

Plekanec was like that kid back in school, who did not know what to do when in gym class.

The other kids would shout ... go ... go ... go ... then he starts running.

On the defensive side, Plekanec did what was expected. That is why he was brought into the organization.

When the play transition to offense, he was that kid. He forgot how to go play offense on the rush because all he did in Montreal was play defense and dump it in for the cycle.

Got to wait a game or two before that starts coming back. He still can skate though.

It had nothing to do with how he was used in Montreal. Over the last 3 years he's been tried with the best offensive players and it's the same thing: when they play with Plekanec their production suddenly halts. It happened with Radulov, Erik Cole, Vanek. They all had a lot of success with players like Danault and Desharnais (not exactly offensive juggernauts).

This is what we tried to tell you: we all love Pleks, but father time has taken away all semblances of an offensive game in his. He's incredibly frustrating to watch now.