Toronto Has The Most Elite 4th Line in the NHL!

[Koolboss]

Gauthier... he gon' be a solid 2nd line C one day.

Lets not get too excited, he is and will be a 4th line player

 

[SprDaVE]

I thought it was too soft?

 

[Kevs Security]

Lets not get too excited, he is and will be a 4th line player

Gauthier is the classic example of a no tools, no toolbox kinda player.

 

[BayStBullies]

Wait... I thought we were still mad about Spezza not starting game 1?

Yup, the hypocrisy is insane.
Also, the whines about the "top players" getting less ice time went quiet for a day. I wonder why.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Would it be a good move to start the fourth line on opening faceoff next game ?

A bit of symbolism ?

I'll say No. Won't accomplish anything

 

[LaPlante94]

"Slow down"? Like go back with Spezza and Petan? Why?

Why wouldn't TOR keep rolling with that line? Scratch them after the night they had? Really?

Wtf are you going on about? I said this 4th line has played teams that aren't that good and have bad depth so relax with the expectations and thinking they're so good until they finally play a team with more than 1 line.

 

[Atomos2]

Reactionary thread is reactionary.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

Gauthier is a handful when he goes to the net. He should put in some extra practice in front of the net tipping pucks and jamming in garbage goals. Andreychuk and Antropov were the two most recent leafs that put that net front presence work in that i can recall. Andreychuk was a master at it and still always practiced it. Nik became really good at it from practice.

Goat is a big strong dude. Here is hoping he starts sharpening up them skills. A beast later on and in the playoffs if he gets on it. He’s not that sharp now but darn he could be.

still he has been a handful for teams to handle so far but needs some finish

 

[Swedish Gretzky]

Gauthier is a handful when he goes to the net. He should put in some extra practice in front of the net tipping pucks and jamming in garbage goals. Andreychuk and Antropov were the two most recent leafs that put that net front presence work in that i can recall. Andreychuk was a master at it and still always practiced it. Nik became really good at it from practice.


Goat is a big strong dude. Here is hoping he starts sharpening up them skills. A beast later on and in the playoffs if he gets on it. He’s not that sharp now but darn he could be.

still he has been a handful for teams to handle so far but needs some finish

Hoe about putting a big body in front of the net like Mikheyev on pp1 rather than aj

 

[Wafflewhipper]

Hoe about putting a big body in front of the net like Mikheyev on pp1 rather than aj

why not he has some jam for that. JT is doing that now but i would rather him getting some shooting room in the slot too. Babcock won’t try anything new.he’s a one trick pony

 

[Ravenhair]

4th line was hot yesterday. But this is one game vs Detroit. Maybe they will be invisible in next game. Spezza will bring benefits later.
3th line is good almost every game.

 

[Menzinger]

Regardless of whose in their eup -ie Spezza, Shore ect. The 4th line this season is basically the highest skilled it's been in many years

 

[hoglund]

Wait... I thought we were still mad about Spezza not starting game 1?

Fans are very fickle.

 

[notDatsyuk]

Considering that, based on recent performance, our fourth line is Tavares', you might be right!

 

[JayfromNB1219]

Gauthier... he gon' be a solid 2nd line C one day.

are we watching two different Fred Gauthier's? 2C really? the guy is a turtle and plays like hes about 5'1...He is getting better at using his size but he is WAY too slow to be a 2C on just about any team in this league...he might be able to do it in Colorado or Arizona or maybe Edmonton (all teams with ridiculously shallow rosters) but other than that hes a 4C who can play 3C in a pinch and that is about where he maxes out...let's not get ahead of ourselves here...the 4th line had a great game but that was as much because of Timashov and Shore as Gauthier and I don't hear you calling Shore to line 2 or Timoshov...take a deep breath...when he starts to actually dominate by himself we can talk about him moving up the lineup...until that point I wouldn't bother...

 

[PromisedLand]

4th line's goal is to not give up goals and if they score its bonus. but if you have a 4th line that can play defensively well against any opposition line(s) then its amazing.

don't think the leafs' 4th line is up there that can play against oppositions' top 2 lines (at least not yet).

only 4th lines I can think of right now who can play against oppositions' top 2 lines are

bruins and avs IMO

May be our 4th line will grow on me once we settle into which one is the real 4th line and how much we can trust that line against oppositions' top 2 lines.

If Leafs can just roll their lines without thinking too much about line-matching; that would be the best! But how much trust do we have in our 3rd and 4th line to play against opoositions' top 2 lines

 

[JustJokinenAround]

freddy the goat is the best freddy on the team

 

[FlareKnight]

Not sure we can say much about our fourth line until we know what it actually is. Right now it is Gauthier and his rotating cast of wingers. They are doing well and they have plenty of good options. But at the moment we don't have a concrete fourth line.

 

[WilliamInLondon]

I'm so happy that Timashov is doing well. There were high hopes for him during his WJC performance and he was seen as a steal - then he was written off by many after taking a while to develop in the AHL. I really like his game and think he'll could top out as a very useful utility 3rd liner who can do a little bit of everything while on a reasonable contract.

 

[ottomaddox]

Cemented!

Let's do this!

Time to show MIN what time it is.

Pad your stats boys.

Go Leafs Go!

 

[ponder]

I didn’t like Gauthier when he first cracked the Leafs, but man, he’s a great 4C now. Possession beast, great defensively. Can give a Gauthier-centred 4th line minutes against anyone, and not be too worried, which is rare for a 4th line.

Re: his wingers, don’t like the ripping on Petan/Spezza, but I do prefer grinders on the 4th line. When Hyman comes back, I’m hoping for this as our bottom 6:

Mikheyev - Kerfoot - Kapanen
Moore - Gauthier - Timashov/Shore

That’d be one of the best bottom-6s in the league IMO. And could cycle Timashov/Shore based on matchups (Timashov when we need the skill, Shore when we need the size).

 

[Swedish Gretzky]

Whens the last time we had an average 4th line? i dont remember.
Boyle was goid for that playoff run

 

[Its not your fault]

Lets not get too excited, he is and will be a 4th line player

2 years ago he was a AHL center it could happen open yourselve into believing it could happen I see 3rd line center no problem

 

[Its not your fault]

Whens the last time we had an average 4th line? i dont remember.
Boyle was goid for that playoff run

Remeber when we had 2nd lines and 1 first-line player.

 

[Nithoniniel]

Re: his wingers, don’t like the ripping on Petan/Spezza, but I do prefer grinders on the 4th line.

My ideal lineup has always had a fourth line capable of playing an effective shutdown role. That's pretty much how our fourth line has been employed, and they have been successful too.

Gauthier has been integral to that so far.