Pre-Game Talk: Toronto @ Ottawa Sat. 19th 7:00

[Fogelhund]

Never really understood the logic of the Marner/Bozak/JVR line. Those guys don't seem to fit together.

All are subpar defensively.

Marner's creativity would pair well with a true sniper.

Isn't JvR a sniper?

 

[Cor]

Brown with Bozak and JVR I like. Marner should be with Kadri and Marleau, Komarov on the 4th, but after the last couple of games, Marner on the 4th line isn’t that bad.

The fact that they just plugged Borgman in Rielly’s spot has me optimistic.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

How many years have you followed the leafs?

Closely? About 15. Longer than that casually. That isn't really related to my point that I don't like to see them lose with such a talented roster

 

[Mr Hockey]

Closely? About 15. Longer than that casually. That isn't really related to my point that I don't like to see them lose with such a talented roster

I was just curious

 

[member 262271]

Oh dear god, Ottawa? Just the tonic to get them out of this funk - if they can win this then maybe there is hope. I'd feel better if they were playing Tampa f'in Bay to be quite honest.

 

[ryno23]

I would stop with the Kadri as the shutdown line and focus on 3 scoring lines and the 4th line of guys who can keep momentum and not get pinned in their zone for a whole shift

I would run this and not worry about matching up Kadri against the other teams best line

Hyman Matthews Nylander
Marleau Kadri Marner
JVR Bozak Brown
Martin Goat Komorov

I think really Matthews is our best defensive C and is already better at D zone coverage than Kadri. So why not force the other team to match up against us and who cares if the other top lines faces Matthews. Worse case it is a saw off and then now Kadri with Marner instead of Leo might get back to generating more offence and score. Brown on the Bozak line provides a grinder/grittier guy who will work hard and let the 2 other guys do their job. 4th line would be good at getting in on the forecheck and cycling.

Only the 4th line would be a dump and chase line. The rest unless they are clogging up the neutral zone would be in their own zone and start with speed.

Really easy simple changes but that goes against what they are trying to implement. They are trying to get use to playoff hockey where the space is limited and need to dump and chase to get zone time.

 

[rent free]

Isn't JvR a sniper?

no. he's anything but a sniper. how could be a sniper if his only ways of scoring is tipping in pucks in front of the net?

 

[Mugzy97]

Isn't JvR a sniper?

No.

 

[rent free]

Brown with Bozak and JVR I like. Marner should be with Kadri and Marleau, Komarov on the 4th, but after the last couple of games, Marner on the 4th line isn’t that bad.

The fact that they just plugged Borgman in Rielly’s spot has me optimistic.

its just for practice though. if anything gardiner-hainsey will be the top-pair if reilly isn't good to go

 

[rent free]

i wonder how we're gonna lose this one. blow another lead? get blown out?

 

[Warden of the North]

its just for practice though. if anything gardiner-hainsey will be the top-pair if reilly isn't good to go

His point is if they know Rielly is out then theyd have more realistic pairings. Having Borgman there implies that hes just a place filler for today

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

the problem is there's literally no consistency. andersen costs us games in October? Babcock defends him publicly and continues to roll with him. Rielly screws up and costs us games? Babcock defends him and continues to roll with him. Marner did screw up, but why is he being held accountable and demoted? Nobody else gets punished and it makes no sense. Marner is a talented player and he should get the benefit of the doubt if Babcock is going to do the same with other talented players

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Should Rielly not play, our defense without him and Zaitsev is going to look mighty fugly.

 

[ACC1224]

the problem is there's literally no consistency. andersen costs us games in October? Babcock defends him publicly and continues to roll with him. Rielly screws up and costs us games? Babcock defends him and continues to roll with him. Marner did screw up, but why is he being held accountable and demoted? Nobody else gets punished and it makes no sense. Marner is a talented player and he should get the benefit of the doubt if Babcock is going to do the same with other talented players

I'd be very surprised if Babcock would demote any player because of one "screw up".

 

[Budsfan]

If Rielly is out for the Ottawa game, the D pairings might look like this...
Gardiner/Hainsey
Dermott/Carrick
Borgman/Polak
call up Justin Holl or Andrew Nielsen?

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

I'd be very surprised if Babcock would demote any player because of one "screw up".

if it's a bigger issue than the last couple of games, he'd have demoted Komarov. Marner is simply the better player by far

 

[rent free]

the problem is there's literally no consistency. andersen costs us games in October? Babcock defends him publicly and continues to roll with him. Rielly screws up and costs us games? Babcock defends him and continues to roll with him. Marner did screw up, but why is he being held accountable and demoted? Nobody else gets punished and it makes no sense. Marner is a talented player and he should get the benefit of the doubt if Babcock is going to do the same with other talented players

its much easier to hold marner accountable. it's asinine to put mcelhinney in net for an extended period of time and its equally as bad for reilly to be demoted off the top pair.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

its much easier to hold marner accountable. it's asinine to put mcelhinney in net for an extended period of time and its equally as bad for reilly to be demoted off the top pair.

it's also asinine to put a top offensive threat on the 4th line, and accountability shouldn't run up until it's inconvenient to hold players to the same standards

 

[ACC1224]

if it's a bigger issue than the last couple of games, he'd have demoted Komarov. Marner is simply the better player by far

You don't know what he's asking of each player, perhaps Komarov is doing what he's asked. What mistakes has Komarov been making the last few games?
Marner is a far better player but that really has nothing to do with it.
Komarov should play on the 4th line IMO because his skill dictates it, Marner will be there to learn from it.

If you're expecting all players to be treated the same you'll be disappointed. This doesn't happen in any sport and for the most part in life in general.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

You don't know what he's asking of each player, perhaps Komarov is doing what he's asked. What mistakes has Komarov been making the last few games?
Marner is a far better player but that really has nothing to do with it.
Komarov should play on the 4th line IMO because his skill dictates it, Marner will be there to learn from it.

If you're expecting all players to be treated the same you'll be disappointed. This doesn't happen in any sport and for the most part in life in general.

if Babcock is happy with Komarov producing offense at practically a historically low rate and getting outscored by the opposition regularly, I wonder why his standards for top 9 players are so low. He definitely should be on the 4th line by merit

 

[ACC1224]

if Babcock is happy with Komarov producing offense at practically a historically low rate and getting outscored by the opposition regularly, I wonder why his standards for top 9 players are so low. He definitely should be on the 4th line by merit

So they're no longer being demoted because of "screw ups"?

 

[2 Slick]

Hey, lets keep Komarov on a line that hasn't produced squat in months offensively.

That Kadri/Marleau/Komarov line is a husk offensively and needs to be split up immediately.

Get Kadri and Marleau away from each other, they have ZERO chemistry together.

 

[AppsSyl]

Brown with Bozak and JVR I like. Marner should be with Kadri and Marleau, Komarov on the 4th, but after the last couple of games, Marner on the 4th line isn’t that bad.

The fact that they just plugged Borgman in Rielly’s spot has me optimistic.

Agreed, about the optimism. If it was bad, you would probably see those pairings shuffled.

How Komarov remains in the top 9 with his play is craziness. At this point he should be 4th line with PK duties.

 

[Drew311]

Morgan Rielly is not at practice, that worries me more than any forward line.

He finished the game yesterday so it can't be that serious. I could see him missing a week though.

 

[Drew311]

Isn't JvR a sniper?

No. He collects garbage in front of the net.