Post-Game Talk: Utterly Rittich-ulous Leafs Lose 6-3

[Bluelines]

I hate stupid posts like this because they're 100% narrative driven and not in any way based in reality. The Leafs are generating more chances than they did earlier in the season, they just aren't wining the games.

So we are doing everything right but not executing correctly? What do we win for participating but not executing?

 

[Matthews4Calder]

I am telling you guys. If we lose in the 1st round, Dubas and Shanny really need to consider the retooling option.

This team just doesn't have it.

Retooling option should start with letting the 2 of them go first.

 

[showtime8]

On a side note, I hope fans really start to see just how important Willy is.

He’s assisted on both PP goals these last two games, and the second goal was scored because he’s a terrific net front guy. Players like Simmonds might be decent at screening goalies and banging home rebounds, but the inability to rotate and make plays down low effective makes them useless on the PP.

When Vancouver was clogging up the NZ, Willy was the only player we had who consistently was able to transition through it.

There are definitely times where I wish Nylander showed the same “heart” as guys like Marner and Rielly, but watching last night, I kinda wished the other guys had Nylander’s calm mind.


Also really really glad that Tavares and Willy are piling on the points now. It’s almost like they were playing well during the year and just Really unlucky with their shots.

I've been hot and cold with Nylander for his entire career. It looks at times that he isn't committed and looks disinterested to be playing. But then you see him drive the net to draw a penalty and you wonder where that is all the time.

He's heating up at the right time of the season though. I'm not worried about his play if we can see more games like this more often.

 

[showtime8]

Retooling option should start with letting the 2 of them go first.

Retool with what?

 

[Gary Nylund]

Do you mean grammatically, figuratively or literally?

Sadly ... based on the last decade ... literally.

 

[ViewsFromThe6ix]

So we are doing everything right but not executing correctly? What do we win for participating but not executing?

Do you need a primer on PDO?

The posters point was the defense is tightening up so the leafs can't do anything. They're generating more chances than they were when they were "dominating". Do you not see an issue with that line of thinking?

 

[Throw More Waffles]

Retool with what?

I'd say that if the leafs lose in the first round again, the "half the cap on 4 forwards" experiment needs to end.

 

[Subway Schenn]

So glad I fell asleep after the 1st period (@ 3am). Hopefully Jack brings the goods next game on out.

 

[Bluelines]

Why do you think that?

The old adage of, show me a good goaltender and I'll show you a good coach rings true. With the current roster structure, what major changes would you make?

Blue Jacket series, his only answer for not scoring was to load up one line, Tavares, Marner, Matthews that Torts could check into the ground, leaving 3 ineffective lines to follow. Politely speaking he froze as a coach and let Torts dictate the series. When his PP goes on a historic inept streak, he continues to throw out the same structure. When things go bad apparently he has no answer.

Steve Briere needs to be on the first bus out of town once the Leafs are eliminated.

 

[hoglund]

At least we have a big enough lead that even if we lose the rest of our games we'll make the playoffs and finishing 1st for home ice advantage isn't worth anything because of no fans.

 

[egd27]

Why do you think that?

The old adage of, show me a good goaltender and I'll show you a good coach rings true. With the current roster structure, what major changes would you make?

I don't think it's a roster structure issue.

Yes, the goaltending has been a big problem.

But so has the fact that:

• The PP has been awful for far too long with little in the way of adjustment that I can see
• Any team that clogs the neutral zone and collapses in the D zone has a good chance of defeating the Leafs. Some systemic change needs to happen to counter this strategy
• The "lines in a blender" strategy mid game is being used far too often
• It seems obvious to everyone that certain veterans need to "rest" more than they have been
• There still seems to be a lack of "wanting it more" among the roster

I don't claim to have the answers, but those are some of the issues I see with the coaching.

 

[Bluelines]

Do you need a primer on PDO?

The posters point was the defense is tightening up so the leafs can't do anything. They're generating more chances than they were when they were "dominating". Do you not see an issue with that line of thinking?

Do you need a primer on English? I will ask again what do we win for not executing?

Our shooting % is going down and our opponents sh% is going up, why are our opponents able to do something we are not able to do?

 

[Bomber0104]

I hate stupid posts like this because they're 100% narrative driven and not in any way based in reality. The Leafs are generating more chances than they did earlier in the season, they just aren't wining the games.

I really don't care if you buy into or not.

You can continue to blame all the losses and early playoff exits on luck or whoever the scapegoat du jour is all you want.

 

[showtime8]

I'd say that if the leafs lose in the first round again, the "half the cap on 4 forwards" experiment needs to end.

The reason that this team will win a round will be because of those top 4 players.

Why do we get so caught up in how much players make? Like would it make people feel better if we took 2 million away from Tavares and gave it to Wayne Simmonds?

If they don't win a round, then you can worry about it then. The difference between this year and last year is, you're not asking Cody Ceci to play shutdown minutes and looking to regain Barrie's confidence back after the dismal start to that year. You've got a very reliable TJ Brodie and a 2nd pair that can shutdown another top line with Holl and Muzzin.

 

[Thornbury]

IMO the Leafs need to go back to Galchenyuk on Tavares line and eventually have either Foligno or Hyman on the first. Even going back to the Ottawa game, I don't really think Galchenyuk has shown much chemistry with Matthews and seemed to look a lot better with JT.

Agreed, his fit with Austin and Mitch doesn't seem to be working. And those two guys need a more responsible linemate and a more effective digger.

 

[Bluelines]

I don't think it's a roster structure issue.

Yes, the goaltending has been a big problem.

But so has the fact that:

• The PP has been awful for far too long with little in the way of adjustment that I can see
• Any team that clogs the neutral zone and collapses in the D zone has a good chance of defeating the Leafs. Some systemic change needs to happen to counter this strategy
• The "lines in a blender" strategy mid game is being used far too often
• It seems obvious to everyone that certain veterans need to "rest" more than have been
• There still seems to be a lack of "wanting it more" among the roster

I don't claim to have the answers, but those are some of the issues I see with the coaching.

Why is it every goalie has stunk the joint out this year, with the exception of Campbell for 11 games? Are we poor at goalie evaluation? Is it our team defensive structure? Fire our goalie coach. Is it our goalie coach? Fire our goalie coach? Fire our goalie coach. Do we not have players that can play 200ft game? Pure luck? Fire the goalie coach? fire the goalie coach.

 

[Throw More Waffles]

The reason that this team will win a round will be because of those top 4 players.

Why do we get so caught up in how much players make? Like would it make people feel better if we took 2 million away from Tavares and gave it to Wayne Simmonds?

If they don't win a round, then you can worry about it then. The difference between this year and last year is, you're not asking Cody Ceci to play shutdown minutes and looking to regain Barrie's confidence back after the dismal start to that year. You've got a very reliable TJ Brodie and a 2nd pair that can shutdown another top line with Holl and Muzzin.

Hence why I said IF the leafs lose in the first round. The time for excuses should have ended seasons ago imo. The experiment is over if they can't at the very least win the first round.

 

[Mess]

The NHL playoff format is geared towards disruption. It’s ironic how the Dubas and Keefe talking points vs Columbus were always geared on playing a skill game and yet the game was exclusively played on Columbus’ terms. The premise of simply outskilling the opposition is a flawed one because a less skilled team can fall back on other tactics to ruin yours. If you don’t have those extra defensive gears, hunger to dominate and details, you don’t have much.

I'm a firm believer that defensive systems and structure dictate play and thus defense wins.

If your coach deploys a defensive trap style system and collapses down low to block out the slot and HDSC area, that disrupts a rush team built of speed and skill and nothing your vaulted offense can do about that other than try and breakdown and work around that regardless of skill level, and not dictating systems. You can't force a team to play run and gun or exchange offenses chances if your built on skill and that is your preferred style of play. Playing defense first is proactive and offense is always reactive, based on what the opposition is allowing to happen in various zones.

Leafs skill level is also neutered further by those players not willing to go into the high traffic areas and win 50/50 puck battles through physical play as those players like to stick check and against blue collar hard working hard hitting and tight checking teams that limits offensive opportunities, while forcing you to play on the perimeter.

That is why its hopeful players like Hyman and Simmonds and Foligno which are geared better stylistically for playoff style hockey will tip the scales in Leafs favour in addition to their skill level and snipers in tight checking games played and won in the trenches.

Up until this year the Leafs were built for early playoff exits based on player personnel choices thinking you're re-inventing the wheel when you're actually bringing a knife to a gun fight when it comes to playoff style winning hockey.

However with goaltending like we currently have it might not matter as it all begins and ends with the netminder.

 

[Bomber0104]

The reason that this team will win a round will be because of those top 4 players.

Why do we get so caught up in how much players make? Like would it make people feel better if we took 2 million away from Tavares and gave it to Wayne Simmonds?

If they don't win a round, then you can worry about it then. The difference between this year and last year is, you're not asking Cody Ceci to play shutdown minutes and looking to regain Barrie's confidence back after the dismal start to that year. You've got a very reliable TJ Brodie and a 2nd pair that can shutdown another top line with Holl and Muzzin.

If there was an extra $2 million available, it could be spent on getting a player that's way better than Wayne Simmonds.

It's pay to play in the NHL.

You don't get good depth players for $1.5 million or less 9 times out of 10.

 

[showtime8]

Blue Jacket series, his only answer for not scoring was to load up one line, Tavares, Marner, Matthews that Torts could check into the ground, leaving 3 ineffective lines to follow. Politely speaking he froze as a coach and let Torts dictate the series. When his PP goes on a historic inept streak, he continues to throw out the same structure. When things go bad apparently he has no answer.

Steve Briere needs to be on the first bus out of town once the Leafs are eliminated.

In the Columbus series, there was no depth scoring from the team. So if you shut down the 1st line, there is nothing else to go with. It's the same situation that happens when Muzzin and Holl stop McDavid. What other depth is going to step up? In a 5 game series, you had 2 goals total from Mikheyev, Spezza, Engvall, Robertson, Kapanen, Kerfoot and Hyman. And the goals came from Robertson in his 2nd career game and Zach Hyman. So you've got nothing else from your bottom 6. It's easy to coach when someone other than the top line produces. Maybe you can move Matthews to centre a 4th line shift every so often, but what other strategies can you use?

 

[Bluelines]

I really don't care if you buy into or not.

You can continue to blame all the losses and early playoff exits on luck or whoever the scapegoat du jour is all you want.

Ask him. what do we win for generating chances but not executing? Generating chances but not scoring is worse in some aspects than not generating chances.

Do you know what they call pro athletes that don't execute on chances? 3rd liners then 4th liners then Unemployed.

 

[Bomber0104]

The NHL playoff format is geared towards disruption. It’s ironic how the Dubas and Keefe talking points vs Columbus were always geared on playing a skill game and yet the game was exclusively played on Columbus’ terms. The premise of simply outskilling the opposition is a flawed one because a less skilled team can fall back on other tactics to ruin yours. If you don’t have those extra defensive gears, hunger to dominate and details, you don’t have much.

Great post.

 

[Throw More Waffles]

Why is it every goalie has stunk the joint out this year, with the exception of Campbell for 11 games? Are we poor at goalie evaluation? Is it our team defensive structure? Fire our goalie coach. Is it our goalie coach? Fire our goalie coach? Fire our goalie coach. Do we not have players that can play 200ft game? Pure luck? Fire the goalie coach? fire the goalie coach.

Another interesting question is why the opposing teams goalies have such high save percentages when playing us. Far higher than their season averages. Over this 5 game losing skid the goalies we faced have had an almost .940 save percentage.

 

[showtime8]

If there was an extra $2 million available, it could be spent on getting a player that's way better than Wayne Simmonds.

It's pay to play in the NHL.

You don't get good depth players for $1.5 million or less 9 times out of 10.

From this past years free agent pool, who would you have given the money to?

 

[Bomber0104]

Ask him. what do we win for generating chances but not executing? Generating chances but not scoring is worse in some aspects than not generating chances.

Do you know what they call pro athletes that don't execute on chances? 3rd liners then 4th liners then Unemployed.

Yup.

Too many people take way, way too much comfort in the Leafs charting high in these laughably amateur blog stats we see.

Winning the actual hockey game is secondary to that.

It's kind of sad.