What impresses you the most about the season so far ?

[horner]

To me our overall defensive game is really surprising me.

All our forwards are playing a 200' game
I hope that this we carry over to the playoffs.

Goalteng is a close second.

Love our forth line

Click to read more...

 

[AvroArrow]

Overall defensive game, the entire forward group buying into the system and playing a complete game. Consistency. And guys stepping up. Even with Matthews "struggling" according to some, the team is in 2nd in the division and playing an elite defensive game. 3 goalies injured, still found ways to win, significant injuries on the blue line and you literally could not notice the difference. Loving this season.

 

[PromisedLand]

Keefe's tummy. Its growing faster than my savings account -> now thats "Impressive"



on a serious note:
- Lily and Sandin just continue to impress me
- Willy being a beast to me especially is very impressive. I was one of his harshest critic initially but he is playing really dynamic hockey.
- Holmberg has been a really good find.
* hon mention to goal tending. But we had solid goal tending last november as well; so cautiously optimistic

 

[Gary Nylund]

Murray!

 

[ACC1224]

Everyone thought Martina Ortiz Luis was easily the best anthem singer this organization has employed but kudos to the new girl, she's done a pretty good job in relief.

 

[Buds17]

-The overall and sustained success in the face of injuries to the blueline and goaltending.
-The offence not necessarily being the driving force that's led to victories.

 

[Teeder Keon]

Defensive structure and commitment and goaltending

 

[Twine Tickler]

I am not sure I'd say I am surprised to see him do well, but what I will say is I am surprised that Matt Murray looks to have returned to his once dominating form.

He truly looks outstanding.

I said at the beginning of the season that I felt like his style would be the perfect fit to mitigate our defensive issues from years past. He plays very large in the blue paint which allows him to stop shots through traffic that we once struggled mightily with. He's also able to handle most redirections as a result. Also something our goaltenders have struggled with in the past. I think the one thing that has truly come as a surprise to me is how athletic Murr can be when he needs to be. He is a goalie that bases his entire game on being positionally sound and allowing pucks to hit him, but when he does need to move laterally and make an athletic save he's been very good at it. Something I can't say I was expecting at all, especially given his lengthy injury history. I foolishly thought that aspect of his game would either be completely gone or severely hindered. Whether it was by virtue of not having that skill in his bag, or just hesitancy to lay out and potentially get hurt again. But he's shown no lateral inability at all.

All n all, I just feel so confident with him in the cage. Maybe it's his Stanley Cup pedigree, or just his personality. He just doesn't ever look flustered in the net.

I love soupy, and I do believe he is a very good goalie as well, but this level of mental stability is something we've not seen in a Leaf goalie for a very very long time. Not since Freddy's first year as a Leaf when there was literally zero expectations of him or the team.

I know it's super early on in Murr's tenure as a Leaf, but I think he really can be the answer for us. He's only 28 Years old

 

[The Iceman]

The under rated strength of this team is the two way ability of our forwards. All of them.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Everyone thought Martina Ortiz Luis was easily the best anthem singer this organization has employed but kudos to the new girl, she's done a pretty good job in relief.

You really need to stop thinking you speak for everyone. I don't share your POV, and I am not alone.

As far as you thinking of anthem singing when the topic of discussion is:

What impresses you the most about the season so far ?"​

I don't even know what to say to that.

 

[DarkKnight]

Team defence.

 

[slozo]

What has impressed me the most this season, is the amount of posters on HOF Boards who have totally forgotten the last three seasons of first round failure, the pattern of team play (which we are once again repeating to a T), and what the weaknesses were and continue to be for this team.

That led to those playoff failures.

And just as impressive - the GM and President have the same inability to learn from history! Astounding.

 

[PROUD PAPA]

Lily. The guy missed camp and the first 10 games with sports hernia surgery and has stepped in and shone brightly. I was worried it would take up to half a season for him to get on par with those who started on time but he never skipped a beat. We have ourselves a good one in Liljegren.

 

[Gary Nylund]

What has impressed me the most this season, is the amount of posters on HOF Boards who have totally forgotten the last three seasons of first round failure, the pattern of team play (which we are once again repeating to a T), and what the weaknesses were and continue to be for this team.

That led to those playoff failures.

And just as impressive - the GM and President have the same inability to learn from history! Astounding.

There is a bit too much giddiness around here, I would agree with that. And I still remember the bragging that went on here after last years record breaking November, that was just so embarrassing. That said, it's good that people are able to enjoy it when the team is playing well despite past playoff failures. You never know, this could be the year.

 

[Apex Predator]

The way they have played dealing with all these injuries are impressive.

 

[Burnie97]

The biggest is probably the goaltending. I want to say the D but coming into the season the goaltending was the big question mark.

If they continue this all year Dubas deserves full credit.

We knew the D was pretty good from last year. Mind you with the injuries now it's been pretty amazing. However your last line of D is the goalie and its been pretty damn impressive so far.

Shout outs to the big 4 are again. It took Matthews a bit but they're all going now it looks like. Holmberg has been excellent defensively too.

 

[slozo]

There is a bit too much giddiness around here, I would agree with that. And I still remember the bragging that went on here after last years record breaking November, that was just so embarrassing. That said, it's good that people are able to enjoy it when the team is playing well despite past playoff failures. You never know, this could be the year.

I get it - hope springs eternal.

But after a few seasons, you start to learn that learn that ...
1) we won't be able to find a good top 4 defensive defenceman before the trade deadline
2) our good goaltending and great defence will progressively get colder and it'll go back to where it probably should be
3) with no truly gritty top 6 wingers and not enough defensive grit on D (and without A+ goaltending) we will once again lose in the first round after yet another 100 pt season.

 

[Gary Nylund]

I get it - hope springs eternal.

But after a few seasons, you start to learn that learn that ...
1) we won't be able to find a good top 4 defensive defenceman before the trade deadline
2) our good goaltending and great defence will progressively get colder and it'll go back to where it probably should be
3) with no truly gritty top 6 wingers and not enough defensive grit on D (and without A+ goaltending) we will once again lose in the first round after yet another 100 pt season.

I think I'll wait for the games to be played myself.

 

[666]

How bipolar this fan base is.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

Their ability to block out the white noise. It would have been real easy to drown in that after that trip to LA/SJ/Anaheim and that home loss to Arizona.

 

[Ciao]

Liljegren.

I'm hoping he will develop into the true #1 the Leafs have needed for so long.

In the likely event that he doesn't get there, I think he is still an important player who will still be with the Leafs long after everyone else on this roster is long gone.

 

[ACC1224]

Their ability to block out the white noise. It would have been real easy to drown in that after that trip to LA/SJ/Anaheim and that home loss to Arizona.

Remarkable turn around(wake up call?) that even the blindest of homers wouldn't have predicted.

 

[slozo]

I think I'll wait for the games to be played myself.

Dude - we ALL will. We're all fans here, that's why we care . . .

But we're stuck in a bit of a loop right now, and it's all too familiar and repetitive for me to even get the slightest bit excited about anything right now. Not even a little bit. I'm interested, and still enjoy watching hockey . . . but as a fan of the team, I can't get excited about regular season wins any more.

A part of me died with that loss to the Habs in the first round, and it's not going to be even slightly repaired until we win a round.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Dude - we ALL will. We're all fans here, that's why we care . . .

But we're stuck in a bit of a loop right now, and it's all too familiar and repetitive for me to even get the slightest bit excited about anything right now. Not even a little bit. I'm interested, and still enjoy watching hockey . . . but as a fan of the team, I can't get excited about regular season wins any more.

A part of me died with that loss to the Habs in the first round, and it's not going to be even slightly repaired until we win a round.

You stated it as if it was a fact, that's why I said I'll wait for the games to be played. The past does not dictate the future, and we are a top contender to win the cup. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

 

[leafsfan5]

The goaltending. I thought Murray could be good if healthy, but had little hope for Samsonov. Turns out they're both amazing so far! Its turned into a position of strength, hopefully this lasts

Also the ability to win with our offense struggling. The hallmark sign of a good team is finding ways to win when things aren't going perfectly. The Leafs have done that all season long