What is the 2012-13 Leaf's Team Identity?

[The Winter Soldier]

When you think of a Pat Burns team, you automatically think of a defensive, hard working, well coached structured team that played with passion.

Pat Quinn was an entertaining, tough, free flow team, with set lines and good chemistry. Gap control was one thing I knew Quinn would stress. Lots of emotion on Quinn teams.

Ron Wilson? We all know it was offence with little attention to the defensive side of the game. I would say a passionless coach and team.

Randy Carlyle, when I think of his teams, I think top 6, bottom 6, with stars and toughness. The defensive tag maybe a bit exagerated, but he is a good defensive coach who still allows for creativity.

What I have noticed, from this early start, is the team has simplified the game, with an emphasis on back pressure, and finishing checks. Everyone has a role, and he makes you feel important whether you are the shutdown center, star scorer, or tough guy on the team.

This team is starting to get an identity, just unclear what it is yet?

Click to read more...

 

[Lebanese Leaf]

Top 9, bottom 3, where every player is valuable and respected. Strong defensive system, and a tough no nonsense attitude from 1-23. No player will ever be bullied, and no one will dare touch our goalies anymore, because they will get their ***** handed to them. Offense is still there, but defensive responsibility is now a priority.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Top 9, bottom 3, where every player is valuable and respected. Strong defensive system, and a tough no nonsense attitude from 1-23. No player will ever be bullied, and no one will dare touch our goalies anymore, because they will get their ***** handed to them. Offense is still there, but defensive responsibility is now a priority.

The Vigilantes?

Like it your run down.

 

[pooleboy]

This team is a hard nose, in your face team where everyone has a job to do. If your a 4th line guy your role is to bring energy, if your a checking line your job is to stop the other teams best players from scoring. If your the top line your relied on to score.

 

[Drmckool]

The team is what Burke promised in 2009

 

[Leafidelity]

Pugnacity, Testosterone, Truculence and Belligerence.

+ Kessel

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Bay Street Bulllies 2.0?

Or The Richoh Center bullies.

 

[Schenn]

Pugnacity, Testosterone, Truculence and Belligerence.

+ Kessel

Essentially this. This team is what burke always wanted. He may not be the GM anymore, but i garauntee he is saying I told you so his mistake was Wilson.

 

[Amadeus]

Jay McClement deserves a lot of credit for making our 4th line look so respectable. He's our best pure defensive forward and his skating allows him to cover for other player's mistakes.

He's lined up along Kadri, Grabovski and hasn't looked out of place at all. He won't ever be counted on for his offense, but he has stabilized our bottom 6 and is our best pure defensive forward since the lockout.

Guy deserves credit for that and I'm happy we signed him to a 2 year deal. He looks like a keeper.

He's been appreciated everywhere he has played, from St. Louis to Colorado.

 

[Leafidelity]

Jay McClement deserves a lot of credit for making our 4th line look so respectable. He's our best pure defensive forward and his skating allows him to cover for other player's mistakes.

He's lined up along Kadri, Grabovski and hasn't looked out of place at all. He won't ever be counted on for his offense, but he has stabilized our bottom 6 and is our best pure defensive forward since the lockout.

Guy deserves credit for that and I'm happy we signed him to a 2 year deal. He looks like a keeper.

He's been appreciated everywhere he has played, from St. Louis to Colorado.

McClement leads the NHL in PK TOI.

 

[janesy12]

Jay McClement deserves a lot of credit for making our 4th line look so respectable. He's our best pure defensive forward and his skating allows him to cover for other player's mistakes.

He's lined up along Kadri, Grabovski and hasn't looked out of place at all. He won't ever be counted on for his offense, but he has stabilized our bottom 6 and is our best pure defensive forward since the lockout.

Guy deserves credit for that and I'm happy we signed him to a 2 year deal. He looks like a keeper.

He's been appreciated everywhere he has played, from St. Louis to Colorado.

hit the nail right on the head. Perfect post.

 

[Hurt]

McClement leads the NHL in PK TOI.

Leads forwards in PK TOI.

 

[JimLaheyprobert]

still kinda early, id like to see a full season before you can label them, but so far a defensive minded team that plays physical and can put the puck in the net

 

[leafspring*]

Succeed at what you do best is his moto i believe. The identity is 2 way pressure/quick changes/line matching/ simple basic hockey 101 with toughness/hardwork.

Quality hockey is the result too.

 

[The Missing Piece]

I really agree with everyone's posts so far;

I think we got a lot better through addition by subtraction.

Everyone knew LACK last year was probably what cost us a playoff berth.

Army bought out, Connolly Cut, Lombo gone and all of a sudden we have room for KADRI, FRATTIN and KOMAROV in our lineup. Without these guys, we are bottom 5 in the East.

It also sent a message, best players play, period. I don't care what your contract says.

Really a big fan of Jay's play, I was wary on this signing because we had a solid faceoff guy in Steckel to perform the same role. But he just does everything that Steckel does and better, plus has better hands, defensive ability and speed.

 

[Busher Jackson]

When you think of a Pat Burns team, you automatically think of a defensive, hard working, well coached structured team that played with passion.

Pat Quinn was an entertaining, tough, free flow team, with set lines and good chemistry. Gap control was one thing I knew Quinn would stress. Lots of emotion on Quinn teams.

Ron Wilson? We all know it was offence with little attention to the defensive side of the game. I would say a passionless coach and team.

Randy Carlyle, when I think of his teams, I think top 6, bottom 6, with stars and toughness. The defensive tag maybe a bit exagerated, but he is a good defensive coach who still allows for creativity.

What I have noticed, from this early start, is the team has simplified the game, with an emphasis on back pressure, and finishing checks. Everyone has a role, and he makes you feel important whether you are the shutdown center, star scorer, or tough guy on the team.

This team is starting to get an identity, just unclear what it is yet?

Carlyle reminds me of Pat Quinn. Two ex-leaf d-men. They both have taken young teams and made them better. Ouinn had 3 rookie d-men his first year, Markov, Kaberle and Tremblay. Both are excellent at coaching young d-men. The second similarity is both are excellent at recognising a players strengths and weaknesses and putting the players in situations they can be successful. All players have their roles. Third similarity is they both love tough teams that compete for the puck and if a fight breaks out ... so be it. They both will play a couple of enforcers and give them decent ice time. Fourth, they both like to pair players together on a line and move the third forward around.

Pat Quinn coached the leafs to a 35 point improvement and the conference finals his first year and was robbed of coach of the year award.

Lets hope Carlyle has the same success with his 3 rookie d-men, Kostka, Holzer and Fraser.

 

[Pi]

Edit..He was on Colorado last year.

 

[Commander Clueless]

We are officially the only team in the NHL to carry 3 enforcers. Hence, we are the goon squad.

(Okay so Fraser is more of a half-goon, useful #6-7 guy....but still)


I like the finishing the checks and the defensive system. This is what we were hoping for when Burke took over; Might not be the best team while building talent but a hard working gritty team with strong commitment to a system.

Unfortunately it took 5 years to get this far and Burke isn't around to see the team form the way he wanted. Its absurd he took that long to get a coach who is on the same page as him.

Also I agree with people in this thread...so glad McClement is on this team. He was my top realistic free agency pick last offseason and I'm stoked we got him. Perfect defensive forward. Lock him up long term .

 

[Magic Man]

We are officially the only team in the NHL to carry 3 enforcers. Hence, we are the goon squad.

(Okay so Fraser is more of a half-goon, useful #6-7 guy....but still)


I like the finishing the checks and the defensive system. This is what we were hoping for when Burke took over; Might not be the best team while building talent but a hard working gritty team with strong commitment to a system.

Unfortunately it took 5 years to get this far and Burke isn't around to see the team form the way he wanted. Its absurd he took that long to get a coach who is on the same page as him.

Also I agree with people in this thread...so glad McClement is on this team. He was my top realistic free agency pick last offseason and I'm stoked we got him. Perfect defensive forward. Lock him up long term .

We got 4 (Orr, McClaren, Brown, Fraser)

Kinda reminds me of the Domi, Belak, Perrott and Marchment team of 2003-2004.

 

[Whydidijoin*]

Top-9, bottom-3.
Tough and hard-hitting.
Likes fighting.
Emphasizes defense from everybody, but allows for offensive creativity on the counter-attack.
Best players play the most minutes, regardless of contracts.
Huge match-up coach, gives each player a primary role on the team, relies heavily on his shutdown line/pairing.

Teams don't have identities. Players and coaches have identities that together, form a style of play for the team. But these above are all things Carlyle is known for and has executed well in Toronto.

 

[Whydidijoin*]

We got 4 (Orr, McClaren, Brown, Fraser)

Fraser is not an enforcer just because he can fight.

 

[leafspring*]

Carlyle had a reporter tell him having Orr with kadri maybe didn't look that good "on paper". Carlyle told him thats the difference between the media's paper,and the coaches paper lol.

Well coached is part of the identity.

 

[Kessely Snipes]

The team is what Burke promised in 2009

I always thought this.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Carlyle reminds me of Pat Quinn. Two ex-leaf d-men. They both have taken young teams and made them better. Ouinn had 3 rookie d-men his first year, Markov, Kaberle and Tremblay. Both are excellent at coaching young d-men. The second similarity is both are excellent at recognising a players strengths and weaknesses and putting the players in situations they can be successful. All players have their roles. Third similarity is they both love tough teams that compete for the puck and if a fight breaks out ... so be it. They both will play a couple of enforcers and give them decent ice time. Fourth, they both like to pair players together on a line and move the third forward around.

Pat Quinn coached the leafs to a 35 point improvement and the conference finals his first year and was robbed of coach of the year award.

Lets hope Carlyle has the same success with his 3 rookie d-men, Kostka, Holzer and Fraser.

Carlyle and Farrish should really help our D, really impressed how simple they make the game, it reminds me of when Claude Julien in his first year with the Bruins after the Dave Lewis experiment. Chara went from a -20 player to a Norris winner.

 

[ForSpareParts*]

Jay McClement deserves a lot of credit for making our 4th line look so respectable. He's our best pure defensive forward and his skating allows him to cover for other player's mistakes.

He's lined up along Kadri, Grabovski and hasn't looked out of place at all. He won't ever be counted on for his offense, but he has stabilized our bottom 6 and is our best pure defensive forward since the lockout.

Guy deserves credit for that and I'm happy we signed him to a 2 year deal. He looks like a keeper.

He's been appreciated everywhere he has played, from St. Louis to Colorado.

I appreciate your comments.