Augustus
Registered User
There was nothing wrong with Berg.
except for his offensive and defensive deficiencies.
There was nothing wrong with Berg.
There was nothing wrong with Berg.
You're looking at stats too much. Things that usually irritate fans the most are horrible giveaways (like McCabe) and looking horrible on the ice, which Murphy demonstrated with his poor skating. Murphy generated a lot of assists, but a lot of them were of the Jason Allison variety.
Murphy WAS one of detroit's best defenders. Their #2, in fact.
1998-99 (Murphy was 37 years old)
1) Lidstrom: 26:31
2) Murphy: 24:15
3) Chelios: 22:21
4) Krupp: 21:23
5) Gill: 18:45
6) Macoun: 17:30
Even in the 96-97 season when he was supposedly so horrible he had 39 points. Yet still, people loved Dmitri Yushkevich who was a whopping -24.
Though, I think one of the reasons why the Leafs didn't do so well was their play style at the time. As I recall, their forecheck was abysmal, which meant they went with a "run and gun" style offense, and Mr. Murphy wasn't about to be running anywhere. It forced him to make plays in a way he wasn't good at, and he got booed whenever he touched the puck. He might jut have been a bit of a prima donna and not have been able to deal with that in his head.
Murphy played the same in Toronto and Detroit.
Macoun played the same in Toronto and Detroit.
Cujo played the same in Toronto and Detroit.
detroit just knows how to value players, while toronto worships goalies and hates defensemen.
Dmitri Yushkevich wasn't very well liked earlier in his tenure here. He became a fan favourite because he was a playoff warrior who was heroic against the Flyers in that upset in 1999, so it's hard to compare the point production of a heart and soul shot blocking penalty killing defenseman with a slow as molasses points compiler who loaded up on junk assists.
The Leafs also weren't much of a run and gun team at that point. They were just an old team with suspect compete level, a cast full of slow, declining muckers with suspect defensive coverage. Nick Beverley didn't get up to anything too offensive and Mike Murphy himself was quite a defensive coach who tried to win on defense and hard work. It wasn't until Pat Quinn came in that a more uptempo offensive game was installed with great success with Cujo in net to bail out the team.
There was nothing wrong with Berg.
Detroit plays a system that makes things easier on defencemen, and they have Lidstrom.Murphy played the same in Toronto and Detroit.
Macoun played the same in Toronto and Detroit.
Cujo played the same in Toronto and Detroit.
detroit just knows how to value players, while toronto worships goalies and hates defensemen.
it seems like somehow every coach that toronto has ever had somehow institutes a system that makes defensmen look bad.
or maybe that's not true, and toronto fans in general don't know what the hell they're talking about when it comes to defensmen, and don't understand that every defenseman in hockey makes blunders and turnovers. (Hell, watch Pronger for a while....man, that guy wouldn't get any credit at all if he played in Toronto with all his turnovers.)
seems like a simpler explanation to me.
Seriously? You think Komisarek is well liked in Toronto? Murphy couldn't skate, neither could Gill, but both were run out of town despite being good d-men.Don't ever understimate what the collective attitude of the biggest hockey market in the world can do to a player's rep, even amongst those in the know.
It got Cujo that hilarious contract, after all.
Iafrate, Gill, Murphy, Schneider, McCabe, Kaberle, Phaneuf.....man, this town just hates skilled defensemen. Every single elite skill dman we've ever had has been booed. It's hilarious.
Give them guys who can't skate like Lefebvre and Komisarek, though, and they all pop boners.
That has to be the most pathetic troll that I have read in a long time. Why did all of those Kings fans like Jason Allison so much? He sucked as a Leaf.
Did you somehow disappoint a girlfriend who is a Leaf fan at some point in your life?
This city worships the gritty tough guy who will drop his gloves and try to lay big hits.
Iafrate, Gill, Murphy, Schneider, McCabe, Kaberle, Phaneuf.....man, this town just hates skilled defensemen. Every single elite skill dman we've ever had has been booed. It's hilarious.
Borje Salming was never booed as far as I can remember. Tim Horton was revered here. I don't really remember the fans giving Iafrate a real hard time especially considering how inconsistent he was during his career as a Leaf. And when did the fans boo Tomas Kaberle?
ian turnbull never got booed either
Don't ever understimate what the collective attitude of the biggest hockey market in the world can do to a player's rep, even amongst those in the know.
It got Cujo that hilarious contract, after all.
Iafrate, Gill, Murphy, Schneider, McCabe, Kaberle, Phaneuf.....man, this town just hates skilled defensemen. Every single elite skill dman we've ever had has been booed. It's hilarious.
Give them guys who can't skate like Lefebvre and Komisarek, though, and they all pop boners.
It was sad watching Jim McKenny cry on the bench though!
or maybe that's not true, and toronto fans in general don't know what the hell they're talking about when it comes to defensmen, and don't understand that every defenseman in hockey makes blunders and turnovers. (Hell, watch Pronger for a while....man, that guy wouldn't get any credit at all if he played in Toronto with all his turnovers.)
seems like a simpler explanation to me.