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oldnews

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Everything posted by oldnews

  1. Virtanen had a decent game imo. 0% ozone starts 41.2% corsi (really, only Boeser and Edler had comparable, 'respectable possession' numbers, aside from the 4th line. 4 hits. I think that he's probably the best option to keep on the Motte Beagle line - they've all been very good together. Chatfield imo was one of the brighter spots in the lineup as well, particularly in such a fire drill - he battled well. For me, the things that can be done - might be to strengthen Sutter's wing. Gaudette has been getting killed - and Roussel has been spotty at best, with plenty of braincramps - I'd get Mac back in and Gaudette out. Not much that can be done about Hughes right now - there is no ideal partners presently - but I thought he looked very good at times (among his share of getting beaten) - but in particular he (and Chatfield) had some great battles with guys like Tavares - who is exceptionally hard to handle. Hughes actually outbattled and outpositioned Tavares a number of times, which is what I think caused Tavares to take the 'discreet' cheapshot penalty he did - and the Laffs to take a couple runs at him. If the team doesnt' manage to produce results in the next stretch - I'm going to miss the likes of Gud and Kassian - because I wouldn't mind having a guy like that in the lineup for incidents like those bottomfeeding Simmonds antics near the end of the game. Obviously they need to simplify their puck movement, but not gonna snowtire that one again.
  2. @Boudrias There is no 'defense' for the kind of turnovers they've been committing - so I'm hesitant to reduce their present struggles to 'defense' - which they, in general, are entirely capable of playing. The absence of Tanev certainly reduces the quality/ability of their top end shutdown unit. True that they are struggling on possession - they have a number of young players that give up territory, plain and simple - and are likely to for some time to come - but they've overcome that in the past by working harder, working smarter and taking advantage of the high end opportunities they are capable of producing. I'm not going to rip them though - because the mistakes they are making are for lack of a better word, peewee mistakes that sink NHL results. Anyhow the principal reason I'm responding to that post is because I believe/agree that they should accept the course of what transpires this year. On a certain level I think have taken similar 'transition' steps to those they took a few years ago. I'm ok if this group doesn't excel in the present circumstances - I think the Marky/Demko e.d. thing somewhat dictated a different timeline - so if anything I'd probably take the opportunity to move players like Roussel, Benn - and do away with the bonus cap up front this season. I also believe they are a real wild card team - enough talent (and respectable foundation) to compete - but too young to be expected to. If I were going to make any moves it would be to dump a bit of cap - and not necessarily replace it. If they could move guys like Roussel, Benn - perhaps even a Gaudette for a Nick Paul type young player that makes the bottom six stronger while not spending that bonus cap - great. They could even surprise people - because really, right now they are getting sub-par performance from EP, Miller, Hughes, Horvat, and Gaudette looks like he's not really sustaining the step forward he appeared to take....So, whatever the reasons for that - whether it be a temporary confidence and concentration funk, or just the inability to handle this kind of schedule/circumstance - regardless, I'd be making transition moves this season. The problem, however, is that they, once again, serve dual masters - so you have both an ownership that may not be too keen on another transition year, and a fanbase that has little concept of context, and unrealistic, raised expectations of contending inthe short term. Whether Benning would have the security/patience to do what I'm suggesting - is highly debatable. But lots of teams have had these kinds of ebs and flows - and if they do have a poor season and wind up one spot above Ottawa in the north - you never know - that could result in drafting precisely the kind of defenseman that would fill out this group very nicely in the future. So I have 'belief' in this group - they are capable of turning it around, but I'm also not particularly attached to short term results.
  3. Ridiculous take. The Canucks had JT Miller out with Covid 'protocol' at the time (and perhaps he wasn't healthy/ready when he returned, because he looks to be about 50%). 100% legit reason to claim a replacement - that could win faceoffs, help produce secondary scoring. But, but Spezza is special - Spezza has feelingz. What is childish is thinking you are an exception to the CBA... Everyone is subject to the same rules (allegedly) - and they get compensated extremely well. If a veteran player takes a hometown discount and plays for next to nothing for your franchise - don't waive him. Find an alternative. This is entirely on the Leafs., the franchise that brought you archipelago Robidas, who have shafted numerous players in their wake. Coming in here and solf-soaping as if this is principally an issue of a player's feelings - when their own franchise just waived them - is absurd wadr. Just about as absurd as all the whimpering about Babcock having scratched him - right on the heels of the Laffs waiving him. You're peddling a ridiculous myth as if Toronto had no choice but waive him. Woe be anyone that exercises their right - to claim a player - to, ironically, keep that player on an active NHL roster. What a mushy-minded story they've spun. This has nothing to do with 'respect'. If there's any disrespect involved it comes straight from Spezza and the Leafs themselves.
  4. retread thread if there ever was one. been. done. before. endlessly (and in far more detail/context). sorry - but that wasn't worth the read. .
  5. I think that's a good take. And defense is also never simply about defensemen - it's about units that include forward lines. Top line is getting killed on 'possession' - Hughes similarly struggline (to be expected) - but aren't finishing at the level they need to to close that gap (they produce great chances, but will need to finish) - and the powerplay is sputtering as well. To make things worse - Horvat's line is also getting beaten 5 on 5 - in spite of both the bottom six lines performing fairly well. When Horvat has 2.6 on ice goals for, 3.9 against per 60 - and not really handling particularly hard minutes (as when they're missing another center, or Gaudette centers a line that needs sheltering) - then the team is probably in trouble. Both top 6 lines are struggling - and it doesn't really help take much pressure off the blueline. I also think the that concept of a #1, #2 etc is oversimplified, particularly in the 'modern' game. Might make more sense to rate a defenseman on both criteria. Ie a # X offensively, and #X defensively. Hughes is absolutely not a #1. A #1 is a top producing D that is also a primary shutdown D - a two way D. Hughes would be a 1/6 Edler may be a 3/2 Myers a 3/3 or 4 Schmidt a 2/4? Tanev would have been a 4 or 5/1 Realistically - there is the range of deployment - matchups to sheltering, ozone to dzone starts, powerplay to penalty kill - some guys are "top 4" in one respect and not the other....
  6. Venting/ranting is like punching a table. You'd think it would be 'cathartic' = make you feel better, but it doesn't - it has precisely the opposite (snowball) effect. Is that going to help 'survive' the losing...? Anyhow - it's fair to say that my 'approach' is no 'better'. I shouldn't bother posting the day of a loss. I get it. I got my first jersey in the midst of the Jets record 23 game losing / 30 game winless streak - and took a lot of crap wearing that jersey. No fun in the Oiler heyday. My teams have never won anything. The Canucks and Jets - not just losses, but lost a team (to a desert) entirely. Decades and decades of it. But I think that rabid Winnipeg culture (a generalization, true, but) - where the team may suck, but they are their team, regardless - is the "winning" mentality in the end, even if the team doesn't necessarily (and yeah, there are good lessons for us in sport, even for 'fans'). It aint about 'accepting losing' - if kicking players when they're down doesn't effect them, neither does fans 'not accepting losing' make a team win. I don't think the players need to be hanging on PGT posts for the point to be valid. It doesn't mean suffering homer delusions either - it means they are their team, simple as that - criticize away when necessary, but keep the bottom line in mind. For me, it's almost one of the fundamentals of sport - or there's really no point. The odds are always that your team is going to either not play, or lose the last game of the season (29 of 30). Dwelling on expectations/entitlements are a bad gamble. If the bottom line is incessantly to rip it apart....that's easy, but really is a waste that has a snowball effect - like punching the table over it. I don't know - I think I've probably been here too long lol.
  7. I remember that old photo of Paddy Quinn smoking a cigar but can't find one of Burke...
  8. The Isles have 2 players under 26 years old in their top 11 scorers. Last year- a couple 22 yr olds and 2x 25 in their top 14....(everyone with more than 10 pts). 6 of the Canucks top 8 are under 25. same thing last year. 18 on the roster 13 have been in the lineup this year. slightly different 'stages' of those two teams, if you're looking to make them comparables.
  9. I think the good news is that there's hockey to watch, period. Maybe not very good hockey - but I have lowered expectations, so.....it beats tennis.
  10. I 'hate' the Leafs as much as anyone here. And hate losing to that city. But I see you sidestepped the irony - about kicking people when they're down. If you don't approve - (and certainly no one would want that in a team-mate) - then why approach your team in precisely that way? That's the ugly point here. For me, even the way you frame your objection is odd - no one is stopping you from venting. You're the moderator here. If I had the power to "let people vent" or not, I couldn't care less to exercise it. But I'd "let" the counterpoint be vented - and that's what that was. I take your point that it's probably a waste of time and words that will be received the wrong way. I'm not here to be yet another enabler of the 'poor-me/poor us' / 'we' suck thing that runs rampant constantly in here. I should know better by now though - these GDT/PGTs are not something I should engage in.
  11. Chatfield was very good, considering. Hughes got the better of Tavares in mulitple board battles - frustrated the milkhotdog. Not much - but something.
  12. are you referring to the Canucks? or is the "us" the fans in here kicking every conceivable aspect of their team? might be some ironing there.
  13. great meal substitute as well. but for me it's gotta be dense - I hate those poofy/fluffy cheesecakes.
  14. actually - what I posted (and is missing there) was a quote from Malhotra himself - not merely a Leafsnet fluffjob.
  15. the silver lining is always there with any loss. I can come in here and re-re-re-re-realize that a market full of entitled losers doesn't 'deserve' a winner.
  16. crumble works. cake works cookies work. but I like pie best.
  17. Spamaplan - 4 first round exits. Benning's team went further with a core of 20 and 21 year olds (and no pair of lottery champions). thanks for the fishbowl selfie, though.
  18. the usual troll material.
  19. any team in the league could have claimed him on waivers a few weeks ago. er - I mean, the Leafs are geniuses! What an idiot that Babcock was for scratching him.
  20. Wadr - if you have Tavares, Marner, Matchews, Reilly, Double-Flamingo on your 1st powerplay unit - and you need to bring in a powerplay coach....LOL. That's not what they signed him for. He went there to make better two way players out of guys out of their young top 10 picks... The reality is that Malhotra was a free agent - both teams made offers to him - he chose Toronto. The whining around here - as if he was "let go" is misrepresentative / revision.
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