Leafs 2013-14 Regular Season Thread

[whysoserious]

It is the revenge of the advanced stats crew. I knew it was significant when I posted that Grantland article earlier this season.

The sad thing is even though Reimer/Bernier are a little bit worse than earlier in the year, they're still providing sufficient goaltending for this team to win. At least overall, the past couple of games have been pretty bad.

It's the defensive system that Carlyle has them playing that is a major problem.

[Bankai]

Not a real hockey fan, but I think Randy is a good coach, and he is the kind of coach where you keep for a long time.

[mdot]

Anyone else think that not playing old school hockey and that in your face style has contributed us to looking lost out there, a team without an identity?

[Waylon Mercy]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lWJXDG2i0A[/youtube]

[YogiStewart]

Anyone else think that not playing old school hockey and that in your face style has contributed us to looking lost out there, a team without an identity?

the "old school hockey" mentality has won how many teams stanley cups as of late?
the Bruins, maybe if you squint real hard to see it.
otherwise, the Penguins? Hawks? Wings?
no.
smashmouth gets you nowhere unless you're a trilobite. it's lame to watch. it doesn't score goals. it takes penalties.

the Leafs' team has an identity. you're seeing it on a nightly basis. it is what it is. it's a 1-line team whose 1 line can't score. it's a cap mess and a defensive mess. it has little talent aside from its goaltenders, JVR, Lupul, Kessel and Bolland.

look, i'm not here to rub salt in wounds. i've been saying this since pre-season. the team sucks a hell of a lot more than Leaf fans were able to see. to make matters worse, Carlyle may really look out of his element. not sure why, since i thought he was their key to last year's success.

[YogiStewart]

Blue Jackets won, Sens won.
while the Leafs are 2 points out of the wild card playoff spot...so are 5 other teams.
Leafs have a soft schedule for the rest of January. going .500 or less is a really bad sign.
Feb before the Olympics is a litle tough.
but March...man, March is a killer schedule.

if the Leafs don't play 0.750 hockey from now until the Olympic break, you may as write them into a top 10 draft pick.

[whysoserious]

Anyone else think that not playing old school hockey and that in your face style has contributed us to looking lost out there, a team without an identity?

the "old school hockey" mentality has won how many teams stanley cups as of late?
the Bruins, maybe if you squint real hard to see it.
otherwise, the Penguins? Hawks? Wings?
no.
smashmouth gets you nowhere unless you're a trilobite. it's lame to watch. it doesn't score goals. it takes penalties.

the Leafs' team has an identity. you're seeing it on a nightly basis. it is what it is. it's a 1-line team whose 1 line can't score. it's a cap mess and a defensive mess. it has little talent aside from its goaltenders, JVR, Lupul, Kessel and Bolland.

look, i'm not here to rub salt in wounds. i've been saying this since pre-season. the team sucks a hell of a lot more than Leaf fans were able to see. to make matters worse, Carlyle may really look out of his element. not sure why, since i thought he was their key to last year's success.

I wouldn't really call it a 1 line squad though they do heavily rely on that top line and they've been struggling for a few weeks. Kadri/Raymond/Lupul is a not a bad line but their production has been down of late too. I think the Leafs are making a mistake overusing Raymond because he had that sort of hot start. I'd swap him for Clarkson on the second line. The challenge there is that Clarkson/Lupul tend to occupy the same space.

Also, they get no help offensively from their third line and even less from their fourth line. They should have Holland/Raymond on the third line for some sort of offensive punch. Then have McClement center the fourth line with orr and let Jay get most of his minutes killing penalties.

Teams have figured out just don't bother engaging the Leafs anymore in the physical play and fights. So you need to adjust.

Also, they need to change their defensive strategy. Sending two d-men behind the net is a horrible strategy. They need to start being better there but Carlyle seems like he's stubborn in this regard or has decided his players can't do what he wants. It's such a different style defensively then what he employed in Anaheim and while we rip on the Leafs d, it's not as bad as it's looked if you employ a strategy that doesn't make them look this bad. Keep it simple.

There's no reason we should be giving up this many shots but teams have figured out just dump it in the corners and behind the net, the Leafs will attack and you'll find open space out front if you're patient.

[mdot]

Anyone else think that not playing old school hockey and that in your face style has contributed us to looking lost out there, a team without an identity?

the "old school hockey" mentality has won how many teams stanley cups as of late?
the Bruins, maybe if you squint real hard to see it.
otherwise, the Penguins? Hawks? Wings?
no.
smashmouth gets you nowhere unless you're a trilobite. it's lame to watch. it doesn't score goals. it takes penalties.

the Leafs' team has an identity. you're seeing it on a nightly basis. it is what it is. it's a 1-line team whose 1 line can't score. it's a cap mess and a defensive mess. it has little talent aside from its goaltenders, JVR, Lupul, Kessel and Bolland.

look, i'm not here to rub salt in wounds. i've been saying this since pre-season. the team sucks a hell of a lot more than Leaf fans were able to see. to make matters worse, Carlyle may really look out of his element. not sure why, since i thought he was their key to last year's success.

Umm not sure if you're serious about the Bruins or not, but they basically bullied the Canucks to winning the cup. As a matter of fact, that series was such an eye opener to the Canucks that they went and got Sessito, Kassian and so on just for added muscle.

Hawks granted yes, but if you watch their games they have Shaw, Bollig and Brookbank that muck it up and drive the other team nuts. Shah is known as one of the best pests in the NHL and plays smashmouth.

Wings are soft as hell.

And no this team has no identity, their is a reason why everyone including the players and coaching staff are saying they are not playing a in your face and hard nosed game like last year. Hell, if you watched HBO 24/7 Carlyle was basically advocating and begging his players to pick up the nasty! We went from being of the toughest teams to play against to being soft as hell. You can say it's lame to watch, but it's hockey and its supposed to like that. Would rather a tough team then a finesse figure skating team like we had under Wilson and Maurice.

[kaulkhara15]

5 in a row...

[whysoserious]

5 in a row...

Give them some credit but they are still doing it with smoke and mirrors. The goalies are still being relied on to make 40+ saves a night. You just can't sustain that over a season which is why you see slumps like we went through.

Carlyle needs to change defensive tactics cause whatever he's telling them to do they either can't execute it or it just doesn't work.

[Mohanad]

Lol smoke and mirrors? You fair weather fans probably don't even watch the games. There's nothing deceptive about it, the team has been playing with a lot of urgency lately

13 out of 16 point in the last 8 games, 4th in the East in points with 28 games left

Kessel is top 5 in goals and top 10 in points

Kuli, Raymond, and Lupul have been struggling lately. There are still some defensive miscues, but overall pleased with the teams play of late.

Big game with Tampa coming up

[whysoserious]

Offensively they've picked it up but they're still a horrible defensive team so of course it's a little smoke and mirrors. You just can't give up 40 shots a night, give up the number of quality shots and chances they do and constantly expecting to win. They rely on Bernier and to a lesser extent Reimer and if those guys are even slightly off, it's almost game over for them.

[LLJ]

Well, they've been doing this "give up tons of shots" thing since last season so obviously this is their way of "winning".

We definitely do need to overhaul the system a bit next season though (it's too late to do that now). It's not like we don't have the talent to have more puck possession or control shot totals better.

[wicked_crossova]

8-1-1 in our last 10, mostly regulation wins. Feels good, man.

[Dr Positivity]

Well I think it's fair to say at least that 2012-2013 wasn't a fluke like the Corsi guys were saying. The Bolland/Clarkson for Grabo/Macarthur swap could not have paid off less so far and Kadri's inevitable regression happened and they're still in the mix for home ice.

Nonis summer wasn't great bc of Clarkson, but I give him credit for evaluating Reimer in a non-save% way and having the conviction enough to not be sold/go after another goalie. I was a big Reimer fan when he was putting up the stats, but it makes sense why Bernier's instincts/feel may make him the more reliable talent

The team is flawed but with speed and skill on their side they can play

[YogiStewart]

8-1-1 in our last 10, mostly regulation wins. Feels good, man.

looks positive.
but there still is the shot differential, which is playing with fire.
and this is their really easy stretch of their schedule. that said, you still have to go out and win the easy games.
things get tougher after the Olympics.

[LLJ]

IMO, that was a very dirty hit by Kadri on Sat. I'm not someone to complain so much about stick hacking towards ankles and feet, even though they are dirty and can cause injury too. But those aren't blows that can cause permanent injury. Shots that can injure the head, neck or back I'm not as forgiving of though.

[whysoserious]

IMO, that was a very dirty hit by Kadri on Sat. I'm not someone to complain so much about stick hacking towards ankles and feet, even though they are dirty and can cause injury too. But those aren't blows that can cause permanent injury. Shots that can injure the head, neck or back I'm not as forgiving of though.

I was shocked they didn't call the penalty. They got the goal right away and that probably took the steam out of Ottawa the rest of the way.

Kadri has had some questionable hits, when he's in control and adding that physicality it's really good and he has significant impact on the game. But he's crossed the line a few times too.

[Crowned]

I love having Kadri play a physical game, and love the fact that he isn't afraid to get into the corners. I wish Carlysle had a longer leash on him and was a bit more patient. He has still yet to play a full 82 game schedule.

[T-d0t]

Another game where the Leafs are getting outshot. But whats new LOL