Leafs 2013-14 Regular Season Thread

[YogiStewart]

I think all this Gardiner b.s. is mostly to keep his price down going into next season's RFA year or justify a trade of a popular player. He's been as good as any Leaf D-Man so far, which is to say they've all had their moments. I don't doubt that Randy wants a tougher player, but it's not Jake's fault that they don't have enough stay-at-home defensemen. It's Randy's job to make the players he has work, not to punish players for lacking what he needs. Without Gardiner, we wouldn't have taken the Bruins to game 7.

reality check, good sir.

[ATLTimekeeper]

Looks like another W. Kessel, Bernier domination.

[Mohanad]

The Bernier trade looks better with every non-rebound - another outstanding performance

Terrible first half of the game but Kessel was having his way with Weber and surprised how well Rielly is coming along this early.

Disappointed that Bozak got decimated on face-offs.

Phaneuf and Gunnarsson have held the opposing teams top lines to zero points in the last five games.

Hendrick said Franson just walked by with a few stitches on his nose and otherwise looked no worse for wear.

Good news.

Some early season optimism:



Next up: Eakins back in town with the Oilers on Saturday.

[Waylon Mercy]

I gotta admit I was kind of skeptical of Bernier. His stats looked good but in a small sample size.
I was thinking if he is so good why would LA trade him for the pile of crap we gave up? Well
consider me a believer. He's been outstanding. I think the Leafs are a top 10 NHL team if they
clean up there D who know's how could they can be.

[LLJ]

I'm surprised how quickly Reimer has been relegated to number 2. Maybe it's too early to say that, but the man has only played 1.5 games out of the first 5.

On the other hand, I never got the feeling Carlyle totally believed in Reimer.

[fredericklove]

As good as Reimer is, we always have to have high scoring games to bail us a w. Right now we can win low scoring games with Bernier that's really nice to have. Oh by any chance Rielly stays with us after 10 games, really liking his offensive rush despite rookie mistakes. Hope he stays.

Sent from my Nexus S using RealGM Forums mobile app

[LLJ]

I still put much of the blame of Game 7 on Reimer, by the way. Yes, he won Game 6 for us. Yes, you guys can argue all you want about how it was a team collapse, and I agree that 50% of it was. But the other 50% of it was on Reimer. Nothing anyone says will change my mind about that. You're a goalie and when your team is exhausted, you gotta stand on your head every now and again. All he had to do was make an amazing save on ONE of those 3 goals in the last 15 minutes. If I knew we were going to shat the bed like that, I would rather have been eliminated in 6.

[Waylon Mercy]

I'm surprised how quickly Reimer has been relegated to number 2. Maybe it's too early to say that, but the man has only played 1.5 games out of the first 5.

On the other hand, I never got the feeling Carlyle totally believed in Reimer.

Bernier is on fire you gotta play the hot hand whiles he's hot like this

[Son Goku 25]

Haven't seen this in forever? leafs on top of the east lol at least for now

[Son Goku 25]

didn't know a lot of raps fan are on this lol

[Mohanad]

That Bolland goal:

[SharoneWright]

Borrowed from hfb... Dallas Eakins tonight:

[s e n s i]

Leafs has zero depth at forward. this should be entertaining. Jerry D'Amigo time?

this "zero" depth at forward thing actually has been very entertaining

21 goals from the forwards through 6 games (unsustainable probably, but most in the league in that dept so far). first line has 17 pts combined, second line has 16, and the third line (raymond, bolland, and whoever the hell they're playing with) has 10+ pts. they'll look pretty damn good when they do get their depth back when kuli and clarkson return. at this rate, or at any rate for that matter, it really doesn't matter if it's d'amigo, broll, bodie, spencer abbott, trevor smith eating up the ~6 minutes of unskilled hockey a game versus the other teams scrubs, and im sure the same can be said for most teams 4th liners

[YogiStewart]

Borrowed from hfb... Dallas Eakins tonight:

i thought the Flames had the worst goaltending in the league. somehow, MacDonald's playing like a legit NHL starter. dude couldn't even play as a back-up in Toronto.
but man, how many W's would the Oilers have if Doobie wasn't their starter? probably 3 more wins, guaranteed.

[ATLTimekeeper]

I think Franson-Rielly were on for 4 goals against. It's nice to see that we can turn on the extra gear and seize a win.

Nice feed from Gardiner to Lupul on that final goal.

[SharoneWright]

i thought the Flames had the worst goaltending in the league. somehow, MacDonald's playing like a legit NHL starter. dude couldn't even play as a back-up in Toronto.
but man, how many W's would the Oilers have if Doobie wasn't their starter? probably 3 more wins, guaranteed.

Totally accurate. The OIL need a goalie and fast.

I'd be on the phone with Reimer and Lyles for Olivier Roy and Boyd Gordon (settling for Roy/Gazdic).

Obviously cap-relief is what we get, plus a legit goalie prospect to come up behind Bernier, and FACEOFFS in Gordon. Remember, they NEED goaltending,, and Reimer went to the playoffs and comes at a very fine salary/RFA status. Lyles also an everyday guy for them (expensive as he is).

[s e n s i]

embarrassingly outshot, but anytime you can pick up a deuce while missing 3 of your top 9 forwards, it's pretty hard to complain. we can thank poor opposing goaltending and some luck for the past 2 wins, need to be better versus carolina, and saturday night versus the blackhawks is looking like a sure-fire loss if they play this way again

rielly is awesome, i don't think there should be any doubt whether he stays. reimer was good, not great -- his rebound control is still piss poor imo

[LittleOzzy]

Leafs are really taking the pressure off the Raptors this season.

Really a fantastic start to the season. Still lots to work on, but we are getting the results.

[s e n s i]

that's what you would call getting d*** slapped by advanced stats. score shoulda been 5-2 carolina anyway, with the half-dozen unconverted odd-man rushes the leafs gave up in the 1st period. i also do not like sitting on a 2 goal lead with half-a-game to go. the typical mid-week loss (a well deserved one at that) to carolina eh, some things just never change

[Ado05]

What an awful way to lose the game.