FTP: Blues @ Maple Leafs 10/07/2019

1
As always, the Leafs-GDT has too many pages. Therefore, I put the pregame and postgame threads together.
Lot of dislike for their top players and Babcock in the postgame thread. Some good words about the Blues, especially Binny.

The original pregame-thread link is here:
https://hfboards.mandatory.com/threads/ ... s.2695115/

Page number: 1

Too much doom and gloom after the habs loss. Lets close the chapter, bring on the champs!

Need a tighter effort. This is a elite team we are going up against and our first real test. Need the stars to be ready. If kap is in the lineup he better show up and gain back the trust of the team. Need a goal from him

They should scratch Kapanen for one game as a disciplinary move. He's willing to take full responsibility so there should be a cost.

Agreed.
I actually would like to see a bit of a shuffle of the lineup with moving Kap down to the third line and one of Moore or Mikey up to the Tavares line to get that line going 5 on 5

Or maybe a better punishment would be to double shift him

No, nothing fancy. Just give him a one game sit down and let someone else have his spot for a game and let him squirm with the vision of someone else taking his job.

I hope Kapanen is in the bottom 6 now

Trouble is he might welcome the press box against St Louis.

I was pretty upset last night not because they lost but the way they did, our next assignment is against the champs. St' Louis is a good team but we can compete against any team in the league. We just need to be disciplined, tougher and tighten up our own end

I miss Zach Hyman.

2 big tests this week. First, the Cup champs then it's the President's trophy winners. Should be interesting.

What? No, he tossed his stick after it broke. That is it.

Kapanen is too dumb to be on the team

Tavares and Marner miss him more I can assure you

We have a horrendous October schedule this year. We have 3 more back to backs yet against Washington, Boston and *GASP*, Montreal again. We have to win every home game especially after a days rest. So bring on the Blues and the Lightning this week. There's no reason why we shouldn't win both.

Sorry I'm not one to correct another's grammar but your sentence makes no sense. Loss, the habs didn't lose. Sorrrrrrry

This. Plus not going to win many back to backs where the top 4 has to play 48-50 minutes combined on consecutive nights.

No he is not. He is an intelligent player. Dumb move with the stick throwing though.

Detroit is hot too.

TB blew a 3-1 lead to Canes, lost in OT.

I realise most of you haven't seen St Louis play but they play a very entertaining brand of hockey . They were a treat to watch last year in the playoffs, hopefully they'll bring some of it tomorrow.

Hopefully they are garbage and the Leafs win

Yes we want the Leafs to win but an entertaining game would be better to watch

Tampa dropped two in a row. If they can drop 2 in a row we can live with dropping the second of a back to back.

Honest mistake, I'll make the correction

Page number: 2

I'm sorry but are the shot statistics right on the game sheet? Carolina outshot Tampa 44-13. They deserved to lose with that. They had 13 shots in 62 minutes of a game. That is just under 1 shot every 5 minutes.

I'm sorrrryyyyyy

TAMPA DIDN'T HAVE A SINGLE SHOT IN THE SECOND PERIOD. THEY HAD 11 IN THE FIRST AND 2 IN THE 3RD. 0 IN OVERTIME. WTH!!!!!!!!!

Next two games are the make or break games for Sandin. He had a poor showing the other night, chance for him to look better and more deserving of a spot against a real PO team.

Looks like they are continuing on with their horrible playoff performance. But I'm sure they'll kick butt again, I just hope not ours.

nevermind

Hes actually got... Let me check the numbers.... 6 more games to make it or break it.

This is going to be a rough one. St. Louis is big and they play like it. There are some players on this team that disappear against teams like St. Louis, hopefully that isn't the case. I expect an intense game, though.

I read the article and still don't understand the problem.

We gets points like erreysingle night baby! We rockin the earth, others just watching and seeing. They be jelious, but don't be alarmed. Now we gon school the champing champs tonight. This one gon be ours for sure again, we win almost every night. That's what greats too, just win. Almost never lose, just gittin points. Scoring and dirt. Look at our talent. Thats like mui much. Mayne baby, we bout to hit on that score again. Matthews line finna score two, Tavares, John the Captain finna score 1 also. So that's a 3 goals already. Blues better survive that. Is they gon score more? It's doable, but nah mayne, we could score 6. So that's what we bout. We bout that paper. Ain't no paper tiger neither. This game is already over, much better talented team (us) won. Invest.

I think 2 was mentioned because if he has another two lacklustre games, that would be 5/5 games where he has not done enough to warrant keeping this year, and over half of a 9 game sample where he hasn't been good enough.
I think he's sent down once Dermott is back, or 9 games is up. Whichever is first. Hopefully Dermott can be back by the time Sandin has to go down, but otherwise the Leafs just need to buy time with Marincin, Holl and maybe another Marlie. At least we shouldn't need to do that for more than a few games, and it's not like Babcock has been leaning on his bottom pairing much anyways. They've only been playing 9-11 minutes a night against bottom 6's. Anyone can handle that.

Need to bounce back. Boys look dejected during their Saturday collapse. A win here would be a good way to get back on track.

Holy crap.......lmao

Is this tonight?
3 games in 4 nights is a bit woof

Are you serious?
He got caught up in the moment. It was stupid. He won't do that again.

Get over it.

This will be a really good test .
Stanley Cup champs big bruising team
Vs
Skill
This will be an eye opener win or lose

You know, I can sympathize with people who feel that way. For example, I understand why it's weird that the HNIC game is Leafs vs Red Wings, and not Canadiens vs Oilers.
This article annoys me though, as it argues like a lot of people around here. First they trash the Leafs game because we're facing "a team in rebuild mode." Then it lauds up Canadiens game against a similar dreadful team in Oilers because of their vaunted history. It's a double standard, and any time someone need to use that I'm left wondering "is that really the best argument they can make?"
Doesn't get better when they start bringing up Hughson's comments. Distasteful as they were, they have absolutely nothing to do with the topic. With the idea of a corporate message and then claiming that Kypreos and MacLean was let go because they were not Leafs friendly enough, it reads like a conspiracy theory.
If I didn't know the situation, I'd get the impression that things were exactly the way the article describe, that Leafs are the only major franchise and the rest are just minor league stuff. It doesn't produce a single argument for why it is otherwise.

LOL.
Every Canadian team is available for viewing on Saturday night. I can't speak for the West, but we can access the Ottawa and Montreal games over here (CityTV, RDS). There's choice. Also, the Western teams, you know, are situated in a different timezone. If we featured the Oilers at 5 pm to accommodate us, they would write a whole other article saying how we changed their game times to suit us. The Western team are featured at 10pm anyway.
Humanity 101 on display. You Shall Not Covet.

This is the NHL, St. Louis had to travel to Toronto and are playing in a different timezone. Games come at teams at a rapid pace, is that new?

I expect the type of intensity that a Monday game in october typically brings.

Wouldn't mind to see Kappy moved to the 3rd line and putting Moore on the 2nd. Same situation last year with Kappy on AM34 line, hes just doesn't have the IQ to play with players like JT,Am34 and Marner.

4 games in 6 nights after tonight.

Hack article about a topic no one actually cares about.
The Montreal Gazette huh? And people wonder why print media is dying. Most of the stuff that gets printed is as nourishing as Miracle Whip and half as enjoyable to consume, and so predictable and full of platitudes you could spit out a near facsimile with the first open source AI software you can find on Google.

Page number: 3

No. Am I not allowed to think that's a heavy start?
Either way, put me down for a W

They need to come out of it healthy if they can get points, great.

I can't believe how many of you guys have that much angst over what Kapanen did. It was game 3 of the regular season not game 7 of the Cup Finals. Sheesh.

I doubt we see "œplayoff Blues" tonight, but Monday night in October is much better than Jan or Feb

There are 8 Ontario boys plus Alex Steen and Tyler Bozak on the Blues. They will not mail in a typical October game.

However they know the Leafs won't bring a physical game and may not bring their intensity.

FIFY

I've never been a Kapanen fan, but this should go without saying. Dumb play, just as dumb as any other boneheaded play.
We're just less used to seeing them now that Kadri is gone!

I dont expect some physical onslaught from the Blues.
It's a Monday game... Toronto likely feeling that loss and will be prepared.
I expect a 1 goal game... low score. How Babcock wants the team to play.

Yet apparently you are (and your post had a bunch of bad grammar/punctuation too, FYI).

This won't go over well, but I believe St Louis has become overrated. They've been a fringe team for the longest time and barely squeaked into the playoffs last year. Obviously they won the cup, but they were never expected to, and never seen as one of the elite teams. Probably one of the flukiest cup wins in recent memory. Some regression could definitely be expected for them.
I believe we are more of a contender than they are this year.
Tonight should be a good game though. No doubt we are outmatched physically, but at the same time we definitely have way more skill.

Everything has to come together at the right time, as it did with them. Goaltending being one of the most important aspects

This will be a good test for the Leafs stylistically as they don't match up well against teams that play big, heavy games other than speed.

St Louis always seems to give the Leafs trouble.
Not too optimistic on this one.

Agreed, although I think it has something to do with how terrible he's been all year so far, including preseason

Even going back to the end of last season/playoffs

Ontario born players put on a show in front of mommy and daddy

3-2 HDGF against Ottawa
0-0 HDGF against Columbus
2-2 HDGF against Montreal
Sure the chances aren't equal but Toronto has done a good job so far of converting or keeping it the same when getting those chances.
Also I'd like for you to look up relative HDCF% or relative SCF% and it's quite clear that the Tavares line has been struggling. I'd like to see a few more games before talking about mixing the lines.

I specifically watch the Leafs for Tavares, and sadly, his SCF% and HDCF% numbers have been really ugly. I would say his line has easily been the worst on the team. He and Marner look dangerous on the PP, but 5v5 they are REALLY struggling.

Provide a few examples of how it's one of the flukiest wins in recent memory and explain how they squeaked into the playoffs?
Did you watch their entire playoff run?

Tavares himself hasn't looked terrible, but he has not been to the level he was last year. I think that has more to do with Kapanen and Marner struggling than him though, and he's just feeling the weight of having to drag them. He's looking more like Long Island Tavares when he had to spend much of his career dragging far inferior line mates.
Marner and Kapanen need to be better. Marner's 5 points in 3 games are a façade compared to how good he has actually been to start thus far. Nylander has looked more dangerous than Marner IMO.

Probably saying that because they never had to go up against any #1 seeds. Just three #2's and a WC. Plus there were some documented cases where calls went their way (i.e. the Bozak goal in the SCF).

Blues have been a good team 2019. They were not a good team before this year (the current iteration).
I don't think we've seen the best of the Leafs yet, by any stretch.
I think the 3rd. and 4th. lines have been fine, but Tavares line has been disappointing at even strength.
Maybe they'd like to try a left winger on the Tavares line rather than a recently converted RW?

Page number: 4

it amazes me how the media is already panicking over Tavares line/ Kapanen etc. 3 games into the season, lets take a breath. They will be fine.

Or the documented Karlsson OT winner

1. Starting with the principal that absolutely no one had them pegged to win the cup. I'm not the only one thinking it was flukey. They definitely got hot at the right time, but the vast majority of the time in the last 5 years they've been a fringe team.
2. They got calls their way and got lucky on a few timely goals. Part skill, but definitely part luck.
3. Going through the stars, jets and sharks in the playoffs is hardly the most daunting lineup when you're talking the best of the best. Obviously this past playoffs was a complete gongshow though.
4. Is Jordan Binnington the real deal? Or a lucky career start?
Again, I'm not saying the Blues are a bad team, they're definitely top 10 for me and no doubt a playoff team, are they in the upper echelon though? That's where I don't think they are.

Yup. So far... 2nd line surprisingly has been the weak link to me. I like Kappy but he isn't working there.
I'd try Moore on the 2nd line... drop Kap to the 3rd.
When Hyman is back ... Moore goes to 4th line. He can play with Spezza and Goat.
Its very early in the season obviously, but maybe Kapanen is more expendable then I thought. If Moore keeps playing this way it sure would look that way.

Not one valid argument
1.Several people picked at the beginning of the year - Kypreos
2.Scoring timely goals
3. Did you watch a single minute?
4. The guy was phenomenal and a key reason they were the best team in the NHL from Jan - June.

so...we have a 50-50 chance at winning based on those stats?

anyone have any ideas for line up tonight?

Same as the one vs Columbus. Shore, Marincin and Timashov sit, while Spezza, Holl and Petan come in.

Is your definition of a fringe team a team that averaged 104 points per season over its last 7 full NHL seasons?
And regarding "fluked" out a Stanley Cup: weren't they the hottest NHL team from January forward?

Do we know that it's still a month? These guys seem to just heal faster and faster.

I can't wait to see Dermott and Marincin back together -Babcock, probably

I'd say it's great for Hyman since his injury is knee related... so skating is a good sign that he might be slightly ahead of schedule. Dermott had a shoulder injury, so that's probably still up in the air.
Either way, I don't think either had much of a work out filled summer, so there might be a long period of time where they are simply catching up to a lost summer.

They have to miss a minimum of 10 games and 24 days for LTIR. Otherwise, the league can challenge it.

It's gonna be a grind tonight.

I doubt there was any plan for the Leafs to play them before that time frame anyway. The earliest they could come back with that time frame is October 22nd against the Bruins.

It's going to be a very difficult game for the leafs to get any space to play their game. The leafs play much better at high tempo free for all, St.Louis will not
Let that happen.
Tonight should give us an idea if we can win in the playoffs against these kind of teams.

Guess that clears that up. I can't imagine anyone on the Leafs wants the league looking at our LTIR situation.

Thing is people freak out but the defense looks so much better than last year. Go back and watch some highlights of the first games of the year last year. Letting in 6 or 7 goals, hanging Freddy out to dry and him saving out asses.
All teams will tighten up defensively as the year goes on. We need to give more time to the new coaching staff to fine tune the systems and get the players comfortable with where to stand.
Half the offense is on fire and half is asleep. This is why we have 2 elite lines and 82 games. Matthews will be invisible one game and JT will light it up.
Really our concern should be the backup goaltending. We need an upgrade badly, as basically it's a fluke to not lose if Andersen doesn't start. It is going to wear him down and if he gets hurt at any crucial times, it would be great to have a Halak to take over.

Lol.. yeah I think Lance Hornby was poking fun at himself for that stat in his tweet. .. but yes about 50/50... so how every game starts lol

The only Solace is Hutch if only slightly, is still slightly better than Sparks. Less flailing, more puck tracking, better positions.
He might just be our guy to save andersons fatigued arse so lets hope he gets the program and loves the Goaltend staff.
Go leafs!!

We got this.

Please, make my sentences proper English in your eyes and we will compare. Cheers!
I was being lighthearted in a pregame thread. You are the *****e here, bud.
edit: and I'm not trying to be perfect, this is a message board. I just ask that sentences make sense. Their/they're/there, loss/lose, etc... like the sentence I corrected said the habs lost the other night against us... I think that's acceptable, NO?

Page number: 5

Sandin and Holl wont see much ice-time

How is Kapanen still on that line? I swear he better pop off or gtfoff that line real fast!

Would like to see
65-34-88
42-91-16
18-15-24
33-26-19
Edit: Nylander edited his number

Is that #29 a trade ?

I don't think you're going to see playoff mode St Louis tonight. Maybe the first half of the first period....long way to go.

Look for bozak to score. Former leafs always score.

Need a better goaltending Performance than we had last game, they play the same way they did against Montreal for the first 50 minutes but with better goaltending they win.
Also need to get that PP going hoping for a big night from Tavares

I'm hoping for a side by side pic of Bozak with Barrie so we can decide once and for all if they are twins separated at birth......

I disagree with the majority here. Keep Kapanen on the Tavares-Marner line.
Tavares-Marner were expected to face some regression due to their high oish% last year. It was expected they wouldn't have a crazy hot start like usual. They'll return to their ways soon, you can bet on that (With or without Kapanen).
Once Tavares-Marner start getting their mojo back, Kapanen could be great on that line. He has a good shot, something that Hyman/Mikheyev/Moore are not as good as Kapanen as.

Nah, Jeremy Bracco

Agreed. Its 3 games. Not 20 or 30.
The sample size is wayyyyyy to small to come up with conclusions.

We all know Kapanen is a placeholder for Hyman so no real reason to get him off that line just yet.
The real question is if the current 3rd line continues to produce, where does Kapanen go?

It has more to do with getting Kapanen back on RW. Tavares-Marner will be fine with or without him, I agree, but Kapanen just hasn't looked good on the left so far.

I think most of us need to stop looking at 3.2mil Kapanen to get 21.893million Tavares-Marner going. Our stars need to be stars.

Don't they normally have a GDT or am I missing something?

Good players work around there situation.
Matthews had kappy most of last year.
Marner and jt can suck it up till hyman gets back.
I think keep moore where he is, the 3rd line has been gold. And they are feasting out there.

We need a great all around effort from our Boys tonight. We need to tighten up defensively, limit chances, and take advantage of the little room that they do give us. This should be the first real test of where the team is at.

I mean anyone can make them. Just no one ever wants to. It's kind of funny at this point. We can argue for 40 pages about Jason Spezza but can't make a GDT.

First time I saw Barrie I thought he looked just like Bozie as well..... not as much in those two pics.

Yup
No need to move Kappy if our stars play like crap (5on5).
How about Matthews going: "this is our time" in the pregame interview?
Wow.
I love it.

Not that I care much either way but why would we need a GDT when there's still 5 hours until the game starts? This is a pre-game thread, we're pre-game so ...

I would like to see Moore or Miky tried on the second line. Moore's assist last game is like Hyman on steroids. All the grit, but the speed to react to immediately pass for a goal. Kapanen's speed would help out the bottom 6 as well. Regardless, I see a HUGE game from Nylander and to a lesser extent, Matthews. Jury is out on the Tavares line though. Need it to get going.

That is mostly brought down by the Tavares line currently. Matthews line has been carrying and the bottom 6 has been pretty good. Once Marner-Tavares get going together again, the Leafs are back in the top 3-5 in the league in HDCF.

Page number: 6

I think it's fair to say Babcock has changed slightly, but for better or worse is the question?
I still don't understand why you don't call a timeout at 4-3.

STL has lacked centers and a goalie to become truly elite in recent years. They have added ROR, Schenn, Bozak and goalie Binnington played lights out. Parayko has turned into an elite defender too. This is a different team than in years past where they couldn't get past rd 1.

Watch the Tavares line tonight
Kappanen is the left winger on that line but he keeps going back to the right side forcing marner to play left wing.
Kappanen has to play his position or move him to the third line and replaced by Soupy or Moore

Apologies for being a pedant. Kapanen.

Maybe I underrate the blues but I dont think they are that good of a team. Just managed to get hot at the right time with a goalie on his A game.
Leafs definently missed out last year. If we had beaten the Bruins, imo, we wouldve made it to the finals which I think we couldve won.

From game 25 to to the end of the season, they won more games than anybody but Tampa. They are a pretty good team.

Curious, does preseason dates/games play in to this at all?

This.
It's less of they got hot at the right time, and more of they just had a bad start. They were hot for an awful long time before playoffs

I'd like to see Souperman stay on the third line a bit longer since they have some good chemistry and would be good for his confidence level. Leave Kapanen on the 2nd line for now and maybe re-shuffle lines after this week if the Tavares line stays stagnant.

Who the Hell is Soupy?

Soupy = Mikheyev loves soup!!

Mikheyev

Just regular season games. Boston on the 22nd I believe is the earliest they can come off?
But they will keep them out longer. That would be too suspicious.

After reading that interview, i really wanted to try his girlfriends soup

They look kinda similar when you see them wearing helmets. I definitely thought that Barrie resembled Bozak the other day when they interviewed him rink side during warm up.

You're just gonna drive yourself crazy expecting Babcock to change something that's not working. His stubbornness is off the charts.
It's beyond frustrating having a lineup so loaded with offensive talent being managed by a coach who's completely unwilling to be flexible with it.

Especially when he designs his lines around forward pairs. The third member should be rotated to find the best chemistry.

Going to be tough to win face offs tonight as we are playing against one of the better teams down the middle.

Wow, so many games stacked close together to start the season. Pro athletes in any sport aren't usually in the best of condition to start the year. Three games ion 4 nights contributed to the loss vs MTL.

The only change you can expect Babcock to make is to put Nylander on the fourth line for some minor mistake.
If Nylander pulled a kapanem he would be playing on the Marlies 4th line.

We have the Spezza

When have appeals to logic and reason ever penetrated Babcocks thicc skull.

Re: FTP: Blues @ Maple Leafs 10/07/2019

2
The original postgame-thread link is here:
https://hfboards.mandatory.com/threads/ ... 2.2695513/

Page number: 1

I can stomach this loss. They won't win every game.
I don't care about circumstances, don't ****ing blow a 4-1 game in the third, you will not have a place to hide anymore. The players took all the money they could get, they will take the criticism that goes with it.

No Nylander for the last 2 minutes .... Idiocy, just pure stupidity.
The guy was on fire all night and the arrogant a-hole behind the bench won't put him out there

Another loss, another inch closer to Babcock being fired.

Fun game to watch. Their goalie was better than ours and they got plenty of help from the refs, but otherwise imo we outplayed them.

Fred was trash
2nd goal was the only meh one he allowed

$22 million haven't shown up this season

ummmm...team stunk aside from Willy....
but....
I'm going to be cool.
Screw Babs. Babs fault. Dinosaur. Stupid Babcock.

Please explain why the best player in the game was on the bench for the last minute and 30

Move on with your life already. Holy ****.

Losing points at home is not acceptable. Not happy with this team, at all.

overall, pretty good game.
Same guys still need to clock in though.
Get Kap off the Tavares line and put Moore there.

Couple interesting choices in the last couple minutes there...
3 posts.
And how did that viscous slash on Muzzin by Perron not get called?

He put Johnsson out there instead

Good game. Binnington put on his fire marshal hat in the first and that became the difference. We held up against their forecheck well. What can you do

Can't wait until the day Babcock is fired.
However, the difference here was goaltending. Binnington is great. Andy had a rough game.

aj couldn't get the pass through to matthews at the end there. i know someone who would have

Good game ruined by a few key mistakes and Andy not being able to make a key save again. Getting awful sick of these routine shots going in.

Why the hell did Babs put Marner out instead of Nylander?
He's such a biased and stubborn coach.
Nylander will thrive once Babcock chases him out of town.
Marner didn't complete ONE pass to a Leaf tonight. Many crisp passes to set up Blues players but still that's not what we needed when we were down 1 goal.

Marner 10.8 millions for absolutely nothing, thanks Kyle!!
Also what the **** was AJ doing there in the last minute instead of Nylander?? Dude couldn't make a pass to save his life

Babcock is a bit of a moron. Hyman would have been out there 6 on 5 no matter what (probably instead of AJ), but Willy is having a great game and still not out there. Babcock is a big reason why we probably won't win anything again.

Really great game to watch. Loved the intensity in the early season.
Binnington was better than Andersen + Poor defensive zone coverage from Leafs.

Not much to say... just deserved better. Going to be a tough rest of the week. A pissed off Tampa... and Detroit with a hot 1st line. I was hoping 2 out of 3 this week. It'll be tough to do now.
Go Leafs Go

We played well, that's more important than the result in October. The issue I have is with Marner. He wants the big contract, he better show up every night.

This is the Leafs in a nutshell. This is what they are, nothing more, nothing less.

Matthews on the left where shooting is almost impossible for him in a cluttered 6v5.
Good stuff

Page number: 2

We dominated in everything except goaltending. Continue playing like today, and we're fine.
**** Babs for not playing Nylander at the end of the game. Guy was our best player tonight and it wasn't even close.

Not a bad game overall, a couple miscues and one bad goal from Freddy lost it.
- Nylander looks awesome
- Marner didn't look good (which is why I would have kept Willy out at the end)
- Solid 4th line game again, Petan's best game that I've seen him play
- Andersen still getting into form
- Kappy was doing well until that blown D coverage on the GWG

3 points given away already sucks

Seriously, WHY THE **** ARE WE PAYING MEGA BUCKS TO OUR BIG STARS ONLY TO PULL THEM OFF THE PP 40 SECONDS IN.
I'm so sick of this nonsensical bull****.

Nylander should have been out there, easily our best player tonight

Nylander best player most if the game.
Marner losing the puck and getting bullied.
Tavares is invisible.
Binnington shuts the door pretty damn good.

Somebody tell Marner that the season has started.

Good effort, Schenn goal wasn't the best but still they played the champs in a tight game.

Everyone thinking it, I'm just saying it.

I realized awhile ago that clown will ALWAYS hold grudges and NEVER adjust.

Babs is really starting to piss me off.

Nylander should have been out there with the net empty, even if it's just to reward him for being the best player in the game. Babcock weirdly has it out for him

Dubas is the genius who decided to keep Babs

Great game. Goaltending took it though.

That's a tough, tough loss. I thought we were the better team by quite a bit and had the much better chances. Unfortunately, a few players really sunk us. Tavares was meh, Rielly and Marner were absolutely terrible and Andersen as well.
Binnington made a lot of game saving saves, Andersen did not.

We looked good from what I saw in the 3rd. I am sure we will get better when the links are ironed out.

Entertaining game, great final two minutes, can't complain too loudly about losing these ones to the defending champs, could have gone either way.
Oh wait, sorry, I forgot where I was, I mean fire Babcock, send Kapanen to the Gulag, bring Tie Domi back for some toughness, replace Andersen, demote Tavares to an A (for the Marlies).

Tavares should have had 2 assists tonight - set up Matthews and Mitch for easy ones.
Money Mitch has been miserable this year outside of the PP in game 2. Complete liability 5 on 5.

leaving out 93,000 dollars is generous.

Binnington made the big saves, Andersen couldn't. What else is new.
Giving Tavares the C is looking like a mistake.

Very inconsistent so far this season

And this loss, boys and girls, is why you don't squander a point against the Habs!

I sure wasn't.

That was not the Blues of the playoffs. The managed the game well once they got the third period lead.

Not
Playing Willy the last two
Minutes was foolish.
He was the best player all game by far.
The team played pretty well but Marner and Tavares are still by far the worst ones right now.
For all the talk of wanting to be paid the
Most Marner sure isn't showing us that he's the best of the bunch.

Page number: 3

Thats all I could think in that moment. Nylander 100% makes that pass.

It was a tough game and it could have gone both ways, but why the F was Willie sitting on the bench? Come on Babs, I know you hate him but a W is more important, we are not asking to sell your soul for money.

Unfortunate outcome after numerous posts. Decent effort. Not much else to say.
Time to drop Kappy and give that second line some life.

Also games against St Louis are just an automatic loss these days. Didn't have a good vibe going into this one.

I can say I didn't think once about the Saturday game tonight.

Change the lines. Kapanen is not working with Tavares. Drop marner and Kap to the third line for a game with kerfoot and prop up mik and Moore. Send a message to marner t wake him up. This was a really poor game by him. Overall he has had moments of brilliance in the year but he has been to sloppy with the puck and his center looks braindead. Either switch the 3rd winger of change both sets of wingers and see how things go. Babcock needs to give the top unit 90 seconds on the pp or split it back to two units.

Kappy kinda sucks this year, why?

By far our best player of the game (not even remotely close) and we give him 16 minutes of ice time.
This BS is sickening.

their goalie was better. we deserved a better fate. still pissed.
moving on ..

Pulling Nylander off for Marner/Johnsson is just bad coaching.
No one on our team has been more dangerous than Nylander. He has been so consistent this season.
That's some awful coaching. I feel myself losing faith in Babcock once again.

Reports say Dubas wanted him fired. Shanahan intervened.

Andersen has been vintage October Andersen.
Marner and Tavares pt/game is fine but they've failed to really be noticeable for any stretches....Kapanen is an odd fit there. Moore should be there.
Love Nylander so far this season.
Rielly reverting back to old habits with this stretch pass BS
Just observation, I had us losing this game a lot worse, all things considered, we did okay.

Johnsson over Nylander is absolutely STUPID by babcock
Also; Tavares has been supremely pathetic. marner needs to show the F up more. 10+ AAV players having crappy-ass games is NOT acceptable
Rielly needs to get his head out of his ass making dumbass plays
here is 2 or at least a point thrown away in the trash. that's 2 points (1 from montreal game and 1 tonight) in the gutter. 2 points that can mean playoffs or not; or home-ice or not
really pathetic.
P.S. Freddy stop giving soft ass goals ffs

nah, it's ok....
you are not supposed to have expectations quite yet.....
we are paying for future potential....

Now take a look at your post and take a look at mine. Count the likes.
Peace!

Yep, or Mikheyev...players a heavier game, almost as fast and doesn't have tunnel vision.

Needed a save tonight but freddy will pick his play up in November. That seems to be what happens.
He's good positionally but kinda slow so his desperation saves suffer as a result.

So what?
Nylander offers more than just being a screen.

Some egotistical *******

We were the better team and deserved to win this one. Pretty frustrating not picking up any points after a bounce back performance like this

Babcock isn't going to change so who is responsible for that?

You know Marner is going to have a terrible game when he gets offensive chances and it looks like he wants to put the puck away as gently as possible. That London Knight Superstar always seems to rear his ugly head early in the season.
Tavares looks Spezza slow out there. How heavy can a letter be?

Goaltending wins cups freddy let in 2 softies
Where the hell was nylander in the last 2 minutes

where was nylander on the empty net?

I think he has over 10 give aways already this season

Page number: 4

No excuses acceptable this season - either show up or shut up

People posting like their best friend hooked up with their wife, and puppy got ran over by a Hab's vehicle in the same day.
It's game 4. Go out and enjoy your lives. The sky isn't falling.

What are you talking about?

Babcock wants to ensure that they're familiar with warming the bench late in games since that's where they will be in the playoffs.

Overall good effort from most of the guys, fourth game in six nights.

Nylander has been way better than Marner so far, just saying..

Leafs were just flat out the better team overall. Andersen, Marner and Tavares were pretty bad tonight, especially the former 2.
Andersen didn't have to make a big save and let up 2 pretty soft goals, and Marner fought the puck the whole game tonight. Tavares wasn't very noticeable.
3 posts and a bunch of big saves from Binnington was a huge difference.
Nylander was huge tonight.

Binnington is a hell of a goalie. The Blues are obviously a good team but with an average goalie in net they give up 6 tonight. The Tavares line continues to look flat. For all the fuss that Marner put up this summer you'd hope the guy would come out and show it. The positive is they outplayed the reigning champs (IMO) who got some help from the refs and Nylander looks like hes on another level.

did we hit like 4 posts tonight? couldnt finish. that and that first goal by andersen was the difference. thought we were the better team.

Hey Johnsson has 0 points all year, while Willy has a point in every single game and was the best player on the ice tonight ... but let a BabCOCK supporter here come to his defense and tell me why.
"Coach of team canada" will probably be somewhere in their explanation lemme tell ya

Babcock hates Nylander.
He has to be the best forward on the ice just to get below average first line minutes.
Imagine if Nylander pulled a Kapanen? He'd probably be on the Marlies right now.

Anybody notice how Babcock took the drawing board from Mcfarland and then suddenly we put out a group that looked exactly like last years powerplay?
I guarantee his set up included Nylander and Babcock overruled it.

Best player of the game? William Nylander. So naturally he's not on the 6v5 situation.

Entertaining game overall.
I'm not one to care about these new fancy advanced stats, I don't think they tell much of the story.
Pretty even game, don't think the Leafs out played the Blues, don't think the Blues really out played us either, each teams had a couple minutes each period where the ice was tilted. The obvious difference was Binnington v Anderson, and Jordan won that battle.
Really liked how Holl played overall. He was my highlight, if he keeps getting better, he would be an awesome bottom pair, maybe with Dermott.

Ya, I'm ok with not having your types like my posts, seriously. This thread is embarrassing. Its like people only live for hockey and when they lose their life sucks for that day.

People would have to really try hard to notice Tavares on the ice.
Ghost would be overstating his impact

Apparantly he doesn't qualify for premium chances to tie the game despite dominating shift in and shift out.
We have too good of a team for our dumbass coach to be playing petty favorites.

I can't wait until Keefe takes over...

Hey now AJ had a point tonight
Hated seeing Nylander off the ice after such a tremendous game. He's using his body, winning battles, and is looking elite again

lmao @ marner thinking he is as good as AM34

He did suck tonight, no doubt

You are not supposed to have expectations yet.
You are supposed to be patient.
These kids are super stars. We are lucky to have them. (at any amount of money) We should just feel privileged to be able to watch them night after night.
Don't expect them to work hard, or play for their pay....because in the new NHL, you are paying for future expectations, not current abilities. You know, the new NHL.

He's too busy counting his money to care about playing hockey!

"Willy homers." Interesting.

Comes down to that first blues goal... obviously it happens over the course of the season but in a game that tight it cant happen

Page number: 5

It's hard to fire Pete Rose-I mean Mike Babcock?!

We gave it our all and still lost. Blues are just a step above us. More organized and tougher to play against. Take notes Dubas.

Meh, its not so much AJ as someone needs to stand in front. It's more that Marner couldn't make a pass tn, and really Nylander > Rielly/Barrie if you're tryna score.

guess you dont understand net front presence, could of swapped will for Marner though.

It is Game 4 but you do realize that we don't have any cap space to make any moves right?
What you see will be what you get in the playoffs as well. I see the same unforced errors, the same soft goals by Freddie at the worst time.
That was a game we dominated, hit posts and did a lot of good but Freddie and the Tavares line really ****ed up the momentum.
Nylander was great. Third line was amazing. Fourth line was good. Muzzin and Barrie were good. Rest of the team had their heads in the sand.

Solid game by the Leafs. Blues are just a little better overall.

babcock does whatever he feels like; he got paid his big money -> he doesn't give a F about results.
If he cared about winning Matthews would have played more in Game 7 instead of Marleau and Brown

I think mos of us are just getting that dreaded feeling we all had last season as well - we don't trust our goaltending, our coach and we don't trust our stars to come through and win us games.
Personally, I don't share the ridiculous teenage drama overkill negativity of many, but I would be lying if I said there isn't a familiar, bitter taste in my mouth right now. When you have 3 players all making over 10 million a season, 2 of them can't be 2 of your bottom 4 players overall 5v5.
On top of all that, it's hard not to look at our rivals and not be a little worried, especially in the goaltending department.

He was fine. Can't really do much better when that Tavares/Muzzin/Barrie five man unit is puck watching in their own zone every time they lose the puck.

not even a comparison really. Marner is closer to Kapanen than Nylander so far. Marner needs to get way better

Holl looked solid tonight, which was nice to see

I don't understand the call to put Johnsson on the ice over Nylander. Nylander was better tonight and has been better then him for the first 4 games but yet hes stapled to the bench for the last 2 mins of the game.

Yes. And he's looked good this year. There's other players on the team too doing good work. Goat has 2 goals too this season. why wasn't he on?

Somehow they got to get through the month around 500.
Det, Minny and maybe CBJ are the only teams they'll play this month that are unlikely to make the playoffs.

So what? Stop making excuses for these guys. Andersen was useless tonight. Marner and Tavares and Kapanen-garbage.

Whenever people say "Where the hell was..." they usually mean the player played like crap and was invisible.
In Nylander's case we literally mean where the F is he.

It's funny how people say Marner is so freakin' amazing when someone like Tavares converts on his passes, yet he can't do the same, eh? That's why you freakin' pay that big, elite goal-scoring centre big money and not that small play-making winger...but they are the same thing, right?

Leafs were better than the Blues this game. sometimes you lose anyway, but it's the nature of the sport

Hey, you know what they say
Never say never to a Babcock coached team.
I see the same issues with Babcock. Can't read a situation or which players are doing well. The PP uitilization is still terrible.
The powerplay setup and PK improved, but i'm giving that credit to Hakstol and Mcfarland.

Marner should be worried about being better than Nylander right now

Sound game? Not really.

No issue with the effort in this game. Very good response after the blown game Saturday.

Mitch and Andy are typically slow starters, so I'm willing to give some time.
4 games in 6 nights to start the season is tough and seeing some mental lapses
Happy we have 5 points though.

But he needs Hyman to make him go

While I don't agree with it, it's easy to understand why. They went with their PP unit + Barrie (second defender). AJ plays the same role here and he does on the PP, netfront.

Page number: 6

Dubas should already have plenty of notes from playing Boston in the playoffs!

Babs will only make the dumbest in-game adjustments.
AM34 leading the series with 5g not having the most elite game 7 despite playing with plugs? Limit his ice time!
WN88 being the best player on the team throughout the game? Bench him when we need a goal!

Lose 5 of the nexr 6 and by by babsy

Reminds me of his play in playoffs

They have played 3 home games so 5 points is a disaster. Just barely over 500.

Nah
First was complete trash
3rd was down wait to early coming across
Trash

Nobody does except Babs and our spineless media won't call him out on it because they're coached not to question the coaches decisions before the camera starts rolling

The Leafs are now 2-12-1 all time against STL at ACC/SBA. Before that their record vs the Blues at the garden was 68-31-10. What a difference.

Tavares fed Marner a beauty right infront of Binnington to tie it, but Marner couldn't put it in...though I agree, Mikheyev should replace Kapanen.

As someone mentioned, Babcock with the same PP setup from last year on the empty net. No one timers.

Money Mitch has regressed back to Mono Mitch

Can you explain to me how us outplaying the defending champs but losing the goalie battle today correlates to us losing because JT was given the C?
Nothing wrong with our effort level tonight, or our play.

I was saying this exact same thing to my dad.
It absolutely boggles my mind how there are people in this fan base who STILL defend him at this point.

5 points is just fine for a team that's 50% new faces and a couple of completely new coaches. Especially considering this is our 4th game in 6 nights.

Then play Tavares net front and Nylander in the slot. Nylander is in better form than Johnsson and more of a threat to score with the game on the line.
this is the problem with Babcock, he is too obsessed with player roles as opposed to just icing the better player in certain situations

As much as I can't stand Simmonds, he is the only one who did it.

That was a pretty good hockey game. i can stomach that loss a helluva lot easier than the MTL debacle. Good effort, Reilly wants that one back though...

Anyone have the xgoals?
We had a pile of high danger chances imo.

Return of the stretch pass.

Another big test on Thursday. They gotta rest up these next 2 days and be ready. Would be nice to get 2 points on Thursday.

3 home games so I don't buy it.

Page number: 7

No games until Thursday against a motivated Tampa team that will be coming for blood.
We could see our first 3 game losing streak 5 games into the season!
Dump this egomaniac clown of a coach before it turns into a 10 game losing streak.

Like I said, I don't agree with the decision, but it's easy to see the thought.

True, Tavares has had the odd nice play. I am talking about overall though. He needs to get the puck to Marner and get around the front of the net. That's where he does his damage.
With that said it definitely wasn't the best night for Marner.

That is what we always said during the Ballard era when the Leafs decent teams.

This is how the players are thinking.
None of Matthews, Marner, and Nylander took team friendly discounts because they have to play for Babcock. Now, they're not going to work their tails off till he is gone.

Cant complain about the effort.
Rielly had a bad game and Marner JT were invisible for the most part. I'm not concerned they will turn it around. Andersen needs to have the first one it was a softie.

That sucked. We keep shooting ourselves in the foot, and Babcock isn't really helping with some of his decisions. The rigidness of his in-game coaching annoys me, you pretty much know what he is going to do at any given time. He doesn't adapt. This game was an example of that.

Agreed but he's rarely out there in the post game scrums, you got Paul Hendrick shilling with his softball questions and all the others fall right in line

When the like button just wont do posts like ^^ need a laugh button. Cmon now

Haha. No seriously, what is Babs doing? At worst Nylander is the teams 4th best forward. Tonight he was easily the best.

ANd a few posts

50%??? Not even close.

It's the truth.

Love seeing Nylander look back to normal.

Sometimes, I really wish we had a big game, clutch goalie.
Freddy ain't him.

He had a good game tonight

Some questionable coaching decisions tonight
Nylander wasn't on the ice to close the game considering he was the best player tonight
Also why was Moore and Goat on the ice with the Schenn tie goal? Bad change?

The reason none of the 3 took team friendly discounts was because they have to play for Babcock?
And after getting paid, none are going to work their tails off until he is gone?
AND BABCOCK IS OUR PROBLEM?!

Idk I really don't think the 3rd goal against was a "bad" goal. Anytime the other team can string a tape-to-tape pass straight through the crease, I don't expect any goalie to save it. That's the most dangerous play in the sport. Freddy misplayed it and could've stopped it for sure, but that would be a save above expected, not below.

Nylander looks great this year

Why are we talking about the 3rd goal when the 1st was the stinker?

I agree but to be fair to Andersen, this wasn't really a big game. he'll have plenty of regular season games where he'll dominate

Unfortunately his Aprils tend to be a lot like his Octobers.

Hendrick really does get on my nerves.
His comment last game to Babcock was something like "tired legs"
Translation: I am making another excuse.

Exactly!
There is no other team in the NHL the past few decades that plays a 4th liner on a league minimum contract and a non-offensive player who is not a scorer, and they come here and immediately are part of the 2nd power play unit.
There are other players on this team who are more deserving of power play time, and more talented for that role.
That Spezza and Kerfoot are there is solely the reason that Babcock put the GM's players in there. They not worthy for that role, but the GM got them, therefore got to play them.

Page number: 8

It's a routine save if he tracks the puck properly. He pushes poorly and doesn't come across in position. Just sloppy goaltending

Save it

Playing the Champs is a big game especially at home.

I get what you are trying to say, but most NHL goalies get a better push, and stay balanced, and that's an easy stop. Pie didn't even snap it off, the shot was at the middle of the net, mid high, and slow. Not great to allow that pass, but that needs to be saved.
I don't see Andersen being capable of lifting us to the next tier.

leafs played well, it just wasn't their night.
Nylander is back!
worse thing about this loss, is that we have to hear Brian burke go on radio and say "leafs can't complete with cup champions or that they don't have enough grit blah blah " or some kind of bull****.

Links?

Big game, Game 4 of the season. HUUUGE Moments

Just spitballing! And yes, Babcock is the problem IMHO.

Disagree, this is game 4 of the regular season, it has no bearing on Andersen's clutch ability imo.

hey, you do you, but again, I love the internet.

Is literally 50% of 18 skaters.
You can also include marincin, Holl, and Muzzin who were barely here last year.
This is a completely different team trying to help still.

THIS!!! 2 MINUTES LEFT IN THE SECOND WITH A CHANCE TO BURY THEM AND INSTEAD WE GET THE DAGGER.

Well ****. I haven't seen the numbers but I think he can be ok in the spring. He's pretty unreal for most of the year and he's a huge upgrade on Reimer lol

None of them took a discount behave Tavares was here. You can't pay one guy 11 million, and have players who mean just as much, if not more, to your franchise a cut-rate price

I thought we looked really good for most of the game. An unfortunate mistake by Rielly on the second goal and Freddy didn't look as great as he could.
Babcock wants Nylander to be a better player only to staple his *** to the bench in key moments. Unfortunate but that's Babcock.

guy's been invisible and slow on the skates by the time he reaches the puck; puck is already moving in another direction

Babs said Nylander was the best player on the ice.
Babs said Nylander played his best game of the year.
The Internet is amazing.

Good coaching and clutch goaltending are key to making a deep playoff run, we have neither. It's no surprise that we haven't gotten out of the first rounds
Remember game 7 babs playing marleau more than Matthews? Remember the atrociously soft goals Andersen let in during game 7?
Get rid of them.

Hyman's good ay- Babs

That's why I chuckle when I hear he's gonna want 8.5-9m on his next deal ....lmao cya later Freddie Fivehole

Didn't see it, watched half the first and the entire third. Caught some bits of the second period, but mostly just the goals and a shift before/after.
Generally don't like our Pp distribution though

I too wish we had a Vezina winner.
C'mon

Yes. I understand.
You pay a player for future expectations, not current abilities.
The new NHL.

Page number: 9

You'd think you you'd have the best player on the ice that night out in a key 6 on 5 then...

Is this a joke? Hyman played with a broken leg or whatever, he's ****ing ready!!!!! SEND HIM IN BABS

Not sure what's going on with him. It's like he didn't train all offseason or something.

The problem is Pietrangelo didn't shoot right away...Freddie had plenty of time to slide over, but he took his wee time and then couldn't come up with the glove save...it's as if he was expecting Pietrangelo to centre the puck and didn't anticipate the shot correctly...Freddie overthinking it, I think.

Reporter to Babcock: What's the adjustment Tavares' line has to make without Hyman?
Babcock: Hyman's good, eh?

I agree with what you are saying, but it honestly is the 1 missing piece from the rebuild. St. Louis has Binnington, Boston has Rask, Tampa has Vasi, Nashville has Rinne, Chicago had Crawford, etc.
We never really had that guy who was just going to post a .920 for every game of a series and be steady. Every game is an adventure with Freddy.

Babcock is quite complimentary

Dude nearly pots 50 last year and 5 in and he's ****e. Give him a bit of space bro

Rielly and Muzzin looked bad.
Andy not sharp on the first goal.
12GA in 4 games is not good. Especially when the games aren't even difficult yet. Hopefully the GM has some moves up his sleeve.

I don't have the stats in front of me, so going on memory here...but I'm pretty sure we've never won a home game on Monday night.

I've never been so done with this ****ing clown
So that's why you've kept Kappy (a natural RW who's horrible on LW) on that line despite having no chemistrry with them eh???
This is what it's been about all ****ing along hasn't it???

just responding to the sticky kids post about Babs saying nothing about Nylander. Maybe folks need to watch the interviews, instead of relying on being spoonfed by twitter.

Everyone needs to relax, i get it most are still annoyed about what happened on sat but this team is really good and will comfortably make the playoffs, having said that, if babs doesn't win a round again i want him out.

I think AJ deserved to be out there tonight with the goalie out to but Marner didn't. It's pretty weird you've noticed how well AJ has been playing though but haven't noticed how well Nylander has been playing, they're on the same line and Nylander drives it. He was best leaf on the ice I think tonight and has been playing great all season so far, should've been on the ice at the end.

he works well on that line Hyman is missed.

Yea agreed. Cross crease goals are very hard to save.

The Cup champs shut our boys down in the 3rd. This is why they're Cup champs.
Until we learn to close out games, we're going to experience high risk and mistake prone hockey

His pressers are entirely useless. My goodness. Says **** all everytime.

JT looking a lot like kadri out there, except without the passion and checking

... then nails his ass to the bench for over 2 minutes when we need a goal to tie it

He didn't allow any goals in the first...

Yeah.

Page number: 10

We had chances, but didn't finish

Watch people defend this.

If the Tavares line still looks bad 2 or 3 more games in you gotta shake it up. Kappy doesn't look good there at LW. Switch him with Moore so he can be on the right side again.

Andersen should've had the first one. Cherry is already queuing up the video of Barrie reaching his stick in front of that shot for Coach's Corner on Saturday.

That's Kadri 50% of the time...

AJ? What's he got? 1 point? Kap and Johnsson invisible this season.

Tavares was more of a proven commodity IMHO. Matthews, Marner, and Nylander, haven't even made it out of the 1st round of the playoffs.

Lol, so Babs what is Kappy then?

No doubting that. We all miss Hyman. But atleast construct a decent sentence to explain what the line needs to do in his absence. It'll help the reporter in his article to explain it to the fans. Instead he just pumps his own guy's tires. Like he has been for over 4 years.

I'd rather JT be the net-front presence tbh. Bigger and has better hands in tight.

Absolutely stupid that Nylander wasn't out there to end the game.

We had 8 scoring chances, 3 high scoring chances and 59% cf in the 3rd....we dominated them in the 3rd.
This loss came down to goal tending and puck luck, not some mystical shutdown performance.

Is he wrong?
For all the hate Hyman gets on here, turns out two $11M players look lost without him. Could it be that the hall of fame coach knows more than people who post on the a hockey message board? Looks like it.

That's a fantastic chirp..I love it.
Babs really has some incredible one liners.

Do I need to remind you of Game 7. Which game 7 you ask?
All of them.

Pretty much. Tavares did the same thing in the playoffs and pissed the hell out of me. He tried to do too much on his own; he needs to realize he is not on the island anymore playing with scrubs

It's hard to dispute that after watching that line for 4 games now.
Now making the adjustment to lines is the next step.

There was a pretty blatant pick on that third Blues goal I was yelling at that non-call. Ref standing 10 feet away.

I don't think Tavares has been nearly as bad as people are saying.
One thing I have noticed though is he seems to be getting run every single game, and our team of tiny tims doesn't react at all. That disgusts me.

Marner had 94 points and Tavares scored 47 goals (88 pts) with Hyman as their winger...those 2 don't look the same without Hyman...it's obvious Hyman benefits their line much more than Kapanen...need to move Mikheyev up there.

Money Mitch has got to be better. He was throwing blind passes left and right.

Man JT has been utterly disappointing thus far. Even when that line is going 5v5 he seems to be making 0 effective plays.

Mayne we played good and strong. So many chances on that thang to get.
We are all waitin ta get hy-man back. Him tavares and marner was our best line last season. Don't y'all forget that. Hyman is important too.
Kapanen played a pretty darn good gezame and had some chances (where he didn't bank that thang) before that mistake that lead to the blues leading goal. Game winning goal. The cameras were real strong on kapanen after that 2-3 blues goal. That there must be hard on a sucka.

I agree. I don't think that they should have gotten paid like Tavares. I'm just simply saying that because Tavares is here, they all want to be paid accordingly.

Be interesting to see what does happen with Kap once Hyman comes back.
Third line looks solid, so does Kap go to the 4th?

Page number: 11

Yep...they'll run him even more now that he's the captain. Dubas needs to make a trade for Reaves from Vegas.

No way they let him go, sadly.
Not many players like him out there anymore, and definitely none on our team.

Well, after his return to Long Island last year, and how that went, I expect nothing less from the Leafs. In my opinion, that was the most embarrassing game the Leafs have played in 20 years.

Most of this post is a team problem not an Andersen problem. HE's made some big saves from the periods I have seen. Two softies come to my mind, but also a couple robberies.

It is so frustrating. If Tavares loses the draw and it gets dumped dow the ice it takes 30 seconds for them to regain entry. If they do it and get a shot off or hit a post ala Mathews the next look is to the bench to change. 50 seconds in change them up.

I don't want to make excuses but.. there will be a point when people wonder if Andy is elite. He is like 80 percent of the year.

Our player's reaction (or non-reaction) legitmiately made me less interested in cheering for the team, that's how disgusted I was. No pride for their guys. I had trouble getting back a positive feeling for the team after that.
I was hoping this season would be different but we still don't have a single guy who will go out there and send a message with a retaliatory hit or scrum. Same old.

It's begining to look like even Marleau money might have been an overpay for Marner! He needs to EARN that $10M, and fast.

Or maybe CF isn't as reliable a stat as some would have you believe.
A little toughness would have went a long way in this game.

It's odd that even the Marlies don't have anybody who is really tough.

they wouldn't even raise their heads on the bench. The entire NY arena chanting, and our flaky players put their tails between their legs and *****ed out....

Did any of those reporters think to ask him why the best player on the ice only had 16 minutes and wasn't on for the 6-on-5 situation?

I wonder if Rielly is playing too much. Looks tired

No it isn't. Such nonsensical crap should be deleted and banned from these threads.

I never thought Andersen was elite.

If he wets the bed again this playoffs in key game situations, then I think it's clear where he stands.

I don't think you are new here, so I'm guessing you are asking questions that you already know the answers to.

Not his fault. You're coming across as a goalie blamer.

I think AJ's been pretty good this season as a net front presence, who would you have rather I've seen there?

Yes they won. But Leafs were not outclassed at all. I thought the Leafs were the better team most of the night.

Moore or Mikheyev. Both would fit well I think. I really want to see Mikheyev get a chance though. He has big offensive potential I think.
Pretty sure a better coach would have made a change by now. Babs knows best tho!

Agreed .

Butt butttt buttttttt 5P in 3GP..... *******8 ***8**8!!!

Getting exposed defensively without Hainsey is what I'm seeing.

I would also add the Rielly play that led to the second STL goal

Page number: 12

So, you don't think Marner needs to be better? The nonsensical crap is the way Marner played tonight IMHO.

The "cup champs" were last in the standings last january. they fired the coach; hired berube and with pretty much the same roster went on to win the cup.

Felt like both teams were just throwing passes onto each others sticks all night.

He looks like he's in his own head.

I'd rather he start scoring goals instead of standing in front of the net and doing nothing.

Getting exposed playing with Ceci is what I'm seeing.

I think he's trying to do too much.

Yep, sometimes you just need to make the simple, safe play...there aren't opportunities to score on every play...that last minute goal in the 2nd period sucked!

This pretty much illustrates either:
a) How random this league is and how much parity there is
b) How important the right chemistry is
c) How important coaching is
I think it's 80% (a) and then 20% (b+c)

Yeah, he jumped up a ton in to traffic when just staying patient would have opened up lanes tonight. Seems like he's nervous closing players off as well for some reason.

Probably counting his money every night before bedtime...

We need our hall of fame coach to make hall of fame adjustments. Talking about how good Hyman is wont make that line better.

Nope.
Having the players on the line step up, and play like they are getting paid to, sure would.
Amazing how many people blame the coach over the darling super "stars".

The GM thought Ceci could do what Hainsey did. Always seemed like a mistake to me. But let's see it play out longer than a few games.
Coach Babcock likely wanted to keep Hainsey around.

Ok, don't agree but there's really only him or Moore until Hyman gets back to cause havoc in front of the net that I can see. I'm actually curious as to who do you think would be better at that right now?

Babcock wont last past Christmas. Stubborn right to the end god bless his heart.

I'm not blaming Babcock for Marner and Tavares for looking mediocre 5v5. I'm disappointed that instead of giving a reasonable answer at the mic he says nothing of substance or value.

I will say a prayer for him. God bless.

Welcome to post game conferences...

Babcock leaves the best player for either team on the bench for the last 2 minutes.
Don't get that.

He won't say anything controversial because the reporters are being coached on what questions to ask.
Toronto media at its finest.

1st goal want me to spell it out

Page number: 13

It's like Marner lost all of his energy over the summer

Should he not expect the guy who just signed a $3M+ deal to work as hard as Hyman did? I think it's up to the players to sort out the issues before the coach makes drastic changes.
You move people off other lines and you risk messing up those lines too. Maybe Kapanen should spend more time watching tape and figuring out where the left side of the ice is. That would be a good start.

Wasting points when they are playing well is not good for the playoff chances.

It's tough work successfully draining every penny your organization has available.

The 3rd line has been good. What if you move Kap there and he's still a disaster?

Then put him in the press box.
(and this is coming from his biggest fan)
But more likely we'll see Moore or AJ doing just as bad on that line.... (or maybe not, who knows)

Only now? Lol... Wanted that ahole gone since the Leafs-Caps series. The day that arrogant stubborn egotistic clown is out of here will be party time for this guy. Cant be gone soon enough for me.

Id rather take the chance that he won't be a disaster on the third line, playing his proper wing, in a better suited role on the line, than have him continue being a disaster on the 1a/1b line

You need the stars to be better. AJ has been awful on the Mathews line, but the difference is Mathews and Nylander have been very good.

I agree completely.

Definitely strange that Nylander wasnt out in that final stretch - no rational argument that he hadn't earned it at that point.
The JT and Marner ljne need to step it up at 5v5 (they will eventually). Wonder if JTs newborn might be cutting into his rest at home? At the very least its mentally going to be a big distraction

I blame Marner and Tavares more. They should be able to sort it out. At least until Hyman can come back and fix things.

That is true.

Reminds me of work. All the underachievers at work blaming the boss(es).
Yet, there are achievers in the same team, reporting to the same boss.
I guess it is just easier to blame a boss than to look in a mirror. I hope these kids are taking some long looks in the mirror.
(maybe some fans as well)

This actually reminds me more of the old boys club where one guy is making some seriously negative expected plays but doesnt get called out on it because of past resume.

Marner didn't work out in the summer as he could have put his contract in jeopardy. Clear that you have to have your RFAs signed well in advance. Another season wasted by Dubas.

Some people need to earn ice time, others get ice time no matter what.
Matthews 5g against the Bruins best player has a relatively tepid game 7? Too bad earn your ice time!
Marleau is the worst winger in the NHL and AHL, combined? Gotta respect the vets!
Just nonsense.

Firing Babcock will be the best thing to happen to the leafs since winning the Matthews lottery. I will rejoice!

As tempting as it may be, Its also a difficult to move Meheyev out of the third line. They are clicking and we also need Kerfoot and Moore to be successful.
Hyman may take a while but he will be back well before start of the playoffs. Would give some time to Kapanen to get used to playimg LW on that line.

Well, truthfully, he's always done this, it's just amplified now that he's not making under $2,000,000

Overall Leafs had a very good game, good enough to win most nights. It's not like STL doesn't know how to grind out a win by capitalizing on a few mistakes either.

Or Mikheyev

Page number: 14

The sadistic part of me wants the Leafs to go on a major skid to get this clown out of town.

I don't see many wins coming in close games. Leafs.are a 1/dimensional team, no grit, or team toughness and not a very good D in their end. AM is a goddamn stud tho.

Have to get the Tavares line figured out.
No offense and no defense.

Hyman cant come back soon enough i feel everything fits so much better with him in the lineup

Which is an issue when two of them make up 22 million of your cap allowance.

Although they don't want to miss points when they play well.
If they can go 5 and 5 or better the rest of the month that'll be considered a great start.

I think the only really good solution is wait it out for Hyman to return.

Mikheyev-Kerfoot-Moore is a great 3rd line, already. Moore and Mikheyev do not deserve to be demoted when Hyman comes back to replace Kapanen.
With that being said, it has nothing to do with the stick incident from Kapanen, but Kapanen is someone I would trade. U save 2.5 million with Moore or Mikheyev replacing him on the 3rd line. Id move him for a defenseman to the highest bidder,

Not only would Moore look good there, but Kap showed chemistry with Mikheyev on the PK- not to mention the fact that it's essentially where he's already penciled in when Hyman gets back. Why not allow them to develop something together with Kerfoot. I know that it's only been 4 games now but these seem to be pretty obvious adjustments.

Caught the Oilers game a few days ago...drai played over 26 min....mcdavid 25. min...Leafs have best scoring player in the world....but Babs says no!

Anderson is a weak link on this team. Been saying it forever.
We aren't winning anything with him between the pipes.

There really is no excuse for that. It's frustrating to be a Leaf fan when the coach can manage to do so little with so much.

Hows that been working out for them over the years?

25-26 is a bit much for the 4th game of the season but if you're down a goal there's no reason to not at least shorten the bench

They probably thought about it but didn't want to get **** canned when the Leafs org starts revoking press credentials to those that ask real questions

I hope it doesn't become a 'If Matthews doesn't score ,they lose" kinda team. That said ,I think they Ok tonite...i blame Fred for the 3rd goal...not sure why he was in that position,but anyway I hope Babs learns to play his weapons more when losing!

It's a little early to start talking about something like this. We still don't entirely know what a finished Mik will look like. We have a much better idea about who Kap is. He's easily a top 9 player in the league who can move up in the line up, kills penalties and fits in with the speed of the team

Well they won the game...6-5 i think it was...Are you thinking it's intelligent to have your best player(s) on the bench when behind in a game? I don't...I think it's idiotic!

And the first goal.

Too much wakeboarding and not enough on-ice time

Matthews is a Horse...I couldn't be stopped at that age..like most guys that age! i do realize the Oiler options are limited ,but Auston is arguably the best scorer in the world...to have his time being 'managed' is moronic when losing a game. I would be inserting him into every line...'Surprise Mother****ers'...I would not worry about burnin' that lad out at all!

I can pretty much blame Fred for every goal this year...which is concerning,because ha has also made some incredible saves...I don't get it! But I sure don't trust him!

Watch Freddie on that 3rd St. Louis goal. Terrible.
The first goal was a shot from the top of the circle ... he should have had it.
We did not give St. Louis much tonight ... they just scored every time.
Freddy has two types of games: Really good or really bad.
He's a great goalie ... just not clutch.

Re: FTP: Blues @ Maple Leafs 10/07/2019

6
Dave's a mess wrote: Tue Oct 08, 2019 9:04 am Delicious salty Maple Leaf tears.
And it’s funny to see how they underestimate the Blues achievement of last season.
Btw, there’s a nice Wikipedia article with Toronto on the first place in a specific list… and the Blues not mentioned in that list:
“This is a list of the teams and the number of seasons since they have won the Stanley Cup. This list does not include the most recent Stanley Cup Champions: the St. Louis Blues.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_N ... p_droughts

Re: FTP: Blues @ Maple Leafs 10/07/2019

7
Harri McBain wrote: Tue Oct 08, 2019 2:05 pm
Dave's a mess wrote: Tue Oct 08, 2019 9:04 am Delicious salty Maple Leaf tears.
And it’s funny to see how they underestimate the Blues achievement of last season.
Btw, there’s a nice Wikipedia article with Toronto on the first place in a specific list… and the Blues not mentioned in that list:
“This is a list of the teams and the number of seasons since they have won the Stanley Cup. This list does not include the most recent Stanley Cup Champions: the St. Louis Blues.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_N ... p_droughts
Dang, lets' not forget the Rangers..... One Cup over a 75 year span.