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Frank Seravelli on Sportsnet this morning said the leafs have been gauging interest in marner with other teams since last summer. No team wanted to a trade unless it came with an extension. Apparently, leafs were looking for a deal they liked and then were going to approach marner. He also said that he has spoken with several players who have been in the “orbit” (his word) of the core 3 and in the “orbit” of other top players in the league and he was told that the core 3 just dont work hard enough, seem complacent and dont seem to want it as much as others. That seems to fly considering what we’ve seen the past several years. – Fake
This rings true. I have no idea whether it’s actually true or not, but it rings true. Why should they bust ass for a raise when they already got the raise just for showing up to camp?
i have no interest in doing that much work to post – SensTroll
I don’t like it either, but it’s a small price to pay not to listen to the wild conspiracy-laden political diatribes that hijack threads and go on for pages and pages and pages. Also the random bans for no reason. Site admin who doesn’t know how to use a spellchecker, less yet operate the admin interface of a 30-year old piece of forum abandonware.
The quote thing is a PITA, but I can live with it and I hope they fix it.
I wish I gave a shit about any of the four remaining teams.
Just wanna see this shit season end and get to the draft day deals.
i read a spot on audition blog on the hb that i agree with very much????
after seeing our laffs have the opposition’s will imposed upon them when the rubber has met the road over the last 58 years, i had never taken into consideration that they were actually lacking skilled skaters this whole time????????♂️
if they just had faster, more skilled skaters, they could just outrun and dangle these old timers into the ice like the globetrotters do to the generals????♂️ – Neckmaster General Skalapy
I went read it. It’s not wrong. It’s actually a decent blog. I just can’t imagine any serious sports-writer wanting to be associated with that place. The forums are full of the worst political troll wars and the entire site is a 1990’s throwback that is impossible to use without an adblocker. Any halfway decent blogger with hopes of being a professional writer would be best served to stay at least 100 nautical miles away from HB (unfortunately).
Ottawa plays a relatively heavy game, but they aren’t on you all the time like Florida is. Florida does a great job of taking away time and space and the results do speak for themselves:
Senators (Toronto outscored Ottawa 12-8 at 5v5; 6-3 on the PP, allowed 2 SHG, and the leafs had 1 ENG to Ottawa’s 2).
In the series, Toronto had a 35.3% PP and an 80% PK
Knies-Matthews-Marner in 73 minutes of 5v5 were 4-1 with an xG of 2.9 – 2.1
Jarnkrok-Laughton-Lorentz in 54 minutes of 5v5 were 1 – 1 with an xG of 1.3 – 1.2
Nylander-Tavares-Holmberg in 39 minutes of 5v5 were 2 – 0 with an xG of 1 – 0.9
Pacioretty-Tavares-Nylander in 11 minutes of 5v5 were 1-0 with an xG of 0.5 – 0.5
Pacioretty-Domi-McMann in 21 minutes of 5v5 were 0 – 2 with an xG of 0.4 – 1.7
Robertson-Domi-McMann in 11 minutes of 5v5 were 1 – 1 with an xG of 0.2 – 0.2Panthers (Florida outscored Toronto 20-15 at 5v5; 4-2 on the PP, and had 2 EN goals)
In the series, Toronto had a 10% PP and an 82.6% PK
Knies-Matthews-Marner in 72 minutes of 5v5 were 6 – 5 with an xG of 2.5 – 2.1
Jarnkrok-Laughton-Lorentz in 45 minutes of 5v5 were 0 – 2 with an xG of 1.2 – 1.9
Pacioretty-Tavares-Nylander in 42 minutes of 5v5 were 5 – 2 with an xG of 1.5 – 2
Nylander-Tavares-Holmberg in 26 minutes of 5v5 were 0 – 3 with an xG of 1.3 – 1.6
McMann-Domi-Holmberg in 20 minutes of 5v5 were 0-1 with an xG of 0.4 – 0.5Florida’s pressure limited Toronto’s power play, which is all too often methodical with the puck rather than urgent. They don’t give you time to setup and find your lane. You have to make it and you have to plan it and you have to know in advance what you’re doing – or make it happen by just jamming the net and getting off shots from the point. The adjustments against Florida – having Marner at the top of the umbrella against them probably wasn’t to their advantage because he’s not quick with the puck and Florida’s pressure isn’t something he reacts well to. Also he doesn’t have a big shot. You want a shot you can get through to the net and maybe have traffic screen, deflect, tip or rebound it’s way in. Their PK is designed to stop cross-crease passes and block shots – but you can’t block them all.
It’s not just the toughness, it’s the pace. The toughness adds to it – I think the reason Holmberg was so bloody awful in the series was the physicality laid against him. He didn’t withstand that pressure and no matter where he was, he was a weak link. I also didn’t think Jarnkrok or Laughton handled the pace and pressure very well. Laughton is fine with physicality, but he’s not the quickest with the puck.
Ultimately, replacing Marner with a Bennett doesn’t really solve for that – it probably makes you even slower with the puck, but more physical. They need to upgrade the bottom-6 and find a way to improve their puck speed in the top-6. – MonkeyPunk
Agree with all of that.
Many raging fans are overlooking or discounting just how FUCKING GOOD Florida is, especially on the forecheck.
Being tough and being able to take/give hits is one thing. Standing up for teammates is another. But, there also needs to be skill and the ability to read plays (hockey IQ).
I keep going to the Lightning for comparisons because I’ve watched a couple thousand of their games, they’re in our division and they have had recent success.
Like Toronto, Tampa has tons of elite skill. They are well coached. They have chemistry and an top-tier passing game. Unlike the Leafs, they have more grit and a pedigree of recent playoff success…. and yet, Florida has manhandled them two seasons in a row. Even with Vasi playing at near-Vezina levels didn’t matter.
The first two games the Leafs won in the series, they won because they beat Florida at the forechecking game. They won the puck races. At one point, I was like “Holy shit, this is a changed team. It’s like watching a Lightning game from a couple of years ago” …. then Florida hit a higher gear and never really looked back. The Leafs couldn’t find another higher gear. Toronto was winning, but they were red-lined and the Panthers had another 2000rpm to ramp up.
All Piss and Snot Team :
Tkachuk – Bennett – Wilson
Domi – Pospisil – McBain
Jeannot – McCarron – Marchand
Maroon – Kastelic – Olivier
Zadorov – Xhekaj
Lilleberg – Kesselring
Cole – Gudas
Binnington
Berube
Figured something out today. If you are using a mobile browser, go into the browser settings and change it to “Desktop View” or “Desktop Mode” and the forum will appear normally, albeit in a scrunched-down view optimized for a much larger screen, but at least it works.
The last several Cup winners were heavy teams or teams that played a heavy game. Lost in all the talk of Ducherov and elite skill, the Lightning had Maroon, Goodrow, and Schenn to talk trash and start lawnmowers. They also had several guys like Palat and Gourde who were not “tough guys”, but possessed a good mix of skill and grit.
Look at every recent Cup winner and you’ll find a similar mixture of skill and sandpaper.
The Leafs have some big bodies, but many of them are shrinking violets. Somebody like Gourde has more piss in his pinky finger than Marner, Matthews, and Nylander have in their entire bodies.
Using the Lightning again as an example : Stamkos had elite skill but would also punch you in the face. Ducherov is dirty as fuck. Even the Lightning’s Lady Byng candidate (Point) started a lawnmower this year.
I can guarantee if Bennett had concussed Vasilevskiy, there would have been a line brawl and Bennett would have been targeted for the rest of the series.
I’m not saying toughness is the primary reason for the Leafs’ lack of playoff success, but it’s certainly a factor.
The forum is unusuable on my phone now. I can only see the new replies and threads by using my laptop.
FWIW, my laptop and my phone both use the Brave browser, just one version is mobile.
I think Gourde resigns in Tampa. The local Tampa media seems convinced of it.
I don’t think Bennett goes to Toronto. And, honestly, the guy is a POS. I’m not sure I’d want him.
Marchand is too old and is a cheapshot-artist coward. I wouldn’t want him at league minimum.
I’d try putting Domi back with Matthews.
Keep Patches if he doesn’t retire.
Rielly isn’t going anywhere, but Marner is.
I bet Tavares stays, but wouldn’t be totally shocked if he tested free agency first.
That’s all I got for now.
PS – has anyone checked the annual Leafs prediction thread back on HB for accuracy? I feel like we need to move that tradition over here.
