2019 Toronto Maple Leafs Offseason Discussion

[ZBBM]

Considering that North America has a sports culture where any even remote sign of independance or a lack of willingness to show complete deference to authority gets you labelled a troublemaker or a weirdo(Remember how Kyle Wellwood...gasp...sometimes read books?) then it's not shocking that someone who isn't used to that would find it a bit strange. Especially for end of the roster guys where getting in good with a coach can mean the difference between playing and not playing.

I'm glad you've brought up this Wellwood character.

He was tubby egghead who refused to do the dirty work of getting his hands dirty in the dirty corners, and on top of that he refused to suck up to PQ because of "qualms" (his biggity word) he "elicited" (another one) from his "hermaneutical analysis" (nothing to do with our herman, just a $10-dollar synonym for "reading") of Plato's "Euthyphro" (don't bother with it, a real yawner).

So it's not just Russkies who transgress "the culture."  Now, admittedly, Kyle also transgressed a few cheeseburgers during his playing days, but that's neither here nor there.

 

[herman]

One of the comments in the linked article led to this old Jack Han* piece that I missed previously, which I really like. It's about the levels of analysis as pertains to hockey and features a shoutout to the Leafs development system:
https://www.habseyesontheprize.com/analysis/2015/5/26/8656359/the-three-levels-of-alexei-emelin-analytics-player-development

During the 2013-14 season, I often worked from the Bell Centre's pressbox during Habs games. Emelin sat out the first part of the season while rehabbing his knee, and would sit by himself with a coffee and watch the game alone on one of the seats designated for scratched players. In contrast, Hamilton Bulldogs call-ups would often sit together and talk amongst themselves.

One night, I walked down to the media lounge to get a bottle of water. Randomly, I decided to grab one for Emelin as well. When I handed him the bottle, I could see on his face a look of genuine gratefulness. And yet he said nothing. He froze, as if he couldn't express himself in a language other than Russian.

I repeated the water experiment a few more times throughout the season. Always the same result. He was always obviously happy, but I don't think he ever once managed to say a word.

And so whenever I watch Emelin in yet another moment of indecision on the ice, I wonder to myself, "what would happen if he started working with a public speaking coach, in English?" I suspect that not only would he become a more effective communicator with his teammates and coaches, but that the breathing techniques he could learn would also allow him to better manage his stress level on the ice and make more confident, level-headed plays when the pressure is on.

* Han works for the Leafs now, previously as part of the player development team and now in hockey operations.

 

[herman]

Considering that North America has a sports culture where any even remote sign of independance or a lack of willingness to show complete deference to authority gets you labelled a troublemaker or a weirdo(Remember how Kyle Wellwood...gasp...sometimes read books?) then it's not shocking that someone who isn't used to that would find it a bit strange. Especially for end of the roster guys where getting in good with a coach can mean the difference between playing and not playing.

I'm glad you've brought up this Wellwood character.

He was tubby egghead who refused to do the dirty work of getting his hands dirty in the dirty corners, and on top of that he refused to suck up to PQ because of "qualms" (his biggity word) he "elicited" (another one) from his "hermaneutical analysis" (nothing to do with our herman, just a $10-dollar synonym for "reading") of Plato's "Euthyphro" (don't bother with it, a real yawner).

So it's not just Russkies who transgress "the culture."  Now, admittedly, Kyle also transgressed a few cheeseburgers during his playing days, but that's neither here nor there.

I believe it's hermenteutical analysis, wherein multiple hermans participate in said analysis.

 

[Bender]

Considering that North America has a sports culture where any even remote sign of independance or a lack of willingness to show complete deference to authority gets you labelled a troublemaker or a weirdo(Remember how Kyle Wellwood...gasp...sometimes read books?) then it's not shocking that someone who isn't used to that would find it a bit strange. Especially for end of the roster guys where getting in good with a coach can mean the difference between playing and not playing.

I remember Kyle Wellwood less for reading books and more for getting fat.

http://www.downgoesbrown.com/2009/04/kyle-wellwood-is-fat.html

 

[Kin]

Considering that North America has a sports culture where any even remote sign of independance or a lack of willingness to show complete deference to authority gets you labelled a troublemaker or a weirdo(Remember how Kyle Wellwood...gasp...sometimes read books?) then it's not shocking that someone who isn't used to that would find it a bit strange. Especially for end of the roster guys where getting in good with a coach can mean the difference between playing and not playing.

I remember Kyle Wellwood less for reading books and more for getting fat.

http://www.downgoesbrown.com/2009/04/kyle-wellwood-is-fat.html

Probably too much eating from hot dog carts.

 

[princedpw]

One of the comments in the linked article led to this old Jack Han* piece that I missed previously, which I really like. It's about the levels of analysis as pertains to hockey and features a shoutout to the Leafs development system:
https://www.habseyesontheprize.com/analysis/2015/5/26/8656359/the-three-levels-of-alexei-emelin-analytics-player-development

During the 2013-14 season, I often worked from the Bell Centre's pressbox during Habs games. Emelin sat out the first part of the season while rehabbing his knee, and would sit by himself with a coffee and watch the game alone on one of the seats designated for scratched players. In contrast, Hamilton Bulldogs call-ups would often sit together and talk amongst themselves.

One night, I walked down to the media lounge to get a bottle of water. Randomly, I decided to grab one for Emelin as well. When I handed him the bottle, I could see on his face a look of genuine gratefulness. And yet he said nothing. He froze, as if he couldn't express himself in a language other than Russian.

I repeated the water experiment a few more times throughout the season. Always the same result. He was always obviously happy, but I don't think he ever once managed to say a word.

And so whenever I watch Emelin in yet another moment of indecision on the ice, I wonder to myself, "what would happen if he started working with a public speaking coach, in English?" I suspect that not only would he become a more effective communicator with his teammates and coaches, but that the breathing techniques he could learn would also allow him to better manage his stress level on the ice and make more confident, level-headed plays when the pressure is on.

* Han works for the Leafs now, previously as part of the player development team and now in hockey operations.

Great article.  Thanks for that. 

On a slightly tangential note:  I wish someone would do a series of articles on individual leaf players that analyzed where they were weak and whether something could be done about it.  This may be level 3 analysis rather than level 4, but nevertheless, I wonder whether there are drills that can be done to improve defensive zone passing for defencemen and whether you can measure improvements.  We often hear about skating and Underhill, but I'd be fascinated to know how much improvement can really be made.  Does that improvement come at a cost (eg: less time to spend on other skills?)?  Can zone entries and exits be taught?  How?  Who on the team would most benefit from that teaching?  Which past prospects have benefited?  Is improvement predictable?  The summer is so dead in terms of hockey news, I'd relish such content, but it would take a real expert to deliver it.  Few in the media have such expertise.

 

[Bullfrog]

Considering that North America has a sports culture where any even remote sign of independance or a lack of willingness to show complete deference to authority gets you labelled a troublemaker or a weirdo(Remember how Kyle Wellwood...gasp...sometimes read books?) then it's not shocking that someone who isn't used to that would find it a bit strange. Especially for end of the roster guys where getting in good with a coach can mean the difference between playing and not playing.

I'm glad you've brought up this Wellwood character.

He was tubby egghead who refused to do the dirty work of getting his hands dirty in the dirty corners, and on top of that he refused to suck up to PQ because of "qualms" (his biggity word) he "elicited" (another one) from his "hermaneutical analysis" (nothing to do with our herman, just a $10-dollar synonym for "reading") of Plato's "Euthyphro" (don't bother with it, a real yawner).

So it's not just Russkies who transgress "the culture."  Now, admittedly, Kyle also transgressed a few cheeseburgers during his playing days, but that's neither here nor there.

I believe it's hermenteutical analysis, wherein multiple hermans participate in said analysis.

a hermanhort?

Sorry, trying to combine herman and cohort. Forgive me, I'm bad at this.

 

[herman]

On a slightly tangential note:  I wish someone would do a series of articles on individual leaf players that analyzed where they were weak and whether something could be done about it.  This may be level 3 analysis rather than level 4, but nevertheless, I wonder whether there are drills that can be done to improve defensive zone passing for defencemen and whether you can measure improvements.  We often hear about skating and Underhill, but I'd be fascinated to know how much improvement can really be made.  Does that improvement come at a cost (eg: less time to spend on other skills?)?  Can zone entries and exits be taught?  How?  Who on the team would most benefit from that teaching?  Which past prospects have benefited?  Is improvement predictable?  The summer is so dead in terms of hockey news, I'd relish such content, but it would take a real expert to deliver it.  Few in the media have such expertise.

The coaching and development teams' philosophy is to create a structure and system that encourages breakouts and zone entries and royal road passes, i.e. all the core micro-events that lead to generating good scoring opportunities consistently, so things like Corsi, goals, wins, championships take care of itself.

The Process underlying this is that everyone has to be on board with maximizing each and every player at every level daily and holistically: nutrition & cooking, strength & conditioning training, mental health, on top building up each player's on-ice 'asset base' (as Darryl Belfry calls it). So they don't specifically instruct players how to make zone exits/entries, per se, but they will teach them where to position yourself to pick the puck off the boards, general principles of how to shield the puck on your stick (with your ass), which areas to lay the puck to because your teammates are also trained to head there, and what each player can do individually to stack the probabilities of success in his favour. And all of that is drilled situationally so it's a complete sequence rather than a single skill, like cross-over skating or drag/curl shooting.

The formula for most players has been to get them comfortable and confident and improving on what they're already good at, then layering on improvements to weaknesses to unlock new skills, and then pushing them into new situations where their current strengths can be leveraged: like Kapanen's speed being weaponized for PK which he had never played previously.

https://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/2015/5/25/8653245/leafs-skills-development-coach-darryl-belfry-part-of-new-philosophy
https://theathletic.com/548017/2018/09/25/the-full-60-qa-darryl-belfry-on-the-secret-player-summit-the-way-auston-matthews-changed-his-shot-twice-and-more/

 

[hockeyfan1]

Here is the translation of the article in reference re:  Ozhiganov via the tweet.
Plus the original tweet that led to the article.

This was a long, long interview.  I eliminated some segments that were not relevant to ex. Toronto, NHL, Leafs, Babcock, etc.  Otherwise, the rest is intact.


[tweet]1158640564633518080[/tweet]

HockeyKHL August 6, 2019, Tuesday, 10:00
In the NHL, players lick the backside of a coach. In Russia, no one would talk to such people. ? Big interview Ozhiganova[/b]

He has returned from Canada and wants to bring Ak Bars to the Gagarin Cup.

?For the first time in the last two years, I feel peace of mind. I know a lot of guys here, I feel comfortable in the team, I know the requirements of the coaches and the scheme. I don?t have to learn anything, just come to training.?

That is, you yourself would not have pulled out of CSKA?
- ?I think no. I had my own comfort zone. My city, everything is there, everything is nearby. And then everything was superimposed: the wife was pregnant, and everything was shitty at work, and it was necessary to leave for Canada. But it was a good life experience. Babcock told me about this in the end, they say, you have become much more experienced in hockey and in life.

In the NHL club?s locker room, the players are not just licking an ass for a coach, but it?s not known what they?re doing with her at all.
- Coach Kurashov, who worked a lot in Switzerland, said that in Russia a player who communicates with a coach is considered either a licking or a snitch. How is it in Canada?
- ?This is a huge difference. When you arrive there, you go into the locker room - and it seems to you that they are not just licking an ass, but it is not known what they do with it at all. They just wait for the coach to appear, to laugh, to say something to him. On the plane, as soon as they see that a coach has appeared in the aisle, they run to him. We, Russians, look at this and understand that we would simply not communicate with such a person in a team.?

There is an opinion that many Russian players leave for the NHL in order to return to the KHL for a lot of money in a year. Is this the case in your case?
- ?I was exchanged from CSKA, I could not choose. So my case is not indicative.?

But you have a new contract. Compared to CSKA, have you at least added money?
- ?Yes.?

Still, who was the initiator of the fact that you will be exchanged from CSKA? Are you or a club?
- ?At some point, I told my agent that I was returning to Russia. After that, he called CSKA and talked about my plans. Esmantovich said that he was interested, but in what respect - no one understood. About a month and a half, it was unclear what plans the club had, but then an agent called me and said that there was an option with Kazan. I agreed.?

?Babcock is a very decent person, I don?t know why Commodore said such things about him. ?

- Mike Babcock is the most expensive trainer in the world. What is its uniqueness?
?Well, dear, because he won everything possible in his career.? There are nuances in his approach. Every day he will ask how are you, how are you in the family and so on. Do not go past him! Mike knows how to build a homely atmosphere.?

Do you know who Mike Commodore is?
- ?Yes, I heard about that.?

Have you heard his sayings about Babcock?? He called him a charlatan and a piece of shit.
?It's hard for me to understand him. On my own example and on the example of Nikita Zaitsev, I can say that Babcock is a very decent person. Why did the Commodore say such things? I dont know.?

Babcock kicked him out of the team twice. Perhaps this is still the case.
-? There are such cases when a player intersects with a coach in different teams. Like Oziganov with Kvartalnovym (laughs). And the opposite situation happens. This is a normal occurrence. Looks like Commodore just didn't suit Babcock. But he did not give a shit about him to make such statements. Well, in fact, that Mike changed him, and did not send him to the AHL.?

In your career there was a coach about whom you would like to say the same words as Commodore about Babcock?
- ?Yes, but I won?t name it.

?In almost all Russian teams, the legionnaires are licked, for the fans they are priority ?

Quarterly in this regard, an exception, he can put a legionnaire on the bench. But in most clubs we have decided to lick foreigners.
- ?It is, yes. In almost all teams, legionnaires really lick. This concerns the fans, which are their priority. I don?t understand why. For them, if you are a legionnaire, then a priori is stronger than a Russian guy.?

In the NHL, is it different?
- ?In Toronto, how? A guy from Ontario appears on the ice - the stands screech and squeak. It turns out Nikita Zaitsev, who played for the club for three years, and simply restrained applause. I'm not talking about Tavares or Marner, they are stars! Zach Hyman is an example. He came with Zaitsev almost at the same time, only he was local, and Nikita was from Moscow. And the attitude towards them is different.?

Probably, it should be so.
- ?I think yes. They will adore you if you are head and shoulders cooler than locals like Ovechkin or Kucherov. To ordinary guys, and there are such ones in the NHL, they have a slightly different attitude.?

You yourself said that in the NHL there are a lot of ordinary guys. Do not make a long and successful career, but many can catch on a year or two?
- ?I think there are such in every KHL team. Here, take at least Ak Bars. Lyama (Nikita Lyamkin. - Sport24) has everything for this. Only his desire is needed. Maybe he won?t succeed, no one knows. But there is data.?

Do not you think that the problem is that many initially go just to put a tick ?played in the NHL??
-? I went to try. I am such an example. Since childhood, everyone dreamed of the NHL. And you think: "What the hell is not joking?"

NHL you closed for yourself?
- ?I do not want to talk about it now. My dream is to win the Gagarin Cup over the next two years with Ak Bars. It is desirable even for one. With CSKA I lost the final twice, I already want to become a champion. On the one hand, everyone has been dreaming of the NHL since childhood, but on the other, everyone wants to win. These screams and gloves flying in all directions, sticks - this is incomparable!?

When you first started playing for Toronto, you said that in the KHL you are used to giving the puck on board, and there you need to take more risks. Now you have to rebuild back?
- ?A bit wrong. There, hockey is simply built differently in its own zone. There, any transmission, even through the ass, should go to the central one. This is a huge risk! Remember how I gave a pass through the center in a game with Los Angeles? It looked like I threw it, but in fact, I gave the puck out sighted, the receiver went to the board. But then they wrote in Russia that Ozhiganov had brought.?

Paul Postma recently said that there is a huge difference in mentality between Russians and Canadians. Especially with regard to attitudes to expensive things. Have you noticed?
- ?In Russia, there are also guys who do not pay attention to cars. The car has clothes and parks. Recently, ?Beauty? has a blog with a football player Milevsky.  where he says that he simply decided to take everything from life. Here someone takes everything, someone less, and someone - just a little bit. Well, someone is too much like Milevsky. So in ?Toronto? there is Ron Hainsey, who drives a car that is already 20 years old and buys cheaper costumes, and there are stars who behave like stars. Why count someone's money? Let everyone live as he wants.?

 

[Phileas Fogg]

There was an interestingish radio spot on the fan590 with Justin Bourne last week, where he basically said that the team, as constructed, would pretty much either greatly improve upon their point totals from this year, or be struggling for a wild card due to the offence at the price of everything else lineup. No in between.

 

[herman]

https://twitter.com/ineffectivemath/status/1160691902099972098

I was led to believe that Marner?s only comparable is Matthews.

 

[herman]

https://twitter.com/kristen_shilton/status/1160967307579011073

I threw up a poll because I wanted to try one here.

 

[Phileas Fogg]

https://twitter.com/kristen_shilton/status/1160967307579011073

"John Tavares sounds off on #Leafs captaincy"

https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/sound-off

I doubt John Tavares has "sounded off" about anything to the press. But it sure makes for a more tabloidy lead-in.

 

[disco]

https://twitter.com/max_domi/status/1161679454919385088

 

[hockeyfan1]

Leafs rankings ? top ten players ? both currently on the team plus prospects:

Organizational Top 10 (23 and Under)
1. Auston Matthews, C (21)
2. Mitch Marner, RW (22)
3. William Nylander, C (23)
4. Kasperi Kapanen, RW (23)
5. Rasmus Sandin, D (19)
6. Travis Dermott, D (22)
7. Jeremy Bracco, RW (22)
8. Joseph Woll, G (21)
9. Nicholas Robertson, LW (17)
10.Timothy Liljegren, D (20)


https://theathletic.com/1139926/2019/08/19/2019-nhl-farm-system-rankings-no-21-toronto-maple-leafs/

 

[Zee]

Leafs rankings ? top ten players ? both currently on the team plus prospects:

Organizational Top 10 (23 and Under)
1. Auston Matthews, C (21)
2. Mitch Marner, RW (22)
3. William Nylander, C (23)
4. Kasperi Kapanen, RW (23)
5. Rasmus Sandin, D (19)
6. Travis Dermott, D (22)
7. Jeremy Bracco, RW (22)
8. Joseph Woll, G (21)
9. Nicholas Robertson, LW (17)
10.Timothy Liljegren, D (20)


https://theathletic.com/1139926/2019/08/19/2019-nhl-farm-system-rankings-no-21-toronto-maple-leafs/

Sandin might eventually be better than Dermott, but to rank him higher now considering he's in the AHL and Dermott is in the NHL? I dunno about that.

 

[Kin]

Sandin might eventually be better than Dermott, but to rank him higher now considering he's in the AHL and Dermott is in the NHL? I dunno about that.

It feels like the inherent premise of a list like this is you're not solely rating these players on where they are right now.

 

[herman]

https://twitter.com/jeffveillette/status/1163874527207731200

 

[CarltonTheBear]

https://twitter.com/jeffveillette/status/1163874527207731200

Given what we know about Hornby this sounds more like him just writing out a common assumption among Leafs fans (even if it isn't true) as opposed to him being like "big scoop: sources tell me Gardiner is waiting on the Leafs" (which is how people seem to be taking this information).

 

[herman]

https://twitter.com/JeffVeillette/status/1164904190495338497

This is in large part thanks to the talent assembled at the top of the roster, but really the system Babcock implemented is how and why the Leafs generate so many opportunities in the high danger zone.