General Leafs Talk v2.0

[CarltonTheBear]

Nice article on Mr. What-Does-He-Do:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/leafs-beat/leafs-kulemin-not-a-big-fan-of-don-cherry/article16522208/

Interesting that he talks about being on the powerplay in Russia. I really think he should be there for the Leafs right now. Especially with that second unit lacking a net-front presence. In the Winnipeg game there were a few times where a player got a shot off but Raymond/Lupul were nowhere near the front of the net.

 

[ZBBM]

Also, he's 7th on the team in hits, 4th in terms of forwards.  Of those 4 players, only Clarkson has played fewer games.  Kulemin is averaging 2.1 hits/game.  If he played the same number of games as McClement he would be well ahead of him.  If he played the same number of games as Kadri he would have 107 hits to Kadri's 109. 

Cherry can park his xenophobic garbage.

Agreed.  Kule is not the problem.

Still, he deserves some criticism for not producing more offensively.  We know he's got the talent to, he's done it in the past.  When I read that he's "looking to get confidence," I mean, come on, he's not a rookie now.  He just needs to shoot a lot more.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Also, he's 7th on the team in hits, 4th in terms of forwards.  Of those 4 players, only Clarkson has played fewer games.  Kulemin is averaging 2.1 hits/game.  If he played the same number of games as McClement he would be well ahead of him.  If he played the same number of games as Kadri he would have 107 hits to Kadri's 109. 

Cherry can park his xenophobic garbage.

Agreed.  Kule is not the problem.

Still, he deserves some criticism for not producing more offensively.  We know he's got the talent to, he's done it in the past.  When I read that he's "looking to get confidence," I mean, come on, he's not a rookie now.  He just needs to shoot a lot more.

But how are you supposed to shoot more when you're playing with McClement/Clarkson and always in your own end?  I mean, Clarkson is averaging close to half the number of shots per game that he was averaging last season in NJ.  And we all know McClement struggles offensively to begin with.

Then add to that not getting any PP time, and it's not exactly surprising the offensive production isn't coming.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

Also, he's 7th on the team in hits, 4th in terms of forwards.  Of those 4 players, only Clarkson has played fewer games.  Kulemin is averaging 2.1 hits/game.  If he played the same number of games as McClement he would be well ahead of him.  If he played the same number of games as Kadri he would have 107 hits to Kadri's 109. 

Cherry can park his xenophobic garbage.

Agreed.  Kule is not the problem.

Still, he deserves some criticism for not producing more offensively.  We know he's got the talent to, he's done it in the past.  When I read that he's "looking to get confidence," I mean, come on, he's not a rookie now.  He just needs to shoot a lot more.

When played in an offensive role, he's not been terrible.

With Kadri and Lupes, he looks to have more offensive potential.

I think part of the issue is he is a good single-minded type of soldier.

When told to be a checker, you get a pure checker on the 3rd line, when told to go out an help generate offense and create space on the 2nd line, that's just what you get.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

Just as an aside, TSN has the leafs at 22 on their weekly power rankings this week, despite the fact that they have more regulation wins than 9 of the teams ahead of them.

A little strange.

 

[bustaheims]

Just as an aside, TSN has the leafs at 22 on their weekly power rankings this week, despite the fact that they have more regulation wins than 9 of the teams ahead of them.

A little strange.

They only have more ROW than 6 teams in the entire league.

 

[ZBBM]

Also, he's 7th on the team in hits, 4th in terms of forwards.  Of those 4 players, only Clarkson has played fewer games.  Kulemin is averaging 2.1 hits/game.  If he played the same number of games as McClement he would be well ahead of him.  If he played the same number of games as Kadri he would have 107 hits to Kadri's 109. 

Cherry can park his xenophobic garbage.

Agreed.  Kule is not the problem.

Still, he deserves some criticism for not producing more offensively.  We know he's got the talent to, he's done it in the past.  When I read that he's "looking to get confidence," I mean, come on, he's not a rookie now.  He just needs to shoot a lot more.

But how are you supposed to shoot more when you're playing with McClement/Clarkson and always in your own end?  I mean, Clarkson is averaging close to half the number of shots per game that he was averaging last season in NJ.  And we all know McClement struggles offensively to begin with.

Then add to that not getting any PP time, and it's not exactly surprising the offensive production isn't coming.

Well, of course they aren't always in their own end, as evidenced by all the complaints about McClement not being able to score.  All the more reason for Kule to shoot more whenever he's paired with those two.  He's the offensive talent among them.  Yet I've often seen him (literally) pass on shots that he should have taken. 

 

[ZBBM]

Also, he's 7th on the team in hits, 4th in terms of forwards.  Of those 4 players, only Clarkson has played fewer games.  Kulemin is averaging 2.1 hits/game.  If he played the same number of games as McClement he would be well ahead of him.  If he played the same number of games as Kadri he would have 107 hits to Kadri's 109. 

Cherry can park his xenophobic garbage.

Agreed.  Kule is not the problem.

Still, he deserves some criticism for not producing more offensively.  We know he's got the talent to, he's done it in the past.  When I read that he's "looking to get confidence," I mean, come on, he's not a rookie now.  He just needs to shoot a lot more.

When played in an offensive role, he's not been terrible.

With Kadri and Lupes, he looks to have more offensive potential.

I think part of the issue is he is a good single-minded type of soldier.

When told to be a checker, you get a pure checker on the 3rd line, when told to go out an help generate offense and create space on the 2nd line, that's just what you get.

See above.  The 3rd line is not entirely w/o chances to score, after all.

 

[Boston Leaf]

with all things equal Cherry would take Coloton Orr or Frasier McLaren over Kulemin. so I don't hold much stock in that senile old goats opinions. His mindset is still stuck in the 70's  and early 80's brand of hockey

 

[mc]

He Cherry picks. That's all he does

(pun intended)

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Also, he's 7th on the team in hits, 4th in terms of forwards.  Of those 4 players, only Clarkson has played fewer games.  Kulemin is averaging 2.1 hits/game.  If he played the same number of games as McClement he would be well ahead of him.  If he played the same number of games as Kadri he would have 107 hits to Kadri's 109. 

Cherry can park his xenophobic garbage.

Agreed.  Kule is not the problem.

Still, he deserves some criticism for not producing more offensively.  We know he's got the talent to, he's done it in the past.  When I read that he's "looking to get confidence," I mean, come on, he's not a rookie now.  He just needs to shoot a lot more.

But how are you supposed to shoot more when you're playing with McClement/Clarkson and always in your own end?  I mean, Clarkson is averaging close to half the number of shots per game that he was averaging last season in NJ.  And we all know McClement struggles offensively to begin with.

Then add to that not getting any PP time, and it's not exactly surprising the offensive production isn't coming.

Well, of course they aren't always in their own end, as evidenced by all the complaints about McClement not being able to score.  All the more reason for Kule to shoot more whenever he's paired with those two.  He's the offensive talent among them.  Yet I've often seen him (literally) pass on shots that he should have taken.

I didn't think I had to specify when I said "always in their own end" that I didn't mean they literally are never in the offensive zone ever.

This link shows that McClement/Clarkson/Kulemin are all among the bottom 25 forwards in the league for % of shifts started in the offensive zone.

If you're starting so few of your shifts in the offensive zone, it's not a great leap of logic to say that you're going to have fewer offensive opportunities and, therefore, fewer offensive production.

I don't doubt that you've seen him make passes when he could have shot.  The point is that if we're looking at it as a trend and in the larger picture, he's just not getting the offensive zone time or offensively oriented linemates to put up the same shot totals as he has in the past, or to get the same offensive chances.  Anecdotal evidence of viewing him pass up a shot or whatever doesn't change that one way or another, it's just noise in the larger scheme of things.  He's still averaging almost 2 shots per game despite this.

I'd hazard a guess that almost any player on the team would see their offensive production fall if they were played the minutes Kulemin is played, Kessel included.

EDIT:

Forgot to add - since moving to a better line, he has 4 points in 6 games and 2 goals.  It's way too small a sample to say anything yet, but still worth considering.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

Just as an aside, TSN has the leafs at 22 on their weekly power rankings this week, despite the fact that they have more regulation wins than 9 of the teams ahead of them.

A little strange.

They only have more ROW than 6 teams in the entire league.

Yeah, that should have read wins.

 

[drummond]

I would replace Kuli for Raymond on PP2

 

[moon111]

I can't fathom why Kulemin would want to return to Toronto next season.  Unless he likes the city.  But Kulemin-Malkin or Kulemin-Grabovski-Ovechkin sound awful nice, and an UFA bidding war might feel allot better in the pocket book as well.  No Carlyle might be another selling feature to get out of town.  If I did everything that was asked of me, got $2,800,000/season... then saw David Clarkson come in for $5 million?  I'd be pissed.  And I'd ask for just as much from the Leafs if I were him.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

Nice article on Mr. What-Does-He-Do:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/leafs-beat/leafs-kulemin-not-a-big-fan-of-don-cherry/article16522208/

Interesting that he talks about being on the powerplay in Russia. I really think he should be there for the Leafs right now. Especially with that second unit lacking a net-front presence. In the Winnipeg game there were a few times where a player got a shot off but Raymond/Lupul were nowhere near the front of the net.

I completely agree. The first line PP unit is successful partly because of JvR's net presence. The 2nd unit is easy to control as they are all perimeter players with the exception of Lupul who does wander in there from time to time but not consistently enough.

 

[Jalili]

with all things equal Cherry would take Coloton Orr or Frasier McLaren over Kulemin. so I don't hold much stock in that senile old goats opinions. His mindset is still stuck in the 70's  and early 80's brand of hockey

Cherry considers Kevin Bieksa - no wait, sorry, "Bieska" as he calls him - to be the best defensemen in the league.

That's all you need to know about what Cherry's opinion is worth.

 

[bustaheims]

Just as an aside, TSN has the leafs at 22 on their weekly power rankings this week, despite the fact that they have more regulation wins than 9 of the teams ahead of them.

A little strange.

They only have more ROW than 6 teams in the entire league.

Yeah, that should have read wins.

That's what I figured, but, that's also why they're ranked so low - they have a lot of wins, but 1/3 of them are from the shootout. Their record is pretty deceptive. They're 18-21-2 in games that don't go to a shootout. There's only a handful of teams that go from being above .500 with the shootout to being sub .500 without and only 3 that have shootout wins making up the same or greater percentage of their wins than the Leafs - Washington, Florida and Buffalo.

 

[Arn]

Where are we at on the records with Clarkson in the lineup and out of the lineup?

 

[Britishbulldog]

I would replace Kuli for Raymond on PP2

I agree.

 

[L K]

Where are we at on the records with Clarkson in the lineup and out of the lineup?

With Clarkson: 16-15-5 (8 wins via shootout) so 8-8-15-5
Without Clarkson: 11-6-1 (1 win via shootout) so 10-1-6-1

So essentially not good with Clarkson.