hockeyfan1
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RedLeaf said:
Simply f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c!!! ;D
General Leafs Talk
- Thread starter armche123
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Simply f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c!!! ;D
RedLeaf said:
27th in the NHL in Penalty Kill - If I were on the Leafs I would focus a lot more on that than on # 2 in the league in points after 12 games in a soft schedule.
16th in PP - also need work.
3rd in NHL in Goals For - great!
But also 26th worst in Goals Against (just 2 goals away from 29th) and that needs a lot of work.
Crucialness Key
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And Matt FrattinFanatic said:
Fanatic said:
You're right. Once games start to get tighter games will be won and lost on special teams. Its amazing the Leafs have been able to get away with their horrid PK up to this point.
Every time they go down a man I think to myself, "well there's a goal." Its getting to the point of ridiculous.
I know a lot of people love the grinders out there for the PK, but the lack of skill being used on the PK is apparent, lots of mishandling of clear-outs, poor dump ins and generally poor positioning.
I want the Sundin/Mogliny package out there. Put Kessel and Lupol out there, let them scare the other team a bit, the PK can't really get any worse.
To summarize - after 12 games:
Points - 17
Standings - 2nd in the league
Goals For - 3rd
Goals Against - 26th
Power Play - 16th
Penalty Kill - 30th
Shots Against per game - 20th
Faceoffs - 10th
Goals Against per game - 27th
Goals Against per game (5 on 5) - 16th
I could go on with more... but the point, for me anyway, is that there are a lot more troubling stats than there are good ones. The Leafs can score and they can get points in teh standings against weak teams. But how long can they hold as they are with goals against, shots against and PK like they have?
Points - 17
Standings - 2nd in the league
Goals For - 3rd
Goals Against - 26th
Power Play - 16th
Penalty Kill - 30th
Shots Against per game - 20th
Faceoffs - 10th
Goals Against per game - 27th
Goals Against per game (5 on 5) - 16th
I could go on with more... but the point, for me anyway, is that there are a lot more troubling stats than there are good ones. The Leafs can score and they can get points in teh standings against weak teams. But how long can they hold as they are with goals against, shots against and PK like they have?
Heroic Shrimp
Active member
Fanatic said:
The other answer is that they've been statistically absolutely dominant 5-on-5, tied for 1st in the league with Washington with a GF/GA ratio of 1.53. Tops in the NHL last year was Boston at 1.40.
bustaheims
Active member
Fanatic said:
Kind of like the 98/99 season, where, in 27 team league, the Leafs were . . .
Points - 97
Standings - 5th in the league
Goals for - 1st
Goals against - 21st
Powerplay - 17th
Penalty Kill - 24th
Shots Against/Game - 17th
Faceoffs - 14th
Goals Against/game - 21st
5 on 5 GA/G - 5th
And, as we all know, that season worked out fairly well for the Leafs, and was the beginning of a pretty decent run for them.
Heroic Shrimp
Active member
Fanatic said:
If you like, or maybe more of a "glass is not empty"? There are reasons for their successes as much as there are reasons for concern. Both successes and failures warrant attention and criticism.
Heroic Shrimp said:
At even strength, they've been average: 14th in GAA.
Their top PKer, Reimer, has missed a bunch of games. I also think they miss Armstrong for this role.
There are plenty of areas one could cite this team for desired improvement. But the PK is obviously the biggest need.
Normally, when a team is really bad at something, it's fairly easy to get some improvement. The confidence in that theory may be shaken some when one considers this is Wilson's 4th crack at it and his results to date in Toronto are quite poor/downright bad in this area.
In terms of talent, I think the collection of forwards for the PK is arguably above average - pretty darn good. The biggest weaknessin talent is probably the D followed by the goaltending. Liles, Franson & Gardiner have little to no prior NHL PK experience. It's never been Phaneuf's forte and still isn't. Schenn & Komisarek have not been consistent at it - less than desirable/average. Gunnarsson may be the best of the bunch right now which I wouldn't have expected from him.
I think the Leafs have been decent but also fortunate. Teams haven't entirely pulled their rosters and systems together. By the end of 20 games in, they will. Scoring will probably be harder to come by at that point. While that's going on, hopefully our Leafs can counter with better execution on the PK.
cw said:
Right there in a nutsheel is the cause of my concern. This rotten PK has stuck with the team regardless of the upgrade in talent and the one remaining constant is Wilson - not Toskala, not Kaberle and not even Keith Acton. On paper the Leafs should be great at the PK - great faceoff record.... I just don't get it.
Fanatic said:
I'm not sold on that. Their goaltending is roughly .900 save%. That's not all on the D. And defensively, I don't think their D talent is that hot. For the record, that's not a new observation about their D: I felt that before the season started.
They only have 4 D who have NHL PK experience. When one of them is in the box, they're basically breaking in a rookie NHL PKer (Liles or Gardiner or Franson)for one of the two PK shifts. Hard to expect excellence when they have to do that. Those guys are going to make mistakes and they have. Look at the number of breakaways they've given up. Some shoddy crease clearing, coverage and poor passing or poor execution to dump the puck out of the zone.
Goaltending should stop about two thirds of breakaways. It hasn't. Some of that is due to the quality of shot/attempt but I wonder about all of it being due to that. A fuzzy area I question.
Winning faceoffs is great and helps but that's just the start of it. It's what they do after that where they're getting burned.
On paper, they're not that hot as a defensive club at this time. If Komisarek & Schenn could pick up their play, as they've both shown in the past they're capable of, that would certainly help my perception of them on paper. But until then, until they've shown consistency over a significant period of time, I'm not sold on the D talent at all. There isn't a reliable shutdown dman in the bunch right now.
Mikhail Bloodnovsky
New member
caveman said:
I'm easily expecting Zapruder-like picture quality on those.
hockeyfan1
New member
For Heaven's sake people, let's just enjoy this crest the Leafs are riding on, so to speak, and then, if thy come crashing back down to earth, then reality will have sunk in, probably for keeps.
The Leafs aren't the best team in the league, as the statistics tell the tale, but, for now, their being at or near the top is enjoyable.
The Leafs aren't the best team in the league, as the statistics tell the tale, but, for now, their being at or near the top is enjoyable.
I am absolutely thrilled with the Leafs record so far, but I really hope that they do not let their foot off the gas and think that they are actually this good. They're not.
Brilliant move by Wilson to throw Scrivens in net last night. When you could just see another let down game coming it made sense to go with the young hungry rookie - and he did a great job. But the team was outshot 39-18 and that is simply not acceptable against any team, let alone the CBJ.
The team has promise and many games are exciting. The last two have not been exciting - but I will take a boring win over an exciting loss any day.
It seems to me that the Leafs are getting outworked a lot of times, they are getting outshot, they do not kill penalties well, don't execute on the PP, they give up a lot of odd man rushes and breakaways (hanging Gus out to dry)..... yet they keep winning.
On paper I figure that this team looks solid defensively and yet this is the area of their game that needs work. Give up fewer shots, be far more aggressive on the PK and watch the odd man rushes.
I keep waiting for reality to catch up with the Leafs but so far they are riding the wave and this opening run may very well launch them into the playoffs. I just hope they tighten up in the areas that need to be tightened up and start to shape up like a real playoff threat down the line.
Brilliant move by Wilson to throw Scrivens in net last night. When you could just see another let down game coming it made sense to go with the young hungry rookie - and he did a great job. But the team was outshot 39-18 and that is simply not acceptable against any team, let alone the CBJ.
The team has promise and many games are exciting. The last two have not been exciting - but I will take a boring win over an exciting loss any day.
It seems to me that the Leafs are getting outworked a lot of times, they are getting outshot, they do not kill penalties well, don't execute on the PP, they give up a lot of odd man rushes and breakaways (hanging Gus out to dry)..... yet they keep winning.
On paper I figure that this team looks solid defensively and yet this is the area of their game that needs work. Give up fewer shots, be far more aggressive on the PK and watch the odd man rushes.
I keep waiting for reality to catch up with the Leafs but so far they are riding the wave and this opening run may very well launch them into the playoffs. I just hope they tighten up in the areas that need to be tightened up and start to shape up like a real playoff threat down the line.
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