General Leafs Talk

[Mikhail Bloodnovsky]

Might be some grasping at straws here but what about recalling Zigomanis to play on the 4th line.  He's a very good faceoff guy and should help the PK.  God knows the PK needs all the help it can get and Zigo's been known to be pretty good in that area.

It's no long term solution or anything but might provide a little help right now and give the PK a jolt.  I'd rather have Zigo's faceoffs and PK ability in then Rosehills nothing ability.

If you think a career AHLer is an aswer to this team's woes then this team is really screwed.

 

[maplesyrup]

The thing with Ziggy is he's almost everything you want a bottom 6 player to be but he lacks one major thing - Speed.... and speed has kind of been what has given us our early success (save for the last two games that is.)  :-\

 

[Bullfrog]

I think it's clear that Gus is starting to run out of track here.  Still a lot of hockey left and a lot can happen but right now, I'm hoping Biron makes it to free agency and we make a move for him.

If Reimer plays like a legit #1, I don't mind this idea one bit. I've always liked Biron, seems like a great teammate.

 

[Erndog]

Might be some grasping at straws here but what about recalling Zigomanis to play on the 4th line.  He's a very good faceoff guy and should help the PK.  God knows the PK needs all the help it can get and Zigo's been known to be pretty good in that area.

It's no long term solution or anything but might provide a little help right now and give the PK a jolt.  I'd rather have Zigo's faceoffs and PK ability in then Rosehills nothing ability.

If you think a career AHLer is an aswer to this team's woes then this team is really screwed.

Maybe you missed the part where I said "might be grasping at straws here", and "It's no long term solution," and "might provide a little help."

I'm just looking at options from within.  No one person, player or coach is going to come in here and suddenly make the PK jump from 30th to 10th.  It's going to require a lot of little things.  Zigomanis is a guy who's very good on faceoffs and known to be a good PKer.  Even if he helps it ever so marginally it's better than what we are getting now. 

 

[maplesyrup]

LOL...

TSNDolan Katherine Dolan
#Leafs practice this am - Noon skate they're not on the ice yet - and the lights keep going on and off in the dressing room. #unusual
1 minute ago

 

[Scot4bz]

LOL...

TSNDolan Katherine Dolan
#Leafs practice this am - Noon skate they're not on the ice yet - and the lights keep going on and off in the dressing room. #unusual
1 minute ago

Still problems with the "power" play

 

[maplesyrup]

Even better...

Zeisberger Mike Zeisberger
Leafs on ice 25 minutes late. Some would say that's been theeir problem during recent games.
41 seconds ago

Seriously, I think somehow the team just got reamed.

 

[BlueWhiteBlood]

Seriously, I think somehow the team just got reamed.

I would say that is closer to the truth.

 

[maplesyrup]

Seriously, I think somehow the team just got reamed.

I would say that is closer to the truth.

... and if that is the truth, and they don't respond tomorrow, maybe that's the time for Burke to think seriously about coaching situation.

 

[Kin]

I'm just looking at options from within.  No one person, player or coach is going to come in here and suddenly make the PK jump from 30th to 10th.  It's going to require a lot of little things.  Zigomanis is a guy who's very good on faceoffs and known to be a good PKer.  Even if he helps it ever so marginally it's better than what we are getting now.

I don't know that you can say that though if you're not also going to say who Zigomanis would replace.

Right now the Leafs #1 forward on the PK, by a pretty wide margin, is Steckel. A guy who I think is better on the PK than Zigomanis and a guy I know is better on face-offs.

Would he add more to the team than Brown? Dupuis? Is he better than either guy on the PK to the extent that it's worth the trade-off?

Right now Steckel has taken 78 of the team's 108 total face-offs on the PK and he's winning 60% of them. So whatever the team's problems are with the PK, face-offs aren't one of them.

 

[BlueWhiteBlood]

Seriously, I think somehow the team just got reamed.

I would say that is closer to the truth.

... and if that is the truth, and they don't respond tomorrow, maybe that's the time for Burke to think seriously about coaching situation.

I'm not going to panic about that right now. I'm with cw a bit here on this. I like their record right now, it's only been two losses in a row, so that really isn't enough for me to set myself on fire like a few are doing with regards to coaching changes.

 

[LittleHockeyFan]

not time for this yet?:

 

[maplesyrup]

Maybe I'm panicking...

 

[Fanatic]

mirtleJames Mirtle
Allaire working with Scrivens alone in practice today. I imagine he starts tomorrow against the Blues.

 

[Bender]

mirtleJames Mirtle
Allaire working with Scrivens alone in practice today. I imagine he starts tomorrow against the Blues.

Allaire only focuses on one player?

 

[maplesyrup]

mirtleJames Mirtle
Allaire working with Scrivens alone in practice today. I imagine he starts tomorrow against the Blues.

Allaire only focuses on one player?

I've always responded better to one-on-one training/coaching (whatever) than in groups. I'm sure there is a method to Allaire's madness.

 

[AvroArrow]

I'm not going to panic about that right now. I'm with cw a bit here on this. I like their record right now, it's only been two losses in a row, so that really isn't enough for me to set myself on fire like a few are doing with regards to coaching changes.

I've tried to keep quiet to see how things play out a little farther into the season, but despite their record, I haven't really been that impressed with the play of the team.  They have spurts of high calibre hockey, but then play like AHLers for other spurts.  Overall, I think their record is flattering to how they've played, but so far, I'm willing to let it go because they've found a way to win more often than not.

I'd say that, while I'm not panicking, I'm concerned.

(and, of course, missing key guys [Army, Reimer] makes it even harder to get a good read on the team)

 

[Erndog]

I'm just looking at options from within.  No one person, player or coach is going to come in here and suddenly make the PK jump from 30th to 10th.  It's going to require a lot of little things.  Zigomanis is a guy who's very good on faceoffs and known to be a good PKer.  Even if he helps it ever so marginally it's better than what we are getting now.

I don't know that you can say that though if you're not also going to say who Zigomanis would replace.

Right now the Leafs #1 forward on the PK, by a pretty wide margin, is Steckel. A guy who I think is better on the PK than Zigomanis and a guy I know is better on face-offs.

Would he add more to the team than Brown? Dupuis? Is he better than either guy on the PK to the extent that it's worth the trade-off?

Right now Steckel has taken 78 of the team's 108 total face-offs on the PK and he's winning 60% of them. So whatever the team's problems are with the PK, face-offs aren't one of them.

Well, even though they are completely different players I was looking at Zigomanis taking Rosehills spot in the lineup (I know he doesn't play too often).  Perhaps sit Crabb a game?  Or Dupuis?

As for who he would directly replace on the PK, I'd say no one in particular.  Just give him some PK time (along with the others like Brown, Steckal, Dupuis, etc). 

 

[Fanatic]

andystricklandAndy Strickland
Hitchcock calls the #Torontomapleleafs the most dangerous attack team off the rush in the #NHL agree?

Isn't it great to be buttered up before you're made to look like a bunch of turkeys?

 

[cw]

mirtleJames Mirtle
Allaire working with Scrivens alone in practice today. I imagine he starts tomorrow against the Blues.

Allaire only focuses on one player?

I've always responded better to one-on-one training/coaching (whatever) than in groups. I'm sure there is a method to Allaire's madness.

link
Both Scrivens and Gustavsson spent significant chunks of time working with goalie coach Francois Allaire, who seemed to be concentrating on their techniques when facing bad angle shots. It was almost as if they were starting from scratch.