General Leafs Talk

[GhostofPotvin29]

Carlye should start looking at where the real cancer is on this team.  Its called lack of skilled defensemen.  Stop harping on Carbo and try to do something with that big pylon out there (-10) that wears the "C".  And stop playing him against the opposing teams top lines.  Its an embrassment to watch!!

Oh good, you used +/- for your argument.

Better than Scoring Percentage.

Scoring percentage?

http://www.tmlfans.ca/community/index.php?topic=629.msg43803#msg43803

Ha, thanks I missed/forgot about that!

 

[louisstamos]

Robyn Regher in Buffalo still intrigues me as a deadline acquisition...he's going to be a UFA this summer so I'm sure they're looking to trade him.  I'm just worried at the cost considering it's a seller's market - a player like Regher could potentially be worth at least a 1st round pick...

 

[Joe S.]

Carlye should start looking at where the real cancer is on this team.  Its called lack of skilled defensemen.  Stop harping on Carbo and try to do something with that big pylon out there (-10) that wears the "C".  And stop playing him against the opposing teams top lines.  Its an embrassment to watch!!

Ok... I know I'm not really up to date, but who is 'carbo'?

 

[Kin]

Carlye should start looking at where the real cancer is on this team.  Its called lack of skilled defensemen.  Stop harping on Carbo and try to do something with that big pylon out there (-10) that wears the "C".  And stop playing him against the opposing teams top lines.  Its an embrassment to watch!!

Ok... I know I'm not really up to date, but who is 'carbo'?

Google's top three suggestions are:

- Bernie Carbo, who played outfield in the 70's mainly for the Cardinals and Red Sox
- Frankie Carbo, mafia soldier in the 20's and 30's for the Lucchese family
- Gnaeus Papirius Carbo, who was consul of Rome in 85 BC

So in the words of Homer Simpson, I figure it's some guy. Some guy named Carbo.

 

[Deebo]

I thought it was pretty obvious he meant Grabovski.

 

[Boston Leaf]

I thought somehow Guy Carboneau was back

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Robyn Regher in Buffalo still intrigues me as a deadline acquisition...he's going to be a UFA this summer so I'm sure they're looking to trade him.  I'm just worried at the cost considering it's a seller's market - a player like Regher could potentially be worth at least a 1st round pick...

If I remember correctly, he and Phaneuf didn't exactly get along in Calgary. I believe that there were reports of a locker room split betwee Regher/Iginla and Phaneuf. So that might not be a good fit.

 

[Kin]

Robyn Regher in Buffalo still intrigues me as a deadline acquisition...he's going to be a UFA this summer so I'm sure they're looking to trade him.  I'm just worried at the cost considering it's a seller's market - a player like Regher could potentially be worth at least a 1st round pick...

If I remember correctly, he and Phaneuf didn't exactly get along in Calgary. I believe that there were reports of a locker room split betwee Regher/Iginla and Phaneuf. So that might not be a good fit.

It was terrible. Iginla and Regehr wanted to lead a go-nowhere team in one way and Phaneuf wanted to lead a go-nowhere team in an entirely different way.

 

[bustaheims]

Its more than a little disturbing that you can call that up that quickly.

I went through his post history. He doesn't have that many, so it was pretty easy to find.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Robyn Regher in Buffalo still intrigues me as a deadline acquisition...he's going to be a UFA this summer so I'm sure they're looking to trade him.  I'm just worried at the cost considering it's a seller's market - a player like Regher could potentially be worth at least a 1st round pick...

If I remember correctly, he and Phaneuf didn't exactly get along in Calgary. I believe that there were reports of a locker room split betwee Regher/Iginla and Phaneuf. So that might not be a good fit.

It was terrible. Iginla and Regehr wanted to lead a go-nowhere team in one way and Phaneuf wanted to lead a go-nowhere team in an entirely different way.

Yeah. Thankfully for the Flames fans management cleared that problem up right away.

 

[princedpw]

Komisarek's name has been mentioned ...

I can imagine that the Leafs won't play him under any circumstances because they don't want him to get injured, which would prevent them from buying him out.  Is anyone else also under that impression?  Or do you think that if there are enough injuries/the guys ahead of him suck enough, that he'll get in a game some time before the end of the year?

Just trying to feel the rest of you out ... is he being benched to avoid injury/ensure buyout?

 

[caver]

now that Gardiner is back up this Leaf team should be as good as it can be with the current personnel. How about a winning streak now?

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

The Leafs have signed Garret Sparks and Tom Nilsson to ELC's.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

IMO, Phaneuf needs a solid, experienced defensive d-man partner who can take more of the brunt of the duties on his pairing vs. Phaneuf having to be that guy all the time, paired with the inexperienced rookies.  Dion really has never been built to be the shutdown defender even though he's cast in the role and like it or not, he's the most capable the Leafs have of doing it vs. the best on the other teams.  He had that partner in Calgary... he needs one here too. 

Part of me wants to agree with the first bolded part of your post but the second one isn't really accurate. In Dion's first two seasons as a Flame his most frequent defensive partner was actually Roman Hamrlik. While Hamrlik isn't exactly bad defensively, but he's more of a two-way or offensive player. Especially back then. In those two seasons he scored at a 40-point place.

After Hamrlik left the team, Phaneuf spent the next two seasons playing with a Anders Eriksson, Adrian Aucoin, and Mark Giordano. None of those guys really fit the description of stay-at-home defenceman. Heck, one of them doesn't even really fit the description of a defenceman. It wasn't until Phaneuf's 5th season, the one that he was traded in, that he was finally paired with a stay-at-home guy in Robyn Regehr. And by all accounts that was pretty much a disaster. Part of that could have been because of their rumoured off-ice differences, but apparently Dion routinely left Regehr out to dry.

In Toronto the only veteran defenceman that he played with was Beauchemin, and that wasn't exactly a success either. Is that a coincidence? Probably. But I think it shows that he doesn't exactly need a shutdown guy by his side. You could argue that his best seasons came while paired with Hamrlik and Gunnarsson, reliable two-way players who can skate but aren't really your typical physical defensive defencemen.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

In Toronto the only veteran defenceman that he played with was Beauchemin, and that wasn't exactly a success either..

In what way? I can't say I remember too clearly their time together, but their advanced stats on Behindthenet.ca for Dion's 1st season and a half in Toronto, and Beauchemin's in Toronto during that time, seem pretty solid.  But that's not the be all end all.

Also, Beauchemin was criminally undervalued by a lot of fans here, just throwing that out there (heck, I probably was guilty of it at points too).

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Also, Beauchemin was criminally undervalued by a lot of fans here, just throwing that out there (heck, I probably was guilty of it at points too).

I was going to go on about that a little more but decided not to. Yeah, I did mean mostly in terms of fan perception. He and Phaneuf took a lot of heat when they were paired together. I do think some of it was deserved but like you said maybe it was a little much. The whole advanced stats thing really seemed to only take off the season after Beau left so nobody really defended that pairing like they might now.

Although Beau is probably closer in style to a Gunnarsson/Hamrlik than he is to a Regher anyway. So in Phaneuf's 8-year career he's only played half of a season with a stay-at-home defenceman, and that just happened to be arguably the worst stretch of his career.

 

[drummond]

IMO, Phaneuf needs a solid, experienced defensive d-man partner who can take more of the brunt of the duties on his pairing vs. Phaneuf having to be that guy all the time, paired with the inexperienced rookies.  Dion really has never been built to be the shutdown defender even though he's cast in the role and like it or not, he's the most capable the Leafs have of doing it vs. the best on the other teams.  He had that partner in Calgary... he needs one here too. 

Part of me wants to agree with the first bolded part of your post but the second one isn't really accurate. In Dion's first two seasons as a Flame his most frequent defensive partner was actually Roman Hamrlik. While Hamrlik isn't exactly bad defensively, but he's more of a two-way or offensive player. Especially back then. In those two seasons he scored at a 40-point place.

After Hamrlik left the team, Phaneuf spent the next two seasons playing with a Anders Eriksson, Adrian Aucoin, and Mark Giordano. None of those guys really fit the description of stay-at-home defenceman. Heck, one of them doesn't even really fit the description of a defenceman. It wasn't until Phaneuf's 5th season, the one that he was traded in, that he was finally paired with a stay-at-home guy in Robyn Regehr. And by all accounts that was pretty much a disaster. Part of that could have been because of their rumoured off-ice differences, but apparently Dion routinely left Regehr out to dry.

In Toronto the only veteran defenceman that he played with was Beauchemin, and that wasn't exactly a success either. Is that a coincidence? Probably. But I think it shows that he doesn't exactly need a shutdown guy by his side. You could argue that his best seasons came while paired with Hamrlik and Gunnarsson, reliable two-way players who can skate but aren't really your typical physical defensive defencemen.

Where is Robert Svehla when you need him.

 

[bbt]

Well, the Leafs have sure have done well since Phaneuf got here no matter who he has played with!! Look forward to more winning seasons under his tutelage

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

Former AEG pres & CEO Tim Leiweke, and Kings governor, is meeting with MLSE about President post there.

 

[Champ Kind]

Well, the Leafs have sure have done well since Phaneuf got here no matter who he has played with!! Look forward to more winning seasons under his tutelage

I agree with your sarcasm.  He singlehandedly took an excellent team and turned it into a bunch of losers.