The "Mr. T" Man of the Match Thread, 2014-15 Edition

[ZBBM]

Hey everybody,

Welcome to the MotM thread for the new season ... the year we finally end the Cup drought!  8)

Before we get into the games, though, I do think it's good to stop, and remember.  Here's what I posted last year in the first MotM post; I still feel the same.

But before we get into a new MotM thread, let's stop to remember the man who we are honoring here.  As I think all of us know by now, MrT died earlier this year, and so we lost one of our most liked and insightful posters.  There is a great memorial thread for him elsewhere on the board, and if you haven't read it yet, you should.  His presence here as an active poster is badly missed, but his presence here is not entirely gone, and I hope this thread reminds us of that.

And so, as a new Leafs season begins, and my mind turns again to MrT and his contributions, I don't think it's out of place to quote some lyrics from one of your illustrious countrywomen:

And the seasons, they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captives on a carousel of time
We can't return, we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game.

 

[ZBBM]

BTW, here's the scoring system for those who don't know / forgot:

Forwards:
* 3 pts for being named MoTM in a win
* 2 pts for being named MoTM in a loss
* 1 pt for a Honorable Mention in either win/loss

Defensemen:
* 4 pts for being named MoTM in a win
* 3 pts for being named MoTM in a loss
* 2 pt for a Honorable Mention in either win/loss

Goaltenders:
* 2.5 pts for being named MoTM in a win
* 1.5 pts for being named MoTM in a loss
* 1 pt for a Honorable Mention in either win/loss

The idea is to try to even out the tendency of d-men to get fewer accolades than the forwards, and for goalies to get a disproportionate share.  That's the theory anyhow.

I generally try to compile the votes by noon of the day following games (usually later than that on Sundays, though), so try to vote by then.  As I said in the other thread, there will be times when I won't be able to update as punctually.

Big thanks to CTB and LK for help with formatting the Excel table I use.

 

[freer]

Good work. Let it begin. Go leafs Go!

 

[Kessel Run]

Game 1

MotM: Percy
HM: Polak

 

[ZBBM]

Game 1

MotM: Percy
HM: Polak

Agreed. 

Too bad for Percy on the GWG.  I like Polak's hitting.  Bernier was stronger after that first one.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

MoTM: Percy
HM: Rielly

Also thought Holland looked real good.

 

[Boston Leaf]

MOM Percy
HM Polak

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Really not getting the Polak love. He got caught on rushes and was skated past quite a bit tonight.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

Really not getting the Polak love. He got caught on rushes and was skated past quite a bit tonight.

To me he is the absolute epitome of old school vs new school hockey thinking, watching the polar opposite reactions to him on twitter tonight was fascinating.

MotM: Percy
HM: Komarov

 

[ZBBM]

Really not getting the Polak love. He got caught on rushes and was skated past quite a bit tonight.

Did he get scored on?  I thought he was effective at what he was brought in to do.  Certainly more so than Gleason, for ex.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Did he get scored on?  I thought he was effective at what he was brought in to do.  Certainly more so than Gleason, for ex.

He was on the ice (and was probably most at fault even if it was a fluke) for the game winner. And saying he was better than Gleason really isn't saying much. He was physical, sure, but I don't think that made him the 2nd most impressive Leaf tonight. Especially when you balance out that positive with the negatives.

 

[ZBBM]

Did he get scored on?  I thought he was effective at what he was brought in to do.  Certainly more so than Gleason, for ex.

He was on the ice (and was probably most at fault even if it was a fluke) for the game winner. And saying he was better than Gleason really isn't saying much. He was physical, sure, but I don't think that made him the 2nd most impressive Leaf tonight. Especially when you balance out that positive with the negatives.

I didn't say he was terrific.  But I do think he was second best tonight.  Rielly, for instance, let Plekanec get behind him for a goal.  The goal he did score was flukey.  Otherwise, I'd say he deserved a HM.  But whatever.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

To me he is the absolute epitome of old school vs new school hockey thinking, watching the polar opposite reactions to him on twitter tonight was fascinating.

The funny thing is he actually had the best Corsi rating among Leafs defencemen, although he, Percy, Gardiner, and Rielly were all very close to each other.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

To me he is the absolute epitome of old school vs new school hockey thinking, watching the polar opposite reactions to him on twitter tonight was fascinating.

The funny thing is he actually had the best Corsi rating among Leafs defencemen, although he, Percy, Gardiner, and Rielly were all very close to each other.

Yeah, most of the analytics crowd seemed to have decided this summer that based on his past that he is awful, so any positives in his game tonight where chalked up to Percy being amazing and bailing him out.

I think it's probably somewhere in between, his one handed stick check attempt on the game winner was infuriating.

 

[Spider]

Bozak HM Reilly, Polak

 

[L K]

Percy HM Komarov

 

[leafplasma]

Percy HM: Kozun

 

[Beowulf]

Percy HM Komarov

 

[hockeyfan1]

MotM:    Bozak/Polak
Hm:        Percy/Reilly

Mentions to Kadri, Kozun, Kessel, Van Riemsdyk, Lupul, Komarov, Santorelli, Clarkson.

 

[pmrules]

Percy
Bozak
Polak