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The quarter pole....

nutman

New member
Well we have played our first twenty games, and like i said before they started I will hold off untill we have reached the quarter pole and here we are.

with what i have seen so far the Leafs are for real. we do have more than our fair share of injured players, but we keep hanging in.

I believe that this groop once healthy will be somewhere in the top six in there confrence.

My check list is as follows...

Goaltending----- backup will be gus and it looks like he is starting to find himself. Riemer it looks like his return is going to be soon after our road trip, this will give our team a huge boost. and when he is back i believe our team becomes  even better.

Our Defence----- I believe this is our bigest concern all though we have a very good young crop, i think they need some time. we also need Deon to take it to the next level, and with any luck schenn will join him.

As for the offence.......

Well it seems the kessel line has came to life this year. i like the fact Bozak is finding himself with kess & Lupul. as for the grabbo line, i knew they would be a bit under last season, but they have fallen off the radar. i think Connaly should be put in the mix to try and kick start them.

The third... we have the makings of a great third line but we need to find a way to keep them healthy. and the fourth i think Rosehill and Orr wont see much more than they do now ,and it will be even less as we climb the standings.

All and all this team if it can stay fairly healthy for the next 3\4s of the season should be in the top six.

This road trip with all the injurys will be huge, we need to come out of it playing 500 or better, to stay in the mix while our guys heal. this in my opinion is a big test as to how well Burke has done in rebulding our system.
 
Erndog said:
cw said:
Globe&Mail:
Leafs get their quarter-season report cards
JAMES MIRTLE


Thought he was a touch harsh on Steckel and too harsh on Schenn. A little generous on Bozak.

Fyi

lol

Philippe Dupuis: C. Not only does he not have a point after 19 games, he hasn?t even been on the ice for an even strength goal this season.


Move over Wallin and Sjostrom.

That is one of the more generous "C's" I've seen.

Sadly, I never paid attention to that one (which may say something). You're right
 
cw said:
Erndog said:
cw said:
Globe&Mail:
Leafs get their quarter-season report cards
JAMES MIRTLE


Thought he was a touch harsh on Steckel and too harsh on Schenn. A little generous on Bozak.

Fyi

lol

Philippe Dupuis: C. Not only does he not have a point after 19 games, he hasn?t even been on the ice for an even strength goal this season.


Move over Wallin and Sjostrom.

That is one of the more generous "C's" I've seen.

Sadly, I never paid attention to that one (which may say something). You're right

But how do you even comment on the points a player like him has scored?  Its sort of like critiquing Kessel on the number of saves he's made this year.
 
Wow, the game against the Caps moved Gus from an F to a D. :o

Didn't agree with the grade for Steckel - he has been pretty much doing exactly what the Leafs are asking of him.
 
Heroic Shrimp said:
We all anxiously await Salvatore Ianni's assessment.  Particularly of the goalies.  "A"s all around?

Shh.  Nobody's told him that the old site imploded.
 
Erndog said:
cw said:
Globe&Mail:
Leafs get their quarter-season report cards
JAMES MIRTLE


Thought he was a touch harsh on Steckel and too harsh on Schenn. A little generous on Bozak.

Fyi

lol

Philippe Dupuis: C. Not only does he not have a point after 19 games, he hasn?t even been on the ice for an even strength goal this season.


Move over Wallin and Sjostrom.

That is one of the more generous "C's" I've seen.

Evaluating players like this is pointless, but it is kind of funny that he gives Steckel a C+ for doing everything as advertised but gives Dupuis a C for simply not being a liability and not awful on the PK.
 
Corn Flake said:
cw said:
Erndog said:
cw said:
Globe&Mail:
Leafs get their quarter-season report cards
JAMES MIRTLE


Thought he was a touch harsh on Steckel and too harsh on Schenn. A little generous on Bozak.

Fyi

lol

Philippe Dupuis: C. Not only does he not have a point after 19 games, he hasn?t even been on the ice for an even strength goal this season.


Move over Wallin and Sjostrom.

That is one of the more generous "C's" I've seen.

Sadly, I never paid attention to that one (which may say something). You're right

But how do you even comment on the points a player like him has scored?  Its sort of like critiquing Kessel on the number of saves he's made this year.

I don't think so entirely.

He's is a 4th liner so you don't expect big points. But 0 pts over a 82 game season (his pace) is worthy of a comment.

Enforcers like Orr & Rosehill getting 5 minutes per game is one thing. Dupuis is getting 11 plus mins/game and about 9 of those are on even strength.

He's been a scorer in the QMJHL, ECHL & AHL. And never worse that .23ppg in the NHL in stretches over as many games.

So he's 4-5 pts below expectations on secondary scoring. The team is low on secondary scoring. He's had some chances and is maybe a little snake bit.

I don't equate a comment on that to Phil Kessel not making a save. It's not the biggest thing for a 4th liner but he shouldn't get a free pass when secondary scoring is a concern.
 
Dupuis will get some points for sure, but Im glad he doing the PK.  Like Timmy he reads the other teams PP well and they don't get many shots from the point on his side.  He won't generate much offence with Orr and Rosey.  I would be alot more worried about Kulie's production at this stage. 
 
Seymore Pucks said:
Dupuis will get some points for sure, but Im glad he doing the PK.  Like Timmy he reads the other teams PP well and they don't get many shots from the point on his side.  He won't generate much offence with Orr and Rosey.  I would be alot more worried about Kulie's production at this stage.


I'm hoping he comes out of it tonight.
 
Here's Brophy's report card;

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2011/11/23/brophy_grades/

If you take away the actual grades, and read the actual reports (which are the important things), I think it's very well done. - Excellent actually.
 
Floyd said:
Here's Brophy's report card;

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2011/11/23/brophy_grades/

If you take away the actual grades, and read the actual reports (which are the important things), I think it's very well done. - Excellent actually.

I have a problem with these grades, in general. It doesn't seem as though they're done on an individual basis which I find strange.

For example, Lupul is having a career year and is 3rd (or whatever it is) in the NHL in scoring points. If you had projected expectations before the season he'd be well beyond them and therefore in  A+ territory along with Kessel. He's +7 and on pace for 40G through 22 games

Similarly I'd put Bozak in or close to that group. He's filled in very well as the #1C (although didn't produce much on the 3rd line) and is scoring at a better clip than most would've imagined.

On the other side of things I think Gardiner gets a generous mark for being a rookie, Lombardi a really generous mark for having been injured in the past and Franson gets a ridiculous mark for what? Not being allowed to play and then having a couple rough games? He's been excellent the last few and is starting to hit his stride. F my left foot.

I'm torn on Steckel. He's been very good at certain aspects of the game (faceoffs, penalty kill), has more goals than I would've expected, but hasn't created much offensively for his line. A center with no helpers is somewhat odd.So maybe C+ is justified.

Connolly has been an A-A+ player when in the lineup. You can't really fault him for being injured, and PPG players don't grow on trees.
 
Like I said, I chose to ignore the grades because I disagree with a few of them but the write-ups are excellent I think.
 

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