What's wrong with Schenn?

[Arn]

Following up last year's Sophomore slump with a junior slump?

 

[Bates]

The Leafs have improved overall team speed and this will cause problems for players like Schenn don't have spped either as a skater of as a playmaker.

 

[Mikhail Bloodnovsky]

The Leafs have improved overall team speed and this will cause problems for players like Schenn don't have spped either as a skater of as a playmaker.

He is slow as molasses in the defensive zone. Forget worrying about the transition game.

 

[Kin]

He's young and adjusting.

Everyone was so pleasantly surprised with Gardiner making the club and would have been more than content to let him develop a year in the AHL and he's only 8 months younger than Schenn. Defense is a hard position to play in the NHL. Adam Foote wasn't the Adam Foote we all know and love until he was in his mid-20's.

No reason to freak.

 

[Optimus Reimer]

Maybe nothing is wrong with Schenn.  He just signed a big $$$ contract and could be putting pressure on himself to perform, to do more than what he should be doing.  Just a little re-focussing in his head and keeping things simple should to the trick.

 

[CannedMango]

Maybe nothing is wrong with Schenn.  He just signed a big $$$ contract and could be putting pressure on himself to perform, to do more than what he should be doing.  Just a little re-focussing in his head and keeping things simple should to the trick.

I would put good money on this.  It's highly unlikely a guy as talented as Schenn suddenly loses all of his natural skills over the summer, but it's far more likely that getting the big contract is messing with his mental game and causing him to put more pressure on himself. 

I'd say give him another month or two to learn to deal with it and we should see him have a  rebound second half of the season.  Frankly, when he's on his game he's valuable enough to the team to let him struggle through it and get back to where he needs to be.  Perhaps a benching will help, but we certainly don't want him off the ice for more than a game. 

 

[pnjunction]

Well they always talk about a player sitting in the press box gets a 'different perspective' or whatever, maybe a game or two up there would give Schenn the perspective he needs to not let opposing forwards blow by him like a road sign in the neutral zone.

 

[Mikhail Bloodnovsky]

Maybe nothing is wrong with Schenn.  He just signed a big $$$ contract and could be putting pressure on himself to perform, to do more than what he should be doing.  Just a little re-focussing in his head and keeping things simple should to the trick.

This is what Komisarek apologists said about him the first year he was here. Three years later he still can barely keep up as  a 3rd pairing defencman.

 

[azzurri63]

I think the biggest problem with Luke is his skating and always has been. He has bulked up which has made things worse where I think he would have been better off trying to improve his skating and foot speed. Overrated I think people in TO and fans on here feel he can do so much more. I posted on the old site way back that people saw him as the next Scott Stevens. Scott was a complete player. Luke doesn't have and never will have the offensive capabilities Stevens did. He's a tough shutdown stay at home defenseman with some leadership qualities. That's it. I was hoping with his contract dispute Burke might have made a pitch for Bogosian who had struggled in Atlanta and wanted out. Zach has so much more upside I think. Good size, skating is great and has good offensive skills. More rounded I feel.  I like Luke and would not be sad to see him stay but what you see is what we are going to get. Luke will pick up his game but personally I think he needs to trim down and hopefully it will help his positioning and not get burned like he has been. Time will tell.

 

[Kin]

I posted on the old site way back that people saw him as the next Scott Stevens. Scott was a complete player. Luke doesn't have and never will have the offensive capabilities Stevens did.

Yeah, every time anyone compared Schenn to Stevens it was to late period, post '95 lockout Stevens.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

I posted on the old site way back that people saw him as the next Scott Stevens. Scott was a complete player. Luke doesn't have and never will have the offensive capabilities Stevens did.

Yeah, every time anyone compared Schenn to Stevens it was to late period, post '95 lockout Stevens.

And even then I don't think that was the common consensus. Adam Foote was mentioned more as a comparison.

 

[Kessel Run]

Another low tonight for Schenn with only 9 minutes of ice time. Not that he was horrible tonight, but he should probably be the healthy scratch on Saturday and let Franson get a game in.

 

[Strangelove]

I've always thought his upside is as a second pairing D-man, given his skill-set, but at this point he's going to have to drastically improve his skating to be any kind of an impact player at all.  Being 'young' can only be an excuse for poor play for so long.  A young Cory Cross is still Cory Cross.

 

[wc17]

Last year, I was so impressed with the way he came into camp. His foot speed was MUCH better then his 1st and 2nd years, which helped with angles, got him out of the corners and got the puck off his stick much quicker. You could really tell that he put in the off-season work to get that foot speed up like that...

I dont know if he decided to switch things up this off-season but that is what I see as his biggest problem right now. He cant move his legs quick enough to get into the play, hit guys or skate out of any sticky situations..

I hope im wrong and it just turns out to be a slow start but so far its been really bad...

 

[crazyperfectdevil]

i feel like the coaching staff has him doing something new and he's having trouble adjusting to it ..all these pinches he's taking lately..they weren't even a part of his game before ..and now all the sudden he's getting caught in a bad one every other play ...

 

[gunnar36]

Last year, I was so impressed with the way he came into camp. His foot speed was MUCH better then his 1st and 2nd years, which helped with angles, got him out of the corners and got the puck off his stick much quicker. You could really tell that he put in the off-season work to get that foot speed up like that...

I dont know if he decided to switch things up this off-season but that is what I see as his biggest problem right now. He cant move his legs quick enough to get into the play, hit guys or skate out of any sticky situations..

I hope im wrong and it just turns out to be a slow start but so far its been really bad...

I think you are bang on with your observations.  I really wonder if his off season training has had an adverse affect on his skating.  He just doesnt look as agile and solid on his skates and it is hurting all areas of his game, even his hitting has not been as effective since he cant seem to take the body with as much authority without a balanced skating stride. 
He looks so much like he did in his sophmore year, and he seemed to shake it off last season.  He needs to do the Gary Roberts off season program and focus on the core, not so much upper body...he might be a little top heavy right now.

 

[Optimus Reimer]

Maybe nothing is wrong with Schenn.  He just signed a big $$$ contract and could be putting pressure on himself to perform, to do more than what he should be doing.  Just a little re-focussing in his head and keeping things simple should to the trick.

This is what Komisarek apologists said about him the first year he was here. Three years later he still can barely keep up as  a 3rd pairing defencman.

Schenn has more talent than Komi.  In addition, while in Montreal, Komi was paired with Markov who would often make up for the brain dead plays Komi made, and would mask Komi's poor play.  So Komi has been like that for a long time.  Schenn has too much upside and promise and shouldn't even be compared to Komi.

 

[Sudafederov]

Last year, I was so impressed with the way he came into camp. His foot speed was MUCH better then his 1st and 2nd years, which helped with angles, got him out of the corners and got the puck off his stick much quicker. You could really tell that he put in the off-season work to get that foot speed up like that...

I dont know if he decided to switch things up this off-season but that is what I see as his biggest problem right now. He cant move his legs quick enough to get into the play, hit guys or skate out of any sticky situations..

I hope im wrong and it just turns out to be a slow start but so far its been really bad...

I think you are bang on with your observations.  I really wonder if his off season training has had an adverse affect on his skating.  He just doesnt look as agile and solid on his skates and it is hurting all areas of his game, even his hitting has not been as effective since he cant seem to take the body with as much authority without a balanced skating stride. 
He looks so much like he did in his sophmore year, and he seemed to shake it off last season.  He needs to do the Gary Roberts off season program and focus on the core, not so much upper body...he might be a little top heavy right now.

Gary did comment on the situation a couple of years back,

Roberts rips Leafs' fitness

http://www.torontosun.com/sports/hockey/2009/11/20/11825756-sun.html

"Why is Luke struggling so much?" said Roberts, who has been doing some personal training since he retired last year for among others, top pick Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning. "He looks like he has been riding the bike all summer. If you ride that bike all the time, you're going to get slow and you're going to get hurt. It's the worst thing Luke could've done, if that's indeed what he did. I don't know for sure, I don't talk to the guys and it's none of my business."

Roberts declared his bias for former Leafs strength coach Matt Nichol, who was replaced with Anthony Belza during the summer and kept prefacing his comments as those of an observer and not a Leafs insider. But it's his impression the Leafs changed from an anaerobic approach under Nichol to aerobic.

"Hockey is not an aerobic sport," Roberts said, "It's anaerobic, about being strong, powerful and fast and you don't get that by riding the stationary bike. (Coach) Ron Wilson said before that the one thing he'd noticed was the team looked in better shape because they rode the bike all summer. That's the most ludicrous thing I've ever heard.

"If you don't do the right training in the summer, you take steps backwards."
----

Wilson fired back on Leafs Lunch as expected. 

Every player is different, but given Stamkos's success, Gary has a pretty good track record.

 

[moon111]

Guys like Aki Berg, Cory Cross, Komisarek, or Schenn need their teammates to give them simple outlets.  How many times are these guys are left to thread the puck out, under pressure?  Many times they look bad with the puck, but it's the forwards being lazy that's the problem.  Schenn has a very established, but tough, simple game.  Let Schenn do what he's capable of, and let his teammates cover for the stay-at-home defense-men's limitations.

 

[Mikhail Bloodnovsky]

Last year, I was so impressed with the way he came into camp. His foot speed was MUCH better then his 1st and 2nd years, which helped with angles, got him out of the corners and got the puck off his stick much quicker. You could really tell that he put in the off-season work to get that foot speed up like that...

I dont know if he decided to switch things up this off-season but that is what I see as his biggest problem right now. He cant move his legs quick enough to get into the play, hit guys or skate out of any sticky situations..

I hope im wrong and it just turns out to be a slow start but so far its been really bad...

I think you are bang on with your observations.  I really wonder if his off season training has had an adverse affect on his skating.  He just doesnt look as agile and solid on his skates and it is hurting all areas of his game, even his hitting has not been as effective since he cant seem to take the body with as much authority without a balanced skating stride. 
He looks so much like he did in his sophmore year, and he seemed to shake it off last season.  He needs to do the Gary Roberts off season program and focus on the core, not so much upper body...he might be a little top heavy right now.

Gary did comment on the situation a couple of years back,

Roberts rips Leafs' fitness

http://www.torontosun.com/sports/hockey/2009/11/20/11825756-sun.html

"Why is Luke struggling so much?" said Roberts, who has been doing some personal training since he retired last year for among others, top pick Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning. "He looks like he has been riding the bike all summer. If you ride that bike all the time, you're going to get slow and you're going to get hurt. It's the worst thing Luke could've done, if that's indeed what he did. I don't know for sure, I don't talk to the guys and it's none of my business."

Roberts declared his bias for former Leafs strength coach Matt Nichol, who was replaced with Anthony Belza during the summer and kept prefacing his comments as those of an observer and not a Leafs insider. But it's his impression the Leafs changed from an anaerobic approach under Nichol to aerobic.

"Hockey is not an aerobic sport," Roberts said, "It's anaerobic, about being strong, powerful and fast and you don't get that by riding the stationary bike. (Coach) Ron Wilson said before that the one thing he'd noticed was the team looked in better shape because they rode the bike all summer. That's the most ludicrous thing I've ever heard.

"If you don't do the right training in the summer, you take steps backwards."
----

Wilson fired back on Leafs Lunch as expected. 

Every player is different, but given Stamkos's success, Gary has a pretty good track record.

Stamkos was taken 1st overall. It's not as if he was taken in the 7th round and toiled in the ECHL until he met Gary.