Wings @ Leafs - Mar. 29th, 7:00pm - CBC, TSN 1050

[Rebel_1812]

I was just thinking, in fact, that on a real contender Gunnarsson would be an excellent #5 guy.

Outside of a Chicago or St. Louis he'd probably be on the 2nd pairing for most top teams.

I think the difficulty in minutes dropping from the 1st unit to the 2nd gets really understated at times.  Either getting Gunnarsson off the top unit altogether, or getting a better 2nd pairing that can share some of the load against top players would do wonders for making Phaneuf and Gunnarsson look better.

I think its more the latter.  Franson, Gardiner and Riley suck defensively.  Maybe Fraser and Gleason for the 2nd pairing?

 

[Bullfrog]

Fraser hasn't been on this team for months. And if he was, he wouldn't be anywhere near a second defense unit.

 

[Rebel_1812]

Fraser hasn't been on this team for months. And if he was, he wouldn't be anywhere near a second defense unit.

yeah it was a mistake to let him go.  He at least knows how to play defense and how to clear the front of the net.

 

[bustaheims]

yeah it was a mistake to let him go.  He at least knows how to play defense and how to clear the front of the net.

Really? This is news to anyone who actually watched him play this season.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

yeah it was a mistake to let him go.  He at least knows how to play defense and how to clear the front of the net.

Really? This is news to anyone who actually watched him play this season.

The guy has been a healthy scratch on Edmonton for crying out loud. If he wasn't traded he would have been sent to the Marlies and never seen or heard from again.

 

[slapshot]

Haven't we already done that? Fired a coach, fired a GM. I mean, it seems like thats all we've done to fix this team up until now.

The Opening Day roster 2012 under Ron Wilson:

Joffrey Lupul - Tyler Bozak - Phil Kessel
Matt Frattin - Mikhail Grabovski - Nikolai Kulemin
Colby Armstrong - Matthew Lombardi - Mike Brown
Phillipe Dupuis - David Steckel - Jay Rosehill

Dion Phaneuf - Carl Gunnarsson
Luke Schenn - John Michael Liles
Jake Gardiner - Mike Komisarek

James Reimer
Jonas Gustavsson

Scratches: Clarke MacArthur, Colton Orr, Cody Franson

Are any of those scratched players make a significant impact elsewhere? No one I would want back. I'd continue to scratch, Reimer, Kulimen and probably Gunner from this in the off-season. Maybe Gunner could stick as a third pairing d-man, but definitely not top pairing.

 

[AvroArrow]

Haven't we already done that? Fired a coach, fired a GM. I mean, it seems like thats all we've done to fix this team up until now.

The Opening Day roster 2012 under Ron Wilson:

Joffrey Lupul - Tyler Bozak - Phil Kessel
Matt Frattin - Mikhail Grabovski - Nikolai Kulemin
Colby Armstrong - Matthew Lombardi - Mike Brown
Phillipe Dupuis - David Steckel - Jay Rosehill

Dion Phaneuf - Carl Gunnarsson
Luke Schenn - John Michael Liles
Jake Gardiner - Mike Komisarek

James Reimer
Jonas Gustavsson

Scratches: Clarke MacArthur, Colton Orr, Cody Franson

Are any of those scratched players make a significant impact elsewhere? No one I would want back. I'd continue to scratch, Reimer, Kulimen and probably Gunner from this in the off-season. Maybe Gunner could stick as a third pairing d-man, but definitely not top pairing.

MacArthur has statistics close to JvR and better than Bobby Ryan.

GP71  G24  A30  P54

I'd say he's making an impact.

 

[dappleganger]

I just wanted to note one play that has stuck with me that has been nagging at me since last night.  Not sure if it was mentioned at the moment during GDT. 
You might recall Kessel putting on his afterburners in a race towards Howard with a Wings defender neck and neck.  The puck was somewhere between all 3 players about 5 feet from the goalie.  It appeared there was a chance Kessel could get to the puck first and swing around the goalie.  In that instant I was on the edge of my seat hoping he would try this as he was really accelerating.  Then, he decided against it and veered away into the corner at full speed.  It was obviously an act of self preservation and maybe even a wise move on that count. 
But I can't help feeling that this sort of determination from the whole squad is severely lacking.

I know exactly what play you're talking about. I was yelling at the TV.

Kessel has to drive to the net there. When he doesn't, he's just making himself easy to play against.

I understand the preservation of oneself, but when the season is on the line, trailing in the game, you have to sacrifice your body.

If the score was 4-1 Leafs, I wouldn't feel the same way about the play.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

IIRC on that play neither play had a hope of getting the puck.

But, maybe it's a good thing to remember not to draw huge conclusions from isolated, individual plays.