Are the Leafs gonna be tougher to play against?

[57 Years No Cup]

No, because the Charmin soft core is still here and they lost Schenn, ROR, and Acciari.

 

[FerrisRox]

There's also a reason they traded him away a year later for less than they paid.

Yes, and it's well documented: Ryan Reeves requested a trade out of New York.

 

[notbias]

No, because the Charmin soft core is still here and they lost Schenn, ROR, and Acciari.

Do people just look at the amount of facial hair and lack of teeth someone has and assume they are tough? Since when is ROR tough?

 

[hamzarocks]

Leafs need to be tougher to play against both offensively and defensively

We need our forwards to be willing to drive to the net, battle along the boards, take punishment in front of the net from opposing D to take away the eyes of the goalie etc

We added three guys who help doing that at forward

Defense we still need a defensive physical D, though we may look at doing this type of move at the deadline again (like Lybushkin, and Schenn)

 

[Gabriel426]

Tougher to play against is more a mentality than anything else.
Will the forwards finish their checks and hook and grab on back checking? Will the team go hard into the boards? Will they punish those who stay in front of their net? Will they crash the other teams net? Will they always look to start a scrum or just fly by? Will they response when someone hit Knies and Kampf in the playoffs.

 

[Dekes For Days]

Yes, and it's well documented: Ryan Reeves requested a trade out of New York.

Not according to Reaves.

 

[FerrisRox]

Not according to Reaves.

What the hell does NHL.com know?

"A source close to the Rangers said Reaves and his agent requested a trade before a 5-3 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday."

 

[danny90]

Teams aren’t going to look at the leafs and think about bertuzzi and domi or reeves, they will think about how to contain Marner and how to limit Matthews shots.

If Tavares can play a stronger 5on5 without Marner or Nylander is going to be the biggest factor to how tough the leafs are to play against.

 

[Dekes For Days]

"A source close to the Rangers said Reaves and his agent requested a trade before a 5-3 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday."

"Per the NY Post’s Mollie Walker, Reaves claims that the request for a trade is a “half truth, half lie,” and that the trade was in the works for awhile. Apparently, once he knew about a deal to the Wild, he gave it his blessing."
"
"After the trade, Reaves appeared on the Minnesota Wild’s talk show ‘Wild on 7th’ and explained how the deal came about.

“My wife sent me an article that the Rangers were looking to dump my salary,” Reaves said. “So I approached [Chris Drury] and asked if there was any truth behind this. We went back and forth and I said listen, ‘Am I gonna play? I’m getting older and I want a contract next year.’ I’m not going to get one if I’m not playing and we came to the decision that if I’m not playing I’ve got to get out of here. Basically I got a call from Billy (Guerin) and here I am.”"

So not so much Reaves asking for a trade, and more-so Reaves finding out that the Rangers wanted to dump him, and Reaves agreeing to a trade so that he'd actually get to play and get a next contract.

 

[Notsince67]

I want to see bone crushing, mind numbing hits……real Old Testament shit…….

 

[Racer88]

That’s what I’m talking about…….nice find

 

[Larcos_Unal]

My fear is that the timid 'Don't give a shit' attitude that Tavares, Matthews, Willie, Marner display is gonna rub off on Bertuzzi and Domi.

With Reaves it's a matter of who the hell is gonna want to drop the gloves with that monster?

 

[Leafs87]

I don’t think a throwback enforcer like Reaves is necessary for all teams nowadays. However for the Leafs it is essential.

I personally believe there’s always a need, however nowadays teams like the Bruins who are overall pretty tough and stand up for one another don’t need a designated “goon”. You can get away with a Greer or Foligno who will go if absolutely necessary. Which we tried in years past with Simmonds. Wasn’t cutting it, every team out there had a guy who could go with Simmonds (win or lose). Simmonds was a great fighter technically, but he wasn’t very intimidating.

 

[ACC1224]

They lost about 5 seconds after that. I recall almost missing the goal because I was watching Kapanen try and pick himself up.

 

[Maple Leaf]

except marner is soft and he is on the ice the most

 

[Notsince67]

They lost about 5 seconds after that. I recall almost missing the goal because I was watching Kapanen try and pick himself up.

That hit alone merits the hall of fame

 

[Arzak]

That's a proper knockout

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

This is still a cupcake team.

With the same too soft, no hit, no fight core. The same soft coach too. This team looks no tougher now than the one that got smoked in the second round of the playoffs to end last year.

Too bad being soft, weak, and cowardly wasn't the path to victory.

God, if only that were true. That would solve a few problems now wouldn't it. I don't know if having more heart would result in these guys winning a cup.

But it would sure make the losing a lot easier to stomach.

Because right now these guys only come out to play when the games are easy. That won't change any time soon. Not so long as the soft nucleus that forms the jelly drop at the core of this cream puff of a team remains the same.

You can change the icing on a cupcake, guess what, it's still a cupcake.

With the same soft squishy filling.

 

[justashadowof]

Why is this particular incident so celebrated? It got the team nothing whatsoever in terms of accomplishment. The team literally lost that game and series 40 seconds later. And the team didn't participate in the NHL playoffs for the next 7 years and didn't win a playoff series for 18 years.

 

[Notsince67]

Why is this particular incident so celebrated? It got the team nothing whatsoever in terms of accomplishment. The team literally lost that game and series 40 seconds later. And the team didn't participate in the NHL playoffs for the next 7 years and didn't win a playoff series for 18 years.

Why?
I can answer it only this way. It elicits emotion like every masterpiece. You might as well ask why people liked Moby Dick.
It's because of passages such as...
“He piled upon the whale's white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by his whole race from Adam down; and then, as if his chest had been a mortar, he burst his hot heart's shell upon it.”

 

[Nineteen67]

Why is this particular incident so celebrated? It got the team nothing whatsoever in terms of accomplishment. The team literally lost that game and series 40 seconds later. And the team didn't participate in the NHL playoffs for the next 7 years and didn't win a playoff series for 18 years.

The hit showed the willingness of both players to battle for a loose puck in a crucial moment in a crucial playoff game.

We’ve seen current Leafs pull up in easier situations which shows a different mindset between players that will do whatever it takes to win, and guys that wont.

 

[Dekes For Days]

Why is this particular incident so celebrated? It got the team nothing whatsoever in terms of accomplishment. The team literally lost that game and series 40 seconds later. And the team didn't participate in the NHL playoffs for the next 7 years and didn't win a playoff series for 18 years.

Because player go boom, and unfortunately some seem to value that more than winning.

 

[BrannigansLaw]

Because player go boom, and unfortunately some seem to value that more than winning.

Wrong. As usual.

I could easily say you are more of a fan of pansy hockey instead of winning given your investment in this soft as butter core. That wouldn’t be correct though right?

 

[ACC1224]

Wrong. As usual.

 

[Suntouchable13]

I don’t see how rearranging the deck chairs is going to make them all of a sudden tougher to play against.