GDT: Around the League - 2021/22 - Playoffs edition

[Jmo89]

Kerfoot highstick was Hedman basically lifting kerfoot’s stick to his face

True, but the players should have known at that point that the refs were itching to make one of the 3 stars of the game.

 

[Nineteen67]

What Kampf did was fine. It happens dozens of times in the game. It was a garbage call by incompetent refs in a huge moment.

It happens though. Leafs still had a chance to win it. Kerfoot's high stick deserves to be criticized though. He was way too aggressive on a PK.

He needlessly and carelessly flicked his stick up around Foote’s head. The ref was behind them, saw the stick go up, Foote‘s head snap and was able to make the call.

We don’t know if Foote was quick enough to process the play and intentionally draw a penalty, or if he instinctively tried to get his face out of the way when he saw the errant stick coming toward his his head.

 

[ToneDog]

Guaranteed this will prompt the league to make too many men penalties subject to video review. Like the Duchene offside goal, it takes something embarrassing happening for the league to get off their asses and do something.

Sure and let's also review the trip on Kadri that the refs decided not to call. The league is mickey mouse. Always was, always will be with Gary in charge.

 

[Jmo89]

He needlessly and carelessly flicked his stick up around Foote’s head. The ref was behind them, saw the stick go up, Foote‘s head snap and was able to make the call.

We don’t know if Foote was quick enough to process the play and intentionally draw a penalty, or if he instinctively tried to get his face out of the way when he saw the errant stick coming toward his his head.

Sticks are always by players heads. I don't really care what Foote did or if it was intentional or not. If you want to call it smart or reactionary go for it.

Refs aren't supposed to guess. That's why there are two on the ice. In the event that neither can directly see what happened and a penalty occurs, well it goes uncalled. This also happens a dozen times a game.

The fact that a ref guessed in the 3rd period of an elimination game only proves how inept they are.

 

[ToneDog]

I think the Dubists would have more credibility if they didn’t defend everything. The first infallible GM in history, and even if there is some slight admission, it’s always followed by a rationalizing “but”, which you can do with every move in GM history If one is so inclined.

They'd be better off tucking their tails between their legs instead of defending the Kadri trade but they can't help themselves. Now here's hoping Kadri gets the hat trick and the Avs close it out in 5.

To some that would mean that the Blues are the second best team in the league. LOL. Banner time in St. Louis.

 

[ACC1224]

Kerfoot highstick was Hedman basically lifting kerfoot’s stick to his face

Kerfoot put himself in a needless position., he was over aggressive. As soon as I saw him chase deep I knew he was getting a penalty. I thought it would be Hedman stepping on his stick for a trip though.

 

[DarkKnight]

They'd be better off tucking their tails between their legs instead of defending the Kadri trade but they can't help themselves. Now here's hoping Kadri gets the hat trick and the Avs close it out in 5.

To some that would mean that the Blues are the second best team in the league. LOL. Banner time in St. Louis.

And Barrie walked after a year too.

Its a tough gig, Hyman the playoff bum was anything but when actually healthy, and Naz an absolute beast. Basically gone for nothing.

 

[Dekes For Days]

The Kadri trade was bad from the outset and many people knew it. Avs fans knew Barrie would be a disaster and very few people, at least on this board, thought it was a steal.

That's revisionist history. Go back to the trade threads on here, media pieces done on it, etc. The overwhelming majority, including even opposing fans, thought it was a win for the Leafs.

Kerfoot is a replacement level player with very little impact.

Kerfoot is a quality middle-six forward that is versatile, good defensively, and good on the PK. Dismissing him like that only weakens your argument.

Much like how Dubas put himself in a weak position to negotiate the post-ELC contracts for Marner and Matthews, he put himself in a poor position to trade Kadri. There was no reason to get rid of Kadri that summer, certinsly not for mediocre value and a dman whose style really didn't fit. The Avs knew management was frustrated with Kadri, and Dubas traded him after a down year. Kadri would have been fine on the wing with Tavares until he rebuilt his value.

Dubas didn't put himself in a weak position for the Matthews/Marner negotiations or the Kadri trade. Kadri had to go after a history of discipline issues and then two consecutive playoff suspensions. There was no trust in him left, the refs and DOPS had an eagle eye on him, Babcock wasn't going to play him on the wing, and his value was only going to drop from that point.

The trade was not "mediocre value", and as I noted above, while not the perfect defenseman, there were a lot of things we needed that Barrie checked off - not to mention that he was coming off an excellent playoffs. The only thing the Avalanche knew is that they were desperate for somebody they could slot into their 2nd line center position. And for most of the time Kadri's been there, their fans have still been looking for an alternative for a reason. It's been 3 years. Fans need to move on.

 

[ToneDog]

And Barrie walked after a year too.

Its a tough gig, Hyman the playoff bum was anything but when actually healthy, and Naz an absolute beast. Basically gone for nothing.

This year it will be Mik and Soup walking for nothing and some people have the balls to praise his work.

 

[Dekes For Days]

This year it will be Mik and Soup walking for nothing and some people have the balls to praise his work.

Tampa has Palat and Rutta walking for nothing! Fire Brisebois!

 

[Nineteen67]

Sticks are always by players heads. I don't really care what Foote did or if it was intentional or not. If you want to call it smart or reactionary go for it.

Refs aren't supposed to guess. That's why there are two on the ice. In the event that neither can directly see what happened and a penalty occurs, well it goes uncalled. This also happens a dozen times a game.

The fact that a ref guessed in the 3rd period of an elimination game only proves how inept they are.

when you watch it at game speed the problem was the errant careless use of stick that put the ref in the difficult position. That point of view was shared by many former players and Leafs media the following day.

 

[ToneDog]

Tampa has Palat and Rutta walking for nothing! Fire Brisebois!

The have 2 cups. Give it a rest already.

 

[Nineteen67]

Kerfoot put himself in a needless position., he was over aggressive. As soon as I saw him chase deep I knew he was getting a penalty. I thought it would be Hedman stepping on his stick for a trip though.

I thought Hedman would steal the puck and catch them on a 4 on 3.

 

[Jmo89]

when you watch it at game speed the problem was the errant careless use of stick that put the ref in the difficult position. That point of view was shared by many former players and Leafs media the following day.

I get what you're saying but respectfully disagree in this case.

As an aside, players often have some good things to say, but I think I value opinions on here more than 90% of the talking heads in media.

 

[Dekes For Days]

The have 2 cups. Give it a rest already.

Just wait until you see Colorado's departing list!

Or like... any high-end team... pretty much every year... Fire everybody with a good team!

 

[ToneDog]

Just wait until you see Colorado's departing list!

Or like... any high-end team... pretty much every year... Fire everybody with a good team!

If they get their Cup, I doubt they care. We lose depth without winning a round. Riddle me what you prefer??

 

[Dekes For Days]

We lose depth without winning a round.

Every team has players that walk in UFA, especially high-end teams like Toronto. Many are losing a lot more than Mik and Soup...

There are also incoming players every year, that always seem to be forgotten. Toronto had more depth this year than the year before.

 

[DarkKnight]

Tampa has Palat and Rutta walking for nothing! Fire Brisebois!

You actually brought up the two time winners, current finalists as rebuke and you can’t see how laughable that is? Just wow.

 

[ToneDog]

Every team has players that walk in UFA, especially high-end teams like Toronto. Many are losing a lot more than Mik and Soup...

There are also incoming players every year, that always seem to be forgotten. Toronto had more depth this year than the year before.

You call Spezza, Blackwell, Mik, Kase, Kampf and Engvall depth. At the end of the day our depth cost us the series.

 

[Trapper]

They'd be better off tucking their tails between their legs instead of defending the Kadri trade but they can't help themselves. Now here's hoping Kadri gets the hat trick and the Avs close it out in 5.

To some that would mean that the Blues are the second best team in the league. LOL. Banner time in St. Louis.

That would also make the Oilers the 3rd best.
Nice.

 

[ToneDog]

You actually brought up the two time winners, current finalists as rebuke and you can’t see how laughable that is? Just wow.

Like I said, just can't help themselves.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Just curious, is there anything you can criticize Dubas for or has every move he's made been the right one? I'm pretty sure even he would acknowledge he's made a number of mistakes since taking over.

The Kadri trade was bad from the outset and many people knew it. Avs fans knew Barrie would be a disaster and very few people, at least on this board, thought it was a steal.

Kerfoot is a replacement level player with very little impact. He makes stupid decisions, and in this past playoffs alone took two stupid penalties that impacted two different games.

If you want to argue that Kadri's decision making was equally bad or worse, go for it, but let's not pretend that Kerfoot couldn't easily be replaced in any offseason.

Kadri for Brodie would have also been bad value based on term, although Brodie has been a much better dman for the Leafs.

Much like how Dubas put himself in a weak position to negotiate the post-ELC contracts for Marner and Matthews, he put himself in a poor position to trade Kadri. There was no reason to get rid of Kadri that summer, certinsly not for mediocre value and a dman whose style really didn't fit. The Avs knew management was frustrated with Kadri, and Dubas traded him after a down year.

Kadri would have been fine on the wing with Tavares until he rebuilt his value. It was a bad trade then and a worse trade now.

Kadri was never good on the wing

 

[ToneDog]

That would also make the Oilers the 3rd best.
Nice.

No Tampa would be third because they beat Colorado one game. Then it gets hairy. Is Edmonton 4th because they lost to Cororado or are the Rangers or Leafs because the won some games against Tampa ?

Some Leaf fans will say Leafs > Rangers because Leafs took 3 games from Tampa and outscored them in the series while Rangers won 2. Ranger fans will argue they won a round. LOL

 

[Gallagbi]

Much like how Dubas put himself in a weak position to negotiate the post-ELC contracts for Marner and Matthews, he put himself in a poor position to trade Kadri. There was no reason to get rid of Kadri that summer, certinsly not for mediocre value and a dman whose style really didn't fit. The Avs knew management was frustrated with Kadri, and Dubas traded him after a down year.

Kadri would have been fine on the wing with Tavares until he rebuilt his value. It was a bad trade then and a worse trade now.

Thats a tough take, we were coming off a series where our RD was outright exploited. Kadri had back to back playoff suspensions and wasnt happy in his role. His numbers would continue to drop as his role decreased, impacting his value.


You can argue about the value, but motivation, timing and need all made a ton of sense.

 

[Nineteen67]

You call Spezza, Blackwell, Mik, Kase, Kampf and Engvall depth. At the end of the day our depth cost us the series.

Kampf is OK and should be back, but it could get interesting watching Dubas replace those other 5 guys, plus a goalie and first or second line winger.