GDT: Game 1 - Toronto Maple Leafs Vs Ottawa Senators; Apr 20 7:00 p.m. ET

[IdleTraveller]

COUNTDOWN TO 16: This is the Year!!!

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16

The Fellowship in pursuit of THE CUP

Prologue: Brad "Elrond" Treliving seeks to undo the tyranny of last 8 years of early exits. This is the story of how after the tyranny of last 8 years and another game 7 OT loss to the bruins last year led to some developments. Hiring of new head coach, overhauling coaching staff, defense and goalie.

After hiring new head coach and overhauling the coaching staff

Fellowship of the Cup that leads Offense was officially formed

The defense took shape as well

The fellowship needed a new direction so another development was forged

As the fellowship was gearing up to face the evil of Saruman and Sauron...

The fellowship learned that they must first face the Orcs who have the backing of the evil of Saruman and Sauron as the fellowship had seen in years past with the anti-Leafs reffing

As fellowship began to prepare for the evil of Saruman and Sauron they were stumped to learn that these orcs have been modified to take human form

If that wasn't enough fellowship also learned that the preparation and tactics of these orcs was another uphill battle the fellowship must face head on

The evil of Saruman and Sauron had gotten so blatant in support of these orcs that it was obvious for everyone to see

Nevertheless The Fellowship and the Leafs Nation are ready to fight against all the evil of Sauron and Saruman and the dirty tactics of the Orcs
BRING IT ON!

GET HYPED! LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

​

The Line Up (*will update it as the recent news becomes available)

THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE CUP


The Fellowship Offense
Knies - Matthews - Marner
Domi - Tavares - Nylander
McMann - Holmberg - Robertson
Lorentz - Laughton - Jarnkrok

The Fellowship Defense
McCabe - Tanev
Rielly - Carlo
Benoit - Oliver Ekman-Larsson*

The Fellowship Goalies
Stolarz
Woll


The Orcs Line Up


The Orcs Offense
Tkachuk*-Stutzle-Giroux
Perron-Cozens-Batherson
Greig-Pinto-Amadio
Cousins-Gaudette-Zetterlund


The Orcs Defense
Sanderson-Zub
Chabot-Jensen
Kleven-Matinpalo

The Orcs Goalies
Ullmark
Forsberg

This is AMAZING. I mean, I still want the Leafs to go out in 7 as Tradition dictates, but full kudos for that, mate. You can never say that Leaf fans lack for passion and there is a tiny tiny TINY bit of me that feels sorry for all the heartbreak you've had to endure and wants you to finally win something.

[Listens to Sportsnet] I'm over it. Die, you elvish mothaf***ers!! I'm with THE HORDE!! Orcs in 7, and we tonight we feast on manflesh...

 

[Golden_Jet]

Knies is on his revenge tour this year. He’s taken numbers and now he’s showing up with receipts.

Bennet is a big puss puss and is gonna get filled by our boy The Beast

So that puts him up to two career fights now.

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

Benoit - 6ft4, 211
Tanev - 6ft3, 200
Carlo - 6ft5, 220
McCabe - 6ft1, 212
Rielly 6ft1, 225
Ekman-Larsson, 6ft2, 192

OEK is the smallest guy on the blue line lol, Brady is a beast but he's going to get line matched every single time. Berube is gonna be throwing McCabe/Tanev at him every single time, and the odd time we can't line match it's most likely gonna be Rielly/Carlo

Also Knies is 6ft2, 230, and dominant in front of the net. It's going to be tough for the Sens to move him

The lack of mobility from the Toronto blueline should be a really big concern. All these guys are good at defending off the puck, they'll probably shut down any off the rush scoring chances for Ottawa. But these guys aren't good skaters, they don't really have dmen that can skate the puck out of danger like Sanderson and Chabot can. That could be a big problem for a heavy forechecking team like Ottawa. Ottawa runs 4 forechecking lines. Expect Ottawa to be forcing a lot of turnovers in behind the Leafs net this series.

 

[TorMapleJays]

I find it laughable that Leafs fans think Knies will be a deterrent to Tkachuk, when Bennett ended his postseason by falling on him last year.

live footage of the incident.

 

[Leafsfan74]

I remember Roberts in particular being a menace against Ottawa in the early 2000s. The game was not as talent-laden as todays game is but man did the NHL have players with heart back then.

It will be a good series. If one is being objective, they would have to prefer Leafs defense, better top end talent (if they show up this year) and the Leafs forward depth is also underrated.

Sens have the more proven star goalie though Stolarz has been lights out this year as well so it's in essence a wash. They also have speed that can catch teams off guard if they aren't prepared.

Sens have a few more rabble rousers but that is only usually effective for the first 5 minutes in both teams first home game and this Leafs team is far better equipped to handle such riff raff than they did a couple of years ago.

I've watched interviews of opposing teams after Leaf games and it's clear they are witnessing a different Leafs team than in the past, especially on the back end. This is a seasoned playoff team and they aren't going to lose a series because a few players chirp the Leafs and act like plastic tough guys in between whistles.

Ultimately if both teams want it equally then the Leafs will win. This is why they play the games and not decide the winners on paper.

As a bonus EA sports and Charles Barkley are on our side too!

 

[AvroArrow]

The lack of mobility from the Toronto blueline should be a really big concern. All these guys are good at defending off the puck, they'll probably shut down any off the rush scoring chances for Ottawa. But these guys aren't good skaters, they don't really have dmen that can skate the puck out of danger like Sanderson and Chabot can. That could be a big problem for a heavy forechecking team like Ottawa. Ottawa runs 4 forechecking lines. Expect Ottawa to be forcing a lot of turnovers in behind the Leafs net this series.

While they aren't elite skaters, Rielly, Carlo, Tanev, McCabe and OEK are all really good skaters. We don't have that elite weapon from the back end, but we don't really play that system anymore. It's a safer game, 5 man unit and the D-men won't be entering the zone with speed.

You'll see a lot of chip and chase, board battles or skill guys making zone entries. Only Rielly really has the ability to do so from the back end.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Oh but am I?
View attachment 1018412

lol yea, follow the threads, it’s obvious you didn’t follow them, or you wouldn’t of screwed up your post,
Cousins did play the last few games. , that’s what you quoted from me.

Your # has nothing to do with Cousins lol.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

I find it laughable that Leafs fans think Knies will be a deterrent to Tkachuk, when Bennett ended his postseason by falling on him last year.

Didn't Brady just come back from being injured? Must not be very tough then!

 

[AvroArrow]

I find it laughable that Leafs fans think Knies will be a deterrent to Tkachuk, when Bennett ended his postseason by falling on him last year.

What an idiot Knies, who gets concussed by having the back of their head slammed into the ice

 

[Fatass]

The lack of mobility from the Toronto blueline should be a really big concern. All these guys are good at defending off the puck, they'll probably shut down any off the rush scoring chances for Ottawa. But these guys aren't good skaters, they don't really have dmen that can skate the puck out of danger like Sanderson and Chabot can. That could be a big problem for a heavy forechecking team like Ottawa. Ottawa runs 4 forechecking lines. Expect Ottawa to be forcing a lot of turnovers in behind the Leafs net this series.

Reilly, Tanev, and OEL are excellent skaters with good quickness. They each make very good first passes too. I do believe the Sens have the best overall D man in the series though with Sanderson. But take him out of the equation and the Leafs’ D is far better than the Sens.

 

[93gilmour93]

Didn't Brady just come back from being injured? Must not be very tough then!

He played like ten minutes and then left the game for "precautionary reasons". I don't think Sloth is 100%

 

[TotalHomer]

What an idiot Knies, who gets concussed by having the back of their head slammed into the ice

To be fair he was an idiot trying to take a run a Bennett, who as a savvy veteran took him to the woodshed. Hopefully Knies has learned his lesson or he'll have to deal with concussions again.

 

[Mr Kot]

 

[Golden_Jet]

He played like ten minutes and then left the game for "precautionary reasons". I don't think Sloth is 100%

After taking 2 high sticks in the face, the last one pitchforking him in the face, (with toe of stick), after a faceoff, at end of second. Team decided to sit him for third period, make sure he didn’t get injured.

 

[AvroArrow]

To be fair he was an idiot trying to take a run a Bennett, who as a savvy veteran took him to the woodshed. Hopefully Knies has learned his lesson or he'll have to deal with concussions again.

Are you done glazing Bennett in the Leafs/Senators thread yet ?

 

[The Management]

This thread is about what I expected.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[swiftwin]

I remember Roberts in particular being a menace against Ottawa in the early 2000s. The game was not as talent-laden as todays game is but man did the NHL have players with heart back then.

It will be a good series. If one is being objective, they would have to prefer Leafs defense, better top end talent (if they show up this year) and the Leafs forward depth is also underrated.

Sens have the more proven star goalie though Stolarz has been lights out this year as well so it's in essence a wash. They also have speed that can catch teams off guard if they aren't prepared.

Sens have a few more rabble rousers but that is only usually effective for the first 5 minutes in both teams first home game and this Leafs team is far better equipped to handle such riff raff than they did a couple of years ago.

I've watched interviews of opposing teams after Leaf games and it's clear they are witnessing a different Leafs team than in the past, especially on the back end. This is a seasoned playoff team and they aren't going to lose a series because a few players chirp the Leafs and act like plastic tough guys in between whistles.

Ultimately if both teams want it equally then the Leafs will win. This is why they play the games and not decide the winners on paper.

As a bonus EA sports and Charles Barkley are on our side too!

Trolling aside, I agree this is a different Leafs team, and they are the clear favorites here.

That being said, on the Sens side, I also genuinely think alot of the media is focusing way too much on Tkachuk and Stutzle on the Sens and not on their best player (Sanderson), and their 3rd line (Greig-Pinto-Amadio). If the Sens do well this series, it'll be because of those 4 players (and Ullmark).

 

[Tuna99]

We are going to smack Ottawa like Florida smacked us two years ago.

You can try, you’ll get punched back in the face if you try any funny stuff.

Toronto ain’t that team. Pretend now because it’ll be reality in 6 hours

 

[BigDaddyLurch]

 

[Rob Brown]

I find it laughable that Leafs fans think Knies will be a deterrent to Tkachuk, when Bennett ended his postseason by falling on him last year.

Wow, Bennett is so good that he injected himself into the Bruins/Leafs series last year.

 

[Tuna99]

“Toronto ain’t that team, Toronto ain’t rhat team pal. Ottawa? Yes, Ottawa is absolutely that team.”

 

[93gilmour93]

You can try, you’ll get punched back in the face if you try any funny stuff.

Toronto ain’t that team. Pretend now because it’ll be reality in 6 hours

 

[thebestnic]

Sens fans talk a crazy amount of shit for a team that has accomplished Nada. Leafs in 7

 

[Strangle]

So that puts him up to two career fights now.

That’s still double how many pulls ups bennet can do

 

[HockeyVirus]

Brady has dominating physical presence. He's like a tank infront of the net. Very intimidating. Now look at that picture again, may as well be Mitch Marner standing there. Nobody's getting pushed around by that.

Ooof. This is a take. He just compared Knies to Marner physically.