TSN: Jake Gardiner or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Advanced Stats

[FreeBird]

Babcock called Gardiner the best leaf in the ice tonight.

Looks like he's a fan.

It's his personal project this year to help him be an impact player, he's probably told him he can skate, shoot, and pass like Duncan Keith now he has to learn to man up and take a hit to make a play like Keith does, so far so good.

 

[finnbalor*]

Babcock is going to try to groom a Lidstrom/Rafalski one two punch with Rielly and Gardiner. He's likes PMD, Gardiner's development finally in good hands compared to Carlyle that would just let Gardiner run wild. Gardiner will have bad moments and games this year, everyone does, fans should give the guy some more leash because the talent is there, it'll be a long rebuild if we bury every defenseman that have a few ugly turn overs.

 

[King85Kong]

Going to be a solid year for Gardiner. Guy has some serious wheels.

 

[Daisy Jane]

A common trend with Gardiner is that he starts off the year utterly terrible (usually when the Gardiner hate-campaign is in full effect) and gets better as it goes on, usually has his best games at the tail end of the year.

Really hoping he can buck that trend this year and be good right out of the gate.

yeah. Jake is such a slow starter, but I don't think he'll ill afford to be that this season. but I have faith he'll be okay under Babcock.

 

[Swayze*]

Babcock is going to try to groom a Lidstrom/Rafalski one two punch with Rielly and Gardiner. He's likes PMD, Gardiner's development finally in good hands compared to Carlyle that would just let Gardiner run wild. Gardiner will have bad moments and games this year, everyone does, fans should give the guy some more leash because the talent is there, it'll be a long rebuild if we bury every defenseman that have a few ugly turn overs.

Good luck with that

Lord

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Going to be a solid year for Gardiner. Guy has some serious wheels.

He skates fast in the wrong direction so far.

 

[King85Kong]

He skates fast in the wrong direction so far.

Skating has looked fine in all directions.

 

[ConnorTO]

i uno michael seems to b the only coach that knows how to let people know where to be

positioning and these guys will play confident not worrying about mistakes

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Skating has looked fine in all directions.

He's fast but he makes mental errors.
No speed will make up for mental errors, especially on defense.

I found him difficult to watch last year as he never seems like he is in the right spot.

I am excited to see him play this year. I'm going into the season with an open mind.

 

[Darcy Tucker]

yes his positioning and decision making has been terrible. I hope he has some growth this year. he can be so good if his mental game improves.

 

[King85Kong]

He's fast but he makes mental errors.
No speed will make up for mental errors, especially on defense.

I found him difficult to watch last year as he never seems like he is in the right spot.

I am excited to see him play this year. I'm going into the season with an open mind.

Oh ok, I thought the topic was referring to the games so far this year.

 

[Bullseye]

Never been a Gardiner fan but he looks so great.

What a bonus for the Leafs it will be to see him flourish under Babcock.

 

[diceman934]

Gardiner was the only NHL level D man we dressed last night...

Gardiner was never bad last year, he was playing within a system that was horrible. I have always liked him....this year more fans will.

 

[mikebel111*]

I have always been a fan of his play. A good coach and he should be fine

 

[Menzinger]

I have always been a fan of his play. A good coach and he should be fine

And that was his main problem. He's always had the skill, he just had to go through a string of lousy coaches who were bad communicators. He finally gets placed with the best coach of his career and he looks fantastic.

 

[Nithoniniel]

He's had a good preseason, but I want to see him maintain some consistency this season. With a clearer structure and more support from forwards, I think we'll see him cut down on mistakes. If he can play an entire season like he's done towards the end of the last two, then he'll be a keeper. So far he seems to have answered well to Babcock, which is encouraging.

 

[Leafsblue]

I think Gardiner is vastly underrated. He is getting far more confident each year. He is a young puck movind D that has tremendous upside.

 

[champs*]

still has made a large amount of defensive mistakes this preseason from what I have seen, It is amusing to watch him give way every time he hears footsteps lol

 

[Stephen]

Good luck with that

Lord

If he ever catches on as a big time player, he'll be more of a Sandis Ozolinsh than a Lidstrom or Rafalski. He's sublimely skilled but he's very casual and not deliberate with the puck or his skating and positioning. Antithesis of structure. He'll succeed on instinct, confidence and forcing the attack sort of like Karlsson, not as a guy who can be a rock defensively.

 

[Darcy Tucker]

Sandis Ozolinsh was a 4th forward, what's defence? type of player. I hope Gardiner shows a little more two way play than him. lol Tho Ozolinsh was a freak of nature and made your jaw drop often.

 

[Stephen]

Sandis Ozolinsh was a 4th forward, what's defence? type of player. I hope Gardiner shows a little more two way play than him. lol Tho Ozolinsh was a freak of nature and made your jaw drop often.

That's what Gardiner's strengths are, not standing around his own zone trying to defend and block shots.

 

[Albus Dumbledore]

still has made a large amount of defensive mistakes this preseason from what I have seen, It is amusing to watch him give way every time he hears footsteps lol

lol what? he has played 3 games and has 3 turnovers and two takeaways netting a -1
but two of the games played 25 mins and 26 mins, hes made a few bad plays here and there but has been very solid overall and imo the leafs best d man so far(can argue rielly but w/e

 

[Raymoondo]

I just realized that Gardiner was 6th in Calder nomination in 2011-2012. He was above Faulk, Larsson, and Voynov. Hope he can regain that form from his rookie season!

 

[Stephen]

Gardiner needs to really find some focus in whatever he's doing on the ice. He's so talented its obvious from even a glance but he does a lot of little things too casual with, whether its moving the puck, skating too casually and getting caught flat footed, etc. I think he'd benefit more on his toes than his signature hanging back, lazy cross overs, weird offspeed tempo you always see. Just grab the puck and go, more straight lines more stops and starts. More clarity.

 

[Nithoniniel]

Gardiner needs to really find some focus in whatever he's doing on the ice. He's so talented its obvious from even a glance but he does a lot of little things too casual with, whether its moving the puck, skating too casually and getting caught flat footed, etc. I think he'd benefit more on his toes than his signature hanging back, lazy cross overs, weird offspeed tempo you always see. Just grab the puck and go, more straight lines more stops and starts. More clarity.

I agree, in the defensive zone. In the neutral zone, I find that it often gets opponents caught on their heels.