Confirmed with Link: Joe Thornton to Leafs [1yr/700k]

[BrannigansLaw]

Boy oh boy. Nylander really needs to shake his reputation.

His reputation is that he’s European so the Don Cherry’s of this board love to rag on him. Hard to shake that

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[ottomaddox]

His reputation is that he’s European so the Don Cherry’s of this board love to rag on him. Hard to shake that

I don't understand this at all. Which cartoon version of hfboards are you?

 

[Cotton]

His reputation is that he’s European so the Don Cherry’s of this board love to rag on him. Hard to shake that

That’s an incredible flawed view you have.

 

[ITM]

His reputation is that he’s European so the Don Cherry’s of this board love to rag on him. Hard to shake that

Don't think you're going to find a more active Cherry apologist than I've been outside Leafs boards and I'm certainly one those fans in this forum who have stuck by Nylander.

This to say, nuance is important for accurate analysis. And the deep dive says, past certain talk for small talk sake, there's usually lesser known elements to be found that accurately correct opportunistic caricatures, whatever the subject.

 

[Nineteen67]

His reputation is that he’s European so the Don Cherry’s of this board love to rag on him. Hard to shake that

Not all Europeans quit on plays and take games off during the playoffs.

 

[ITM]

Babcock was icing Marleau every game and benching Matthews.

Babcock scratches Spezza happily.

Keefe played Spezza favorably and that old vet single handedly won us a playoff game vs the Jackets.

I don't dispute the value of veterans to be clear. I still occasionally wonder if Dominik Hasek or Pavel Datsyuk might be good for a series bump even while I might admire a play Spezza or Marleau made...But not all veterans and their contributions will be alike.

As I said, I'm missing Thornton's value at this stage in his career in this era of hockey. The two seem as complimentary as Jason Allison in a fastest skater contest.

I've see moments in which Spezza absolutely has proven his worth. But there's a difference isn't there? Mechanically? Not mistaking Spezza for Marner, am I wrong when I say, Joe Thornton might be the objective measure by which league managers can reasonably say that his skating disqualifies a player from an NHL roster unless there's something truly exceptional to the rest of the player's game? And this as a metric for teenagers and twenty-somethings...not forty-one year old players....

Full disclosure, I've seen only highlights of Thornton in recent years. I understand he gets into the offensive zone and is still a very good hockey player. On this team, that's like adding a thimble of water to a full bathtub. Our team defense, our transition game seems to be the problem, yes? I'm missing what Thornton can bring by way of example (now) that's going to inspire these forwards. My sense is the occasional lesson. How does that lesson impart if the mentees are circling back to cover his game?

Want to be completely wrong here. Maybe extra work is exactly what will draw out the truest competitors in our bunch. Seems a long shot in either case.

 

[moon111]

The thing with skating, these big guys have such long strides as well. In this NHL video, think I counted about 16 strides where he skates back and forth down the ice. For me, that would be about 60 strides without being any faster.

 

[ToneDog]

The thing with skating, these big guys have such long strides as well. In this NHL video, think I counted about 16 strides where he skates back and forth down the ice. For me, that would be about 60 strides without being any faster.

If he's a fast as the Goat, he is a huge upgrade at $700K.

 

[BrannigansLaw]

I don't understand this at all. Which cartoon version of hfboards are you?

What don’t you understand. He has a European background. There are dinosaurs on this board who think he’ll never play hard or change because he’s a Euro. Just like Don Cherry would posit on Senility’s Corner

 

[BrannigansLaw]

Not all Europeans quit on plays and take games off during the playoffs.

Did you even read what I posted or just assumed I thought all European players are soft?

 

[ottomaddox]

What don’t you understand. He has a European background. There are dinosaurs on this board who think he’ll never play hard or change because he’s a Euro. Just like Don Cherry would posit on Senility’s Corner

I don't understand how someone could make gross generalizations about hfboard members who supposedly make gross generalizations. FYI there's only 1 Don Cherry in this world.

 

[frog]

What don’t you understand. He has a European background. There are dinosaurs on this board who think he’ll never play hard or change because he’s a Euro. Just like Don Cherry would posit on Senility’s Corner

Yet these these posters you describe loved RomanPolak and Leo Komarov..... maybe we think he'll never play hard because we think he's selfish and lazy

 

[Nineteen67]

Did you even read what I posted or just assumed I thought all European players are soft?

I get the double standard

 

[Nineteen67]

What don’t you understand. He has a European background. There are dinosaurs on this board who think he’ll never play hard or change because he’s a Euro. Just like Don Cherry would posit on Senility’s Corner

Just a thought.....Maybe, just maybe, they don’t think he plays hard enough because he's demonstrated in the playoffs that he doesn’t play hard enough.

 

[BrannigansLaw]

Just a thought.....Maybe, just maybe, they don’t think he plays hard enough because he's demonstrated in the playoffs that he doesn’t play hard enough.

Maybe they can wait a bit longer and see if he develops? Why are we always trying to get rid of young guys who struggle here almost right away? He's only what 24? He'll develop push back on top of his already progressing game. He had a bad playoffs but he showed a side of himself that I didn't know existed being a net front presence and scoring the majority of his goals near the goal mouth this year. Did any of those people think he would ever do that? Hell no.

So maybe, just maybe, they can chill the f*** out for awhile

 

[Menzinger]

I still feel like Matthews-Marner-Nylander-Tavares-Rielly is too good to not get 90+ seconds of every power play, but there's no question we could easily put together two really potent units.

I think it'll depend on how it goes. If it goes quite for a few games they may change things up. And for the record I really like the stacked 1st unit apprpach

But Simmonds and Thornton are usused to getting PP usage so I just wonder if the team will look to accommodate it.

 

[ottomaddox]

Maybe they can wait a bit longer and see if he develops? Why are we always trying to get rid of young guys who struggle here almost right away? He's only what 24? He'll develop push back on top of his already progressing game. He had a bad playoffs but he showed a side of himself that I didn't know existed being a net front presence and scoring the majority of his goals near the goal mouth this year. Did any of those people think he would ever do that? Hell no.

So maybe, just maybe, they can chill the f*** out for awhile

Lol. Had to be luck. Had to be. He didn't push defenders out of the way to get those points.

 

[kb]

Lol. Had to be luck. Had to be. He didn't push defenders out of the way to get those points.

You don't like how he looked scoring those net front goals, and would rather him play a game he is not suited to make you feel better?

Odd take. Unless this was a tongue in cheek post....

 

[IPS]

You don't like how he looked scoring those net front goals, and would rather him play a game he is not suited to make you feel better?

Odd take. Unless this was a tongue in cheek post....

It's the user "heybuddyhowyadoin", he just switched his username. Guy's been posting utter bullshit about Nylander for ages now.

 

[kb]

It's the user "heybuddyhowyadoin", he just switched his username. Guy's been posting utter bullshit about Nylander for ages now.

Ah - that explains it. Somehow I missed that he was gone. But then again, he's never been relevant in any form, and he's been right even less than he's been relevant.

I figured it was a bizarre take in a Thornton thread.

 

[hfman]

Leafs: Hey Joe, wanna come play for Toronto?
25-Year old Joe: LOL

Leafs: Hey Joe, wanna come play for Toronto?
42-Year old Joe: Where do I sign?

 

[Nineteen67]

Maybe they can wait a bit longer and see if he develops? Why are we always trying to get rid of young guys who struggle here almost right away? He's only what 24? He'll develop push back on top of his already progressing game. He had a bad playoffs but he showed a side of himself that I didn't know existed being a net front presence and scoring the majority of his goals near the goal mouth this year. Did any of those people think he would ever do that? Hell no.

So maybe, just maybe, they can chill the f*** out for awhile

Effort doesn’t come with age or experience. Until he puts in the proper effort people are going to complain about his play. What he did, at times, in the Bruins series is unacceptable. If he puts in the effort and fails, the complaining will wane.

 

[ShaneFalco]

Leafs: Hey Joe, wanna come play for Toronto?
25-Year old Joe: LOL

Leafs: Hey Joe, wanna come play for Toronto?
42-Year old Joe: Where do I sign?

But in fairness, the Leafs were a joke for many years

 

[Its not your fault]

His reputation is that he’s European so the Don Cherry’s of this board love to rag on him. Hard to shake that

It's the user "heybuddyhowyadoin", he just switched his username. Guy's been posting utter bullshit about Nylander for ages now.

Why change your name? That is silly would he have changed his name in real life? I think he must have embarrassed himself enough he changed his real life name. So then yes its okay to change your online handle. Hey buddy how you been doing? Lol.