Keefe on physicality and grit

[JT AM da real deal]

You can't have a hard *ss team when you have Mitch, Willy, Engval, Kaph, Mik, Lily, Rielly on it .. thee are just too many softies with no strength on this team .. it was built for regular season NOT for playoff hockey .. and a lot of rest of guys are not exactly tough either but they at least have some strength .. personnel decides team strength and grit .. we don't have da personnel .. so it won't ever work out in playoffs esp in division we are in which is most brutal in pro hockey with Florida, Tampa and Bruins .. it is a WAR against any of those teams .. skill alone has ZERO chance

 

[justloveleafs]

Giraffes pretend to get bullied brother. Engval, you seen him with his shirt off? Guy could kill a lion any time he feels inclined.

Our giraffe, just shuts down other teams offences. Leaves the silliness to others.

Our team will give it their all in the playoffs. If the other team somehow wins, well, they will have played one heckuva series.

This team is now a Viking team. Its not soft at all. And will amply display that soon enough. l

 

[colchar]

The culture created within the Leafs org is to just take it.

Well that is how both Bell and Rogers treat their customers so........................

 

[colchar]

Giraffes pretend to get bullied brother. Engval, you seen him with his shirt off? Guy could kill a lion any time he feels inclined.

Our giraffe, just shuts down other teams offences. Leaves the silliness to others.

Our team will give it their all in the playoffs. If the other team somehow wins, well, they will have played one heckuva series.

This team is now a Viking team. Its not soft at all. And will amply display that soon enough. l

Time to go back on your meds?

 

[BayStBullies]

In a league where officiating is this terrible, playing with grit is the only way. Both teams will either get 1-1 penalties or 4-4, you might as well bully them. It doesn't help that the agenda is to screw Canadian teams.

 

[LeafGrief]

Grit is such an overused term. The key to winning is not by being the toughest sons of bitches on the ice, it's being the hardest working sons of bitches on the ice. If you get guys who work their asses off, they are gritty by default. They are physical by default, because hockey is a physical game and working your ass off necessitates physicality. I feel that people get lost in the ideas of truculence, fighting, and the after the whistle stuff; that's all just window dressing. What matters is having players who will chase that puck to the end of the earth and move mountains to get it. Having guys who fight and hit and make the game hard for the other team is a good thing, physicality is inarguably a positive in hockey. But if the other team has more heart than your guys, they'll still win out no matter how much you grind them. Skill and heart will always be a better combination than physicality and heart, because the goal is to win the hockey game. Goon is my favourite hockey movie because it's not actually about the fighting, it's about using toughness and grit as a way to finding the heart to win.

When I watch hockey, I enjoy toughness and grit. I'm thrilled when we add players who play chippy, or lay big hits. I want to see someone punch the bastard who runs the goalie. But I don't watch to see who's out there to fight the other team's goon or get into facewashing contests with Brady Tkachuk. I'm watching to see when the puck drops and then observe the guys who turned up to win a hockey game. When I watch the Leafs now, I see a pretty darn good hockey team that's got more than enough raw talent to win. We've got enough good players that we're a contender. This team also routinely demonstrates the ability to dominate the puck and has the willingness to play hard to achieve it. They absolutely have the ability to do the hard work that they need to. However, their big issues are are still concerning their hard work; specifically in consistency, resilience, and handling high pressure games. Talent isn't the problem, and hard work is a problem, so physicality just doesn't register as being the thing holding us back. When the Leafs played a horrendous game 7 against the Habs, with their injured Captain in the press box, and a few hundred health care workers in the building, they showed that they didn't have the heart.

It is possible that making the team tougher would be what gets the team to finally gel and find that work ethic in critical moments (that is the plot of Goon after all). But frankly, I'm not convinced with the Leafs. While this team is a far cry from a physical powerhouse, we're still a whole lot bigger and rougher than the 18-19 iteration of the team and our issues have only been getting worse. So while I will always encourage more physicality, toughness, and grit on the team, I think the problem goes deeper. The good news though, is that heart is the sort of thing that people can find when the time is right. This team has problems with heart, but if they get the team recipe right and it makes them find their hearts, they've got what they need to win it all.

 

[cipher]

Grit is such an overused term. The key to winning is not by being the toughest sons of bitches on the ice, it's being the hardest working sons of bitches on the ice. If you get guys who work their asses off, they are gritty by default. They are physical by default, because hockey is a physical game and working your ass off necessitates physicality. I feel that people get lost in the ideas of truculence, fighting, and the after the whistle stuff; that's all just window dressing. What matters is having players who will chase that puck to the end of the earth and move mountains to get it. Having guys who fight and hit and make the game hard for the other team is a good thing, physicality is inarguably a positive in hockey. But if the other team has more heart than your guys, they'll still win out no matter how much you grind them. Skill and heart will always be a better combination than physicality and heart, because the goal is to win the hockey game. Goon is my favourite hockey movie because it's not actually about the fighting, it's about using toughness and grit as a way to finding the heart to win.

When I watch hockey, I enjoy toughness and grit. I'm thrilled when we add players who play chippy, or lay big hits. I want to see someone punch the bastard who runs the goalie. But I don't watch to see who's out there to fight the other team's goon or get into facewashing contests with Brady Tkachuk. I'm watching to see when the puck drops and then observe the guys who turned up to win a hockey game. When I watch the Leafs now, I see a pretty darn good hockey team that's got more than enough raw talent to win. We've got enough good players that we're a contender. This team also routinely demonstrates the ability to dominate the puck and has the willingness to play hard to achieve it. They absolutely have the ability to do the hard work that they need to. However, their big issues are are still concerning their hard work; specifically in consistency, resilience, and handling high pressure games. Talent isn't the problem, and hard work is a problem, so physicality just doesn't register as being the thing holding us back. When the Leafs played a horrendous game 7 against the Habs, with their injured Captain in the press box, and a few hundred health care workers in the building, they showed that they didn't have the heart.

It is possible that making the team tougher would be what gets the team to finally gel and find that work ethic in critical moments (that is the plot of Goon after all). But frankly, I'm not convinced with the Leafs. While this team is a far cry from a physical powerhouse, we're still a whole lot bigger and rougher than the 18-19 iteration of the team and our issues have only been getting worse. So while I will always encourage more physicality, toughness, and grit on the team, I think the problem goes deeper. The good news though, is that heart is the sort of thing that people can find when the time is right. This team has problems with heart, but if they get the team recipe right and it makes them find their hearts, they've got what they need to win it all.

Couldn't agree more. The Toronto fanbase has grown up with so many truculent players that they've been conditioned to think this is the only way to achieve success while conveniently forgetting that they've never seen those teams win a Stanley cup, let alone make it to the final.

There are many nights this current team is skating hard and the effort/heart is what elevates them from a very good team to a great team. If we can consistently bring that effort every night in the playoffs we will make a run. They didn't lose those last 3 games to Montreal last year because the Habs were tougher and pushed us around. They lost because of a lack of compete/heart/mental toughness over those 3 games.

 

[Dreakmur]

Grit is such an overused term. The key to winning is not by being the toughest sons of bitches on the ice, it's being the hardest working sons of bitches on the ice. If you get guys who work their asses off, they are gritty by default. They are physical by default, because hockey is a physical game and working your ass off necessitates physicality. I feel that people get lost in the ideas of truculence, fighting, and the after the whistle stuff; that's all just window dressing. What matters is having players who will chase that puck to the end of the earth and move mountains to get it. Having guys who fight and hit and make the game hard for the other team is a good thing, physicality is inarguably a positive in hockey. But if the other team has more heart than your guys, they'll still win out no matter how much you grind them. Skill and heart will always be a better combination than physicality and heart, because the goal is to win the hockey game. Goon is my favourite hockey movie because it's not actually about the fighting, it's about using toughness and grit as a way to finding the heart to win.

When I watch hockey, I enjoy toughness and grit. I'm thrilled when we add players who play chippy, or lay big hits. I want to see someone punch the bastard who runs the goalie. But I don't watch to see who's out there to fight the other team's goon or get into facewashing contests with Brady Tkachuk. I'm watching to see when the puck drops and then observe the guys who turned up to win a hockey game. When I watch the Leafs now, I see a pretty darn good hockey team that's got more than enough raw talent to win. We've got enough good players that we're a contender. This team also routinely demonstrates the ability to dominate the puck and has the willingness to play hard to achieve it. They absolutely have the ability to do the hard work that they need to. However, their big issues are are still concerning their hard work; specifically in consistency, resilience, and handling high pressure games. Talent isn't the problem, and hard work is a problem, so physicality just doesn't register as being the thing holding us back. When the Leafs played a horrendous game 7 against the Habs, with their injured Captain in the press box, and a few hundred health care workers in the building, they showed that they didn't have the heart.

It is possible that making the team tougher would be what gets the team to finally gel and find that work ethic in critical moments (that is the plot of Goon after all). But frankly, I'm not convinced with the Leafs. While this team is a far cry from a physical powerhouse, we're still a whole lot bigger and rougher than the 18-19 iteration of the team and our issues have only been getting worse. So while I will always encourage more physicality, toughness, and grit on the team, I think the problem goes deeper. The good news though, is that heart is the sort of thing that people can find when the time is right. This team has problems with heart, but if they get the team recipe right and it makes them find their hearts, they've got what they need to win it all.

Sounds like you just think people mean toughness when they say grit. You seem to acknowledge that effort level and intensity are keys to success, but that what most people mean when they say grit.

Even toughness doesn’t mean face-punching. Toughness is one’s ability to absorb damage, not inflict it.

 

[paulhiggins]

Would like to see Curtis Douglas get some "tough guy" pointers from some heavyweights of the past and if the rest of his game allows be on our 4th line next year.

 

[geo25]

It's why I thought last year was going to be their best chance. Limited team play due to the pandemic and having Bogosian and Foligno in the lineup, even a Galchenyuk played with some attitude and he didn't back down, veteran Thornton who understands the nature of the game.

We will see if Dubas can pull a rabbit out of his hat at the deadline. I just don't think any team would be too worried about playing the Leafs in a series. That perception is a problem for a team that lacks an identity.

This is a reflection of the coaching....which in my opinion needs to be changed asap. Can you imagine our group with Gallant at the helm (a very feisty battler in his day)?

 

[Lightsol]

How can you be physical playing for the Leafs when the officiating clearly does not treat you the same as other teams? I think there's a very good reason why physical players who get traded here abandon their style of play.

That's what I said, when Lyub got here and started hitting. "The NHL will take care of that."