News Article: Leafs are now identifiable.

[The Blueprint]

Every team makes mistakes defensively, you pay your goalie to make saves. We only go as far as Andersen takes us this year and I don't like his chances head to head against any other teams goaltending in the division except Edmonton.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Every team makes mistakes defensively, you pay your goalie to make saves. We only go as far as Andersen takes us this year and I don't like his chances head to head against any other teams goaltending in the division except Edmonton.

He won't play in da playoffs ... don't worry about that one

 

[CanadasTeam]

I did re-watch it man ... he is on his knees completely in butterfly ... that was my exact point ... if he stood up at 6ft5 frame it hits him in upper chest area ... watch again he gave up top foot of net being in a butterfly when there was no need to go into butterfly except it is his training to do it in every circumstance ... he does not have training in enough competitive games as a kid and minor to understand all da different nuances of shot positions ... it is not his fault he was born in Denmark

That's where I have an issue agreeing with you.. no big deal if we can't agree

As I said before, what I saw is Freddy did not fully commit to a butterfly and puck was redirected by Matty. He was in good position but the redirect caused Freddy push off with his left skate to shift himself to his right side but it's too late by then.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

That's where I have an issue agreeing with you.. no big deal if we can't agree

As I said before, what I saw is Freddy did not fully commit to a butterfly and puck was redirected by Matty. He was in good position but the redirect caused Freddy push off with his left skate to shift himself to his right side but it's too late by then.

Yes pick went up dramatically like 2 foot higher but it did not change direction at all ... Freddy had already done his pushover as shot was taken and butterfly was in motion ... by time puck reaches him his inside pads are completely on ice and he has lost 2 foot of height ... my point was if he did his pushover same way and not dropped into butterfly then it hits his upper chest ... there was no need to butterfly in that situation as no Jets in his shooting zone/area ... but again he does not have things ingrained in his head like most Canadian goalers do

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Yes pick went up dramatically like 2 foot higher but it did not change direction at all ... Freddy had already done his pushover as shot was taken and butterfly was in motion ... by time puck reaches him his inside pads are completely on ice and he has lost 2 foot of height ... my point was if he did his pushover same way and not dropped into butterfly then it hits his upper chest ... there was no need to butterfly in that situation as no Jets in his shooting zone/area ... but again he does not have things ingrained in his head like most Canadian goalers do

Further there was no need to drop down at all unless he thought/assumed Matty would deflect puck downward as shot was rising ...

 

[zeke]

That's where I have an issue agreeing with you.. no big deal if we can't agree

As I said before, what I saw is Freddy did not fully commit to a butterfly and puck was redirected by Matty. He was in good position but the redirect caused Freddy push off with his left skate to shift himself to his right side but it's too late by then.

you can dissect these goals endlessly but really the point is that for a big goalie he manages to make himself plenty small in net. goals beat him upstairs regularly and he doesn't even get very close to them - there's just always plenty of room for the puck to get in. Add in the fact that he has an iffy 5 hole some years and an iffy 9 hole in other years, not to mention his increasing tendency to flop instead of move efficiently....and it just leafs to all sorts of goals that it looks like he "has no chance on" but really would be easy unnoticed saves with more consistent positioning.

 

[All Mod Cons]

I hope Dubie can pull off da miracle I really do ... but i think he tried and failed already ... now quite frankly it will cost us too much to unload him ... like please take Freddy and we will give you a 2021 pick for your trouble

You think Dubas failed? f*** no. Do you even spreadsheet?

 

[Confucius]

That's where I have an issue agreeing with you.. no big deal if we can't agree

As I said before, what I saw is Freddy did not fully commit to a butterfly and puck was redirected by Matty. He was in good position but the redirect caused Freddy push off with his left skate to shift himself to his right side but it's too late by then.

You know Mathews is still a fair way out. Surprised Fred still couldn't get in the way of that.

 

[CanadasTeam]

You know Mathews is still a fair way out. Surprised Fred still couldn't get in the way of that.

Let's imagine Auston's leg was a hockey stick... puck's flying really fast, it's obvious it's how tip-ins go in.

Listen, I'm not trying to defend Freddy -- he was ass. I only participated in the conversation to point out Freddy did not drop into a butterfly.

 

[Confucius]

Let's imagine Auston's leg was a hockey stick... puck's flying really fast, it's obvious it's how tip-ins go in.

Listen, I'm not trying to defend Freddy -- he was ass. I only participated in the conversation to point out Freddy did not drop into a butterfly.

It was a wrist shot Mathews gets his leg up high enough that he gets a skate on it and Fred couldn't get an arm on it. ok I guess.

 

[ToneDog]

You know Mathews is still a fair way out. Surprised Fred still couldn't get in the way of that.

Can the same be said for the Copp goal? He was pretty far out as well.

 

[Gallagbi]

you can dissect these goals endlessly but really the point is that for a big goalie he manages to make himself plenty small in net. goals beat him upstairs regularly and he doesn't even get very close to them - there's just always plenty of room for the puck to get in. Add in the fact that he has an iffy 5 hole some years and an iffy 9 hole in other years, not to mention his increasing tendency to flop instead of move efficiently....and it just leafs to all sorts of goals that it looks like he "has no chance on" but really would be easy unnoticed saves with more consistent positioning.

Both feet well in the crease on a wrister from the point will do that, especially when there's no one-time threats or high-low plays to catch him challenging.

It's interesting, because some goalies can play deeper to rely on their reactions for things like deflections, but that's not really Fred's strengths.

 

[Blowfish]

KOSHAN: Maple Leafs have forged identity as well-rounded outfit through 20 games | Toronto Sun

We are in every game because they play a patient/discipline/ solid defense. As this year goes along and next years even this team will play a better complete game. Nice transition to a competitive overall team game. Still need more grit in the lineup is still unfortunately part of this identity on the minor negative with the group. It shows up instantly after Simmonds goes down. Overall I’m pretty proud of the transformation from top management on down to the 13 forward.
They made strides bringing in the right veterans and intangibles but there is work to do on adding a bit more bite.
I’m absolutely impressed on the whole. Keeper goin!

 

[Bluelines]

We go on a heater to start the season against some pretty shitty teams and teams that are on super cold streaks, click bait reporters jump on the Leafs hot streak, declare mission accomplished, we are a defensive juggernaut they say and then reality hits. I think for many of us that are students of the game, recognized that the Leafs success was due to two players playing world class elite hockey. I think one really smart poster said that we will go as far as Matty and Marner will carry us.

Leaf nation this years team is not all that different than last years team, it happens EVERY year, teams that are loaded with elite individual talent dominate at the beginning of the year, once teams have time to establish systems, the teams with great systems catch up to the teams that are winning based on elite individual talent. It's no coincidence that the Leafs started to slide once Matty got that wrist injury.

We are not as bad of a team as the last 6 games would suggest, we are not as good of a team s the first 22ish or so games would suggest. To suggest the Leafs are some sort of defensive power house, is laughable. This why people who rely on stats are often more wrong than people who understand the game and rely on the eye test. Stats don't tell you about puck luck and the Leafs had A LOT of puck luck in the first 20ish games.

 

[Bluelines]

you can dissect these goals endlessly but really the point is that for a big goalie he manages to make himself plenty small in net. goals beat him upstairs regularly and he doesn't even get very close to them - there's just always plenty of room for the puck to get in. Add in the fact that he has an iffy 5 hole some years and an iffy 9 hole in other years, not to mention his increasing tendency to flop instead of move efficiently....and it just leafs to all sorts of goals that it looks like he "has no chance on" but really would be easy unnoticed saves with more consistent positioning.

He look so small in net it looks to me like his equipment is smaller this year. It could just be the body language of a goalie who doubts himself, or it could be that his equipment is actually smaller... at any rate he does not look like a goalie who is over 6 foot and over 200lbs.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

You should scratch your head. Did you look at the date.

 

[Jeypic]

We go on a heater to start the season against some pretty shitty teams and teams that are on super cold streaks, click bait reporters jump on the Leafs hot streak, declare mission accomplished, we are a defensive juggernaut they say and then reality hits. I think for many of us that are students of the game, recognized that the Leafs success was due to two players playing world class elite hockey. I think one really smart poster said that we will go as far as Matty and Marner will carry us.

Leaf nation this years team is not all that different than last years team, it happens EVERY year, teams that are loaded with elite individual talent dominate at the beginning of the year, once teams have time to establish systems, the teams with great systems catch up to the teams that are winning based on elite individual talent. It's no coincidence that the Leafs started to slide once Matty got that wrist injury.

We are not as bad of a team as the last 6 games would suggest, we are not as good of a team s the first 22ish or so games would suggest. To suggest the Leafs are some sort of defensive power house, is laughable. This why people who rely on stats are often more wrong than people who understand the game and rely on the eye test. Stats don't tell you about puck luck and the Leafs had A LOT of puck luck in the first 20ish games.

Hutchison is why we lost last night, those goals against were horrible. Other then 1 minute of bad hockey, letting in back to back goals against twice... the leafs win that game. They outshot and for the most part out played Winnipeg and Vancouver in those series. But ran into hot goaltending. Matty wasn't even playing against Edmonton when our teams hype was at an all time high. He hasn't been himself since the injury but he's still putting the puck in the net. Leafs will bounce back. They've had A LOT of bad puck luck in the past few games. Nylander has looked great as well as Hyman. Our defence is much improved over previous years. Brodie, Bogosian>Barrie, Ceci, there's no argument. Our goaltending hasn't been as good as it needs to be in the past few games. It would be nice to get Campbell back because Andersen is playing too much.

 

[zeke]

It's just so leafy that they skid like this right before the longest break of the year just so we can all stew in this extra long.

Just remember that in reality this is only 2 bad games, both which came at the tail end of an 8gms in 14 days which included a long Westcoast roadie and lots of travel days.

Before those 2gms we were probably playing the best hockey we've ever played, starting with the wins over the Oilers but even right through the losses too.

 

[kk87]

It's just so leafy that they skid like this right before the longest break of the year just so we can all stew in this extra long.

Just remember that in reality this is only 2 bad games, both which came at the tail end of an 8gms in 14 days which included a long Westcoast roadie and lots of travel days.

Before those 2gms we were probably playing the best hockey we've ever played, starting with the wins over the Oilers but even right through the losses too.

That string of four games (two against the Canucks and two against the Jets) where we went 1-3-0 with the Matthews OT winner was some of the most eye-popping bad luck I've seen in recent memory - we dominated all four games, controlling the pace of play throughout, and came out with two total points after getting goalied night after night. That's just how the sport works sometimes; it's not a statement on the team, but rather an indication of how unpredictable hockey can be.

In terms of team play, this is really only a two-game skid - which to your point, came on back to back nights this weekend after a rigorous two-week stretch. Our record the past 6 games is not indicative of where this team is at - it's a blip in the radar, underpinned by bad luck above all else.

 

[Bluelines]

Hutchison is why we lost last night, those goals against were horrible. Other then 1 minute of bad hockey, letting in back to back goals against twice... the leafs win that game. They outshot and for the most part out played Winnipeg and Vancouver in those series. But ran into hot goaltending. Matty wasn't even playing against Edmonton when our teams hype was at an all time high. He hasn't been himself since the injury but he's still putting the puck in the net. Leafs will bounce back. They've had A LOT of bad puck luck in the past few games. Nylander has looked great as well as Hyman. Our defence is much improved over previous years. Brodie, Bogosian>Barrie, Ceci, there's no argument. Our goaltending hasn't been as good as it needs to be in the past few games. It would be nice to get Campbell back because Andersen is playing too much.

Matthews seems to think they lost because of a slow start...

 

[zeke]

Matthews seems to think they lost because of a slow start...

I'd add in a slow middle and a slow end too, other than when they pulled the goalie.

 

[Racer88]

Matthews seems to think they lost because of a slow start...

He is delusional just like the rest of the Leafs

 

[Bluelines]

He is delusional just like the rest of the Leafs

Galleys comments after the 2nd goal was, the Leafs are still sitting on the tarmac at the airport. Kinda the same thing we see every year, the Leafs with this young team , when they have a big break coming up, they seem to suck really bad just before, it's like they are more focused on getting away from hockey than wanting to win. I find the 20 something's more than ever want to run and hide vs dig in and fight when adversity comes their way....kinda a soft generation IMO TBH... too much helicopter mom and bulldozer dad in their lives.

The last 6 games says more about this team than the first 22.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

Pretty snazzy team play except for this past six before the break here. I was thinking during the last game, yeah these poor Bast**** need a rest.
Nhl level hockey pace for a game every two nights must have been like playoffs. Anyone that played tournaments knows how tired you get when games or raceskeeps coming at you fast and furious.

They were frustrated, out of joint, angry, forcing every play,not getting to their ice as quick as the other teams were. The reason we were bumpin along with the record we were was because of fluid speed and dominating defense. That was gone.
I predict the good team back after this break. I wouldn’t guess what Andersen will be like but i would guess running a tandem of Andersen and Campbell would show a better covered net.

I think Andersen is slowed by injury we don’t hear about. I was watching some re-runs so to speak of games. He’s definitely not moving like he could previously. He should skim down now likely. I bet if he lost 10,12,15 pounds he would be back to normal. His game is off more than that but Campbell and him could keep us going strong.

Simmonds,Campbell coming back healthy and Robertson also for that matter might show some fun again. They weren’t having any fun the last 6 games.

They will be better Starting Friday again