Leafs look to adopt defensive state of mind

[Kyle Doobas*]

I don't think when Randy Carlyle says he wants the team to play better defensively, he's just talking about clearing the front of the net and blocking shots. If there's anything he's stressed, it's doing a better job of: 1) maintaining possession in the offensive end, and 2) getting the puck out of the defensive end, both of which mobile d-men are the perfect soldiers for.

 

[Pyrophorus]

A few points, the 1st 2 are interlinked. For a time, many have the
Leafs D looks good on paper. People on this very board said that
Wilson was not using the strengths of his D-corps. We'll see what
this core is really made of now.

Bowen and Abbott, mentioned the same recipe for success as I did.
Lower the GA, raised the SV% by 20pts and it shouldn't be a problem.

Can you really say that goaltenders who have 82 games played, suck?

I also say you don't know what you're going to get with this team.

Kingstonian is right, it won't be a trap. Just that preventing goals,
will seem just as paramount as scoring them.

 

[Community]

Good defensive players:

Kulemin, Steckel, Gunnarsson, Macarthur, Bozak...

?

Maybe including Macarthur and Bozak is being generous..

Grabovski > MacArthur defensively IMO.... And while I don't like him defensively, Carlyle was impressed with Connolly's defensive play

 

[Pyrophorus]

Carlyle was impressed with Connolly's defensive play

He did finished 6th in forwards for blocked shots.

 

[Kingstonian84*]

I don't think when Randy Carlyle says he wants the team to play better defensively, he's just talking about clearing the front of the net and blocking shots. If there's anything he's stressed, it's doing a better job of: 1) maintaining possession in the offensive end, and 2) getting the puck out of the defensive end, both of which mobile d-men are the perfect soldiers for.

The leafs last year were CRINGEWORTHY when trying to make a pass out of their own end, too many times it either got intercepted by opponents or it was fumbled, both resulting in the leafs being pinned in their own end for minutes at a time. Not just that, they were very passive in their own end too many times sitting back and waiting for either a) the opponent to shoot and hope for a shotblock or b) wait for the opponent to come and lay a hit on them. Both these areas need to change if we're to have any success.

 

[Snow Dog]

Works both ways.

Defence can make average goalies look great too.

St Louis is an example.

Agreed.And average defense(Leafs)combines with below average goaltending(Leafs) usually adds up to alot of losses.

I do not really think Carlyle was too worried about winning last year.It's more like he was assessing what he was up against and the best way to fit who he has to work with into his coaching phylosophy.

 

[Mess]

I appreciate the fact that Leafs are going to take a more defensive approach this year, however I question if this team has the player personnel to play it successfully.

 

[Bleed Blue and White]

The leafs last year were CRINGEWORTHY when trying to make a pass out of their own end, too many times it either got intercepted by opponents or it was fumbled, both resulting in the leafs being pinned in their own end for minutes at a time. Not just that, they were very passive in their own end too many times sitting back and waiting for either a) the opponent to shoot and hope for a shotblock or b) wait for the opponent to come and lay a hit on them. Both these areas need to change if we're to have any success.

Exactly! I'm hoping that Carlyle's system will teach our forwards to close the gap with the defence to make it easier for our defence to get the puck out and our forwards to go back on the offensive and also, we need to be harder on the puck, take a hit to make a play where necessary, use the boards and glass when possible and for the love of God don't make those long outlet passes through the middle. If we can start doing those relatively simple changes I think we'll be ok.

 

[Guy Boucher]

From what I understood from Carlyle:

It will be a defensive approach but NOT a "patient" or "passive" approach.

I think he might been looking to mirror the Blues or Kings a bit. Meaning, very aggressive puck pursuit in all three zones. Sounds like an offensive approach, but its meant to keep shooters from getting a decent shot from the middle of the ice. Everything gets pushed to the outside instead.

 

[Kessely Snipes]

I think our bottom six will be much better this year, especially with Mcclemant and Komorov.

 

[shaner8989]

What a disgrace.

We have no good defense
We have bad goaltending

Yet We have a nice offense thou.

So we're going to play to our weakness? Real ****ing brilliant.

 

[Kingstonian84*]

From what I understood from Carlyle:

It will be a defensive approach but NOT a "patient" or "passive" approach.

I think he might been looking to mirror the Blues or Kings a bit. Meaning, very aggressive puck pursuit in all three zones. Sounds like an offensive approach, but its meant to keep shooters from getting a decent shot from the middle of the ice. Everything gets pushed to the outside instead.

I actually think Carlyle will try to mirror Boston's approach

 

[hattub]

I love it, when Wilson was here playing an uptempo game, people were screaming for a more defensive approach. Now that Carlyle is here want to play a more defensive approach people are scared and think we should play the run and gun again. The run and gun got us nowhere.

Defense is more of a mindset than a skillset. Hopefully the players that don't buy into that mindset will sit. Luckily we still have the skill to score goals.

ps. i'm not saying there is no skill involved in playing defense.

 

[TootooTrain]

He did finished 6th in forwards for blocked shots.

Just to clarify he was 1st in blocked shots for forwards (Next was Steckel). 6th overall on the team

I appreciate the fact that Leafs are going to take a more defensive approach this year, however I question if this team has the player personnel to play it successfully.

You can teach defensive structure more-so than offense. It just needs to be drilled into their brains. I'm not that worried. Kessel will still drive to the outside every so often.

The one thing we won't see in RC's system is all those drop-back passes we had under Wilson.

 

[The Apologist]

He did finished 6th in forwards for blocked shots.

I could see TC back in a top 6 role in a Carlyle system. I think we have more defensive talent than people can see as we've never really used it. We're about to see what our guys can do.

 

[Kingstonian84*]

I think our bottom six will be much better this year, especially with Mcclemant and Komorov.

We know the top 6 is Bozak/Kessel/Lupul/JVR/Grabo with one opening. The following players are looking at the bottom 6: Connolly, Steckel, Kulemin (possibly), Komorov, Brown, Lambo, Frattin (if Kulemin or Kadri get the last top 6 role), Mclement, Steckel either in the bottom 6 or vying for a role in it.

 

[Kbs]

What a disgrace.

We have no good defense
We have bad goaltending

Yet We have a nice offense thou.

So we're going to play to our weakness? Real ****ing brilliant.

Playing to our "strength" got us 5th last in the league last year.

Personally, I'd be ecstatic if Carlyle was the one to finally get this team to play defense.

 

[Kingstonian84*]

I could see TC back in a top 6 role in a Carlyle system. I think we have more defensive talent than people can see as we've never really used it. We're about to see what our guys can do.

I don't know, theres no way he's usurping Grabo's spot thats for sure. Him and Kessel didn't show any chemistry on the top line last year but I could see Carlye going there again to retry things. To me though Connolly is a top 6 or go home type player....

 

[Ron Wilson*]

You can't rely on offence to win games, just look at the Pens and Philly.

You can't also rely on defence completely.

We need an all around, strong effort from all positions. No more nights off from players, no more lack of heart or drive. A strong effort every night and we can compete for 8th spot. Anything less and we are in the basement again.

No system will be a good enough vs. an adaptive coach. Playing like robots will get us nowhere. I hope Carlyle is more dynamic then he was in Anaheim. I like his approach but a lot of these coaches refuse to adapt to the changes in the game quick enough.

Bottom line is we just don't have enough talent to compensate for any lazy nights. Should be an interesting season.

 

[Bomber0104]

You can't rely on offence to win games, just look at the Pens and Philly.

You can't also rely on defence completely.

We need an all around, strong effort from all positions. No more nights off from players, no more lack of heart or drive. A strong effort every night and we can compete for 8th spot. Anything less and we are in the basement again.

No system will be a good enough vs. an adaptive coach. Playing like robots will get us nowhere. I hope Carlyle is more dynamic then he was in Anaheim. I like his approach but a lot of these coaches refuse to adapt to the changes in the game quick enough.

Bottom line is we just don't have enough talent to compensate for any lazy nights. Should be an interesting season.

You think we're going to take your coaching advice now Ron Wilson?

Just joking, nice post. And welcome to the Leafs forum.

 

[Kirkpatrick]

Just to clarify he was 1st in blocked shots for forwards (Next was Steckel). 6th overall on the team.

Connolly was even tied for 8th league-wide in shots blocked for forwards, despite having the third fewest games played in the top 30: http://www.nhl.com/ice/playerstats....LL&sort=blockedShots&viewName=rtssPlayerStats

Crazy glassman blocking all those shots.

 

[The Apologist]

I don't know, theres no way he's usurping Grabo's spot thats for sure. Him and Kessel didn't show any chemistry on the top line last year but I could see Carlye going there again to retry things. To me though Connolly is a top 6 or go home type player....

I think his role would be different up there under Carlyle. On that line, there is no question that PK should be the offensive catalyst. In a defensive system, TC would be the guy counted on to bail out the line. Before, he was expected to be another freewheeling piece.

 

[Duffman955]

I really don't understand why Burke brought in Carlyle (who plays a completely different system than Wilson's Run and Gun), then does next to nothing in the offseason to ready the team for Carlyle style.

Furthermore, we only have one solid defenseman in his own zone (Gunnarson). Phaneuf and Komiserek can be alright if put in the correct situation, but the defense as a whole does not look good in their own zone.

When it comes to goaltending, we have huge question marks in net. We have very few forwards in the top 9 that are strong defensively, which all adds up to a recipe for disaster.

If all goes wrong, we get a top 5 pick

If all goes right, we have a St. louis Blues like season.

 

[Confucius]

I don't know, theres no way he's usurping Grabo's spot thats for sure. Him and Kessel didn't show any chemistry on the top line last year but I could see Carlye going there again to retry things. To me though Connolly is a top 6 or go home type player....

 

[Confucius]

I really don't understand why Burke brought in Carlyle (who plays a completely different system than Wilson's Run and Gun), then does next to nothing in the offseason to ready the team for Carlyle style.

Furthermore, we only have one solid defenseman in his own zone (Gunnarson). Phaneuf and Komiserek can be alright if put in the correct situation, but the defense as a whole does not look good in their own zone.

When it comes to goaltending, we have huge question marks in net. We have very few forwards in the top 9 that are strong defensively, which all adds up to a recipe for disaster.

If all goes wrong, we get a top 5 pick

If all goes right, we have a St. louis Blues like season.

Phaneuf spends more time behind the opposition net then our forwards do. So with Carlyle's 3 men in front of the puck style, two forwards will have to be the ones coming back covering up and playing D most of the time.