They've all had down series but are PPG over a large stretch, and their goal differential is great. How much better do they need to be?
Domie and Bert were hyped as playoff studs and produced like 3rd liners.
Confirmed with Link: Leafs sign defenceman Jani Hakanpää (1 year, $1.47M) (official)
- Thread starter SprDaVE
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They've all had down series but are PPG over a large stretch, and their goal differential is great. How much better do they need to be?
Domie and Bert were hyped as playoff studs and produced like 3rd liners.
Racer88
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You wouldn’t think scoring should have been a problem with 4 -11 million dollar forwards
rumman
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They are third liners and would be fine on a good team. Domi almost carried the Leafs past Boston last year, but you can’t expect him do that on his own.
The Shrike
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If they have a coach who is willing to let highly skilled offensive players play to their strengths in the playoffs, it wouldn't be a problem. Keefe wasn't that guy.
rumman
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There’s a big problem when a 3 million dollar player carries a team of multiple 11 million dollar players……..
rumman
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Every coach makes his team tighten up in the playoffs, if you expect success with run and gun playoff hockey your going to be sadly disappointed. They need to play a well rounded game and score some goals something they can’t do post season…….
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If Keefe was just trying to make the team "tighten up", there wouldn't be a problem. He wasn't.
He was trying to get the team to play a radically different playing style in the playoffs (Reg. Season - Possession, Playoffs - Dump&Chase), AND it happens to be a style the team's stars aren't well suited to play. You can't alter the team's entire playing style in Game 1 of the playoffs and expect to succeed, especially against teams that have been playing the same way from the start of the regular season.
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If they fix the PP they may not need to depend on the core to take charge. We know they’re not the type that steps up in the playoffs, it’s just not who and what they prioritize.
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When tried the dumb and chase in game 5 they were much better and infinitely more entertaining to watch.
rumman
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If the Leafs playing a defensively responsible brand of hockey isn’t to your liking I really think your going to hate Berube…….
The Shrike
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The Shrike
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Berube didn't have the offensive firepower available to him in St. Louis that he'll have here, so it will be interesting to see if he has the coaching versatility to utilize it.
rumman
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usernamezrhardtodo
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That's exactly correct IMO. You can't just turn on the defensive play in March right before the playoffs and expect them to do everything naturally. He had 5 chances to start the season with a good structure that would enable automatic good habits all the way through to the playoffs but eschewed them in favor of stylish goals during the season. I really think Berube is going to get much more out of them than Keefe. Question is...will it be enough to do some damage or just not die in RD 1?
Racer88
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The Shrike
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No, nor were they defensively obsessed which would have hindered their chances to win the cup.
HamiltonNHL
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PP2 = Marner, JT, Rielly.
If you think Keefe is the source of lack of playoff success .... you're dreaming.
We need change.
Ditch Mitch.
I see nothing in my comment that even remotely looks like this. My point is that if you're going to play a defensive style, DO IT FROM GAME 1 OF THE REGULAR SEASON. Not Game 1 of the playoffs.
Mess
Global Moderator
Following day 3 of Maple Leafs training camp, head coach Craig Berube provided fans with a highly anticipated update regarding defenseman Jani Hakanpaa.
Among their myriad of moves on the first of July, the Toronto Maple Leafs continued to bolster their back-end by reportedly signing Hakanpaa to a 2-year deal worth $1.5 million per season. The hulking Fin was expected to be a defensive mainstay to round out the top-6, however a knee injury kept his inclusion on the club in the dark until very recently, his deal actually coming in at $1.47M for just one season.
Maple Leaf
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could be like a poor mans hal gill or dead mans chara
The Shrike
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He's a defensive specialist, throws a lot of hits, blocks a lot of shots, doesn't get out of position often, starts the vast majority of his shifts in the defensive zone. As long as people don't expect end to end rushes from him he'll be fine.
Spargon
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Bert was the biggest joke signing in years. People hyped that guy up like he was some huge stud and "built for the playoffs" yet when I checked his playoff records he had 7 games, with Boston the year before when the blew a 3-0 lead to Florida with one of the biggest playoff chokes ever. His scoring was a joke he handled the puck like a grenade and it took Matthews and Domi bouncing pucks off him and giving him gimmees Happy Gilmore couldn't miss just to eek out 20g by the last few days of the season. Guy was an absolute plug and not worth 5mil
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