I plan to be scared for at least 24 hours leading up to it
Pre-Game Talk: Leafs vs Lightning. Game 5
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SeaOfBlue
The Passion That Unites Us All
- Aug 1, 2013
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Putting him against Stamkos' line also means more defensive responsibility for Matthews. We down for that? Seems counterproductive if we are talking about needing him to generate more offense but perhaps some confidence for him doesn't hurt, and I am sure Tavares would love to go up against Point with more offensive zone starts than have to go up against Stamkos' line in the defensive end and then having no energy by the time he gets back into the offensive end.
If that is the direction you want to go, I would still swap Kase and Bunting, put your most energetic 4th line together (so likely swapping Spezza and one of Simmonds or Clifford), and then swap Lyubushkin and Liljegren. Liljegren had a rough 2nd game but his puck moving may help us with the breakouts, while Lyubushkin is consistently getting caved in, taking some really bad penalties, and he is not providing any value outside of hits. If I had to choose between Liljegren/Holl vs. Liljegren/Lyubushkin, I am taking the former... And then I would just take out Spezza to get Clifford/Simmonds in if I wanted a guy who brings physicality, gets caved in a bit, and has that edge. At least it is easier to cover for Clifford/Simmonds more than a guy who is playing beside your top defenseman and having to stop players from scoring. Tampa is chewing Lyubushkin apart and he is the only defenseman consistently struggling on cycles right now (which is something he should be excellent at doing for a guy with no offensive ability).
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Me if I were coach, and I don't ever want to be Leaf coach, I would go to Dubie and say look here .. here is what you can do for both of us right now .. go to Soup and tell him if he wins 2 more games this series you will give him a 8 year deal at 4M per all years front loaded with a big signing bonus .. that's 32M big ones in his jeans .. but only if he gets us 2 wins otherwise we are going in a different direction .. then next round add another 0.5M AAV for 4 more wins .. then next round 0.5M AAV for 4 more wins .. then before Cup final you tell him he gets Binner's 6M per deal AAV if he wins da Cup .. $$$ talks BS walks .. and bottom line he is personally playing for himself and his families future with a contract .. no bigger motivation for hockey players
SeaOfBlue
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Campbell hasn't done anything remotely close enough to earn that kind of length.
Give him that money on a 3 year deal if he gets through the series maybe. He gets a 250k AAV bump for the next two series and a 500k + a year for the Cup. So he can earn a 4x5 mill at best if he wins the Cup. 4.5 mill x 3 if he makes the Cup. 4.25 mill for making the Conference Finals. 4 mill for winning this series. One year prove-it deal at best otherwise.
Other than Game 4, I don't think Campbell has really been an issue though. I thought Game 4 he had some softies go in but I think we still lose that game regardless.
I went HUGE because you are asking him to do something extraordinary .. you want him MASSIVELY motivated .. and you want to save your own job too .. bottom line he really is da only chance we got left here .. desperate times require desperate measures .. we are playing da back to back cup champs and they have taken us to da woodshed now in 3 of 4 games .. Soup has already won us 1 game and 2 more and he is set for life
killer1980
Registered User
As much as I am a huge Dubas detractor, this is a decent hockey team. I am not ready to give up on the series. Yes, I do not believe this is a team that is not built for an exrended playoff run. Saying that, I do believe they could beat TB. I am not predicting victory from here but I do believe they still have a good chance. It is way too early to say they have had it.
Enniskillen
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Let’s get Barry Trotz and I am sure, he wins us a couple of series. That’s all we could hope for. Stop this “cup is ours” nonsense, win us a series at least. Leaf fans are the most numerous in NHL and at the same time most suffering fans. We deserve a win ffs.
SeaOfBlue
The Passion That Unites Us All
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Kerfoot - Matthews - Nylander
Bunting - Tavares - Marner
Engvall - Kampf - Mikheyev
Clifford/Simmonds - Blackwell - Kase
1) Kerfoot/Nylander have chemistry; Matthews should be able to make it work with those two.
2) Marner has chemistry with Bunting and Tavares separately, but Tavares has had chemistry with Bunting's play style before and would allow for Tavares to get in space a little bit more. That could get his offense going)./Bunting have chemistry; Bunting can take over the net front so Tavares can do more work in space. That 2nd goal we scored yesterday is something that Tavares is still more than capable of doing if given the chance.
3) Don't touch the 3rd line. Didn't go great for them in Game 4, but they were elite in Game 3. Give it another shot.
4) Kase goes back to focusing on being a kamikaze and energy guy. He struggled in the top 6. Blackwell and Clifford/Simmonds should also be able to provide that energy. Spezza gets some rest and hopefully will get back in another game later on. Hope for some offense, but mostly just make sure they don't get scored on (which may make Clifford a better option than Simmonds).
Marner and Nylander can be kept with their respective centers and maybe the Leafs try some different matchups against Tampa if you don't want drastic changes, but in Game 6, it may be worth trying them separately.
Rielly - Liljegren
Muzzin - Brodie
Giordano - Holl
I think the pairings could be in flux based on the situation. I can see Muzzin/Holl getting some defensive zone starts together, and Giordano/Brodie getting some offensive zone starts together if Rielly/Liljegren are resting. Lyubushkin has been caved in consistently and needs to be taken out. The hits and physicality is nice, and he had that one nice assist, but that is the only non-disasterous thing he has done in 4 games. He has taken some really bad penalties (4 minor penalties in 4 games is not good). He has been destroyed on the cycle (while most of our other defensemen have not). He can't handle the puck. Liljegren had a tough game 2, but he was great in Game 1 and I think it is time we give him another shot.
1) Rielly/Liljegren should get a ton of offensive minutes. Two excellent puck movers with offensive capabilities, and I bet they can handle the rush a lot better too.
2) I think Muzzin - Brodie have worked well together this series.
3) Giordano and Holl did a great job at shutting down cycles and moving the puck to their wingers.
Campbell in net obviously.
I don't want a massive albatross of a contract just to motivate Campbell. Winning should be enough of a motivation for him.
Bunting - Tavares - Marner
Engvall - Kampf - Mikheyev
Clifford/Simmonds - Blackwell - Kase
1) Kerfoot/Nylander have chemistry; Matthews should be able to make it work with those two.
2) Marner has chemistry with Bunting and Tavares separately, but Tavares has had chemistry with Bunting's play style before and would allow for Tavares to get in space a little bit more. That could get his offense going)./Bunting have chemistry; Bunting can take over the net front so Tavares can do more work in space. That 2nd goal we scored yesterday is something that Tavares is still more than capable of doing if given the chance.
3) Don't touch the 3rd line. Didn't go great for them in Game 4, but they were elite in Game 3. Give it another shot.
4) Kase goes back to focusing on being a kamikaze and energy guy. He struggled in the top 6. Blackwell and Clifford/Simmonds should also be able to provide that energy. Spezza gets some rest and hopefully will get back in another game later on. Hope for some offense, but mostly just make sure they don't get scored on (which may make Clifford a better option than Simmonds).
Marner and Nylander can be kept with their respective centers and maybe the Leafs try some different matchups against Tampa if you don't want drastic changes, but in Game 6, it may be worth trying them separately.
Rielly - Liljegren
Muzzin - Brodie
Giordano - Holl
I think the pairings could be in flux based on the situation. I can see Muzzin/Holl getting some defensive zone starts together, and Giordano/Brodie getting some offensive zone starts together if Rielly/Liljegren are resting. Lyubushkin has been caved in consistently and needs to be taken out. The hits and physicality is nice, and he had that one nice assist, but that is the only non-disasterous thing he has done in 4 games. He has taken some really bad penalties (4 minor penalties in 4 games is not good). He has been destroyed on the cycle (while most of our other defensemen have not). He can't handle the puck. Liljegren had a tough game 2, but he was great in Game 1 and I think it is time we give him another shot.
1) Rielly/Liljegren should get a ton of offensive minutes. Two excellent puck movers with offensive capabilities, and I bet they can handle the rush a lot better too.
2) I think Muzzin - Brodie have worked well together this series.
3) Giordano and Holl did a great job at shutting down cycles and moving the puck to their wingers.
Campbell in net obviously.
I don't want a massive albatross of a contract just to motivate Campbell. Winning should be enough of a motivation for him.
Simmonds and Clifford pplease!!!! Leafs got soft and lazy nylander style without them. Need some energy
My issue is the UNNECESSARY tinkers. Babcock was good for that too. Why tinker when the team's looking good and then leave failed lines together for longer than you really should? Has he STILL not figured out that Tavares and Nylander don't work well together? Apparently he hasn't figured out that Holl is brutal...
ACC1224
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Taking my eldest who just reminded me that the Leafs have lost the last 8 games that she has watched.
Game 2 and 4 and the other 6 regular season.
Sorry.
KingsHockey24
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- Aug 1, 2013
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Suntouchable13
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Sure, I’d put Clifford in. But play him very sporadically. It should be a 3 line game anyway. If just having him around will make the Leafs feel like they are an inch taller, it will be great.
mapleleafs34
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Havoc
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I didn't like Keefe's answer when the reporter tried to salvage peace and changed the question to why did he start that group of 5 instead of singling out Holl.
Keefe said because it was their best line last game (which isn't true at all, Engvall was the worst forward until the last 2 minutes).
Would Maroon and Perry get that much significance in game 5 because they had a better game than half our squad yesterday? It wasn't just the beginning of the game there was a good amount of time in the first half of the period where matthews and marner felt like line 3. It was long enough you can consider it a quick punishment for getting outplayed badly in period 1 and 2 in game 3.
This isn't the time and place to be punishing matthews and marner out of all players who can turn it on in the blink of an eye. Unless you're some all star coach with 10 stanley cups under your belt who can see things only 1% of nhl execs can see.....I wouldn't be messing with matthews and marner usage.
Like Bieksa said, start them and then go back to them again right after the line that follows them. This is their team stop trying to be extra.
Keefe said because it was their best line last game (which isn't true at all, Engvall was the worst forward until the last 2 minutes).
Would Maroon and Perry get that much significance in game 5 because they had a better game than half our squad yesterday? It wasn't just the beginning of the game there was a good amount of time in the first half of the period where matthews and marner felt like line 3. It was long enough you can consider it a quick punishment for getting outplayed badly in period 1 and 2 in game 3.
This isn't the time and place to be punishing matthews and marner out of all players who can turn it on in the blink of an eye. Unless you're some all star coach with 10 stanley cups under your belt who can see things only 1% of nhl execs can see.....I wouldn't be messing with matthews and marner usage.
Like Bieksa said, start them and then go back to them again right after the line that follows them. This is their team stop trying to be extra.
If Dubas is canned at this point (and likely Shanahan with him), guarantee you the Leafs board pulls a very familiar go-to and asks Cliff Fletcher (who, BTW, is STILL senior advisor) to take over as GM for a while. And we have first-hand experience with what that means...Good News guys Pierre McGuire is available, he can replace Keefe and Dubas
ACC1224
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Havoc
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Not a chance in hell. Shanny will go for big guns only. That's all he's done since he's been here (Yes Dubas was one of the most sought after free agent young execs. That's a fact even if people don't like him and Shanny won those sweepstakes and brought him in to learn the ropes here).
Trotz is almost a guarantee to come here if you leave Shanahan in charge (in a world Keefe was fired that is). Fire Shanny at your own risk.
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Jet's fan here... I think as an outside observer I can see the Leaf's possibly winning in 6 but definitely 7.
I do not think the Bolts have the stamina or the desire that the Leaf's have this season.
I see how leaf nation feels another choke job is about to happen but they carried he play most of the series but for yeste4rday and the this period of game 3.
See, my issue with brining Trotz in is that he's shown he's very good at making skilled players angry. I love his style, but would it be worth it if he drives everyone out of town in 2-3 years and we look like the New York Islanders do now?
Shanny is a go down with a ship type of guy .. he likely will not sacrifice Dubie so they all are most likely to be terminated .. Bell and Rogers don't care unless it affects content .. Larry is massively wealthy already and only wants titles in his time left on earth .. people are sick of the Shany/Dubie tweaking and content will improve with da big personnel moves .. business wise da cash cow will continue no matter what or who are involved with team .. 50+ years of screw ups has not changed anything
If it's up to me I'm plugging both Cliffy and Simmonds in. And ideally a demoted Tavares centers them so he can win the faceoffs and keep them out of trouble in their own zone. Spezza has done absolutely nothing since being put in and he's bad defensively and Blackwell just doesn't have the size to play the hockey he wants to play.
The way this team is playing right now there zero emotion or intensity in their game, Tampa completely owns the physical part of the game and basically takes the momentum with it whenever they want it.
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