Pre-Game Talk: Leafs vs Wings

[Larcos_Unal]

Good that Mrazek is getting the start, we're gonna need him to earn his contract in February. Campbell is showing signs of regression after playing unconscious to begin the year.
Would be nice to lessen his load going into the playoffs...we need him at his best.

 

[Zybalto]

Anything less than 6 out of 6 is unacceptable.

Detroit

and NJ twice that's 6 points you have to have

Looking at the massive gulf between the top 8 and bottom 8 in the east, it should be noted that those teams are still 8-12-2 this year (on a quick glance)against the top 8 teams in the east. I know the Leafs are really good this year but I'm good with 4/6 points here. 6 would be great of course.

Gotta remember the Devils (who we play twice) have a win over Tampa and smoked the Canes 7-4 and the Panthers 7-3 this season. It's never easy in the NHL.

 

[Mess]

Standings and positioning means nothing really, all you need to do is make the dance and go from there, yes obviously being in 1st is better then coming in 8th but at the end of the day, there are no easy series in the playoffs, you're going to have to face a good team every round..

I think a lot of people share that sentiment that its better to show you're a Cup competitive team by advancing through the playoffs than being regular season champs and bowing out early as playoff paper tigers. The regular season simple determines who gets an invite to the dance and who your dance partner will be.

Its really a 4 horse race in the Atlantic and beating a team like Detroit from your Div as the closest competitor to stealing playoff spot goes a long way to securing that playoff birth.

 

[Racer88]

Standings and positioning means nothing really, all you need to do is make the dance and go from there, yes obviously being in 1st is better then coming in 8th but at the end of the day, there are no easy series in the playoffs, you're going to have to face a good team every round.

In saying that, Leafs win 4-2 against the Wings.

I understand this sentiment however if you are a team that is only capable of an 8th place finish it makes it that much harder to overachieve in the playoffs

 

[Gallagbi]

I think a lot of people share that sentiment that its better to show you're a Cup competitive team by advancing through the playoffs than being regular season champs and bowing out early as playoff paper tigers. The regular season simple determines who gets an invite to the dance and who your dance partner will be.

Its really a 4 horse race in the Atlantic and beating a team like Detroit from your Div as the closest competitor to stealing playoff spot goes a long way to securing that playoff birth.

Do you think the Leafs are in danger of missing the playoffs?

 

[Golden_Jet]

Hockey day in Canada, always a good day.

 

[Griffin76]

I would like some Wings

I literally just got finished eating some when I read this.

 

[PromisedLand]

Just stay away from that Bertuzzi clown

Is he even allowed to cross the border? dude was unvaccinated. Did he get the jab?

 

[Confucius]

50 shots on goal you heard it here 1st

for who?

 

[TheBeastCoast]

I think a lot of people share that sentiment that its better to show you're a Cup competitive team by advancing through the playoffs than being regular season champs and bowing out early as playoff paper tigers. The regular season simple determines who gets an invite to the dance and who your dance partner will be.

Its really a 4 horse race in the Atlantic and beating a team like Detroit from your Div as the closest competitor to stealing playoff spot goes a long way to securing that playoff birth.

We are going to make the playoffs regardless of whether we beat Detroit tonight or not lol

 

[LeafalCrusader]

Is he even allowed to cross the border? dude was unvaccinated. Did he get the jab?

Game is in Detroit so he can play.

 

[MSZ]

for who?

For Detroit of course.

 

[AvroArrow]

Glad to see Mrazek getting the start. He looked sharp last game and Soup has been off for a few weeks now. Wings are a good up and coming team, show up on time and play with the same energy as the Ducks game and we got this. I thought last game was one of our most dominant performances, despite it going to SO.

 

[ACC1224]

Team has been playing very well. Expecting an easy win tonight.

 

[Coachcorner]

Is we gon gangsta with the same lizines tonight?

 

[zeke]

 

[Confucius]

I think a lot of people share that sentiment that its better to show you're a Cup competitive team by advancing through the playoffs than being regular season champs and bowing out early as playoff paper tigers. The regular season simple determines who gets an invite to the dance and who your dance partner will be.

Its really a 4 horse race in the Atlantic and beating a team like Detroit from your Div as the closest competitor to stealing playoff spot goes a long way to securing that playoff birth.

Detroit is out of it. Not a chance they make the playoffs. even if they somehow won all their games against us from here on.

 

[PromisedLand]

Game is in Detroit so he can play.

crap I thought it was a home game

 

[Captain Crunch]

When Mike Babcock was coach of the Red Wings they made the playoffs 12 consecutive years and won a Stanley Cup and since his departure the Wings have made the playoffs only once and missed them 5 consecutive years and likely heading for 6 straight this year.

This has been a long process for Detroit to return to the playoffs and their Cup contending years, and Leafs shouldn't have too much trouble securing a victory in this one.

I hope we don’t take them lightly. If the Leafs have proven anything since Dubas has been here, it’s that we are very capable of playing down to another team’s level, or even further down.
Also, the Wings are definitely improving, since Yzerman has already proven he knows how to build a championship team.

 

[Captain Crunch]

They need him ASAP

I would be in no rush to play him. His season thus far has not been good, and it seems it has been getting harder for him to stay healthy, which doesn’t come as a surprise given his age and style of play.

 

[Mess]

Detroit is out of it. Not a chance they make the playoffs. even if they somehow won all their games against us from here on.

Never say never, as history does repeat itself !

On this date in 2019, the St. Louis Blues were a .500 team that had given up 10 more goals than they had scored. They were outside the playoff picture, struggling to turn their season around under interim coach Craig Berube. They were also about to embark on an 11-game winning streak, followed by a playoff berth, followed by a postseason journey that led to the first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history.

They're an outlier, of course. In the NHL salary cap era, 77% of the teams that were in a playoff seed on US Thanksgiving ended up making the postseason. The 2018-19 Blues were not in one. All of this is a reminder that the NHL regular season is a mixture of predicable norms and those anomalous surprises that keep us watching until the 82nd game.

Currently Detroit 46 games & 46 points = .500 hockey.

Detroit from the Atlantic is the only team with a very remote chance of cracking into the top 4, as history has shown us its never over until its over. A Leafs win today would all but likely seal both the Leafs fate and Detroit as its 4 points games like these in the standings are pivotal.

This could be the death blow to Wings playoff hopes today.

 

[therealkoho]

He won't be, It's January nobody is 100% healthy at this point

if he's not ready he's not ready, it's one thing for a guy to have a sore oblique and playing through it, it's quite another for somebody still being affected by a concussion

 

[LeafChief]

Never say never, as history does repeat itself !

On this date in 2019, the St. Louis Blues were a .500 team that had given up 10 more goals than they had scored. They were outside the playoff picture, struggling to turn their season around under interim coach Craig Berube. They were also about to embark on an 11-game winning streak, followed by a playoff berth, followed by a postseason journey that led to the first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history.

They're an outlier, of course. In the NHL salary cap era, 77% of the teams that were in a playoff seed on US Thanksgiving ended up making the postseason. The 2018-19 Blues were not in one. All of this is a reminder that the NHL regular season is a mixture of predicable norms and those anomalous surprises that keep us watching until the 82nd game.

Currently Detroit 46 games & 46 points = .500 hockey.

Detroit from the Atlantic is the only team with a very remote chance of cracking into the top 4, as history has shown us its never over until its over. A Leafs win today would all but likely seal both the Leafs fate and Detroit as its 4 points games like these in the standings are pivotal.

This could be the death blow to Wings playoff hopes today.

We are at the half way point of the season. A 'death blow' is incredibly dramatic but I guess we shouldn't be surprised.

 

[therealkoho]

It’s good to get Mrazek some games because Jack has been in some type of state and you need a guy to step in.

Lily has been having a bad time since the Western trip, this is when you shelter and ease him in.

Dermott has been making uncharacteristic rookie mistakes lately, but Holl has been better, or at least less worse.

Praise for Rielly, Brodie and Sandin, another 28 minute night for Mo, which he’ll handle.

Gotta win this one, and anything less than three points against Jersey is unacceptable.

The worst thing about Dermott is that he goes through these cycles of making the same mistakes, maybe it's just because he isn't getting steady ice time so he doesn't stay sharp, but maybe he isn't getting the ice time because he repeats those same mistakes, it's a conundrum for sure.

He's now played just over 200 NHL games so maybe he still has some room for growth. I've always thought that he has pretty good tools and a pretty good toolbox to go along with them, but he's at the point in his career where he really has to start limiting any mistakes and in taking charge when he's out there.

 

[leafsfan5]

people are going to be citing that Blues 2019 run for the rest of time