Post-Game Talk: Leafs win 4-2!

[HamiltonNHL]

Might even save Shannys job.

he's gonzo.

 

[Suntouchable13]

I’m getting excited for this season. I think we win the division. The goaltending alone should pick us up another 10
Points from last year.

Might even save Shannys job.

That's great but it's not about the regular season at all. They have to go deep in the playoffs in order to save his job. Winning the division would certainly make it "easier" but it's not about regular season accomplishments.

 

[Roo]

OEL needs to replace Rielly.
At a minimum.

They need to blow it up ASAP. Core guys way too comfortable doing the same old thing. It’s a waste for us, we have enough talent to have two good units.

Matthews, Nylander, Domi, Patches

Two snipers, playmaker, net guy

Marner, Tavares, Robertson, Knies

Two snipers, playmaker, net guy

Add OEL and Rielly however you please. Get the two units competing against each other for PP1.

Thats what I’d do. But I’m just some fan, what do I know lol

 

[HamiltonNHL]

1st goal

 

[The Best Leafs Everr]

 

[rumman]

he's gonzo.

Any success the Leafs have this year is inspite of Shanahan not because of Shanahan…….

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Any success the Leafs have this year is inspite of Shanahan not because of Shanahan…….

 

[rumman]

Impressive Nothern Lights photos boys, gonna take a look tonight……..

 

[stats1]

Marner (not surprisingly) looks like the last person to get engaged with the new system. Why is it that this guy can’t just adapt and change for the team? Once again last night instead of putting the puck on net or getting it deep he wants to dance around with it. For a guy that wants a massive contract he’s not doing himself any favours to start the year.

 

[LeafSteel]

Marner (not surprisingly) looks like the last person to get engaged with the new system. Why is it that this guy can’t just adapt and change for the team? Once again last night instead of putting the puck on net or getting it deep he wants to dance around with it. For a guy that wants a massive contract he’s not doing himself any favours to start the year.

Out of everyone, I think Marner will have the hardest time, and it comes from my belief that Marner just isn’t very smart.

Supremely talented skill wise, but I don’t consider him an intelligent player, and his skills cover for a lot of it, but it’s still evident to me.

He still makes the dumb plays that he should have left behind in Junior more than 7 years ago.

He knows what he knows, and he’s damn good at a lot of it, but I think he’s limited with how much he can change and adapt his game, and to me it comes back to IQ not being a strength for him.

People are going to hate that take and they are welcome to, but I’ve seen enough of it over the years.

He is an elite skill talent but he’s limited by not having the requisite on ice IQ to really be all that he could be.

 

[leafsfan5]

It's early but the slow start by Matthews, Marner and Nylander is less than ideal. Depth is great so maybe less top end production will work out. The PP cannot be horrific for the money and talent though. We dont get many PPs already so they have to be dangerous.

I hope they adjust.

Good news is those 3 didn't forget how to play hockey, they'll bounce back. Marner especially is known for his slow starts

The powerplay is truly awful, though. If they're going to split time, you may as well split the units. We have some offensive support pieces in Knies, NRob, Patches which can make it work

 

[Lightsol]

Good to get the first win of the season, and the win for Hildeby.

Refs have been garbage tonight, but that one was obvious. Spun him around right in front of the ref to gain possession. And then the slapper after the call. Not good.

I'd agree with you if Willie had actually touched the Devils player, but he didn't. Watch the replay again.

 

[stats1]

Out of everyone, I think Marner will have the hardest time, and it comes from my belief that Marner just isn’t very smart.

Supremely talented skill wise, but I don’t consider him an intelligent player, and his skills cover for a lot of it, but it’s still evident to me.

He still makes the dumb plays that he should have left behind in Junior more than 7 years ago.

He knows what he knows, and he’s damn good at a lot of it, but I think he’s limited with how much he can change and adapt his game, and to me it comes back to IQ not being a strength for him.

People are going to hate that take and they are welcome to, but I’ve seen enough of it over the years.

He is an elite skill talent but he’s limited by not having the requisite on ice IQ to really be what he could be.

He’s a pretty damn good Pk’er though, I’m not sold on him being a dumb player I just think he’s got a massive ego. His entitlement is through the roof. We’ve seen Matthews and Nylander become pretty decent 200 ft players, Marner is the only star that refuses to change. If I’m Brad I’m not extending him beyond this year. He’s shown year after year, coach after coach he couldn’t give 2 you know what about team play or the system.

Let him put up 100 points and see what he’s asking for in the summer

 

[Jojalu]

looking at some comments, I don't agree with this notion that "The point totals for core 3 should be lowered, or that even if they have X points it's fine"

Berube plays a different system, sure but guys have produced in it on St.Louis and our guys have to produce in it now. O'rielly, Tarasenko, Perron were ~75 point players in the cup year, and guys like Tarasenko, Kyrou, Buchnevich, Thomas were over a ppg in 21-22 and I'd again argue our big 3 are better than the counterparts on St louis. It wouldn't be a stretch to say our counter parts are much better offensively, so we should still expect them to produce as such.

It's nice we are winning games because of depth and goaltending, but the big guys still need to be big guys, it's only been 2 games so I'm not really worried about their production, but my expectations are still ppg+ for nylander and 95+ for Matthews and Marner at a minimum.

It all depends on what happens come postseason.

If they make a deep run, or heaven forbid make it to the finals then it won't matter whatctheur regular season point totals are.

 

[Martin Skoula]

He’s a pretty damn good Pk’er though, I’m not sold on him being a dumb player I just think he’s got a massive ego. His entitlement is through the roof. We’ve seen Matthews and Nylander become pretty decent 200 ft players, Marner is the only star that refuses to change. If I’m Brad I’m not extending him beyond this year. He’s shown year after year, coach after coach he couldn’t give 2 you know what about team play or the system.

Let him put up 100 points and see what he’s asking for in the summer

Game 1 when he stripped that puck out of midair on the PK comes to mind, great high skill defensive play. Only problem was he immediately gave the puck away when he missed his break out pass to Knies by several feet with no pressure on either player.

 

[sxvnert]

Needs to mix up that top six to get them going.

Domi Matthews Marner
Robertson Holmberg Nylander
Knies Tavares Lorentz
Pacioretty Kampf McMann
Reaves/Dewar/Jarnkrok

 

[Torontonian]

Tanev and OEL have fit in like a glove, especially Tanev.. very calm and steady d-man. This is also probably the best d-core we have had in the Matthews era.

The top two lines have been bad though, which is less then ideal.

 

[rumman]

Out of everyone, I think Marner will have the hardest time, and it comes from my belief that Marner just isn’t very smart.

Supremely talented skill wise, but I don’t consider him an intelligent player, and his skills cover for a lot of it, but it’s still evident to me.

He still makes the dumb plays that he should have left behind in Junior more than 7 years ago.

He knows what he knows, and he’s damn good at a lot of it, but I think he’s limited with how much he can change and adapt his game, and to me it comes back to IQ not being a strength for him.

People are going to hate that take and they are welcome to, but I’ve seen enough of it over the years.

He is an elite skill talent but he’s limited by not having the requisite on ice IQ to really be all that he could be.

Or the intestinal fortitude to play more than a perimeter game……..

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

I liked the 4th line last night especially the speed they had. Reaves shouldnt see the ice again IMHO. More hockey IQ on that line too.

The 3rd line surprised me. Wasnt a big fan of Patch here but he is winning me over in just two games.

We just have to take Domi off the second line. He just doesnt work with Willy and T. Shoot the damn puch when your are 5 feet away from the net instead of trying to feather a pass for a deflection.

Either put Domi with Mathews or move him down the lineup. There really is no other choice.

I liked the way Holgrem played.

I hate watching those dickheads talk between periods. Complained about Holmberg clearing because he didnt do a half slap. Maybe he was worried to get stick checked? But the next period there is Tanev giving a perfect pass to the opponent while on the PK and the mediots were crickets.......

Shit happens in stressful times on the PK. But that is the media agenda....pick on certain players.
Odog of whatever he calls himself is a idiot. No wonder I never watch that crap. Why I did last night I dont know.

I think NJ has a good team. Happy for Keefer.

We have goalies.....if Woll can ever get over his lower back or hamstring injuries....we have alot of depth in that area.

Im a old man and dont remember being this excited with the depth we have at goalie...

I've watched this team for 25 years we have NEVER had this much depth in goal.

Even when we had legitimate #1 goalies like Cujo, Belfour and Andersen there was almost never anything behind them and there certainly was never anything in the minors.

I've been SCREAMING for a goaltender here on this forum for years and I'm not willing to say goaltending is solved because It's been 2 games but there are some promising signs

 

[The Best Leafs Everr]

Impressive Nothern Lights photos boys, gonna take a look tonight……..

I went to Torrence Barrens. It’s so amazing there, the amount of stars you will get to watch is just fantastic along with the lights.

Also a little tip for the photos and filming if you’re using your cellphone. Just turn on the night mode and while taking videos increase the light exposure so that you get superb quality.

It’s beautiful nonetheless, you should definitely enjoy it!

 

[Aashir Mallik]

It all depends on what happens come postseason.

If they make a deep run, or heaven forbid make it to the finals then it won't matter whatctheur regular season point totals are.

of course that is the end goal, I just don’t want to hear the system being an excuse as to why our players potentially won’t produce

IMO, Regular season totals stop mattering come playoff time, but they still do matter as time is going on rn. Might be a biased way to view it but it’s the way I see it, and as of now they need to continue to score at a decent level so we can make the playoffs with at least an above avergae offence

Moreover, we will probably need them to produce still come playoff time, I don’t expect to win 3-1 every game with an empty netter and bottom six scoring. We will need the core 3 to he the drivers on both ends of the ice to see that kind of success

Like I said, incredibly early on so not worried rn, but by game 15-20 we should have a better idea of what they are able to do in this ststem

 

[Twine Tickler]

Very solid 2 game set to start the season. Far more positives than negatives. This is a far more sustainable brand of hockey. Clearly some things to clean up, but I am very optimistic on how we are playing as a 5 man unit shift to shift.

the PP will clean up and the big boys will start to roll soon enough.

All n All we probably deserved 4pts out of this B2B swing, but its nice to see them playing the right way for a change. Lets hope it continues

 

[On-the-Fly]

I wonder if Bérubé paired Marner and Matthews together partially because of their success in the past but also a way to see if they can buy in to him.

I mean he gives them a chance early and if it’s not working it’s easier and more justified to change it up.

I spent a minute wondering about this as well. Might it apply to the PP1 as well?

Guess we'll see!