Post-Game Talk: ..::Leafs Win

[TLeafsFan]

Mac was just scheduled for about 5 games mostly back to back, but he might get more if he plays this solid in relief. Good to have a backup finally that provides a solid opportunity to win.

Freddy losing 4 of his last 5 games (while giving up 5 and 6 goals) and having the lowest sv% .888 of all starters since Jan 1st is opening the door for backup starts down the stretch potentially.

Yeah, like any coach, Babs most importantly wants to win down the stretch.

That includes riding a backup's hot hand if your starter's gone cold.

 

[go_leafs_go02]

The Leafs have 1 empty net goal. All season...1.

Maybe if they just took a chance at icing the puck towards an empty net, they wouldn't end up with so many last minute goals against.

 

[one77]

The Leafs have 1 empty net goal. All season...1.

Maybe if they just took a chance at icing the puck towards an empty net, they wouldn't end up with so many last minute goals against.

Icing the puck will lead to even more last minute goals against us. Other than Bozak, nobody can win an important faceoff

 

[Suntouchable13]

To even ever suggest that McElhinney has any chance of stealing the #1 job away from Andersen is laughable. McElhinney is a solid backup, that's it. Absolutely 0 controversy. Especially not after one game. Come on.

 

[Nithoniniel]

To even ever suggest that McElhinney has any chance of stealing the #1 job away from Anderesen is laughable. McElhinney is a solid backup, that's it. Absolutely 0 controversy. Especially not after one game. Come on.

He has generally not been even that. A rather weak backup, having a terrific year. And now he's started well for us, but we are talking about a few games here.

 

[Pi]

He has generally not been even that. A rather weak backup, having a terrific year. And now he's started well for us, but we are talking about a few games here.

Yeah I certainly hope the Leafs look at his history overall. I hope we ride McElhinney a little more than just back to back games because he's looking good this year but we still need someone better next year because his resume shows that this little stretch of good games is not going to last much longer.

 

[Suntouchable13]

Yeah I certainly hope the Leafs look at his history overall. I hope we ride McElhinney a little more than just back to back games because he's looking good this year but we still need someone better next year because his resume shows that this little stretch of good games is not going to last much longer.

Do you even trust him to play in a pivotal game in late March, let's say? I don't.

 

[egd27]

To even ever suggest that McElhinney has any chance of stealing the #1 job away from Andersen is laughable. McElhinney is a solid backup, that's it. Absolutely 0 controversy. Especially not after one game. Come on.

If Andersen has a good outing tomorrow there will be no controversy. If, however, he allows another 4-5 goals against, there will be one.

Now, I'm not personally suggesting McElhinney should play over Andersen, but I'd be willing to bet that it'll be the hot media topic until Saturday's game.

 

[Pi]

Do you even trust him to play in a pivotal game in late March, let's say? I don't.

If Andersen isn't playing well, do we have a choice? Andersen needs to be better, otherwise, it's just the lesser of two evils at that point.

Andersen has now been bad for two months, average for one, great for one, and if this month so far is any indicator, it's another bad month.

 

[kk87]

If Andersen has a good outing tomorrow there will be no controversy. If, however, he allows another 4-5 goals against, there will be one.

Now, I'm not personally suggesting McElhinney should play over Andersen, but I'd be willing to bet that it'll be the hot media topic until Saturday's game.

Andersen could let in 17 goals tomorrow night, he's still our undisputed starter for the rest of the year either way.

That being said, I hope we give McElhinney a decent number of games down the stretch so that Andersen can stay sharp. If he plays 7-8 of the final 30 that probably wouldn't be a bad thing. Besides, if we make the playoffs, we'll need Andersen to still have some energy left.

 

[saltming]

Tsn 1050 is trying to make a goalie controversy already!

 

[thewave]

Tsn 1050 is trying to make a goalie controversy already!

They are so dumb.

 

[egd27]

Andersen could let in 17 goals tomorrow night, he's still our undisputed starter for the rest of the year either way.

That being said, I hope we give McElhinney a decent number of games down the stretch so that Andersen can stay sharp. If he plays 7-8 of the final 30 that probably wouldn't be a bad thing. Besides, if we make the playoffs, we'll need Andersen to still have some energy left.

In the eyes of Leaf management? Of course he is.

In the eyes of the media and some fans? We'll see.

 

[saltming]

They are so dumb.

You need to filter out the dross from the actual news. Sometimes there is very little news and too much dross.

 

[RoadWarrior]

To even ever suggest that McElhinney has any chance of stealing the #1 job away from Andersen is laughable. McElhinney is a solid backup, that's it. Absolutely 0 controversy. Especially not after one game. Come on.

Stealing his job? No. But he might get some additional starts outside of back-to-back games.

Freddy has struggled since that game where he looked injured in the 3rd period but stayed in the game.

He wasn't right after he returned from his shoulder injury to start the season and I wouldn't be surprised if he's nursing another injury at the moment. Unfortunately Freddy seems injury prone and he struggles with the extra work load.

There's a reason why they acquired McElhinney in the first place. Obviously they wanted to give Freddy some additional nights off.

 

[Willchel Marlynder]

To even ever suggest that McElhinney has any chance of stealing the #1 job away from Andersen is laughable. McElhinney is a solid backup, that's it. Absolutely 0 controversy. Especially not after one game. Come on.

On the Leafs he's been more than just a solid backup. Small sample size of course, but he has been an outstanding backup so far.

 

[zeke]

Andersen is nowhere near proven enough to just trust that he'll break out of a slump quickly, especially when your other goalie is playing well.

 

[Quarter]

In the eyes of Leaf management? Of course he is.

In the eyes of the media and some fans? We'll see.

And the former is the only opinion that matters.

Frankly, everyone would be better off if the media and fans would shut their mouths every once in a while instead of trying to look for problems where there are none to begin with.

 

[mix1home]

It wouldn't surprise me if McBackup got the next start. There's no controversy, we have a starter and we have a backup. But Freddy has played a ton and it doesn't seem like a bad idea to get him some rest at some point. Or is there some rule that says that backups only play when there's back to back games?

My personal opinion is that Andersen is not tired, but opposite is true - those mandated 5 days break and All star break got him out of the rhythm. We need to play him regularly for him to get it back.
Unless, of course, he nursing some sort of injury as some posters noticed here.

 

[ACC1224]

IMO, the backup won't see another game until the next back to back situation.

 

[1specter]

Andersen is nowhere near proven enough to just trust that he'll break out of a slump quickly, especially when your other goalie is playing well.

I have no doubts he'll be fine. When I watch Andersen I see a fundamentally good goalie. He has let in some questionable goals but not at the level of "Bernier stinkers", and generally watching him I don't ever get a sense of discomfort or fear of a puck going near him like I did with Leafs goalies of the past.

Even McElhinney got extremely lucky many times last night. That's not to take anything away from him because he did play well, but he was scrambly and let out some huge rebounds. Leafs D did a good job of protecting the slot yesterday and recovering loose pucks before Dallas could get to them.

I fully expect Andersen to finish the year with a sv% in the ballpark of ~.918-.920

 

[Harold Ballard]

They are so dumb.

Or maybe they post on here

 

[egd27]

And the former is the only opinion that matters.

Frankly, everyone would be better off if the media and fans would shut their mouths every once in a while instead of trying to look for problems where there are none to begin with.

Then what would many around here do with their free time?

 

[Quarter]

Then what would many around here do with their free time?

With all hot air that blown on these boards I'd guess glass blowing or piloting hot air balloons would be a good hobby to pick up

 

[Suntouchable13]

You can't trust Andersen that he will break out of his slump but you can trust McElhinney to keep up his level of play by playing him more?