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Confirmed with Link: Nick Ritchie to Toronto (2x2.5M AAV)

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usernamezrhardtodo said:
Do you remember him laying someone out with a hit like he did when he first got here? I can't think of 1x this season...not one. He may have hits...but we all know all hits are not equal.
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I also noticed that Nick Foligno's physical game kind of went from 150% in his first game with Toronto to the usual after a few games. This obviously coincided with his ongoing injury issues but I wonder if the Leafs have an informal 'don't worry about the hits and getting taken out of the play too much' kind of policy. Wayne Simmonds' aggression levels also tapered off, and like Foligno he also had some injury issues.
 
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Gary Nylund said:
Fair enough. I've felt for a long time that hit stats are terrible but I don't pay that close attention so I'll take your word for it.
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I'm def not saying they are solid but I think there is some form of continuity happening. After all they are input by humans so who knows what one guy thinks vs another, but i think that's just related to what one thinks a hit is, so I was just using the stat to point out there was some continuity it Jake's numbers. I would think the chances are its the same guys counting this year and the year before
 
usernamezrhardtodo said:
Do you remember him laying someone out with a hit like he did when he first got here? I can't think of 1x this season...not one. He may have hits...but we all know all hits are not equal.
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Very fair comment and I agree. That said I think there was a couple, not many, bet a couple hits that were crusher this past season
 
Bluelines said:
Not sure I follow, what do you mean? Playing in the 80's and 90's can can vouch that the boards in the 80's were like rock walls, they got progressively "softer" in the 90's.
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I just Remeber watching hockey as a kid and the boards seemed to shake more what bodies hit it vs now, but I'm just going from kid memories
 
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saltming said:
I'm def not saying they are solid but I think there is some form of continuity happening. After all they are input by humans so who knows what one guy thinks vs another, but i think that's just related to what one thinks a hit is, so I was just using the stat to point out there was some continuity it Jake's numbers. I would think the chances are its the same guys counting this year and the year before
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Different humans in every rink, perhaps not the same ones every game, what constitutes a hit not being clearly defined, everyone with their own biases and no differentiation between run of the mill hits and hard hits. Lots of opportunity there for inconsistencies.

saltming said:
I just Remeber watching hockey as a kid and the boards seemed to shake more what bodies hit it vs now, but I'm just going from kid memories
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Yeah who knows how reliable childhood memories are but I feel the same.
 
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Gary Nylund said:
Different humans in every rink, perhaps not the same ones every game, what constitutes a hit not being clearly defined, everyone with their own biases and no differentiation between run of the mill hits and hard hits. Lots of opportunity there for inconsistencies.



Yeah who knows how reliable childhood memories are but I feel the same.
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I’ll pick on Ottawa, but only because I disliked the team and live within an hour of their arena and attended scores of games there. I suspect some of the home counter of subjective stats if not the majority were every bit as bad.
I’d be at games in Kanata and look at the stat sheets the next day and shake my head.
For example, Chris Neil was a undeniably physical player but any time he even brushed against a opponent, no matter how lightly or late it seemed to be credited as a hit when he played at home.
Unless the people doing the scoring on subjective stats are unbiased league wide that kind of stuff needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
 
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I hope Ritchie,Simmonds and Gabriel punch some people out regularly. Revenge is best served cold. Send them out with a list of who we want beat. First time we have a home game against Montreal for last change, send out Gabriel,Ritchie,Simmonds as the center and pull 2 defensemans names out of a hat for a line brawl.
That’s old school tactics few of us remember ha. Montreal needs a beat down.
Yes i want Chiarot bad and i want him often. The days of refs calling phantom penalties against us should be over for good. I’d give them some stuff to call
 
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Wafflewhipper said:
I hope Ritchie,Simmonds and Gabriel punch some people out regularly. Revenge is best served cold. Send them out with a list of who we want beat. First time we have a home game against Montreal for last change, send out Gabriel,Ritchie,Simmonds as the center and pull 2 defensemans names out of a hat for a line brawl.
That’s old school tactics few of us remember ha. Montreal needs a beat down.
Yes i want Chiarot bad and i want him often. The days of refs calling phantom penalties against us should be over for good. I’d give them some stuff to call
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Don't you remember? The power play that was outscored by the opposition's (short handed) goals in 30+ tries at one point is the team's enforcer.

Yeah, I laugh thinking of that quote too.
 
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Jmo89 said:
Don't you remember? The power play that was outscored by the opposition's (short handed) goals in 30+ tries at one point is the team's enforcer.

Yeah, I laugh thinking of that quote too.
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Ohhhh man yes i remember to well.
Then when you compare teams bottom 6’s that have grit ( which ours has zero) they still out score these jokes Dubas employs.
I am hoping Gabriel comes in to camp and easily gives more than what we have already. It should be easy for him to do. The guy can give 200 hits,good defensive play and the same amount of offense as what we have seen easily. Nope, everyone says, he won’t make the team. He is definitely going to make the team with that little competition he is up against.
So we will have Gabriel,Ritchie and Simmonds to a lesser degree but for me Simmer can play and hit and cause havoc and dummy someone up once in awhile. The other two can head hunt some retribution every game. The refs will equal out the penalties anyways. The stats prove that going back years.
 
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I hope so much Ritchie comes in to camp in the best shape ever. Hyman done all the forchecking work for Matthews and Marner but now they are going to have to get on pucks more themselves. That’s the wrinkle of diffenence between Ritchie and Hyman. It might work out over time that Ritchie/Tavares/Marner are a line. Then come with Robertson/Matthews/ Nylander maybe.
 
Ritchie at 2.5 looks damn good beside Kassian at 3.2. Kassian VS Ritchie was great... refs are holding them but they keep throwing. Ritchie lands one at 1.:15 direct center on Kassian. Kassian pushes kassian as the refs hauls him off. I'm pretty excited to have both Kassian and Simmonds in the lineup. Maybe bring Gabriel into the lineup VS the Rangers. He did pretty good VS Reaves before... would like to see them go at it again.

 
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Kind of curious that Ritchie hasn't done any of the media rounds yet, what with being a local guy and all. Sure it's August but we've heard from Mrazek and Bunting.
 
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Wafflewhipper said:
I hope Ritchie,Simmonds and Gabriel punch some people out regularly. Revenge is best served cold. Send them out with a list of who we want beat. First time we have a home game against Montreal for last change, send out Gabriel,Ritchie,Simmonds as the center and pull 2 defensemans names out of a hat for a line brawl.
That’s old school tactics few of us remember ha. Montreal needs a beat down.
Yes i want Chiarot bad and i want him often. The days of refs calling phantom penalties against us should be over for good. I’d give them some stuff to call
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The way teams play Matthews (Trouba, Andersson, Chiarot, Weber) makes me sick to my stomach. Would be great to see Ritchie introduce himself to Suzuki and Caufield the next time we meet so as to set the ground rules for engagement with any team that tries to beat the Leafs by hurting our players.
 
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Gabriel, Ritchie and Simmonds would be great if all three are in the lineups.

Not about gooning but more to do with the other teams needing to answer to the Leafs.
Just hope Keefe and Dubas don’t go around telling them there is a no fighting and no hit policy
 
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Ritchie's a bit of an enigma but oddly enough I think his game will be better appreciated in Toronto than say Anaheim or Boston. The latter two teams (at the time) deployed more of a 2-1-2 aggressive forecheck that requires physical commitment from the whole line. Ritchie's physical play and effort are too inconsistent to be relied on in a purely checking line role like, say, NYI's 4th line. In that system if he looks off or sleeping, you notice it a lot more.

Here he'll be a cruising power winger on a skill line, whether it's with JT-WN or Kerfoot-Kase IMO, and his physical play will stand out more because his line mates are completely lacking in that area. The focus and pressure will be more on his production as a top 6 LW than it has been in energy line roles with ANA/BOS.

A go-to shutdown line with pesky physical play is still unaddressed and you don't want Ritchie on a line like that. He's not good enough defensively or in transition to face high QOC. Kampf is a decent start but the bottom six configuration is still a problem; not enough line identity.
 
Antropovsky said:
Ritchie at 2.5 looks damn good beside Kassian at 3.2. Kassian VS Ritchie was great... refs are holding them but they keep throwing. Ritchie lands one at 1.:15 direct center on Kassian. Kassian pushes kassian as the refs hauls him off. I'm pretty excited to have both Kassian and Simmonds in the lineup. Maybe bring Gabriel into the lineup VS the Rangers. He did pretty good VS Reaves before... would like to see them go at it again.

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Ritchie is a Hammer. He has heavy heavy hands. Kassian got thumped. Check all his fights,he doesn’t lose. Fast hands for a big dude. Twister is the last one i seen with that power and speed. I wonder how many minutes it will take Ritchie to clean out Chiarot first game. I’m not thinking he will put up with that dirtbag very long. Great signing
 
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Gabriel426 said:
Gabriel, Ritchie and Simmonds would be great if all three are in the lineups.

Not about gooning but more to do with the other teams needing to answer to the Leafs.
Just hope Keefe and Dubas don’t go around telling them there is a no fighting and no hit policy
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Why not. I say goon it up. It's not like playing our skating game has gotten us better results

I am also ok not playing 4th line unless an ass kicking required. Used to be 4th line hardly used to play at all. Just run top 3 lines. If our boys can't play extra 4 mins a night a game, well, they need to have a chat with Doug Gilmour and Chara who onced played 35 mins. For 11 million a season, play them half of the game
 
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