The blind hate of Polak

[stickty111]

I dont know why but I get the feeling that Polak will be waived.

 

[Ports]

It may even be more than that. The guy is just a horrible hockey player and people just keep defending him all the time. It's unreal.

You might be right but he’s not the source of the team’s problems. They are much bigger than that. There will always be an Aki Berg or Larry Murphy to rail against But if the scorers don’t score and the checkers don’t check, the 6th or 7th defenseman won’t be the reason they lose.

 

[Ports]

It's on Lou for even bringing him back.

I’m sure Babs had a hand in that too.

 

[Maplebeasts]

PK without Polak: 83.8%
PK with Polak: 83.6%

“Best PKer”

Record without Polak: 14-4-1
Record with Polak: 11-12-2

Please, get this guy out of the lineup and just use him as a 7/8th dman.

Exactly if Babs is adamant about him having a roster spot, just dress him as a seventh dman and use him extremely sparingly and on the pk.

 

[Ports]

Jake 20pts -1 Gardiner plays very tough minutes just like Morgan 32pts -1 Rielly. The sad thing about Jake is his mistakes look so bad and this year have been costing us. Doesn't mean he Polak bad because he is not even close to that bad. Polak is legit hardly even euro worthy.

He is better than Polak but is relied on more than Polak and his defensive mistakes are inexcusable for a player with his experience. Way too soft in his own end and goes brain dead all the time. To me he is much more frustrating to watch because he has the skills that Polak does not but doesn’t use them. Also, Polak is paid $1M and Jake makes $4M.

 

[Kiwi]

I dont know why but I get the feeling that Polak will be waived.

But where are going to get our intangibles and veteranosity from if Polak goes?

 

[TMLS]

I dont know why but I get the feeling that Polak will be waived.

Not as long as Babcock is still the coach.

 

[6ix]

If he isn’t waived this just proves that Lou is Babcocks puppet. Time for Lou to do his job and dump the trash.

 

[TMLeafs18]

I think babs loses his credibility when he says things like "play your way on the team" when he consistently plays guys like Polak. its clear he is no longer an NHL dman. He is slow, takes ill advised penalties, and doesn't excel at either end of the ice. Dermott has proven in two games that he is by far a better option for this team moving forward even if he were to play his off side. Having Polak in the lineup is just doing this team a disservice.

 

[tokyoite]

Actually, it's Lou's fault for bringing him back. But, I still blame Babcock's idiocy.

 

[HomerJLeafs]

On the Sens 1st goal (aka owngoal) such a bad bad time for going brain dead on d. It sucked out all the energy from the team.

 

[Kamiccolo]

Let's go Lou:

 

[Macallan18]

Polak has pictures. There is simply no other explanation.

 

[Gallagbi]

No. That’s Jake Gardiner. Polak is just a defenseman from the 60’s when skating and puck handling didn’t matter. Think Bobby Braun and Allan Stanley.

Call it what you want, but that 60's defender isn't able to defend and defense is the only reason he's on the team.

 

[GoonieFace]

When Zaitsev comes back, my guess is they continue to rotate between Borgman and Dermott, eventually they will both be regulars with Polak and Carrick getting squeezed out. Or they make a trade for a proven dman. Fact is, Dermott has played 2 NHL games, to all of a sudden make him a regular doesnt make sense yet, they will ease him in and make sure he can continue to impress.

 

[janesy12]

I dont know why but I get the feeling that Polak will be waived.

We aren't that lucky. Babcock loves him. He's a defensive dman that cannot defend, he brings nothing to this team. Although he isn't the only one.

 

[Erndog]

Rielly-Hainsey
Gardiner-Dermott
Borgman-Zaitsev

Literally, if the Leafs dress ANYTHING else (once Zaitsev is healthy) they are dressing an inferior lineup at this point. You can quibble with the exact pairings sure, but these 6 HAVE to be the guys to play every night.

 

[justafan22]

He was fine last year before the leg injury. He's cooked.

 

[SprDaVE]

He was fine last year before the leg injury. He's cooked.

He was bad before and after.

 

[ryno23]

The blind hate for Polak has increased more and more each passing game. Clearly the injury he suffered has hampered any mobility he had left. Right now I can't stand watching him on the ice especially when he either makes a errant pass in his own zone leading to the other team cycling them down low. You saw that last night over and over. Pook Bozak line always gets caught in their own zone cause Polak screwed up and now they have to chase.

All of his stretch passes are 100 mph and most of time lead to icing. When he does have time and space he fails to recognize the smart play. He throws it up the boards. There was a sequence just inside their own blue line where if he would have made 5 foot pass to Bozak he would have sprung the leafs on a 3 on 2 break the other way instead he forces it up the boards and gets picked off by their D as the pass was knee high.

Listen we know the record with him in the lineup and is so called PK ability and pension for taking penalties so why can't management see that?

I am thinking Babs and Lou are trying to nurse this D until Z is back ( to resume PK duties ) then you roll a top 4 of Reilly- Hainsey / Gardiner - Dermott then it is between Carrick and Polak to play with Borgman. Hopefully Polak is benched and now you got puck movers on each D pair. I still think they should upgrade Carrick but that is a small issue

Really ideally Carrick and Polak morph into 1 player. Carrick's puck skills and Polak's size and mean streak then you would have a complete D man.

Come on Z get back soon

 

[dubplatepressure]

Leafs with Polak: 11-12-2, Without: 14-4-1

Been said before, needs to be repeated.

 

[Menzinger]

They don’t even have to wait until a Zaitsev comes back to boot him to the press box, they’ve got better younger options ready to go!

 

[SHANNYPLAN]

I've tried all season to like Polak,

I cant, he's just not good enough anymore. The guy takes at least a penalty per game, and he's here to kill penalties? I mean, come on.

 

[SHANNYPLAN]

I've tried all season to like Polak,

I cant, he's just not good enough anymore. The guy takes at least a penalty per game, and he's here to kill penalties? I mean, come on.

... and that being said I don't think Carrick is the answer, I expected big things from him this season, and he's definitely disappointed.

It's time to play Dermott and upgrade Gardiner for a stay at home guy

 

[Tak7]

You give him a pass on the own goal - quick shot off his skate and in, is just a bad luck play.

But the second goal? That's just fundamental errors; not tracking the man, puck-watching, not boxing out. Just bad.

You can get over the Polak use before, but now he's actively costing us games.

It's just not working.