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The fans here have been asking for a team like this for years now, they got what they wanted. This is the monkey's paw

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TheRumble

Registered User
Feb 19, 2009
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You wanted do nothing tough enforcers that would protect the team, you got Ryan Reaves.

You wanted a big name D-man, you got John Klingberg.

You wanted some snarl in the top 6, you got Max Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi.

You wanted a hockey man with lots of experience in charge of things, you got Brad Treliving who has 10 years of being a GM.

You were tired of the nerds running things, so now you have a team that has been caved in on expected goals this season.

You got what you wanted, you just didn't know what this team needed.

The problem with the Leafs over the last few seasons:

1) Goaltending - We haven't really gotten a stable solution since Andersen was here. I'm a Dubas guy but he does have a big weakness when it comes to evaluating goaltenders.

2) Transition Defense - This is something that dates back to the Columbus series. The Leafs are a slow skating team on the back end with Morgan Rielly as the only truly fast skater so they are suseptible to counter attacking teams. This was probably most clearly shown in the Montreal series; Montreal only scored 1 goal off of a sustained forecheck that entire series, the rest of their goals came on special teams (3) and or rush attacks. Justin Bourne after that series noted that Montreal that season relied more on transition offense than any other team in the league and Toronto was one of the worst at transition defense. The Leafs countered this by playing a heavy posession offense which. This problem would pop up vs Tampa the next season and Florida the season after. Florida in our most recent series scored 80% of their goals off rush attacks and not heavy forechecking as people here think.

3) Transition Offense - Basically the other side of the coin as above. This team only has two players who are truly good at transition offense - Nylander and Reilly. Most of the lines are built for heavy posession game. Not that there's anything wrong with that but you do need a balance. Teams that are too one dimensional don't go far.

None of these things were solved in the off season.
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I am happy we have Reeves, but I I also wanted a nasty defenceman.

Though I am not too happy with Reeves impact so far and was extremely disappointed with the response in the Boston game, no one is going to seriously judge the team this early.
 
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Leaf Fans said:
I am happy we have Reeves, but I I also wanted a nasty defenceman.

Though I am not too happy with Reeves impact so far and was extremely disappointed with the response in the Boston game, no one is going to seriously judge the team this early.
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How do you feel about Reaves being on the ice for 8 goals against? Is his locker room presence and intimidating on ice presence enough to make up for a guy who's on pace to be on ice for 52 goals this year?
 
It's starting to seem like a culture thing to me. This team looked like it would be different on paper. Looks the same to me now.

IMO we needed high energy guys more than tough ones. Looking back on Tampa's cup run, that Gourde Coleman Goodrow played with such intensity it not only made it difficult to play against, but it would rile up their guys on the bench.
 
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TheRumble said:
How do you feel about Reaves being on the ice for 8 goals against? Is his locker room presence and intimidating on ice presence enough to make up for a guy who's on pace to be on ice for 52 goals this year?
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As I said earlier "Though I am not too happy with Reeves impact so far and was extremely disappointed with the response in the Boston game...."
 
EK392000 said:
It's starting to seem like a culture thing to me. This team looked like it would be different on paper. Looks the same to me now.

IMO we needed high energy guys more than tough ones. Looking back on Tampa's cup run, that Gourde Coleman Goodrow played with such intensity it not only made it difficult to play against, but it would rile up their guys on the bench.
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Looks the same? Looks way worse defensively, which was to be expected. Good thing is that Domi and Bertuzzi should figure things out as the season goes along and then we have Robertson who should be in the lineup at some point and I don’t think Reaves will stick around. If it was up to me though Klingberg would be waived once Timmins is good to go but that’s not going to happen.
 
If the Leafs win the next few games, all these panic talks will disappear.

Keefe needs to let the players play to their strengths within his system instead of shaping them into his system.

Knies is more suitable with AM and MM.
Bert, JT and Calle can play a good dump and chase game. It is also good for JT too bc he doesn’t need to carry the puck as much.
Willie, Domi and Holmberg can be a very effective 2B line as long as Kampf comes in for faceoffs in the Dzone.
Let Kampf plays on the 4th line with Gregor and Reaves.
Lastly, let Reaves cause problems and fights in the game. There is no way he started the season with back to back fights and then just become quiet the next 8 games.
 
authentic said:
I don’t think Reaves
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I honestly think that the Leafs are all in with Reaves and this image plan of playing with "snot" that he sticks around into next season.

Gabriel426 said:
If the Leafs win the next few games, all these panic talks will disappear.
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They have a butter soft schedule and should win a lot of those games.
 
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Gabriel426 said:
Keefe needs to let the players play to their strengths within his system instead of shaping them into his system.
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It seems that the Keefe teams always start slow, with new guys like they don't understand his systems or he just isnt good at integrating new players to play around the "Core 5".

A good point was made on the radio last week by one of the kyper show guys, that its the Core 5 and then just a bunch of mercenaries for hire, 1 year deals to "prove themselves" then get the f*** out or just league minimum fill-ins, that these players just don't feel like they belong on the team.

Maybe thats why there's no snot and no sticking up for each other when shit happens like with Liljegren.
 
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Personally I would have signed Schenn to the 2.75 X 3 instead of klinberg, and it would have brought the toughness of reaves (not quite obviously) in a guy that can actually play 15-20 minutes a night. Eliminates the Reaves and klingberg contracts in one fell swoop. But I also get that we need more offence from our D, we are lacking in that department and have been for years, so I get it. Get the big four the puck from the back end, does make sense.

But Luke did bring a physical calmness to the team, and 3 years for a 34 year old didn't look great, but Reaves... I dunno, I am open to give it all time to brew. Come another pretty well guaranteed playoff matchup against either boston or Tampa and we need the snot. Hopefully he picks it up, still early.

But Luke Schenn could've been on my team anytime.
 
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I've been saying trade Marner since the day he signed his ridiculous contract. I suggested for Eichel when he was available. I was told Marners better. I suggested for Hughes when he struggled his first few season, I was told Marners better. I suggested Tkatchuk when he was available, but was told Marners better.

I said we should get rid of Keefe years ago.
I never got what I wanted 😉

Should've moved Marner this offseason, fired Keefe and sent this team a message. But Treliving instead tried to do the exact same thing Dubas did the last few years and has found out the very same thing.
 
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Stephen said:
OP needs to consider the issue is never any specific player type... it's whether the guy brought in to do the job... is doing the job.
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Also I'm not sure where the idea that Domi and Bertuzzi were "snarl" players came from. They're no more snarly than Bunting and Lafferty.

In fact when you consider that we lost not only those two but Schenn and Accari as well, and ROR, and even Holl for Klinberg was not an insignificant physical downgrade, you'll realize that this roster is currently softer than its been in a very long time.
 
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EK392000 said:
It's starting to seem like a culture thing to me. This team looked like it would be different on paper. Looks the same to me now.

IMO we needed high energy guys more than tough ones. Looking back on Tampa's cup run, that Gourde Coleman Goodrow played with such intensity it not only made it difficult to play against, but it would rile up their guys on the bench.
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It’s 100% culture. We bring in players who have some bite and they get neutered.
 
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I don’t recall many asking for a D core this soft or a team who is willing to watch one of their young players get injured and do nothing about it. Also for the cherry on top of the rotten cake, AHL level goaltending at best.
 
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