Pre-Game Talk: Toronto @ New Jersey

[DarkKnight]

Tonight I want to see Matthews take charge, with JT and ROR out, the onus is on him and he should deliver.

 

[9Iron]

We win in spite of Keefe. Our record against poor teams is proof positive he isn’t a good motivator either. He gets along with Dubas, so there is a good synergy there, but he’s been out coached three straight playoffs and the team runs itself, obviously.

Your 1st sentence is everything in a nutshell. This treatment of Lily is backwards beyond belief and is a perfect example of why we fail when the chips are down.

 

[DarkKnight]

..

Your 1st sentence is everything in a nutshell. This treatment of Lily is backwards beyond belief and is a perfect example of why we fail when the chips are down.

Lil was awful against Edmonton. Holl was awful for two months and stayed in. There are no standards here.

 

[BayStBullies]

NJ is too hungry and the Leafs will be unprepared as usual (thanks Keefe!), so this is an ugly one.

 

[Kelly]

Tonight I want to see Matthews take charge, with JT and ROR out, the onus is on him and he should deliver.

Paying a guy 11.6 a year, this should be happening every night. But I'm hoping for the same, really need 34 to turn it on here for us.

Doubt it happens though -- likely be 16, or 88, again.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Out of all the teams the Leafs have played so far, NJ has probably been the most dominant. I don't think the Leafs can contain their speed at all. I'd be pleasantly surprised to not see a blowout loss

 

[LaPlante94]

Everyone blaming Keefe for benching Liljegren like his GM didn't give him 3 new defensemen to play. If Dubas is confident in Liljegren you don't add like that, period. This was the only way it was going to play out if you give a coach a bunch of veteran options.

That's not the problem. The problem is Babcock got criticized badly because media and people on here would say he picked favourites and sat people who deserved to play. Now that Keefe does it people have been silent until recently and it's mainly because we traded away Sandin and now sitting Liljegren. What does Holl do better than Liljegren? Why does Holl not get sat or in the doghouse as much as Liljegren?

Out of all the teams the Leafs have played so far, NJ has probably been the most dominant. I don't think the Leafs can contain their speed at all. I'd be pleasantly surprised to not see a blowout loss

NJ been letting a lot of goals in the last 2 weeks so we could possibly either see a blowout or a shootout.

 

[Racer88]

This is going to be seriously ugly tonight.
It might have to be a double popcorn/triple butter night.

 

[3blizzard4]

Reading this thread you'd think Toronto was in last place.

Reading this thread you'd think Toronto lost 5 first rounds.

 

[Bomber0104]

This is going to be seriously ugly tonight.
It might have to be a double popcorn/triple butter night.

I was thinking Eggo Waffles personally...

 

[francis246]

I think our big 3 steps up tonight. They always play better against good teams. So I expect them to take it to them. We’ll also have some hungry guys from the Marlies so I think leafs squeak out a win.

 

[saltming]

We have a lot of new bodies and to find the best fits requires experimenting.
Now is the time IMO for just that rather than out of necessity later on when compatibility is a complete mystery.

Agreed but should we not be experimenting with mixing in the new guys with our top players?
Shouldn't we ice the best of us and mix in the best of the new?

 

[MSZ]

Reading this thread you'd think Toronto lost 5 first rounds.

Six if you count the bubble cup qualification round.

 

[AvroArrow]

Six if you count the bubble cup qualification round.

7 if we go back to 2013

But seriously who gives a f*** lol, none of those have any impact on this year

 

[Cleetus]

This is going to be seriously ugly tonight.
It might have to be a double popcorn/triple butter night.

watch the leafs come out and steam roll them lol, its the leafs way!

 

[3blizzard4]

I think its AM34's night to shine tonight.

 

[Zero1]

Keefe’s a dumbass for that quote and he’s annoyingly stubborn.

I don’t blame Sandin at all for wanting out.

I wouldn’t be shocked to see Matthews and Marner stapled to the hip or Liljegren stapled to the bench in the playoffs.

 

[Budz22]

Sheldon Keefe the type to drop out of school because his grades are too high.

 

[PROUD PAPA]

Agreed but should we not be experimenting with mixing in the new guys with our top players?
Shouldn't we ice the best of us and mix in the best of the new?

Oh for sure we should ice the best. That's what i feel is the whole idea( aside from being necessitated by injury) behind the different looks. If Keefe stumbles upon a pairing or line that clicks even if on paper 1 or more of the players doesn't seem worthy of a spot or particular role, fine. We'd still be icing the most effective version of our team even if it doesn't match the depth chart.

 

[9Iron]

7 if we go back to 2013

But seriously who gives a f*** lol, none of those have any impact on this year

This is so patently wrong. Those 6 1st rd loses will hang like a 50lb packback on the players (and coaches) come Game 1. Thinking otherwise is ludicrous. They are not robots and the consequences are very real.

 

[Petrus]

I think its AM34's night to shine tonight.

Not feeling optimistic about that. Matty is way off this year for whatever reason.

 

[57 Years No Cup]

If we actually scratch him again I'm done


f***ing boneheaded decision

See ya tonight.

 

[MarnerElite]

Wouldn't surprise me if we won tonight or at the very least made it a very close game. Why? As some might know i don't put that much value on shitty skaters who also don't use their brain(talking JT here not O'Reilly). Not sure what the lines are but noticed yesterday that Bunting was on 3rd or 4th which is correct. Liljigren is back which is also correct and so the rest should be ok.

 

[ToneDog]

This is so patently wrong. Those 6 1st rd loses will hang like a 50lb packback on the players (and coaches) come Game 1. Thinking otherwise is ludicrous. They are not robots and the consequences are very real.

They are usually fine from games 1-5 or 6. Game 7 it will hang on their backs like a 1000 lb gorilla. They need to get by Tampa in less than 7 and then perhaps that gorilla will only be 250 lbs the next game 7.

 

[LeafSteel]

This is where that whole "playing with pride" thing comes in.

We've played teams that iced practically AHL teams show up and play us hard. We still have 3 of our top players, and one of the players missing was someone we didn't even have on our team 2 weeks ago.

To lose is fine, NJ is a damn good team and I think will win their 1st round series, but frigging show up and give them Hell. Don't just whimper and roll over.

Personally I hope Liljegren plays lights out and makes Keefe look a donkey because, well, you know, he is......

Twerk them thangs and thug hard, and pull they noses 'til they hold onto they're butts, amiright @Nhlpowerweek ?

Go Leafs Go!