What were you dead wrong about with this team?

[stickty111]

The coaching. Berube is good

 

[Spargon]

There must be something but right now I can't come up with anything I've been wrong about.

ROFL, pretty sure your takes could fill a page or 2 alone.

This should be a 1k post thread with all the shit takes on this board.

 

[Commander Clueless]

Pacioretty and OEL signings. Big oof on my part.

I also thought we should upgrade Benoit. Whoops. Playoff beast.

 

[TMLAM34]

Didn’t expect Stolarz to be as good as he was/is.

 

[bax]

Patches for me.

I didn't think Tanev would be this good

I thought he would be a good defencemen no doubt, but I thought he was going to be a good #3 or elite #4. Essentially I thought he was going to be Carlo.

He doesn't play 23-24 minutes, but he is one of the best defencemen who plays ~20 minutes.

That Tanev signing thread would be fun to reread lol

 

[usernamezrhardtodo]

Absolutely. That "you make my dreams come true" one was a freakin curse.

It was so "Soyboy-ish" and it fit the way the team would play and wilt under pressure. New song...new team identity. I would prefer a loud horn over any song...I hate when we get scored on in another building and they just blast the horn for what seems like minutes...

 

[Evilhomer]

Clearly, I have been wrong about nothing, as usual.

 

[TakeTheBody]

I liked most of the moves. Love the coach. I just didn't see us turning ALPHA so quickly. How many years did Dubas cost us? Hope the family's okay Kyle.

 

[ACC1224]

ROFL, pretty sure your takes could fill a page or 2 alone.

This should be a 1k post thread with all the shit takes on this board.

Any examples?

 

[DarkKnight]

Early this year I thought Domi was cooked, I would have traded him if available. He's been great second half on....

 

[HarryLime]

1. Marner has been really good in the playoffs after I talked non stop about him being incapable of playing this way in the spring

2. Patches being great

3. Tanev and OEL not being washed up

 

[notDatsyuk]

Generally I try to be careful to not judge new acquisitions too quickly, so I think I've avoided that pitfall fairly well.

I will happily admit that I didn't think that Tavares would age as well as he has.

 

[Bust]

I was dead wrong that Marner would be gone by the TDL.

I was bang on with my summer assessment of gutting the D and building out a true D core (including goalies). I was also adamant we needed to sign Domi and retain Knies (a few of you wanted that Dubas special with CHI for Knies+ for Hagel, complete foolery)

A few of you have a lot of posting to do in this thread. ACC and Notbias we are looking at you both - better get those thick rimmed glasses on, you guys have some work to do here.

 

[Menzinger]

Depth scoring, especially among the forwards.

 

[Metroid]

I remember really wanting Dean Evason for coach over Berube. I'm happy so far with Berube

 

[AvroArrow]

Before game 1 of the regular season ?

Several things

I thought our cup window was closed, it would only re-open after JT and Marner deals expire and we can fix the roster.

I was unsure about Benoit being an NHL regular for us

Stolarz was just Woll's back up


After about game 15-20, lots of optimism

I was vocal about it, the way the team was playing (Marner specifically) it was playoff style hockey. Great defensively, guys were poised and getting into scrums and dirty areas and not shying away from contact. It should have been obvious to everyone by about January, what this team really was.

I didn't think they'd play at this level for sure, but there was lots of reasons for optimism.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Pacioretty easily. I would've taken him out after Game 5 Round 1 but I'm glad to eat crow. I was also really hard on Laughton during his first 10 games but to be fair to me I was singing his praises as we approached the playoffs and his good play has continued.

 

[ChurchOfMatthews]

Holmberg serves a purpose and he does it pretty damn well.

 

[Cap'n Flavour]

I didn't expect the core 4 (+ Rielly I guess) to keep up good play at both ends of the ice, especially with Matthews largely unable to score. Usually they play hard on D and then make a stupid mistake and/or forget how to score.

Marner, Matthews & Holmberg have all been on the ice for only one 5v5 goal so far. The former two have been helped along with a >.970 sv%. Not sure how long that will hold...

 

[leafs in five]

all sorts of shit

 

[leafs in five]

I've really struggled with their style of play this year - felt too passive, and more focused on structure and positioning rather than truly going out and influencing the game. Seemed to neuter some of the stars in the process as well.

How can anyone complain at the moment though? They look so comfortable playing this game, and look absolutely locked in.

agree with this, from game 1 this year it looked like the coach was treating the whole season as a dress rehearsal for round 2, there was this steadfast conservatism to so much of their game - flipping pucks out on breakouts etc - that felt unsustainable over a whole year. I'm impressed with the players for buying in and for sticking to it during the inevitable down times (when they were Not A Serious Team).

I also thought Berube would be a hardass and bench guys and create some media drama with public statements. he's been so chill and forgiving/encouraging of the unique parts of different players' games, and he's brought out the best in Nylander for example. he was made for this team and market.

 

[ACC1224]

Pacioretty easily. I would've taken him out after Game 5 Round 1 but I'm glad to eat crow. I was also really hard on Laughton during his first 10 games but to be fair to me I was singing his praises as we approached the playoffs and his good play has continued.

There's one I was wrong on, knew there had to be something. Fully expected Robertson to get back in after the Max Patch slow start.

 

[al secord]

Pacioretty easily. I would've taken him out after Game 5 Round 1 but I'm glad to eat crow. I was also really hard on Laughton during his first 10 games but to be fair to me I was singing his praises as we approached the playoffs and his good play has continued.

Maybe because he was a Hab, and the whole 911 thing, but i never expected him to be hitting through some big boys and just how intense he is.

He is well-rested and hungry. Hopefully he can stay healthy the rest of the way.

 

[HockeyVirus]

Realizing that I made a lot of excuses for Dubas and Keefe and they both came pretty close to utterly destroying this team.

I was a big Dubas fan. Watched him lift the calder cup live. Loved how detailed he was.

I have been forced to admit he has no idea what he is doing. Wasted 5 years of our core with no goaltending, no defense, no grit, no changes, bargain bin adds every year with no clear vision of what his team looked like.

Our core has the reputation they do somewhat because of their play, but a lot of it is Dubas wouldn't know what a cup team looks like if it hit him in the face

 

[sxvnert]

This series will tell us whether people were incorrect or not.