Avalanche @ Leafs - Dec. 4th, 7:00pm - SN, Fan 590

[Phileas Fogg]

Heh, I watched spezza tie up poor Reilly there on the point again. For the life of me, not sure what he was thinking. He should have already been on his way to the bench as soon as his stick blew up.

Nothing poor about Rielly there.

What did he do wrong exactly? I watched it a bunch of times, and Spezza essentially broke up any chance he had to properly play the puck.

You figure it out. Spezza isn't blameless but to suggest it's all him. Rielly's play was horrible, same on the 3rd goal.

I did figure it out. It wasn't his fault. Watch it again.

 

[dekedastardly]

Oh and someone other than Kapanen should have stepped up and fought Calvert. This team has no heart.

Kappy fought Calvert? Why? You did say someone other then Kappy lol. No heart because you don't fight? Please.

Well. The way I see it, this team has zero identity. Remember all the talk about killing the other team on the scoreboard with a loaded up powerplay? How's that working out for them.

Anderson gets a pass. Aside from him, this team is pathetic in every way.

 

[Guilt Trip]

I liked seeing some different top 6 looks in the game. A bit disappointed in Mikeyev over the last month, he's really tailing off. Engvall would be an interesting look on the top line... 

I think Mikheyev has played well over the last 8 or 9 games when he was moved to JT's line. I hope we see Engvall up with the Matthews line. Would like to see Bracco get a shot.

 

[Guilt Trip]

Heh, I watched spezza tie up poor Reilly there on the point again. For the life of me, not sure what he was thinking. He should have already been on his way to the bench as soon as his stick blew up.

Nothing poor about Rielly there.

What did he do wrong exactly? I watched it a bunch of times, and Spezza essentially broke up any chance he had to properly play the puck.

You figure it out. Spezza isn't blameless but to suggest it's all him. Rielly's play was horrible, same on the 3rd goal.

I did figure it out. It wasn't his fault. Watch it again.

Don't have to. You have your opinion and I'll have mine. All good.
Speaking of which, I actually liked the D pairings tonight.

 

[4EVRLEAFAN]

Well guys, I think this team is going to have a hard time making the playoffs.  :'( :'(

 

[BrownRolo]

The game was entertaining but isn't the point of paying these guys the big bucks is they are "game breakers" They sure haven't been this season. I think Matthews is getting dangerously close to being booed at home.

He is just a frustrating player to watch and teammates need to call him out on it. He floats far too often.

 

[dekedastardly]

The game was entertaining but isn't the point of paying these guys the big bucks is they are "game breakers" They sure haven't been this season. I think Matthews is getting dangerously close to being booed at home.

He is just a frustrating player to watch and teammates need to call him out on it. He floats far too often.

I support booing him and anyone else who consistently puts forth a half assed effort game in and game out. If he doesn't turn it around, before too long I'm gonna say he can go back to Arizona and I'll take a Chychrun and someone else really nice in return.

 

[Guilt Trip]

The game was entertaining but isn't the point of paying these guys the big bucks is they are "game breakers" They sure haven't been this season. I think Matthews is getting dangerously close to being booed at home.

He is just a frustrating player to watch and teammates need to call him out on it. He floats far too often.

Close to getting booed at home and should get called out by his teammates? Interesting..

 

[BrownRolo]

The game was entertaining but isn't the point of paying these guys the big bucks is they are "game breakers" They sure haven't been this season. I think Matthews is getting dangerously close to being booed at home.

He is just a frustrating player to watch and teammates need to call him out on it. He floats far too often.

Close to getting booed at home and should get called out by his teammates? Interesting..

For the amount he got and the fact he is supposed to be elite he needs to drive his line. If anything Nylander drives that line. He puts in a hell of a lot more work than Matthews. Matthews just floats around trying to get open in the slot.

I just want to see more. See some passion. Effort.

Vessel used to get ragged on when he was here which I thought was unfair. He put in a lot more effort than Matthews seemed to.

 

[Strangelove]

The team misses Kadri. They don't seem to have a player to rally around this year.

Both Tavares and Matthews have been inconsistent at best, and lack the intensity to fire the team up. The floating at both ends of the ice has been way too noticeable all year. Rielly's game has taken a turn for the worse (or maybe last year was an aberration?).

On the plus side, Marner looked better tonight than he did all year prior to the injury.

 

[dekedastardly]

The team misses Kadri. They don't seem to have a player to rally around this year.

Both Tavares and Matthews have been inconsistent at best, and lack the intensity to fire the team up

A player twice as heavy. They had no answer for Zadorov last night hitting everyone at every opportunity, and then wilted like flowers. After that, you can see the unwillingness of Matthews and others to enter the danger areas of the ice.

This team is fragile. They have no pushback against heavier teams. It will be on full display again Saturday.

 

[Bender]

The team misses Kadri. They don't seem to have a player to rally around this year.

Both Tavares and Matthews have been inconsistent at best, and lack the intensity to fire the team up. The floating at both ends of the ice has been way too noticeable all year. Rielly's game has taken a turn for the worse (or maybe last year was an aberration?).

On the plus side, Marner looked better tonight than he did all year prior to the injury.

They had him last year and it didn't make a difference, especially in the playoffs.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Ceci played 17:31 last night, that's the lowest he's played as a Leaf. As someone who was just saying how Ceci's usage was the one thing Keefe hasn't really changed since taking over, that's nice to see. Hopefully it continues.

 

[Peter D.]

Ceci played 17:31 last night, that's the lowest he's played as a Leaf. As someone who was just saying how Ceci's usage was the one thing Keefe hasn't really changed since taking over, that's nice to see. Hopefully it continues.

Ceci has entered Wade Belak territory as worst Leaf I've ever seen, and is one of my least likeable Leafs of all time.  Did not like him one bit as a player while on the Sens, and it's even worse he's patrolling the blue line for the Leafs.  Him getting out of here can't come soon enough. 

 

[dappleganger]

Ceci played 17:31 last night, that's the lowest he's played as a Leaf. As someone who was just saying how Ceci's usage was the one thing Keefe hasn't really changed since taking over, that's nice to see. Hopefully it continues.

Ceci has entered Wade Belak territory as worst Leaf I've ever seen, and is one of my least likeable Leafs of all time.  Did not like him one bit as a player while on the Sens, and it's even worse he's patrolling the blue line for the Leafs.  Him getting out of here can't come soon enough.

Dubas traded for Ceci as a restricted free agent AND THEN re-signed him when no metrics, either the "eye test" or analytics would suggest he would be a good signing or be worth the $4.5m he signed for.

At the time, I thought obviously Dubas knows something I don't. Not sure what the thought process was here for for one of the "smartest-guys-in-the-room".
 

 

[Frank E]

Ceci played 17:31 last night, that's the lowest he's played as a Leaf. As someone who was just saying how Ceci's usage was the one thing Keefe hasn't really changed since taking over, that's nice to see. Hopefully it continues.

I think Ceci is a Red-Herring in the "What ails the Leafs?" conversation.  Keefe looks like he'll give him Marincin minutes.

I didn't think they played poorly last night, but without feeding the trolls, does anyone think there is an aversion to getting physical to maintain/gain possession in both end zones? 

They don't seem to sustain much of a cycle-down-low game, but teams sure seem to be able to hem our boys in.

 

[Frank E]

Ceci has entered Wade Belak territory as worst Leaf I've ever seen, and is one of my least likeable Leafs of all time.  Did not like him one bit as a player while on the Sens, and it's even worse he's patrolling the blue line for the Leafs.  Him getting out of here can't come soon enough.

I'm no moral compass, but maybe we lay-off Belak considering he was very very sick the last 5 years of his career, and likely so largely as a result of the role he played for the Leafs.

 

[L K]

Ceci played 17:31 last night, that's the lowest he's played as a Leaf. As someone who was just saying how Ceci's usage was the one thing Keefe hasn't really changed since taking over, that's nice to see. Hopefully it continues.

Ceci has entered Wade Belak territory as worst Leaf I've ever seen, and is one of my least likeable Leafs of all time.  Did not like him one bit as a player while on the Sens, and it's even worse he's patrolling the blue line for the Leafs.  Him getting out of here can't come soon enough.

Dubas traded for Ceci as a restricted free agent AND THEN re-signed him when no metrics, either the "eye test" or analytics would suggest he would be a good signing or be worth the $4.5m he signed for.

At the time, I thought obviously Dubas knows something I don't. Not sure what the thought process was here for for one of the "smartest-guys-in-the-room".

I mean Ceci has not been the worst defenseman on the planet.  He's not good.  He has been overused by both coaches so far.  I still want to see Cody Ceci the 3rd pairing defenseman for a few games before I completely write him off but there really wasn't a great alternative defenseman out on the market to replace him with.  You can make the argument that maybe the Leafs could have signed a guy for 3 million and then still had money for a real backup goaltender however.  That would be kind of nice right now.

 

[Strangelove]

The team misses Kadri. They don't seem to have a player to rally around this year.

Both Tavares and Matthews have been inconsistent at best, and lack the intensity to fire the team up. The floating at both ends of the ice has been way too noticeable all year. Rielly's game has taken a turn for the worse (or maybe last year was an aberration?).

On the plus side, Marner looked better tonight than he did all year prior to the injury.

They had him last year and it didn't make a difference, especially in the playoffs.

This is a weird comment. He played great in the playoffs but then got suspended because the refs didn't do their job.

 

[Guilt Trip]

Ceci has entered Wade Belak territory as worst Leaf I've ever seen, and is one of my least likeable Leafs of all time.  Did not like him one bit as a player while on the Sens, and it's even worse he's patrolling the blue line for the Leafs.  Him getting out of here can't come soon enough.

I was actually a Belak fan because my expectations of him were always met. You're never disappointed in a player when they play up to their capabilities. Still sucks that he's no longer with us.