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Game 1 - Habs @ Leafs - Thursday Oct 6th 2011 - 19:00 EST - 2-0 Win

Tigger said:
So, should the Shan-bani-shed continue being built unabated does a reduced amount of more vicious physicality help with Leaf success this year given they're a pretty damn fast team? That was a quick game tonight with some timid checking compared to last year and the Leafs seemed to benefit from it to me.

Maybe but we have no shortage of heavy-hitters either, some of how we fare in this will be how well they can colour within the lines of the new rules.
 
Tigger said:
So, should the Shan-bani-shed continue being built unabated does a reduced amount of more vicious physicality help with Leaf success this year given they're a pretty damn fast team? That was a quick game tonight with some timid checking compared to last year and the Leafs seemed to benefit from it to me.

I felt like we would've really clobbered them. Our forwards are bigger, and outside of the first line, we usually play a bigger game. Montreal really doesn't have many hitters to be feared.

In general: I don't know actually! I think it could swing either way.
 
Good start, Reimer picking up the show where he left off is a great boost.
Opening night jitters in first. Also, it's obvious they have so many new bodies and so much shuffling, that's why they looked so disorganized.
Shekel was huge in more ways than one. Besides all the face-off hype, he handles the puck decently for a big guy, skates okay, doesn't have hands of stone and takes the man, not slamming guys but rubbing them out effectively. He also blocked shots and has great reach for killing penalties. I'm impressed.
Frattin continues to play smart. I think his scoring will eventually come.
Bozak plays better without Phil. Everyone is dissing Connolly, but I think they will be eating their words before long.
Gunner looked the coolest in the crazy first amongst the d-men. Nice to see Dion get off to a good start. Kessel showed some nice playmaking on that.
One thing I did notice about the Habs though, while small, they always had  guys going to the front the net, screening. How Reimer stopped some of those shots was amazing.
 
Why was I worried about Reimer again?  Man what a first game for him. Shades of Belfour.
 
I loved how the Leafs were really aggressive on defence, getting right on their man and barely giving the Habs any time to do anything.

They had a tough time getting the puck off the boards on the powerplay, but they had a lot more movement. The PK was solid. Very aggressive and guys were actually blocking shots.

They never really had any sustained pressure 5-on-5 so it's hard to say much about how the forwards played. I noticed a lot of back-checking particularly from Kessel and Grabovski. Frattin also had a nice back check in the 2nd period.

Reimer was solid and was VERY good with his rebound control. Aside from that one scary moment in the 1st where the puck slid under his arm, he pretty much gave them no second chances.

A very good start to the season. Keep it going on Saturday boys!
 
Also, about Komisarek, those boos he got when they introduced him hopefully inspired him. I never like home team players getting booed. I felt bad for him. He played a strong game.
 
TML fan said:
Also, about Komisarek, those boos he got when they introduced him hopefully inspired him. I never like home team players getting booed. I felt bad for him. He played a strong game.

I actually felt bad for RW. He was booed when he came out of the dressing room and RW said to Zettler "I told you so."

I mean, I know he hasn't been the most popular guy but jeez, I really did feel for him there.
 
pnjunction said:
Tigger said:
So, should the Shan-bani-shed continue being built unabated does a reduced amount of more vicious physicality help with Leaf success this year given they're a pretty damn fast team? That was a quick game tonight with some timid checking compared to last year and the Leafs seemed to benefit from it to me.

Maybe but we have no shortage of heavy-hitters either, some of how we fare in this will be how well they can colour within the lines of the new rules.
...and how well Wilson/coaches respond.
 
Bender said:
TML fan said:
Also, about Komisarek, those boos he got when they introduced him hopefully inspired him. I never like home team players getting booed. I felt bad for him. He played a strong game.

I actually felt bad for RW. He was booed when he came out of the dressing room and RW said to Zettler "I told you so."

I mean, I know he hasn't been the most popular guy but jeez, I really did feel for him there.

I missed that. I'm kind of indifferent on Wilson, but it's hard enough to coach in Toronto without getting booed.
 
Credit where credit is due - Komisarek played great. He lead all players with 6(!) hits in the game. Next closest was Steckel with 3 - he also had a great game, 17 for 25 = 72% on the draw and led the forwards in PK time at 4:12. Komi also blocked 4 shots, Liles and Schenn also had 4 blocks each.

All in all, a great team effort - outside of a shaky first.
 
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;D
 
4th Liner said:
Credit where credit is due - Komisarek played great. He lead all players with 6(!) hits in the game. Next closest was Steckel with 3 - he also had a great game, 17 for 25 = 72% on the draw and led the forwards in PK time at 4:12. Komi also blocked 4 shots, Liles and Schenn also had 4 blocks each.

All in all, a great team effort - outside of a shaky first.

We'll need a lot more from our top two lines though. We only had 18 shots, although Grabbo and Kessel had more than their fair share of chances.
 
What was cool about the win and the shutout was that it wasn't a case of Reimer 'stealing' the game.

After the first period (jitters), the Leafs came to play. Reimer was simply one piece of the whole.
 
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