BlueWhiteBlood
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Colton Orr was definitely better against Detroit the other night, he had some real jump in his game Tigger. So I agree with your comment.
General Leafs Talk
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Kessel Run
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lamajama said:
Yeah really. I mean he fell in practice. Practice!
bustaheims
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L K said:
Pretty much. And, once Richards did the inevitable and signed with the Rangers, Connolly was the best top 6 centre option available on the UFA market this summer and is better than any of the true centres scheduled to be available next summer.
BlueWhiteBlood
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cw said:
I think that is exactly where he should be every night. In when they need him and watching from up top when they don't.
Kin
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L K said:
Well, the naysayers I've heard have all generally made the argument that Connolly isn't likely to help the Leafs a ton and the injury bug is, obviously, the biggest impediment there.
I'm a pretty big believer that with the exception of becoming impossible to trade no FA signing is a bad one and I think Connolly is a pretty safe bet, provided the team doesn't improve much, to be dealt during the length of his deal. The issue with him isn't going to be whether or not it was a great signing but whether they should have looked to sign anyone at all.
hockeyfan1
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Dion Phaneuf, the eternal optimist....
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2011/10/03/brophy_phaneuf_captain/
"We added some new guys in the offseason and I think each and everyone of them bring different elements of their game that really add to our team," Phaneuf said. "You look at Lombardi who brings a lot of speed up the middle and that will really help us up front. Connolly can really make plays. He's very, very skilled. Those are two guys who'll add a lot to our team.
"Liles skates so well and moves the puck well and Franson has a great shot, moves the puck well and see the ice well. Plus he's a big guy who adds size on our back end. We added four real big pieces that will help us so that something that definitely gives our team a new look and adds to the depth of our team."
"The other thing is every game is so important. The reason we didn't make the playoffs last year - the reason we just missed after playing really good hockey down the stretch - is we dug ourselves a hole by having a bad month. When you have a bad stretch of games where you dig yourself into a hole in the first half or first quarter of the season, it's too hard now with the way the schedule is and with the three-point games, to make up those lost points. It's very tough to make up points after Christmas because it seems every team you are chasing is always winning or at least getting a point. That's the way it is now. We have to be consistent right from the start. We can't have any swings where we're good for two weeks and then bad for two weeks. You've got to be as consistent as you can and then we'll be fine."
Not many are giving the Leafs much of a chance to make it to the playoffs this season. They have too many question marks, from an unproven No. 1 goalie, a sharp-shooter who can't seem to take his game to the next level and they are quite thin down the middle with both Connolly and Lombardi having had problems with concussions.
That doesn't faze Phaneuf.
"Whether you are in the West or the East, it's a tight battle to make the playoffs and you have to play well all year,' he said. "That's the goal for our team. We want to be a playoff team and to do that we have to learn from the things that we didn't do well last year. We have to take the positives from the things we did do well. We have to keep the positives and learn from the negatives and we'll be fine.
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2011/10/03/brophy_phaneuf_captain/
"We added some new guys in the offseason and I think each and everyone of them bring different elements of their game that really add to our team," Phaneuf said. "You look at Lombardi who brings a lot of speed up the middle and that will really help us up front. Connolly can really make plays. He's very, very skilled. Those are two guys who'll add a lot to our team.
"Liles skates so well and moves the puck well and Franson has a great shot, moves the puck well and see the ice well. Plus he's a big guy who adds size on our back end. We added four real big pieces that will help us so that something that definitely gives our team a new look and adds to the depth of our team."
"The other thing is every game is so important. The reason we didn't make the playoffs last year - the reason we just missed after playing really good hockey down the stretch - is we dug ourselves a hole by having a bad month. When you have a bad stretch of games where you dig yourself into a hole in the first half or first quarter of the season, it's too hard now with the way the schedule is and with the three-point games, to make up those lost points. It's very tough to make up points after Christmas because it seems every team you are chasing is always winning or at least getting a point. That's the way it is now. We have to be consistent right from the start. We can't have any swings where we're good for two weeks and then bad for two weeks. You've got to be as consistent as you can and then we'll be fine."
Not many are giving the Leafs much of a chance to make it to the playoffs this season. They have too many question marks, from an unproven No. 1 goalie, a sharp-shooter who can't seem to take his game to the next level and they are quite thin down the middle with both Connolly and Lombardi having had problems with concussions.
That doesn't faze Phaneuf.
"Whether you are in the West or the East, it's a tight battle to make the playoffs and you have to play well all year,' he said. "That's the goal for our team. We want to be a playoff team and to do that we have to learn from the things that we didn't do well last year. We have to take the positives from the things we did do well. We have to keep the positives and learn from the negatives and we'll be fine.
Corn Flake
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Tigger said:
These things seem to work themselves out over time. Depending on how things go with Gardiner and Komi, we could see him up really quick or not at all. Working Franson in there is probably a bit more urgent at the moment.
My guess is Gardiner and Aulie will swap places by November, as will Franson and Komisarek, but we shall see.
Bender said:
I'd trade Phaneuf, Komisarek, Liles or Franson before Gunnarsson. I think he's going to be a good bang for the cap buck. I thought he played quite well in preseason - seems physically stronger to me.
Wilson pairing him with Phaneuf to start the season isn't entirely a bad thing though I have concerns that Dion could impose an Aulie preseason effect on him.
ZBBM
Active member
cw said:
I like Phaneuf's positive attitude in the interview HG posted above -- as captain you have to project that kind of attitude -- but Dion needs to look in the mirror and really really step it up this season. He can't be the one who is holding anyone back in any way this year. I'd go so far to say that, after Reimer, it's Dion's performance that will make or break our playoff aspirations. He sets the tone for the whole team, not just the D.
Bullfrog
Active member
cw said:
While he may prove to be a good bang for the buck, isn't it safe to say at this point that Phaneuf is a better player? I'd say Liles is too. So, while it's good to have good value on the team, in the end isn't better to simply have better players?
Unless you're suggesting the return from trading other guys will allow for better players....
Frank E
Active member
Has anyone, other than Gardiner, really impressed this pre-season?
I'm a little nervous about this current roster's prospects this fall. Connolly is pretty much where we thought he'd be, injured. And Burke is fooling around with the defense combos again. The bottom two lines aren't appreciably better on paper, and the top two lines are practically the same without Connolly. Lupul has been meh, Kessel meh...I'm not very optimistic here.
I'm a little nervous about this current roster's prospects this fall. Connolly is pretty much where we thought he'd be, injured. And Burke is fooling around with the defense combos again. The bottom two lines aren't appreciably better on paper, and the top two lines are practically the same without Connolly. Lupul has been meh, Kessel meh...I'm not very optimistic here.
Hockey_gal
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RedLeaf said:
Nobody was picked up.
Strangelove
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Bullfrog said:
Even if you want to discount the fact that Phaneuf is grossly overpaid which, in a capped league, is a big problem, there is, I think, a good case to be made for Gunnarsson being the better player overall. He seems more defensively sound than Phaneuf most of the time, and makes better decisions at both ends of the ice. I'm hoping Phaneuf can build on the momentum he had at the end of last season though.
Overall, I'm not particularly optimistic about this season--probably less so than in the past few years, in fact. I think there's a pretty decent chance they'll squeak into the playoffs, but there's still a glaring lack of top-lier talent across the line-up, along with an obvious lack of depth at forward (Grabo has flashes of brilliance but is still prone to disappearing--he's not a consistent force). I'm not at all convinced about the defense either. Of course, I'd like to be wrong...
Frank E said:
I feel that the 3rd line has the potential to be quite a bit better than last year. Armstrong was hurt for quite a while last season and he's a good player. Pushing Bozak down from the 1st to 3rd improves the 3rd line. Frattin seems to be a smart 2-way player with the potential to score 15 goals, or if he gets tired half-way through the season, we switch him up with Kadri, who should have the energy and motivation to sub in well. Or, in place of either of those guys, Lombardi, who if healthy could score 40 points and 15-20 goals.
I can't even remember who our third line players were for most of last year (Brent? Boyce?). I think that lineup is better.
If we could get 15goals, 15goals, 20goals from our 3 3rd line players, that would be a lot better than the 8 goals, 10 goals, 12 goals (or whatever it was) we got last year. It's not enough to push us over the playoff hump, but it gets us closer.
If we can get +10 goals from the 1st line and +10 goals from the defense, and even on the 2nd and 4th lines then we might see a 30-40 goal improvement. Of course, that counts on a lot of people being healthy.
Frank E said:
I know, I have that pessimistic feeling aswell. I think, like last year, the Leafs are probably over estimating the 'Improvement from within/young guys' they are hoping for. We saw the same thing last summer and it didn't really amount to much. I know Burke said that they are still counting on the young guys improving but I'm not sure how much more some of these guys can give (i.e. can the Grabo line really do better than last year?).
At the end of the day, they did add 4 decent players (Franson, Liles, Connolly, Lombardi) without really subtracting anyone of significance (Brent?) so they should be better but it's generally not that simple. We're life and death as it is, all it takes is an injury to Kessel or Phaneuf or Grabo to sink us.
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