Habs @ Leafs - Oct. 3rd, 7:00pm - SN, Fan 590

[cabber24]

Looks like Babcock went right back to neutralizing his own team's speed with stationary hail mary passes and being mostly allergic to maintaining possession in the neutral zone.

It's one game though, so hopefully it was poor execution rather than something systemic.

The timing of his line choices also drove me nuts. Was he trying to line match or what? Against who?

 

[Bullfrog]

Awesome Auston!

He's making it look even easier this year.  Will not be surprised in the least if he reaches the 60 goal plateau.  That may be stretching it a bit, but it's still a possibility.  With or without Nylander.

Gardiner's feed to Marleau was beautiful as well. Completely fooled the defender.

 

[louisstamos]

Awesome Auston!

He's making it look even easier this year.  Will not be surprised in the least if he reaches the 60 goal plateau.  That may be stretching it a bit, but it's still a possibility.  With or without Nylander.

Gardiner's feed to Marleau was beautiful as well. Completely fooled the defender.

That's very true - both MTL players back were sure that pass was going to Matthews in the middle and were both on him.  When it went to Marleau on the far side, one player had to go out to him, which opened up the hole for Matthews to cut in and score.

 

[hockeyfan1]

On Josh Leivo...

[tweet]1047697520502210560[/tweet]

Thought Leivo handled himself well.  It's only one game and if he has even a chance at staying with this team, he's going to have to earn his stripes and..score some, too.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Whos the odd man out once Nylander comes back?

If the decision had to be made today, it's probably Johnsson.

 

[louisstamos]

It's weird to me that Kadri and Leivo had nearly 70% Corsi 5v5, but somehow Connor Brown was at 38%, considering they were on the same line for most of the game.  But yeah - Leivo fared alright!

 

[CarltonTheBear]

It's weird to me that Kadri and Leivo had nearly 70% Corsi 5v5, but somehow Connor Brown was at 38%, considering they were on the same line for most of the game.  But yeah - Leivo fared alright!

Those numbers are actually from all-situations. At 5-on-5 Kadri was 63%, Leivo 62%, and Brown 54%.

 

[cabber24]

Whos the odd man out once Nylander comes back?

If the decision had to be made today, it's probably Johnsson.

Ennis out, Levio is better suited for the "checking line". Johnsson is done being seasoned in the AHL. Ennis was the depth guy brought in.

 

[louisstamos]

It's weird to me that Kadri and Leivo had nearly 70% Corsi 5v5, but somehow Connor Brown was at 38%, considering they were on the same line for most of the game.  But yeah - Leivo fared alright!

Those numbers are actually from all-situations. At 5-on-5 Kadri was 63%, Leivo 62%, and Brown 54%.

You are right sir - I missed that!

 

[Bender]

Yeah, that was one ugly game. Luckily Freddy made some good saves. I'm a bit tired of hearing the team has to figure out the system. Give them an understandable system.

 

[Zee]

Yeah, that was one ugly game. Luckily Freddy made some good saves. I'm a bit tired of hearing the team has to figure out the system. Give them an understandable system.

Yeah I don't get it.  Other teams with seemingly lesser talent seem to be able to keep shots and chances down, why are the Leafs so bad at it?  Is it personnel related or systems related or a combination of both?

 

[disco]

I think the cellies were Nylander homages.

Exhibit A:
https://twitter.com/theflintor/status/1047635697505431552
https://twitter.com/theflintor/status/963208839557406720

Exhibit B:
https://twitter.com/theflintor/status/1047667480909373445
https://twitter.com/theflintor/status/963218655646384128

haha good eye!

Gamebreakers get the Dubb for us. Auston, Freddy, JT. Tough season opener at home, tend to be flat and Habs were gangbusters.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

Yeah, that was one ugly game. Luckily Freddy made some good saves. I'm a bit tired of hearing the team has to figure out the system. Give them an understandable system.

You guys talk about systems like it removes the player's ability to think. What I'm seeing is poor decisions repeatedly. Not poor planning.

 

[Highlander]

I still wanna see Johnsson and Kapi on Kadri's wings, I think they would be very good, let Leivo and Brown go outside of  Lindholm.  Come on Babs just try it for a couple of games??
And how do we get rid of Roman Hainsey? He is starting to show his age and he is no Patrick Marleau.

 

[Phileas Fogg]

You guys talk about systems like it removes the player's ability to think. What I'm seeing is poor decisions repeatedly. Not poor planning.

Agree 100%. The problem isn't the coaching. It's the capability of the defencemen. I'm sure Babcock would love to have a high end defence corp that could reliably maintain possession and make good decisions while transitioning or skating the puck out. But, he doesn't, and you get the puck off the glass/long stretch pass for tip into the other zone that everyone despises, but it worked a lot better than expecting high end plays from a low-end group.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

Yeah, that was one ugly game. Luckily Freddy made some good saves. I'm a bit tired of hearing the team has to figure out the system. Give them an understandable system.

You guys talk about systems like it removes the player's ability to think. What I'm seeing is poor decisions repeatedly. Not poor planning.

It does not of course, but the answer to poor structure isn?t to abandon all structure which is essentially what they are doing by giving the puck possession away so frivolously. 

The reason an adherence to a somewhat strict structure is so important is so that when you are tired, pressured and unable to think creatively to make a play, you can fall back on structure. I am here, I therefore know there are players in spot x, y and z that will allow us to transition quickly.

The ceding of possession should be a last resort when all else has failed. 

There was a similar mindset in other sports where going long all the time was seen to be pragmatic because it took the ball/puck away from your goal.

Ultimately though the teams that have a solid structure that produce large possession disparities are by a significant majority the ones who win.

Owning the puck will allow the skill of our players to shine through.

I?m not sure Babcock is willing to be that expansive though and thus we will likely see more of the glass play and stationary tip ins with limited speedy forecheck.

 

[Andy007]

You guys talk about systems like it removes the player's ability to think. What I'm seeing is poor decisions repeatedly. Not poor planning.

Agree 100%. The problem isn't the coaching. It's the capability of the defencemen. I'm sure Babcock would love to have a high end defence corp that could reliably maintain possession and make good decisions while transitioning or skating the puck out. But, he doesn't, and you get the puck off the glass/long stretch pass for tip into the other zone that everyone despises, but it worked a lot better than expecting high end plays from a low-end group.

Rielly and Gardiner are both elite at this. And the option of having the forwards supporting the defence while breaking out of the zone adds to the amount of elite players available to skate/transition the puck out. I absolutely believe that the system is, mostly, to blame for alot of those struggles.

Of course in Game 1 there were a ton of sloppy plays and errant passes and Ron Hainsey was an absolute trainwreck. That certainly doesn't help the breakout issues.

 

[Bullfrog]

Based on a recent interview with Rielly, it seems that -- despite their elite skill in carrying the puck out -- the coaches want Rielly and Gardiner to get it to a forward as quickly as possible and then use their speed to get up in the play as the 4th man. So, they're not negating their speed and skill, but trying to deploy it in a different way.

 

[Andy007]

Based on a recent interview with Rielly, it seems that -- despite their elite skill in carrying the puck out -- the coaches want Rielly and Gardiner to get it to a forward as quickly as possible and then use their speed to get up in the play as the 4th man. So, they're not negating their speed and skill, but trying to deploy it in a different way.

The problem is, that isn't working, particularly when the forwards are standing motionless at the opposing blue line. It's transparent, for one, and the speed/skill deployment is inert. Not many teams are getting fooled by non-stop stretch passes anyway.

 

[Bullfrog]

Not talking about stretch passes. Their intention (as I understand it) is to get it to the forwards ASAP and have them carry the puck through the neutral zone with one defender rushing up to join while the other is prepared to defend against a turnover.

It's the forwards' responsibility to be on the move and ready to accept the pass.