Leafs @ Habs - Feb. 14th, 7:00pm - CBC, TSN 1050

[Heroic Shrimp]

Yeah it's SO intimidating when you're an NHL goalie and you drink water at your bench beside THE Carey Price. Like the real one. Who plays hockey and is gonna win the Hart trophy.


: : : : : : : :

It's probably what Healy thought about every time he played anybody as he finished with a career sub .900 SV %. "Oh my God that's X, who can actually stop the little black disk that always gets by me. How does he do that?" What a tool.

I was impressed by how calm Price looked as he drink that water.  Drinking out of a water bottle can be tricky at the best of times but Price looked like it was the most normal, casual thing in the world.

Aaaaaand healy doubling down with more ass-kissing of the second coming of Patrick Roy.

It has been prophesied that, one day, the love child of Carey Price and Dustin Byfuglien will be born, and it will be a golden child, endlessly worshipped by Hockey Night in Canada as their saviour.  He will be a roving goaltender, defenseman and forward, the world's first power goalie, and he will win both the Vezina Trophy and the Art Ross Trophy.  He will be the most physical player ever, as well as the calmest, and his every move, every sip from his water bottle, will make Glenn Healy poop with delight.

 

[pmrules]

Does it not bug anyone else that our 8 million dollar and best offensive weapon player says no thanks to the shootout?

 

[Kin]

Does it not bug anyone else that our 8 million dollar and best offensive weapon player says no thanks to the shootout?

He's 5 for 27(2 for 20 in the last 5 years) as a Leaf. I'm guessing it's probably not that he's saying no thanks but rather that he's not being asked

 

[Boston Leaf]

I enjoyed watching the game last night... The Leafs fought hard.. well harder than recently... Only thing is I had to mute the game. Really have had enough of Bill Watters...I mean Glen Healy between benches

 

[hockeyfan1]

Good game between two old rivals. Always good entertainment, even with the Leafs and their losing ways, anytime they play Les Habitants makes for good competition.  Hooray to that!  (Just don't ask David Clarkson).

 

[pmrules]

Does it not bug anyone else that our 8 million dollar and best offensive weapon player says no thanks to the shootout?

He's 5 for 27(2 for 20 in the last 5 years) as a Leaf. I'm guessing it's probably not that he's saying no thanks but rather that he's not being asked

Yeah...I'd like to win with my best players thank you very much. 

It's not like we are brimming with other worthier options.

 

[Bullfrog]

The shootout is different than the regular game. By your logic, they should pick the best at the shootout, not the best at the regular game.

Kessel is the latter, not the former.

 

[Kin]

Yeah...I'd like to win with my best players thank you very much. 

It's not like we are brimming with other worthier options.

In the last two years:

Lupul is 7 for 9
Bozak is 5 for 11
JVR is 6 for 13
Santorelli is 5 for 13.

Kessel is 1 for his last 12 attempts.

So not only do the Leafs have multiple guys who have higher success rates. They have multiple guys whose success rates are more than double Kessel's.

So...yeah, I know this is a crazy concept but a coach is going to choose who is in the shootout based on how good they are in the shootout.

 

[TML fan]

Just like in Nagano

 

[Kin]

Just like in Nagano

Absolutely. With the minor exception that there's now years and years of competitive shootout data for coaches to base their decisions on.

 

[pmrules]

Yeah...I'd like to win with my best players thank you very much. 

It's not like we are brimming with other worthier options.

In the last two years:

Lupul is 7 for 9
Bozak is 5 for 11
JVR is 6 for 13
Santorelli is 5 for 13.

Kessel is 1 for his last 12 attempts.

So not only do the Leafs have multiple guys who have higher success rates. They have multiple guys whose success rates are more than double Kessel's.

So...yeah, I know this is a crazy concept but a coach is going to choose who is in the shootout based on how good they are in the shootout.

Again...you are entitled to your opinion, but I'd rather Kessel have the puck with the game on the line.  I would expect that of my best players. 

Is there a PDO for shootout attempts?  Something tells me there is a lot of bad luck in those numbers for Phil and a lot of good luck in the others. 

now....I am all for Kessel not taking shootout attempts in order to procure the highest pick....

 

[Kin]

Again...you are entitled to your opinion, but I'd rather Kessel have the puck with the game on the line.  I would expect that of my best players. 

You are certainly entitled to the opinion that when determining who is in the shootout a coach shouldn't primarily consider who is good in the shootout. However, you framed that opinion as Kessel saying "no thanks" when it's almost a certainty that because coaches, in fact, do consider shootout-aptitude for shootout decisions that Kessel isn't being asked. Much like St. Louis doesn't use Backes and Anaheim doesn't use Getzlaf and Nashville doesn't use Weber. Heck, Montreal's three top scorers are Pacioretty, Plekanec and Subban. None of them were in the shootout last night.

So it's all well and good to have the opinion that the Leafs shouldn't approach the shootout the way every other team in the league approaches it but I don't think it's fair to frame the decision not to use Kessel as somehow being Kessel's choice.

 

[pmrules]

Again...you are entitled to your opinion, but I'd rather Kessel have the puck with the game on the line.  I would expect that of my best players. 

You are certainly entitled to the opinion that when determining who is in the shootout a coach shouldn't primarily consider who is good in the shootout. However, you framed that opinion as Kessel saying "no thanks" when it's almost a certainty that because coaches, in fact, do consider shootout-aptitude for shootout decisions that Kessel isn't being asked. Much like St. Louis doesn't use Backes and Anaheim doesn't use Getzlaf and Nashville doesn't use Weber. Heck, Montreal's three top scorers are Pacioretty, Plekanec and Subban. None of them were in the shootout last night.

So it's all well and good to have the opinion that the Leafs shouldn't approach the shootout the way every other team in the league approaches it but I don't think it's fair to frame the decision not to use Kessel as somehow being Kessel's choice.

I framed it that way because that is how I remember it.  It was Carlyle or maybe even Wilson who said kessel said no to going in the shootouts.  Even if I am mis remembering, Kessel should still be out there.

I'm not disagreeing with the stats.  I'd say that there is a lot of luck involved and that he will trend back up once he gets a few more opps.  He was once one of the best at this. To not try him out a few times during the year is akin to a coach calling for a passing play at the 1yd line when you have one of the best runners in the league.

Anyways....it is my opinion that kessel should be in the shootout every time - as I said it bugs me.  That he and the coaches feel that Lupul and santa are better options says a lot about kessel and the coaches.  Kessel should want to be out there with the game on the line.  It's not like we are having success without him.

 

[Bullfrog]

... That he and the coaches feel that Lupul and santa are better options says a lot about kessel and the coaches.  Kessel should want to be out there with the game on the line.  It's not like we are having success without him.

No, it doesn't say much about Kessel or the coaches at all except that they think they have a better chance of winning a shootout with the other players. Kessel should want the best shootout players out there with the game on the line.

 

[Kin]

To not try him out a few times during the year is akin to a coach calling for a passing play at the 1yd line when you have one of the best runners in the league.

No, it's really not. It's akin to having a terrific deep-threat receiver and constantly calling passes for him over the middle. Scoring on breakaways is not Kessel's specialty. His chief asset as a player is his speed, something that's almost entirely meaningless in the shoot-out.

Think of it this way, how many goals have you seen Kessel score where you think "Boy, he really made a great move there!". It's just not what he does. Insisting that he be out there despite him not being any good at it is basically a big statement to the team that you're not seriously interested in winning.

Kessel should want to be out there with the game on the line.  It's not like we are having success without him.

That's like saying that Evgeni Malkin should be really upset that he's not killing penalties late in a close game. It's a sign of maturity for a player to recognize his limitations and put the good of the team above himself.

 

[bustaheims]

It's not like we are having success without him.

Despite Kessel going 0 for 3 in shootout attempts over the past two seasons, the Leafs are 12-7 in it. So, yeah, they have been having quite a bit of success there without him.