Leafs @ Sabres - Nov. 15th, 7:00pm - CBC, Fan 590

[Peter D.]

I was going to post prior to the game that anything but a beat down would be a disappointment. Never did I consider or even think the Sabres would lay one on the Leafs.  :

I usually do a road trip to Buffalo every year to catch the Leafs. This would have been the game if there wasn't another commitment. Thank goodness I didn't waste my money.

 

[lamajama]

Despite some good points raised in Phaneuf's favour, to me the glaring issues that surface continually in his game - inconsistent effort, positioning, glaring lack of hockey sense (akin to Gardiner's game) - should never surface in a D man of his stature. Regardless of the shut-down shifts he has against top players/lines he will then have games like he's a relative rookie and there's no way that should be happening.

 

[Arn]

Lol.

Looks like when EA Sports NHL 15 glitches

 

[TML fan]

Well, the Leafs should be extra rested for Tuesday's game, seeing how they won't have played for 5 days.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

So I've been away all weekend and have just seen the boxscores. Safe to pretend these games never happened?

 

[ZBBM]

Jonas Siegel ‏@jonasTSN1050 2m2 minutes ago
Kessel's exact reaction when asked for comment: "Get away from me."

Perfect.

Perfect if you're 10 years old.

Perfect if you believe what you say to reporters matters whatsoever.

Oh, I can think of about 8 million reasons why it should matter. Not that he could conjure up a single one of them if he tried from now till doomsday.

 

[L K]

Jonas Siegel ‏@jonasTSN1050 2m2 minutes ago
Kessel's exact reaction when asked for comment: "Get away from me."

Perfect.

Perfect if you're 10 years old.

Perfect if you believe what you say to reporters matters whatsoever.

It's a part of the job.  Regardless of how dumb I think the press are, there is a time and place to walk out, and that is AFTER they start in with an inappropriate line of questioning.  I don't get to walk away from people at work because they are going to ask dumb questions or I'm annoyed at how I personally performed.  This part of Kessel has never been something I'm very fond of.  I can understand where he is coming from but it doesn't make it any less of a part of his responsibilities as a player and leader on this team.

 

[Kin]

Phaneuf plays against the best players in the NHL every night.

He wasn't even playing against the best players in the AHL last night.

 

[2badknees]

Bad performance aside, the leafs are tied for the wild card with Ottawa, which is pretty much on the high side of where they were expected to be. It's not like its been a complete disaster so far.

 

[Kin]

The best players in the NHL are the best players because they routinely make opposition defenders(note other teams top defenders too) look terrible.

If Dion Phaneuf was as bad as some here think then he'd be torched every single night, truth is he shuts the best players in the league down almost nightly.

Since 2010-2011

Sidney Crosby: 15 points in 10 games vs. Leafs
Evgeni Malkin: 13 points in 11 games vs Leafs
Steven Stamkos: 19 points in 17 games vs. Leafs
John Tavares: 17 points in 14 games vs. Leafs
Alex Ovechkin: 17 points in 15 games vs. Leafs

So, actually, when the best players in the league come to town they eat our lunch just like they would with anyone else.

Regardless, if Phaneuf were getting turned inside out by Crosby or Malkin I think most people would be relatively alright with those results vs. those players and while some of Phaneuf's physical limitations are troubling him getting walked around isn't really the problem. It's the mental stuff, stuff that he should be able to fix, that isn't really developing. If every Leaf is going to be judged based on the "They're never going to rebuild so we should really be asking who's most likely to take the team to getting knocked out in the second round" criteria then Phaneuf does need to turn into a guy who makes a lot fewer mental errors, especially considering the leadership role he's in.

Without Phaneuf, someone else has to play against the leagues best and we have nobody capable of doing that the way Dion does.

Which is really only the point if someone is actively speaking for another of the Leafs defense to be taking on his responsibilities. I know it doesn't get explicitly spelled out in every post about Phaneuf but I really think it's fair to assume that when people are evaluating him it's in a leaguewide or historical context rather than stewing over just how much better he is than Korbinian Holzer.

Now, I would be the first to admit that I have a complete lack of understanding of pro hockey and the responsibilities and results of a first pairing defenseman but from my position of relative ignorance it seems to me that we might not be able to judge Phaneuf on that curve. At 7 million per Phaneuf's value to the team isn't just about his relative competence to the other defensemen on the team and, to some extent, it's not even about him vs. other "top-pairing" defensemen. The Leafs are only going to be able to pay a few players the kind of money Phaneuf is getting and for them to be competitive he's got to provide good value for his price point.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Jonas Siegel ‏@jonasTSN1050 2m2 minutes ago
Kessel's exact reaction when asked for comment: "Get away from me."

Perfect.

Perfect if you're 10 years old.

Perfect if you believe what you say to reporters matters whatsoever.

It's a part of the job.  Regardless of how dumb I think the press are, there is a time and place to walk out, and that is AFTER they start in with an inappropriate line of questioning.  I don't get to walk away from people at work because they are going to ask dumb questions or I'm annoyed at how I personally performed.  This part of Kessel has never been something I'm very fond of.  I can understand where he is coming from but it doesn't make it any less of a part of his responsibilities as a player and leader on this team.

Is he in breach of contract if he doesn't give a good quote to the media?  He was asked to comment and he commented.  Just because it wasn't what the media person wanted doesn't mean he's not doing his job.  I highly doubt anyone thinks giving token quotes to media after a game is part of Kessel's job, let alone a part that should hold any significance whatsoever.  Literally the only reason anyone talks about it is because of the media itself - it's incestuous. "Player doesn't give me good quote for my story, I rip player by attaching significance to it that I can't prove in any way."  Kessel's on record as being pissed that the media in the past spun a quote of his out of context - but they're allowed to continue to do that and Kessel has to talk to them or he's ripped for it.

It's ridiculous.  Doesn't matter how many points he scores apparently because feeding the media generic quotes is somehow super important.  The media need to reevaluate their lack of importance to wins and losses.

 

[ZBBM]

What Kessel doesn't get and no doubt never will is that the only reason he's not stocking shelves at Walmart is because of the media, whether he likes them or not.  No media, no big-time pro sports, no multimillionaire guys like Kessel.

Whether the media does a good job or is fair are valid points to debate.  But what you can't do, if you are going to take your 8 mil, is tell the machine that makes this vast overpayment possible (and I am talking about all such salaries, not just his) to go away.  Unless you're willing to tell the mailman who brings your paycheck "Get away from me," then you talk to the media, even if all you ever serve up is platitudes.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0q4Ig-N5p60[/youtube]

Language Warning.

#Heart #Leadership #Captain #Kingstonboy

 

[TML fan]

Kessel gave them a quote. A good one too. What can Kessel say about that game that Holland or Robidas or even Leivo couldn't have told them? Well, other than "At least I scored a goal."

All the media wants to do is chirp him. It's pathetic and I wouldn't answer either if I were in his shoes.

 

[TML fan]

But what you can't do, if you are going to take your 8 mil, is tell the machine that makes this vast overpayment possible (and I am talking about all such salaries, not just his) to go away.  Unless you're willing to tell the mailman who brings your paycheck "Get away from me," then you talk to the media, even if all you ever serve up is platitudes.

Well this is completely untrue.

 

[hockeyfan1]

The Sabres made the Leafs defence & Reimer look like pee-wee. 

There is no excuse for the team's sloppiness and what appeared to be confusion on the part of Reimer.  Then again, the Leafs'  .313 winning % lifetime against the Sabres isn't something exciting, neither.

Come on team, you can do better!

 

[2badknees]

But what you can't do, if you are going to take your 8 mil, is tell the machine that makes this vast overpayment possible (and I am talking about all such salaries, not just his) to go away.  Unless you're willing to tell the mailman who brings your paycheck "Get away from me," then you talk to the media, even if all you ever serve up is platitudes.

Well this is completely untrue.

Why? He's pretty much on the mark, IMO.

 

[freer]

Well i almost need a new flat screen as I flung a beer across the room watching that crap.

I blame Reimer for two bad goa;s.

The rest of the blame is on the Defensive corp.

Shot the effin puck when on the PP. "Gardiner you dont have to pass every damn time. Dion learn to play defense. You all thoroughly sucked this evening. That is all....

 

[bustaheims]

Why? He's pretty much on the mark, IMO.

It's not, because, it's largely the other way around - the entertainment factor that the likes of Kessel provide is why the sports reporters have jobs in the first place. It's the fact that people care about sports that leads to the rest of the media paying attention to it, not the other way around. Sure, teams make money from selling rights to things to the media, but the media makes even more money by having those rights. His presence pays for their paycheques more than their presence does for his. The Leafs could have their own channel for all the games and not having their players do a single interview or provide a single quote, and they'd still be rolling in cash. The ability to overpay Kessel isn't provided by the media, it's provided by the fans - who would still be there even if all the sports media in the world decided to ignore the Leafs. We're well past the days when teams like the Leafs needed media attention for people to know they existed and be willing to spend money on them.