Leafs @ sens - Jan. 15th, 7:00pm - TSN4, Fan 590

[Highlander]

It?s only game 2, guys. Sloppiness is to be expected.

It's against Ottawa.

There are no easy nights in the NHL.

Also, first road game, etc. Guys are rusty. They?ll get better (hopefully).

I like your optimism, your right we have to give these guys 10 games but I will say the Jumbo Joe first line thing is not working (and its not going to)
For some reason I missed Engvall, especially on the PP

 

[dekedastardly]

The guys running this team are far too loyal to its so-called stars. Andersen should sit, for a while. 3 goals in 4 mins is unacceptable. Also, Barrie is just not a good fit, oh wait... This is Brodie...

 

[Highlander]

I meant Engvall on the PK.

 

[BrownRolo]

People acting like the Leafs were dogpoop all game? Did you guys watch it all? I'd say until the Sens started scoring on every shot in the second half of the second period the Leafs were completely dominate.  I'm hoping Campbell plays great tomorrow and they stay with the hothand.

In my books Campbell should be given a shot to play for a few starts. See how he does. The season is too short and Andersen is way too inconsistent.

 

[gunnar36]

It?s only game 2, guys. Sloppiness is to be expected.

It's against Ottawa.

There are no easy nights in the NHL.

Also, first road game, etc. Guys are rusty. They?ll get better (hopefully).

I like your optimism, your right we have to give these guys 10 games but I will say the Jumbo Joe first line thing is not working (and its not going to)
For some reason I missed Engvall, especially on the PP

 

[Bender]

WARNING: I'm going to start whining about why isn't Sandin playing real soon.

Ya and Lehtonen,  Bogosian is a stiff and were stuck with Brodie for how many years.  Perhaps the Oilers need another RHD.

You're turning on Brodie really quickly.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

People acting like the Leafs were dogpoop all game? Did you guys watch it all? I'd say until the Sens started scoring on every shot in the second half of the second period the Leafs were completely dominate.  I'm hoping Campbell plays great tomorrow and they stay with the hothand.

In my books Campbell should be given a shot to play for a few starts. See how he does. The season is too short and Andersen is way too inconsistent.

They definitely looked like a completely different team the first period or so. I'm far from an Andersen defender and he definitely looks scrambly in net right now but they still can't just completely roll over when goaltending lets them down. Especially against a team like Ottawa.

 

[BrownRolo]

I always thought Spezza would fit well with Marner and Matthews. Has he ever had a shot? Or what about Simmonds with them? Maybe he could be out Tom Wilson?

Thornton should be centering the 3rd or 4th line.

I like the 3rd line so far and the 2nd line has looked good for the most part. But maybe put Very with Kerfoot and Mikahev with Tavares because it worked before.

 

[barney_rebel]

We stink btw

 

[azzurri63]

Decisions made by this management are mind boggling. Sandin when he was getting playing time looked ok and a year later the kid is sitting.
Lehtonen in my opinion should easily be a starter. Don't want to rush him? Get him used to the ice size etc. C'mon Keefe, Dubas the guy is 26-7 years old he's not a bloody kid that just got drafted. I penciled him to be top 4 on this team at some point in the season but these clowns have him sitting.

Plus get Thornton off the top line and get the top 5 out on the PP and then maybe a 2nd unit of Thornton, Spezza, Hyman, Brodie and either Ilya Mikheyev, Vesey or Simmonds.

 

[OldTimeHockey]

Easy folks, the sky isn't falling. It wasn't a desired result and there definitely were some mistakes make, but screaming for goalies to be benched or calling Brodie terrible is a bit of an exaggeration.

For the first half of the game, despite what Ferraro would have you believe, the Leafs dominated. They spent about 6 minutes straight in the second period, deep in Ottawa's zone. It seemed after the Kerfoot goal, they took their foot off the gas, and couldn't turn it back on. That's to be expected for a team that's playing their second game and trying to get use to each other.
They did seem a little out of sorts in their own zone, but man, this is the 2nd game, with a D core that is trying to figure things out.

I'll fully admit that I wasn't impressed with Bogosian. I can't say I really was expecting to be considering he was cut from the Buffalo Sabres last year. Brodie was a bit of a disaster last night as well, which in turn, hung Rielly out to dry. But, what I did see on the back end, in comparison to the first game, was an energized Muzzin, a pretty good Holl and Dermott was skating like we know he can.

In regards to Andersen, yes he has to be better. 5 goals on 24 shots is not acceptable. He seemed to be fighting the puck. That being said, I'm not sure which goals were on him, and not on the 4 or 5 guys in front of him.

 

[rdowdall]

It?s only game 2, guys. Sloppiness is to be expected.

It's not only game 2.  It's like game 180 something.  This is the same thing they have been trotting out for the last 2 + years.  A team that looks good on paper, but when the puck drops, is only one horn song away from being a Benny Hill montage in their own end. 

The bottom line is they are a middling team, that really doesn't have a hope of winning a cup other than someone becoming super nova white hot for a period of 2 months starting in April.  This isn't what the rebuild was supposed to produce.  It was supposed to produce an elite team that year in year out was one of the top choices to win a cup.  Not a team that can't seem to beat another team that hasn't played in over 300 days, and has 9 new faces on it.  Or say a team that loses to a non-NHL goalie.

If someone doesn't stand up in their hippy dippy Kumbaya  circle this morning and flat out say that last night was embarrassing, then not only is this a team that can't figure out how to play defence, they are also a team that has no heart or pride because there have been a slew of embarrassments over the last couple of years and they don't seem to learn anything from those embarrassments.  They just keep on thinking they are okay. 

It will say a lot about this team if they step on the ice tonight and don't thoroughly beat the team across from them.  It will say the practice of walking around and letting "Mitchy" know they like the way he ties his skates isn't going to produce a winner.  It will say that they aren't capable of taking a long look in the mirror and figuring out how to dig deep enough when it matters to win just one hockey game.   

 

[Frank E]

1.  Joe played 18 minutes, Matthews and Marner are at 23 and 24 minutes.  Nylander played 16.  Tavares 15. When Marner and Matthews don't get points in a hockey game, I don't blame their left winger.

2.  Freddie's numbers don't look good, and he's not passing the eye test either.  Typical slow start for him...I think he'll have a shorter leash this season if Campbell can play well.  If Campbell stands on his head tonight, there's going to be talk.

 

[Guilt Trip]

Easy folks, the sky isn't falling. It wasn't a desired result and there definitely were some mistakes make, but screaming for goalies to be benched or calling Brodie terrible is a bit of an exaggeration.

For the first half of the game, despite what Ferraro would have you believe, the Leafs dominated. They spent about 6 minutes straight in the second period, deep in Ottawa's zone. It seemed after the Kerfoot goal, they took their foot off the gas, and couldn't turn it back on. That's to be expected for a team that's playing their second game and trying to get use to each other.
They did seem a little out of sorts in their own zone, but man, this is the 2nd game, with a D core that is trying to figure things out.

I'll fully admit that I wasn't impressed with Bogosian. I can't say I really was expecting to be considering he was cut from the Buffalo Sabres last year. Brodie was a bit of a disaster last night as well, which in turn, hung Rielly out to dry. But, what I did see on the back end, in comparison to the first game, was an energized Muzzin, a pretty good Holl and Dermott was skating like we know he can.

In regards to Andersen, yes he has to be better. 5 goals on 24 shots is not acceptable. He seemed to be fighting the puck. That being said, I'm not sure which goals were on him, and not on the 4 or 5 guys in front of him.

The voice of reason. Well stated and very good assessment, especially the Freddie part.
Hey St Louis lost 8-0 last night. What a terrible team they have there.

 

[rdowdall]

Easy folks, the sky isn't falling. It wasn't a desired result and there definitely were some mistakes make, but screaming for goalies to be benched or calling Brodie terrible is a bit of an exaggeration.

For the first half of the game, despite what Ferraro would have you believe, the Leafs dominated. They spent about 6 minutes straight in the second period, deep in Ottawa's zone. It seemed after the Kerfoot goal, they took their foot off the gas, and couldn't turn it back on. That's to be expected for a team that's playing their second game and trying to get use to each other.
They did seem a little out of sorts in their own zone, but man, this is the 2nd game, with a D core that is trying to figure things out.

I'll fully admit that I wasn't impressed with Bogosian. I can't say I really was expecting to be considering he was cut from the Buffalo Sabres last year. Brodie was a bit of a disaster last night as well, which in turn, hung Rielly out to dry. But, what I did see on the back end, in comparison to the first game, was an energized Muzzin, a pretty good Holl and Dermott was skating like we know he can.

In regards to Andersen, yes he has to be better. 5 goals on 24 shots is not acceptable. He seemed to be fighting the puck. That being said, I'm not sure which goals were on him, and not on the 4 or 5 guys in front of him.

The voice of reason. Well stated and very good assessment, especially the Freddie part.
Hey St Louis lost 8-0 last night. What a terrible team they have there.

That is a team that has won a cup, and was supposed to take a step back.  The team they were playing is considered one of the top two teams in the league.  They didn't lose 8-0 to a team that just met each other a week ago.  The Leafs are supposed to be the team winning 8-0.

 

[nutman]

My assessment in a nut shell is..... This team played soft as soon as there goalie let them down.  Also with the goalie change that will happen tonight I would hope they make one or two other swaps just to send a message.  They had better dominate tonight.

 

[Guilt Trip]

Easy folks, the sky isn't falling. It wasn't a desired result and there definitely were some mistakes make, but screaming for goalies to be benched or calling Brodie terrible is a bit of an exaggeration.

For the first half of the game, despite what Ferraro would have you believe, the Leafs dominated. They spent about 6 minutes straight in the second period, deep in Ottawa's zone. It seemed after the Kerfoot goal, they took their foot off the gas, and couldn't turn it back on. That's to be expected for a team that's playing their second game and trying to get use to each other.
They did seem a little out of sorts in their own zone, but man, this is the 2nd game, with a D core that is trying to figure things out.

I'll fully admit that I wasn't impressed with Bogosian. I can't say I really was expecting to be considering he was cut from the Buffalo Sabres last year. Brodie was a bit of a disaster last night as well, which in turn, hung Rielly out to dry. But, what I did see on the back end, in comparison to the first game, was an energized Muzzin, a pretty good Holl and Dermott was skating like we know he can.

In regards to Andersen, yes he has to be better. 5 goals on 24 shots is not acceptable. He seemed to be fighting the puck. That being said, I'm not sure which goals were on him, and not on the 4 or 5 guys in front of him.

The voice of reason. Well stated and very good assessment, especially the Freddie part.
Hey St Louis lost 8-0 last night. What a terrible team they have there.

That is a team that has won a cup, and was supposed to take a step back.  The team they were playing is considered one of the top two teams in the league.  They didn't lose 8-0 to a team that just met each other a week ago.  The Leafs are supposed to be the team winning 8-0.

There are no easy nights in the NHL. You know the Leafs have made changes also?  1/3 of the lineup is different then last year so there will be an adjustment period.
St Louis is supposed to take a step back? Oh, so losing 8-0 is acceptable to them because Colorado is a good team and they're not supposed to be that good?  You think St Louis is panicking right now because they lost 8-0 like some Leaf fans are?

 

[rdowdall]

Easy folks, the sky isn't falling. It wasn't a desired result and there definitely were some mistakes make, but screaming for goalies to be benched or calling Brodie terrible is a bit of an exaggeration.

For the first half of the game, despite what Ferraro would have you believe, the Leafs dominated. They spent about 6 minutes straight in the second period, deep in Ottawa's zone. It seemed after the Kerfoot goal, they took their foot off the gas, and couldn't turn it back on. That's to be expected for a team that's playing their second game and trying to get use to each other.
They did seem a little out of sorts in their own zone, but man, this is the 2nd game, with a D core that is trying to figure things out.

I'll fully admit that I wasn't impressed with Bogosian. I can't say I really was expecting to be considering he was cut from the Buffalo Sabres last year. Brodie was a bit of a disaster last night as well, which in turn, hung Rielly out to dry. But, what I did see on the back end, in comparison to the first game, was an energized Muzzin, a pretty good Holl and Dermott was skating like we know he can.

In regards to Andersen, yes he has to be better. 5 goals on 24 shots is not acceptable. He seemed to be fighting the puck. That being said, I'm not sure which goals were on him, and not on the 4 or 5 guys in front of him.

The voice of reason. Well stated and very good assessment, especially the Freddie part.
Hey St Louis lost 8-0 last night. What a terrible team they have there.

That is a team that has won a cup, and was supposed to take a step back.  The team they were playing is considered one of the top two teams in the league.  They didn't lose 8-0 to a team that just met each other a week ago.  The Leafs are supposed to be the team winning 8-0.

There are no easy nights in the NHL. You know the Leafs have made changes also?  1/3 of the lineup is different then last year so there will be an adjustment period.
St Louis is supposed to take a step back? Oh, so losing 8-0 is acceptable to them because Colorado is a good team and they're not supposed to be that good?  You think St Louis is panicking right now because they lost 8-0 like some Leaf fans are?

So how about this?  I won't call a spade a spade any more, and then you let me know when we are allowed to criticize this team and isn't classified as "panicking".  After this post, I won't comment on the state of where I think the Leafs are at until you say that there is a problem.

This is year 7 of the "Shanaplan".  It's the same thing year in and year out.  The team makes changes in the offseason.  Everyone gets excited about how this year is going to be different.  They say stuff like this is the year when they are going to take a step forward.  The team gets off to a rocky start because they can't play defence and the generally look like they are out of sorts.  The team gets hot because their goalie plays lights out but the defence still looks rough.  They limp into the playoffs, and they lose in the first round.  I don't feel that's panicking.  I feel it's the same story every year.  I feel like they have stalled, and they aren't making any progress, and games like last night serve notice that nothing has changed.

You can rationalize how you like.  You can call it panicking when people are frustrated with what they are watching if you like and voice that frustration.  If this keeps happening year after year, then when Matthews is 31, and the Leafs haven't had any success, it's going to look a lot like the Sundin years.  I just thought it was going to be different this time around, and it really hasn't looked like it. 

 

[Guilt Trip]

Easy folks, the sky isn't falling. It wasn't a desired result and there definitely were some mistakes make, but screaming for goalies to be benched or calling Brodie terrible is a bit of an exaggeration.

For the first half of the game, despite what Ferraro would have you believe, the Leafs dominated. They spent about 6 minutes straight in the second period, deep in Ottawa's zone. It seemed after the Kerfoot goal, they took their foot off the gas, and couldn't turn it back on. That's to be expected for a team that's playing their second game and trying to get use to each other.
They did seem a little out of sorts in their own zone, but man, this is the 2nd game, with a D core that is trying to figure things out.

I'll fully admit that I wasn't impressed with Bogosian. I can't say I really was expecting to be considering he was cut from the Buffalo Sabres last year. Brodie was a bit of a disaster last night as well, which in turn, hung Rielly out to dry. But, what I did see on the back end, in comparison to the first game, was an energized Muzzin, a pretty good Holl and Dermott was skating like we know he can.

In regards to Andersen, yes he has to be better. 5 goals on 24 shots is not acceptable. He seemed to be fighting the puck. That being said, I'm not sure which goals were on him, and not on the 4 or 5 guys in front of him.

The voice of reason. Well stated and very good assessment, especially the Freddie part.
Hey St Louis lost 8-0 last night. What a terrible team they have there.

That is a team that has won a cup, and was supposed to take a step back.  The team they were playing is considered one of the top two teams in the league.  They didn't lose 8-0 to a team that just met each other a week ago.  The Leafs are supposed to be the team winning 8-0.

There are no easy nights in the NHL. You know the Leafs have made changes also?  1/3 of the lineup is different then last year so there will be an adjustment period.
St Louis is supposed to take a step back? Oh, so losing 8-0 is acceptable to them because Colorado is a good team and they're not supposed to be that good?  You think St Louis is panicking right now because they lost 8-0 like some Leaf fans are?

So how about this?  I won't call a spade a spade any more, and then you let me know when we are allowed to criticize this team and isn't classified as "panicking".  After this post, I won't comment on the state of where I think the Leafs are at until you say that there is a problem.

This is year 7 of the "Shanaplan".  It's the same thing year in and year out.  The team makes changes in the offseason.  Everyone gets excited about how this year is going to be different.  They say stuff like this is the year when they are going to take a step forward.  The team gets off to a rocky start because they can't play defence and the generally look like they are out of sorts.  The team gets hot because their goalie plays lights out but the defence still looks rough.  They limp into the playoffs, and they lose in the first round.  I don't feel that's panicking.  I feel it's the same story every year.  I feel like they have stalled, and they aren't making any progress, and games like last night serve notice that nothing has changed.

You can rationalize how you like.  You can call it panicking when people are frustrated with what they are watching if you like and voice that frustration.  If this keeps happening year after year, then when Matthews is 31, and the Leafs haven't had any success, it's going to look a lot like the Sundin years.  I just thought it was going to be different this time around, and it really hasn't looked like it. 

IT'S GAME 2 with no pre season. You expect them to be totally cohesive already? It will be at least a couple of weeks before we know what we have here.

 

[rdowdall]

Easy folks, the sky isn't falling. It wasn't a desired result and there definitely were some mistakes make, but screaming for goalies to be benched or calling Brodie terrible is a bit of an exaggeration.

For the first half of the game, despite what Ferraro would have you believe, the Leafs dominated. They spent about 6 minutes straight in the second period, deep in Ottawa's zone. It seemed after the Kerfoot goal, they took their foot off the gas, and couldn't turn it back on. That's to be expected for a team that's playing their second game and trying to get use to each other.
They did seem a little out of sorts in their own zone, but man, this is the 2nd game, with a D core that is trying to figure things out.

I'll fully admit that I wasn't impressed with Bogosian. I can't say I really was expecting to be considering he was cut from the Buffalo Sabres last year. Brodie was a bit of a disaster last night as well, which in turn, hung Rielly out to dry. But, what I did see on the back end, in comparison to the first game, was an energized Muzzin, a pretty good Holl and Dermott was skating like we know he can.

In regards to Andersen, yes he has to be better. 5 goals on 24 shots is not acceptable. He seemed to be fighting the puck. That being said, I'm not sure which goals were on him, and not on the 4 or 5 guys in front of him.

The voice of reason. Well stated and very good assessment, especially the Freddie part.
Hey St Louis lost 8-0 last night. What a terrible team they have there.

That is a team that has won a cup, and was supposed to take a step back.  The team they were playing is considered one of the top two teams in the league.  They didn't lose 8-0 to a team that just met each other a week ago.  The Leafs are supposed to be the team winning 8-0.

There are no easy nights in the NHL. You know the Leafs have made changes also?  1/3 of the lineup is different then last year so there will be an adjustment period.
St Louis is supposed to take a step back? Oh, so losing 8-0 is acceptable to them because Colorado is a good team and they're not supposed to be that good?  You think St Louis is panicking right now because they lost 8-0 like some Leaf fans are?

So how about this?  I won't call a spade a spade any more, and then you let me know when we are allowed to criticize this team and isn't classified as "panicking".  After this post, I won't comment on the state of where I think the Leafs are at until you say that there is a problem.

This is year 7 of the "Shanaplan".  It's the same thing year in and year out.  The team makes changes in the offseason.  Everyone gets excited about how this year is going to be different.  They say stuff like this is the year when they are going to take a step forward.  The team gets off to a rocky start because they can't play defence and the generally look like they are out of sorts.  The team gets hot because their goalie plays lights out but the defence still looks rough.  They limp into the playoffs, and they lose in the first round.  I don't feel that's panicking.  I feel it's the same story every year.  I feel like they have stalled, and they aren't making any progress, and games like last night serve notice that nothing has changed.

You can rationalize how you like.  You can call it panicking when people are frustrated with what they are watching if you like and voice that frustration.  If this keeps happening year after year, then when Matthews is 31, and the Leafs haven't had any success, it's going to look a lot like the Sundin years.  I just thought it was going to be different this time around, and it really hasn't looked like it. 

IT'S GAME 2 with no pre season. You expect them to be totally cohesive already? It will be at least a couple of weeks before we know what we have here.

Alright, so what game number do they have to be cohesive at?  Game 10?  Game 15?  I feel like that sort of answer is like the frog in the boiling water scenario.  At what point should there be concern because things seem to be getting worse?   

The thing is that they had a preseason last year, and then didn't look like they were cohesive when they started, and that was apparently Mike Babcocks fault.  The year before that they had a preseason, and they didn't look cohesive out of the gate and it was because they were young.  This year they don't look cohesive and it's because they didn't have a preseason.  So my fear is that by game 15 they still don't look good defensively, but they are winning because of some unsustainable reason, and then come playoff time, they fizzle out. 

I watched the Rangers - Islanders game the other night.  The Islanders locked down their zone hard.  Frustrated the hell out of the Rangers.  The Islanders didn't have a preseason either.  At what point is that going to be the Leafs?  At what point are they going to be able to lock down a game to the point where it doesn't feel like they are playing a "no lead is safe for either team" type of game?

I look at this goal in particular and I feel it serves as a microcosm for what is wrong with the Leafs:

https://www.nhl.com/video/watson-buries-wrist-shot/t-320188302/c-7248164

It honestly looks like Tierney is allowed to come off the boards because Spezza sees his reflection in the glass and thinks he has found his long lost twin brother.