Leo Komarov

[GhostofPotvin29]

Figured he'll make the team so he can have his own thread in the Leafs section.

The Germans and Finns were squaring off that day, a pair of Maple Leaf draft picks on opposite sides.

"I remember all the other teammates on the national team were coming into the room after the first period and going 'Who the [expletive] is that guy?' and I just sat there and laughed," remembered Korbinian Holzer, then a member of the German national squad.

Meet Leo Komarov. Among the newest Leafs to join the roster this winter, the 25-year-old is certain to be a nuisance for opposing East foes and likely to emerge as a fan favourite in Toronto.

"He's a pain in the ass," smirked Carl Gunnarsson, who has competed against Komarov internationally, most recently at the 2011 World Championships. "He never stops working, he keeps going."

The five-foot-ten winger of Estonian descent (he grew up in Finland) is a pest in the simplest terms, the very sort of tick known to drive an opposing team wild with a constant battery of rough and tumble hockey. "This is a player who's in your face all night," said Holzer. "He knows which buttons he has to push to get you pissed off and get you going and get you off your game."

Full article: http://www.tsn.ca/toronto/blogs/jonas_siegel/?id=413827

 

[Redleaf]

Love the stories. Could be an asset for sure.

 

[Boston Leaf]

I think we are all gonna like this guy

 

[ZBBM]

I think we are all gonna like this guy

I think I'm actually going to like Holzer.  I liked his quotes in that article.

 

[cw]

The Star: Komarov a compelling prospect for Leafs
When Dallas Eakins was the Maple Leafs director of player development a few years back, he slipped into a rink in small-town Finland unbeknownst to a sixth-round draft pick.

The prospect, Leo Komarov, has been called ?a very interesting young man? by Dave Poulin, the Leafs executive. And if Komarov is not a 25-year-old version of the beer-commercial Most Interesting Man in the World, he?s certainly worldly. The Estonian-born son of Russian parents, he grew up in Finland attending a Swedish-language school, all the while dreaming of playing in North America?s best hockey league.

He speaks four languages. He?s as comfortable talking about video games and Internet poker as he is about European politics and U.S. gun control. And on the ice, he?s just as compelling a concoction.

If a coach so wishes, Komarov is happy to be a battering ram and opposing-crease agitator. But if duty calls, he is also a skilled enough tradesman to have spent part of the NHL lockout manning a KHL forward line with no less than Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.

Flashing back to that rink in Finland, Eakins remembers the multilingual forward showing a facility with the universal lexicon of in-game lovelessness.

?By the time there was about seven minutes left in the first period the whole other team was chasing Leo around trying to kill him,? Eakins said. ?They didn?t care about anything else ? they were going to get him. And he wasn?t doing anything dirty. He was going to the net and he was hitting hard. But they didn?t like that he was hitting certain players. Teams get discombobulated when Leo does what he does.?

Thought that was entertaining as well.

 

[maplesyrup]

Can't wait to finally see him in action.

 

[nutman]

Can't wait to finally see him in action.

Nor I

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

I wonder if he gets some time with Kulemin and Grabs eventually.

Excited to see him.

 

[Zee]

Hope he turns out to be a great agitator and not a constant penalty taker.  There's a fine line between pestering the other team and taking constant penalties.

 

[mjmgrand]

I think what may surprise some not familiar with his game is that he is actually a very offensively opportunistic player and is no stranger to scoring.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

Hope he turns out to be a great agitator and not a constant penalty taker.  There's a fine line between pestering the other team and taking constant penalties.

I hope so too, but, the consensus seems to be he draws many more penalties than he takes.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

I wonder if he gets some time with Kulemin and Grabs eventually.

Excited to see him.

That's what I was hoping for as well, they were together in training camp for a day so if/when the lines get juggled it might be something we see.

 

[Fanatic]

Hope he turns out to be a great agitator and not a constant penalty taker.  There's a fine line between pestering the other team and taking constant penalties.

I hope so too, but, the consensus seems to be he draws many more penalties than he takes.

Consensus from where? I haven't seen that and that was not my own experience in the two games I watched him play this year with the Marlies.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

From Holzer

Fueling his efforts is an unwillingness to engage, chirp or even acknowledge conflict. "?he just walks away and that gets you more rattled and then this is the time when you take a stupid penalty most of the time," Holzer noted.

A scouting report.

What Komarov Brings The Leafs

Leo gives the Leafs a third line forward who can draw penalties and pound other teams stars. He also likes to crash the net and his nice shot can help him put up goals when doing so. He's not going to score 50 goals but he'll be able to chip in 10-15 goals as a third line winger, plus he'll give the Leafs powerplay opportunities to score every night with the amount of penalties he draws.

From Eakins

?By the time there was about seven minutes left in the first period the whole other team was chasing Leo around trying to kill him,? Eakins said. ?They didn?t care about anything else ? they were going to get him. And he wasn?t doing anything dirty. He was going to the net and he was hitting hard. But they didn?t like that he was hitting certain players. Teams get discombobulated when Leo does what he does.?

I could go on, but the consensus does seem to be that he forces the other team to take more penalties than he takes himself.

 

[Fanatic]

My bad WIGWAL. When I read your initial post, for some reason I thought you said that he took more than he was drawing from the other team. Now I see what you are saying and I agree. Sorry about that.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

No worries chief, as usual I was as clear as mud.

 

[Deebo]

No worries chief, as usual I was as clear as mud.

I got what you were saying, I thought it was pretty clear.

 

[Justin]

Can we pleas have a Kulemin - Kadri - Komarov line please? Or not...

But seriously, I'm really excited about Komarov. Someone mentioned in the other thread that he can be like Darcy Tucker and if that's the case I'll love him forever. The Leafs lacked some grit and toughness last year so I'm glad to see Komarov added to the roster.

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

From Holzer

Fueling his efforts is an unwillingness to engage, chirp or even acknowledge conflict. "?he just walks away and that gets you more rattled and then this is the time when you take a stupid penalty most of the time," Holzer noted.

A scouting report.

What Komarov Brings The Leafs

Leo gives the Leafs a third line forward who can draw penalties and pound other teams stars. He also likes to crash the net and his nice shot can help him put up goals when doing so. He's not going to score 50 goals but he'll be able to chip in 10-15 goals as a third line winger, plus he'll give the Leafs powerplay opportunities to score every night with the amount of penalties he draws.

From Eakins

?By the time there was about seven minutes left in the first period the whole other team was chasing Leo around trying to kill him,? Eakins said. ?They didn?t care about anything else ? they were going to get him. And he wasn?t doing anything dirty. He was going to the net and he was hitting hard. But they didn?t like that he was hitting certain players. Teams get discombobulated when Leo does what he does.?

I could go on, but the consensus does seem to be that he forces the other team to take more penalties than he takes himself.

I guess I should see him play at least once before I run out and get a Komarov jersey, but I continue to love what I hear about him.

 

[Frank E]

I guess I should see him play at least once before I run out and get a Komarov jersey, but I continue to love what I hear about him.

I think it's just the kind of hockey players "we" seem to like here in Toronto...maybe Canada.  We like the guys that get their noses dirty, play a little tougher, and can still contribute on the scoresheet.

I'd say that's why many covet Getzlaf and Perry.