The whole year has been like that. The injuries, the listless performances. I haven't seen a year like this before, at least not a year where they were supposed to be good, things like this just keep happening.
Oilers @ Leafs - Dec. 13th, 7:00pm - SN
- Thread starter CarltonTheBear
- Start date
The whole year has been like that. The injuries, the listless performances. I haven't seen a year like this before, at least not a year where they were supposed to be good, things like this just keep happening.
In this case, it was literally an ass blocker.
lamajama
Well-known member
Umm. Yeah. Freudian type?
Guru Tugginmypuddah
Well-known member
You started it!!!!
Guilt Trip
Well-known member
They're not supposed to be good this year. Many predicted a fall back especially after losing Marner and it's happened. No surprise really. Add in all the injuries so far and it's a recipe for disaster.
Guru Tugginmypuddah
Well-known member
The good news is, they are five points out of first in the Atlantic.
The bad news is, they are 3 points of last in the Atlantic.
Guilt Trip
Well-known member
Berube should be fired immediately. We all know 88 was a no show because he was sick and Berube admitted it in his presser so WTF is he even playing and Maccelli sitting in the pressbox? Add in why put him on L2, which essentially killed that line, instead of leaving that line as it was last game? Leave L1, L2, L4 the same and the only sub is McMann, Maccelli with Joshua.
I think that generally people thought that with the goaltending that they had and a return to form of Matthews, along with still having Nylander and Tavares they would still be top 3 in the Atlantic, and pretty much a lock to make the playoffs. I don't think many people expected them to be lifeless through the first 15 games or so.
Given how Matthews performed last season after he returned, Matthews "return to form" this season was questionable. Leafs fans and his team hoped he would. But it wasn't something we could be sure of. Aside from that, the collective talent on this roster has under achieved. The top 7 D and 2 goalies are the same. Most of the top 9 forwards returned. An overlooked aspect was they did not replace a perennial Selke forward candidate patrolling their ice for 21+ mins per game. That has hurt them defensively.
To match last years 108 pts (4th), they have to play .735 hockey the rest of the way - which would be the second highest points win% in the league right now. I see little chance of that happening. At the start of the season, I figured they would finish around 10th (as did many others). After their poor start and injuries (to be expected to some extent with an older roster), they might be in a fight to make the playoffs - which they could lose. I wasn't expecting that.