- Fruitcakenipple

Phanuef and Gunner have been pair together longer than anything the sens have put together...... and Gardiner is in there no doubt.

Not sure how you come to this conclusion. The Leafs players have played together longer, and easily have more total games played. None of what you are saying makes any sense.
- burn

Our defense is built along the pmd, shutdown defender pairing ,this is what i meant by established in role .

- Fruitcakenipple

Some advantage eh...... Not too worried.

Our defense is built along the pmd, shutdown defender pairing ,this is what i meant by established in role .
- top shelf 15

WHo (frank)ing cares what role is what??? It does't (frank)ing matter. How are you not getting this. Just because Cowen is a shutdown guy, doens't mean his 90 NHL games makes him more setablished than a PMD with 87 games.

How are you not understanding this??

- Stee-Dot

wildly entertaining.

In role are they ??Gunnerson and Phaneuf are i guess the shutdown element of their pairings .Wheras JC and methot are not confused in their roles as the shutdown element in their pairings

- top shelf 15

So because the Leafs have more well rounded defenders they aren't as established? I would prefer lines with players that can play in both ends. But I guess two way defeners don't exist anymore

Not too worried..... Didn't exactly work for Boston.
- burn

well they won the series so it worked as well as it had to.

wildly entertaining.
- burn

It's a fitting name for one of our posters here.

Ottawa cant run and gun right now with Toronto right now ,this is pretty much fact .We need to grind down Toronto,s speed and skill up front ,with our big mobile defense corps .Cowen,Methot and Gryba are all over 6.4 and 230+ pounds its our only real advantage we have at the moment
- top shelf 15

See; Fraser, Mclaren, Orr, Clarkson, JVR, Phaneuf, Bolland, McClaren, Mcclement.... or just ignore the fact that our team is built for muscle and speed.

So because the Leafs have more well rounded defenders they aren't as established? I would prefer lines with players that can play in both ends. But I guess two way defeners don't exist anymore
- Jay Uller

Dion is a shutdown defender.... Who scored in the top 10.... but I'll take Methot who faced less quality compitition and puts up WAY less points.




The Leafs have played more games (1.7X as many actually) but aren't as established.

well they won the series so it worked as well as it had to.
- scotch_tape

Blah blah. Rub it in why doncha'.

Remember, blowing it all in 17 seconds is just as bad, if not worse.

well they won the series so it worked as well as it had to.
- scotch_tape

Boston's D didn't stop the Leafs.... which was the point. I'm not worried about the Sens D shutting them down.

Not too worried..... Didn't exactly work for Boston.
- burn

Yes but beside one of them is a great pmd in EK.The parings for ottawa go pmd shutdown defender even on the bottom pair.With Gyrba and Corvo ,or Phillips and Corvo.Add to this Ceci and Boro in the minors.Its a pretty good blend and one that will help offset the youngish unproven collection of forwards

See; Fraser, Mclaren, Orr, Clarkson, JVR, Phaneuf, Bolland, McClaren, Mcclement.... or just ignore the fact that our team is built for muscle and speed.
- A_Tree

well they won the series so it worked as well as it had to.
- scotch_tape

See; Fraser, Mclaren, Orr, Clarkson, JVR, Phaneuf, Bolland, McClaren, Mcclement.... or just ignore the fact that our team is built for muscle and speed.
- A_Tree

Iam not ignoring it i fear it ,but Methot and Cowen will not be dropping the gloves with 4th line goons they will be in battle with the best toronto has as forwards.See Kadri,Kessel,Lupul etc.

See; Fraser, Mclaren, Orr, Clarkson, JVR, Phaneuf, Bolland, McClaren, Mcclement.... or just ignore the fact that our team is built for muscle and speed.
- A_Tree

not so sure the Leafs are built for speed anymore. you just listed about half the roster and none of those players are particularly fast.

Where is the know it all Oil fan saying they wont do more than 1 outdoor game/yr after this year??

Joe Yerdon ‏@JoeYerdonPHT 3m
Report: Four or five outdoor games possible in 2014-15 http://wp.me/p14QU5-9Ddf
Retweeted by Allan Walsh
View summary

Iam not ignoring it i fear it ,but Methot and Cowen will not be dropping the gloves with 4th line goons they will be in battle with the best toronto has as forwards.See Kadri,Kessel,Lupul etc.
- top shelf 15

if they can catch them...... and then there are JVR's and Clarksons.

not so sure the Leafs are built for speed anymore. you just listed about half the roster and none of those players are particularly fast.
- scotch_tape

They have plenty of speed.

not so sure the Leafs are built for speed anymore. you just listed about half the roster and none of those players are particularly fast.
- scotch_tape

Kessel, Kadri, Gardiner, Bolland, Lupul, Phaneuf, Kulemin, Liles (for what it's worth), and JVR... no big deal.

I should have been more clear; the leafs are built for muscle or speed.

if they can catch them...... and then there are JVR's and Clarksons.
- burn

Thats why EK is there ,and in a lessor extent Weircoch.Methot and JC will just be waiting in front of the net

They have plenty of speed.
- burn

you honestly think that this shift from fast/finesse team to brute team isn't sacrificing the overall team speed?

the defence is slow. there's no arguing that.
the forwards are a mixed bag. Kessel, Kadri, Raymond are fast guys. outside of them, no one is particularly fast, and some are actually quite slow.
i'm not even saying this as a criticism. it could very well be that they're a better overall team.

Where is the know it all Oil fan saying they wont do more than 1 outdoor game/yr after this year??

Joe Yerdon ‏@JoeYerdonPHT 3m
Report: Four or five outdoor games possible in 2014-15 http://wp.me/p14QU5-9Ddf
Retweeted by Allan Walsh
View summary
- burn

Lets play them all outdoors and than we could have indoor classics... .....

well they won the series so it worked as well as it had to.
- scotch_tape

They were a grazed goalpost away from losing it to a younger, faster team that had clearly undressed their D core in the latter part of the series.

If they meet the Leafs in the playoffs this year, they won't have to worry about wearing down again, because it will be over for them long before game 7.