Lots of time to play tight hockey.

Teams aren't even close to playing tight hockey yet.

Come back to be at game 75, when teams start to give a poop.
- Santo_44

I know, just hard to see what I have this year and get really excited about their very slim chances of doing much in the playoffs. Teams worse this year then last year.

if you watched those 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th seeds during those seasons you would not be saying so. Teams don't finish as a lower seed because they play the "right way" and things go right for them all season.

But of course this goes against your argument so it isn't true
- Santo_44

Past 20 Stanley Cup winners.

Pittsburgh - 2nd overall
Pittsburgh - 4th overall
Chicago - 7th overall
Los Angeles - 10th overall
Chicago - 1st overall
Los Angeles - 13th overall
Boston - 7th overall
Chicago - 3rd overall
Pittsburgh - 7th overall
Detroit - 1st overall
Anaheim - 4th overall
Carolina - 4th overall
Tampa Bay - 2nd overall
New Jersey - 4th overall
Detroit - 1st overall
Colorado - 1st overall
New Jersey - 4th overall
Dallas - 1st overall
Detroit - 3rd overall
Detroit - 5th overall

Notice a pattern?

Anyways, nice hockey talk.

Time to crash for the night. Have a good one
- RickJames77

Have a good night Rick. You should sleep well with dreams of the Bruins going on a massive winning streak... like in real life.

Don't give me that "LA played proper hockey" crap

seriously dude. LA winning goes against your argument so you say they played the right way and that's why they won as a lower seed. They won because they won the games. Simple. NJ, Philly, Nashville all played great too.

That's a load of crap. And really immature when you are trying to have an intelligent conversation with someone. It makes no sense. Teams don't get to the finals playing the wrong way ffs.
- Santo_44

Instead of saying they played the right way, would you prefer he said they played solid defensive hockey with a physical component? You know, what most hockey fans sometimes allude to as, "playoff hockey"?

Kinda like what the Leafs are currently trying to do but not quite succeeding at? Unlike their run and gun, outscore our problems, strategy they started the season with?

Past 20 Stanley Cup winners.

Pittsburgh - 2nd overall
Pittsburgh - 4th overall
Chicago - 7th overall
Los Angeles - 10th overall
Chicago - 1st overall
Los Angeles - 13th overall
Boston - 7th overall
Chicago - 3rd overall
Pittsburgh - 7th overall
Detroit - 1st overall
Anaheim - 4th overall
Carolina - 4th overall
Tampa Bay - 2nd overall
New Jersey - 4th overall
Detroit - 1st overall
Colorado - 1st overall
New Jersey - 4th overall
Dallas - 1st overall
Detroit - 3rd overall
Detroit - 5th overall

Notice a pattern?
- Unholy_Goalie

Huh, 1st place won more than I'd expected considering all the stigma with winning the President's trophy. Looks like the most frequent winners are 1st or 4th. But yeah, most in the top 10 in the league.
LA being the only exception. Then they won 2 years later, proving the previous win wasn't some fluke or just them being lucky.

Instead of saying they played the right way, would you prefer he said they played solid defensive hockey with a physical component? You know, what most hockey fans sometimes allude to as, "playoff hockey"?

Kinda like what the Leafs are currently trying to do but not quite succeeding at? Unlike their run and gun, outscore our problems, strategy they started the season with?
- Thecakeisalie

Only the Kings have ever won as the 10th overall team or lower and that's exactly why. Same with Boston when they won from 7th overall. They played a style of hockey that allowed them to get away with having a little less talent (even though they still definitely had a lot of talent) and beat teams that were ranked higher than them.

But the mass majority of Cup winning teams are clearly contenders and top performers like Tampa Bay and Boston are right now and will most likely continue to be.

Huh, 1st place won more than I'd expected considering all the stigma with winning the President's trophy. Looks like the most frequent winners are 1st or 4th. But yeah, most in the top 10 in the league.
LA being the only exception.
- Thecakeisalie

It's even stronger 1st place = Cup in previous years. President's Trophy winner has gone to more Cup Finals and won more Cups than any other position and it makes perfect sense because you spend 82 games proving you're the best team in the league.

That's right, most are top 10 with LA being the one and only exception which can be explained considering the cast of guys they had. Also, they were a completely different team when they fired Murray and hired Sutter. They were on a tear from January until the playoffs started. You could argue that if they had Sutter from the start of the season, playing that style of hockey, they would be a top 10 team that year quite easily.

Past 20 Stanley Cup winners.

Pittsburgh - 2nd overall
Pittsburgh - 4th overall
Chicago - 7th overall
Los Angeles - 10th overall
Chicago - 1st overall
Los Angeles - 13th overall
Boston - 7th overall
Chicago - 3rd overall
Pittsburgh - 7th overall
Detroit - 1st overall
Anaheim - 4th overall
Carolina - 4th overall
Tampa Bay - 2nd overall
New Jersey - 4th overall
Detroit - 1st overall
Colorado - 1st overall
New Jersey - 4th overall
Dallas - 1st overall
Detroit - 3rd overall
Detroit - 5th overall

Notice a pattern?
- Unholy_Goalie

Yep.

It seems as so that in the last 10 years the NHL has changed and parity in the NHL has increased dramatically. Surprise surprise.

Half the teams 7th or lower were cup winners in the last decade.

My point stands. Any team can win the cup.

It's even stronger 1st place = Cup in previous years. President's Trophy winner has gone to more Cup Finals and won more Cups than any other position and it makes perfect sense because you spend 82 games proving you're the best team in the league.

That's right, most are top 10 with LA being the one and only exception which can be explained considering the cast of guys they had. Also, they were a completely different team when they fired Murray and hired Sutter. They were on a tear from January until the playoffs started. You could argue that if they had Sutter from the start of the season, playing that style of hockey, they would be a top 10 team that year quite easily.
- Unholy_Goalie

Makes perfect sense. It's all just academic for us fans though.

Santo is probably right on what the team will actually do. If they play at all decent hockey moving forward I won't be too surprised if we hold onto all our UFA's, I'm just unconvinced it's the best course of action.

Yep.

It seems as so that in the last 10 years the NHL has changed and parity in the NHL has increased dramatically. Surprise surprise.

Half the teams 7th or lower were cup winners in the last decade.

My point stands. Any team can win the cup.
- Santo_44

And of course by "any" team you mean, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Los Angeles and Boston.

But for sure, the Leafs are "any" team, just like those teams.

Makes perfect sense. It's all just academic for us fans though.

Santo is probably right on what the team will actually do. If they play at all decent hockey moving forward I won't be too surprised if we hold onto all our UFA's, I'm just unconvinced it's the best course of action.
- Thecakeisalie

They almost certainly will keep the pending UFAs and most likely even add a 4th line C like Derek MacKenize from Florida. Probably a veteran RHD too. But it doesn't mean that's what they should do because it ultimately will cost them assets and won't give them any worthy results.

And of course by "any" team you mean, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Los Angeles and Boston.

But for sure, the Leafs are "any" team, just like those teams.
- Unholy_Goalie

yes those teams did win the cup......good job!

How old are you? Did you not see how bad the Hawks were just years before they won the cup? Or the Kings?

But no, the Leafs are different because Leafs

They almost certainly will keep the pending UFAs and most likely even add a 4th line C like Derek MacKenize from Florida. Probably a veteran RHD too. But it doesn't mean that's what they should do because it ultimately will cost them assets and won't give them any worthy results.
- Unholy_Goalie

Not my first choice 👎🏻

Would like to see Komarov as #4 center

yes those teams did win the cup......good job!

How old are you? Did you not see how bad the Hawks were just years before they won the cup? Or the Kings?

But no, the Leafs are different because Leafs
- Santo_44

No, the Leafs are different because facts.

The Hawks were terrible for many years, they drafted, they developed, they tanked and they ended up with Keith, Seabrook, Kane, Toews and a whole bunch of other very good players. Who exactly on the Leafs can you even TRY to compare to those four guys? Rielly = Keith? Seabrook = Gardiner? Kane = Marner? Toews = Matthews? What about the depth they had? Byfuglien, Sharp, Hossa, Ladd, Brouwer, Versteeg, Hjalmarsson. Do the Leafs have that right now?

Let's take a look at the Kings. Quick = Andersen? Kopitar = Matthews? Rielly = Doughty? Gardiner = Voynov? Brown, Carter, Richards, Williams? How do the Leafs stack up?

And be honest...

Not my first choice 👎🏻

Would like to see Komarov as #4 center
- mr.sir

I would support this move because it would keep Komarov off of Kadri and Marleau's line in favor of a more skilled player like Marner or Brown. Or simply keep Moore and have Komarov as the 4th line winger instead of Brown. He can still kill penalties.

Not my first choice 👎🏻

Would like to see Komarov as #4 center
- mr.sir

I would never acquire any veterans at the deadline this year but they did it with Boyle last year and I don't see why they wouldn't do it this year too. I know why they shouldn't but they probably will.

I would support this move because it would keep Komarov off of Kadri and Marleau's line in favor of a more skilled player like Marner or Brown. Or simply keep Moore and have Komarov as the 4th line winger instead of Brown. He can still kill penalties.
- Thecakeisalie

11 34 29
25 43 16
32 12 28
15 47 24

42🚫

11 34 29
25 43 16
32 12 28
15 47 24

42🚫
- mr.sir

No Blowzak? Blasphemy!

It's been emphasized a few times that they brought Marleau to be a winger and he wants to be a winger, so I doubt this lineup could ever happen except to shake things up or in case of injury.

Also Kadri seems to have flourished as the "shutdown center" and I don't think he could have that role playing with JVR and Marner. Maybe Marner can work on a shutdown line, we might see that next game if today's lines signify anything, but JVR should never be on any "shutdown line".

Also, not that I'd have a problem with either (although it's possible Babs isn't playing Leivo cause he really does suck *see Corrado, Frank), I think the odds of Leivo getting regular ice time are even lower than Komarov getting permanently demoted to the 4th line.

The Leafs are sitting 12th overall in the league and getting worse by the day. More injuries piling up too. Are you talking about the seeds in the Conference or overall standings because very, very, very few teams have ever won without being in the top 10 of the overall standings.

Either way, the Leafs have to get out of the division and that's not happening against Boston and definitely not happening against Tampa Bay, especially the way they've been playing lately.

Tampa Bay is 1st in the NHL. Boston is 3rd. Leafs are 12th. Even, if by some miracle, they beat both those teams, they'd still have to beat the winner of the Metro Division playoffs, so Washington, Pittsburgh, Columbus...

There's no good reason to keep pending UFAs and lose them for nothing when they're going to get bounced from their division anyway.
- Unholy_Goalie

To be fair they just sent down the goat and looks like they're scratching matty marts and playing kapenen and rejigged the lines. Looks better already

To be fair they just sent down the goat and looks like they're scratching matty marts and playing kapenen and rejigged the lines. Looks better already
- burn

Yuuuuup! Is it puck drop time already? Ugh gonna be a long day!

Dubinsky sent home by clb due to personal issues that threaten his season and perhaps his career.

Yuuuuup! Is it puck drop time already? Ugh gonna be a long day!
- LeafGuy89

And it's central time, so even longer lol

And it's central time, so even longer lol
- burn

FML

Dubinsky sent home by clb due to personal issues that threaten his season and perhaps his career.
- burn

Hmm wonder what happened

Game day boyz.

Hope the Leafs are prepared for the Hawks tonight.