Peter Tessier: Laine vs Mathews Round 2 Leafs host the Jets as two teams desperate to stay close to the top 8 have their rookie phenoms battle.

yah! Hatty for Patty tonight! good call Peter!

Nice write up Peter.
I like your breakdown and comparisons as well
It should be an entertaining game to watch

Totally agree.
Calder is between MAtthews and Marner...gonna be close.


Oh wait, you were thinking....

Totally agree.
Calder is between MAtthews and Marner...gonna be close.


Oh wait, you were thinking....
- Fakepartofme

I've been silently cheering for Marner to win the Calder this season. Would be pretty funny.

I've been silently cheering for Marner to win the Calder this season. Would be pretty funny.
- SolidGoldBricks

I like Marner, he's the kind of guy who will be just like Johnny Hockey, trying to figure out where his game went once the league figures him out.

Seriously though, Marner is good, he might be a true stud some day but this year he's not in the race unless if he actually caught them, then he would be. Well he sort of is though, so it's him and Nylander fighting for 3rd?

Marner's good.

No way the TO media will allow Laine to win the Calder. In a who cares race, it is funny to see the Leafs, fans and media look in any way to discredit Laine and praise Mathews. Mathews could crap and the TO media and fans would line up to buy it. If you are looking for impartiality look anywhere but TO.

No way the TO media will allow Laine to win the Calder. In a who cares race, it is funny to see the Leafs, fans and media look in any way to discredit Laine and praise Mathews. Mathews could crap and the TO media and fans would line up to buy it. If you are looking for impartiality look anywhere but TO.
- justsaying

Toronto votes will be split between Marner and Matthews. Laine wins by a landslide.

Especially if Simmons Hodge, Healy, Feschuk, et al get votes

No way the TO media will allow Laine to win the Calder. In a who cares race, it is funny to see the Leafs, fans and media look in any way to discredit Laine and praise Mathews. Mathews could crap and the TO media and fans would line up to buy it. If you are looking for impartiality look anywhere but TO.
- justsaying

like slightly glossing over the better players argument...Scheifele is a tad better than Hyman or Brown....and 1st PP time a big factor too. Whats the empty net comparison look like?

like slightly glossing over the better players argument...Scheifele is a tad better than Hyman or Brown....and 1st PP time a big factor too. Whats the empty net comparison look like?
- drexel

I don't actually think the Leafs have an EN goal this year.

Maybe Connor Brown got one?

Marner has been a threat every single game. He was leading rookies and the Leafs in points before he got hurt. He is amazing offensively and creates space for his teammates like nobody else. He was one of 7 active players to hit 30 assists in 50 games. Who were the others? KANE, OVECHKIN, MCDAVID, MALKIN, BACKSTROM and CROSBY. A stud ONE day? I think he must be playing pretty good to be on a list with those type of players. He would most likely have my vote to be honest. If it wasn't a AM34 VS Laine set up year - he would be in the discussion to win for sure....

How many of laines' goals are empty net?

How many of laines' goals are empty net?
- Bullot

I think Laine has 16 5v5 goals.

Totally agree.
Calder is between MAtthews and Marner...gonna be close.


Oh wait, you were thinking....
- Fakepartofme

Werenski

yah! Hatty for Patty tonight! good call Peter!
- JetsAvs

Hey if the Leafs get to win 6-3 you can have that hatty.

The Calder goes down to the wire ... the 'Centre of the Universe' votes just might get split up
.
Fantastic game to have just before the Jets bye week
.
Has anyone else noticed we're winning again just to f_ck up our draft position ? ... played to our favour last year ... however

Great. Byfuglien, Morrissey, and Postma all have to carry a desk on skates around with them tonight. We have half a blueline. Can't we just bench bench 5/7 and roll 2 pairings?

The unfortunate situation with the Calder is how many Toronto Fans/Eastern biased are responsible for the voting on who gets the Calder.

I firmly believe Mathews could end up a full ten points behind Liane with less games played and still win the Calder. All the excuses would come out, the slags against Liane's defensive game, blah blah blah. But make no mistake Mathews is winning the Calder this year with an outside chance of Marner winning it.

The NHL needs to have a better way for these awards to be voted on. A combination of fans, GMs, Coaches, players, and a few media sources. Most media sources are among the most biased hockey fans in the world and picking awards needs to be more impartial.

The unfortunate situation with the Calder is how many Toronto Fans/Eastern biased are responsible for the voting on who gets the Calder.

I firmly believe Mathews could end up a full ten points behind Liane with less games played and still win the Calder. All the excuses would come out, the slags against Liane's defensive game, blah blah blah. But make no mistake Mathews is winning the Calder this year with an outside chance of Marner winning it.

The NHL needs to have a better way for these awards to be voted on. A combination of fans, GMs, Coaches, players, and a few media sources. Most media sources are among the most biased hockey fans in the world and picking awards needs to be more impartial.
- Aerchon

Are you saying it should be based purely on points?

Traditionally speaking the Calder is primarily decided on by points total for the season. Not even ppg, or position, or quality of competition, or zone starts... etc.

I do not agree with points by themselves and think a wider panel of experts rather than media would be a better way to gauge who should win the Calder.

The unfortunate situation with the Calder is how many Toronto Fans/Eastern biased are responsible for the voting on who gets the Calder.

I firmly believe Mathews could end up a full ten points behind Liane with less games played and still win the Calder. All the excuses would come out, the slags against Liane's defensive game, blah blah blah. But make no mistake Mathews is winning the Calder this year with an outside chance of Marner winning it.

The NHL needs to have a better way for these awards to be voted on. A combination of fans, GMs, Coaches, players, and a few media sources. Most media sources are among the most biased hockey fans in the world and picking awards needs to be more impartial.
- Aerchon

Yes, Leafs players get more coverage than anyone else, I'll give you that, but anyone who thinks they're getting the benefit of the doubt because they play in Toronto is dreaming. If anything, there are more than a few Toronto based media guys who are harder on Leafs players. If Matthews wins the Calder it will be because the difference between a few points doesn't change the fact that he's a more complete player.

Traditionally speaking the Calder is primarily decided on by points total for the season. Not even ppg, or position, or quality of competition, or zone starts... etc.

I do not agree with points by themselves and think a wider panel of experts rather than media would be a better way to gauge who should win the Calder.
- Aerchon

I'd imagine if either team made the playoffs (very unlikely) with either player leading that team in scoring, they'd be a shoe in for the Calder. I honestly think the Toronto votes will be split between Marner and Matthews. I can't see Laine not winning the Calder unless non-Toronto voters vote for one of Matthews or Marner.

Lawless already has Laine in the lead 1-0.

I'd imagine if either team made the playoffs (very unlikely) with either player leading that team in scoring, they'd be a shoe in for the Calder. I honestly think the Toronto votes will be split between Marner and Matthews. I can't see Laine not winning the Calder unless non-Toronto voters vote for one of Matthews or Marner.

Lawless already has Laine in the lead 1-0.
- walshyleafsfan

If it remains this close until the end of the season, and Marner and Matthews are splitting first place votes it's still very likely that the other gets the second place vote on a lot of those ballots. In order for a split to really hurt Matthews I think he'd have to be third on a lot of ballots and I just can't see that happening.

The unfortunate situation with the Calder is how many Toronto Fans/Eastern biased are responsible for the voting on who gets the Calder.

I firmly believe Mathews could end up a full ten points behind Liane with less games played and still win the Calder. All the excuses would come out, the slags against Liane's defensive game, blah blah blah. But make no mistake Mathews is winning the Calder this year with an outside chance of Marner winning it.

The NHL needs to have a better way for these awards to be voted on. A combination of fans, GMs, Coaches, players, and a few media sources. Most media sources are among the most biased hockey fans in the world and picking awards needs to be more impartial.
- Aerchon

Well, a few things.

1. Toronto might end up splitting between Matthews and Marner, leaving Laine as the winner
2. Laine's worse defenseively and has 5 empty net goals, on top of playing on the team's 1st line instead of the 3rd line. So there's your bias.
3. The question might have been is Marner better than both Matthews or Laine, seeing how his only negative is literally his height and body weight. He constantly outplays both of those 2 guys if you ever watched him skate. He's the play making version of Laine's sniping essentially. Too bad he's injured now, could've seen him sneaking out with the Calder.
4. Werenski is playing the hardest position out of all top 5 rookies in my opinion, and has become the top pairing D-man on his team, which is unheard of in a rookie's first year, to my knowledge (at least lately, in the last few years).


Its a ridiculous year having 4 rookies all seemingly battle for the calder, on most good years you'd get 2 top guys.