On vacation this week in Muskoka with family

From Vancouver Island currently

So far...
Rattlesnake and multiple water snakes ( including one that wrapped around me while swimming)

WTF?
- mr.sir

Bummer! Can't stand water snakes, been bitten before.
Haven''t run into any rattlesnakes in Ontario - there's only kind here's a photo and where it's found. Muskoka is in the right area actually.

There's no denying that. I'm a piss poor goalie, but I've played. I'm not overly athletic, but I was always light enough that moving around wasn't typically exhausting in and of itself. Playing on a weak team whether you're even facing shots or not - in constant movement - is exhausting.

Having a backup to come in and spell him for more than 15 games would be a start.

We all talk about this elite puck management defenseman who will control the back-end. A Parayko, a Slavin, a 2009 Duncan Keith . . .

For one thing, no one wants to trade that guy. For another, I don't think Babcock's style creates that type of guy. They have limited support. Get the puck and fly the zone. Anticipate the puck retrieval and fly the zone. You have limited winger support on one wall - sometimes - when they haven't flown the zone.

In terms of d-zone coverage, a Defenseman can only be as successful as his forwards let him be. The wingers hover on the side wall, leaving the points open, so pressure down low ultimately results in a reset to the point. To me, that's the primary problem. Not the personnel. I'm not going to say the guys like Ceci or Zaitsev or Gardiner or Barrie aren't their own problems - we all have eyes - but a system that doesn't support even the best players, is going to have problems.
- Monkeypunk

Babcocks 1 on 1 d thing last year was retarded. in 2016 when Pitts won they allowed a lot of outside shots, but they didn;t allow much right in front of the net. St. Louis was like this too. Babs had Hainsey chasing one guy around the zone. It was very very stupid. Also I'm not sure Hutch is the answer as teams are givingt heir back ups 20+ game snow. Almost no one is playing 65-70 games anymore.

Rare to see a Missasauga rattler these days.
- bobbyisno1

Really rare, but occassionaly you might see the odd Massasaugua rattler.

On vacation this week in Muskoka with family

From Vancouver Island currently

So far...
Rattlesnake and multiple water snakes ( including one that wrapped around me while swimming)

WTF?
- mr.sir

northern water snakes are cranky bumholes 9 times outta 10 in my experience. every other snake here tends to be docile as hell the majority of the time and you can pick them up and look at 'em no problem.

never seen a rattler though. i don't go near their range luckily lol.

Really rare, but occassionaly you might see the odd Massasaugua rattler.
- winsix

Seen one once in my life, it was flattened on the road in Peterborough and that was about 45 years ago.

Really rare, but occassionaly you might see the odd Massasaugua rattler.
- winsix

Also, same snake.

I find that these arguments are very subjective. Pittsburgh won their first cup despite Marc-Andre Fleury. Fleury is great when he gets hot, and very mediocre when he isn't. He reminds me of Felix Potvin in a lot of ways. But I, personally, and I'll take heat for this - think Fleury is overrated.

Holtby is a good goalie. He won a Vezina. He didn't deserve it. There were at least 4 guys better than him that year. But his team was good and he won a lot of games.

Murray put in some great performances, and this year he was 9th by objective measure and Andersen was 10th. Rask was 29th. It's hard to measure Binnington on a smaller sample. But the point is that goaltending is all based on recency bias. Andersen is capable of being that guy, but he has not been yet.

Did you watch the SC Finals these past few years? These shut down guys were just as porous as the Leafs D. I'd watch cross-crease passes, one-timers, odd-man rushes and so on like crazy in the Playoffs. Often reflecting that the Leafs D, as awful as it was, was basically worse at protecting the slot, but otherwise just as weak at protecting against transition and the rush. Pittsburgh and Washington were keen to trade chances because they had the firepower. Toronto is the same.

So are Tavares and Matthews down the middle the current equivalent of Malkin and Crosby? With the supporting cast of Nylander and Marner and back-end play being driven by Rielly and Barrie?

I don't know and neither do you. But it's an explosive approach.
- Monkeypunk

The 1st Cup Pittsburgh won had a much stronger defense but when I was talking about Fleury, I was talking about their 3rd Cup when he filled in for Murray for the first half of the playoff run. But Murray played amazing in both their 2nd and 3rd Cup runs. And in neither season was he playing as much as Andersen does so he was fresh and ready to make that playoff drive, much like Binnington did this year.

Holtby is better than Andersen. He deserved his Vezina. He shutout Tampa Bay in game 6 and 7 before they played Vegas. We've seen Andersen in game 7 situations and it's clear he needs more defensive help in front of him. People point to the Blackhawks and say they won with no goaltending but look at the defense in front of those goalies. The Leafs need at least half of that.

Saying those Cup winning defenses were porous is subjective. Both those teams had a shutdown pairing that was effective and a goalie behind them playing better than Andersen (as good as he is). They stepped up in Game 7s too, something Andersen hasn't done yet.

The Leafs approach is the same that failed Washington for 10 years and Tampa Bay for the last 5. Trying to blow teams away with offense doesn't work as well as some people think it does. There's a reason why the old saying "defense wins championships" exists. It's almost universal across all sports.

northern water snakes are cranky bumholes 9 times outta 10 in my experience. every other snake here tends to be docile as hell the majority of the time and you can pick them up and look at 'em no problem.

never seen a rattler though. i don't go near their range luckily lol.
- daeth

They are harmless as far as rattlers go, not enough poison to hurt you.

They are harmless as far as rattlers go, not enough poison to hurt you.
- bobbyisno1

Plus they're happy to leave you alone if you leave them alone.

What’s considered a cup contender? Really, cuz I mean I would think a cup contender is a trek that actually contends for a cup and makes it at least to the conference final. This isn’t to be negative about the leafs I just don’t understand how they are a cup contender is all.

Plus they're happy to leave you alone if you leave them alone.
- TrashPanda

True, but if he's cruising threw the yard and the dog sees him I have to take measures.

The 1st Cup Pittsburgh won had a much stronger defense but when I was talking about Fleury, I was talking about their 3rd Cup when he filled in for Murray for the first half of the playoff run. But Murray played amazing in both their 2nd and 3rd Cup runs. And in neither season was he playing as much as Andersen does so he was fresh and ready to make that playoff drive, much like Binnington did this year.

Holtby is better than Andersen. He deserved his Vezina. He shutout Tampa Bay in game 6 and 7 before they played Vegas. We've seen Andersen in game 7 situations and it's clear he needs more defensive help in front of him. People point to the Blackhawks and say they won with no goaltending but look at the defense in front of those goalies. The Leafs need at least half of that.

Saying those Cup winning defenses were porous is subjective. Both those teams had a shutdown pairing that was effective and a goalie behind them playing better than Andersen (as good as he is). They stepped up in Game 7s too, something Andersen hasn't done yet.

The Leafs approach is the same that failed Washington for 10 years and Tampa Bay for the last 5. Trying to blow teams away with offense doesn't work as well as some people think it does. There's a reason why the old saying "defense wins championships" exists. It's almost universal across all sports.
- JohnFergusonJr

I dont see how the cup winning caps had a better d corps that the Leafs team this year. Care to elaborate?

at the end of the day it took both the blues and caps years to win a cup yet not affording the Leafs the same amount of time with this core.

True, but if he's cruising threw the yard and the dog sees him I have to take measures.
- bobbyisno1

Yeah, like calling your dog so he doesn't mess with the snake?

What’s considered a cup contender? Really, cuz I mean I would think a cup contender is a trek that actually contends for a cup and makes it at least to the conference final. This isn’t to be negative about the leafs I just don’t understand how they are a cup contender is all.
- Oilersfyr

Cau
causse if they make the playoffs anything can happen, you should know that better than all of us.

Yeah, like calling your dog so he doesn't mess with the snake?
- TrashPanda

Good luck with that, he's an 8 month old Bulldog.
Why do you think the Garter snake bit me.

Cuase if they make the playoffs anything can happen, you should know that better than all of us.
- bobbyisno1

Yeah your right anything can happen in the playoffs or any given night a bottom league team can dominate a top 10 team. What I’m saying is if your a cup contender you’ve contended for the cup recently. And the leafs haven’t even won a playoff series since when? I wouldn’t consider a team a cup contender unless it’s a final
4 team. It doesn’t matter what could or couldn’t happen in the league. I think the leafs are being sold to people as cup winners like last year when Tavares signed. I’d hate to break the bubble but the leafs are not a cup contender. Which changes year to year clearly. Blues this year we’re not considered a cup contender but I would co sided them a contender now because of their recent success obviously. It’s subjective and can change year to year. Is Tampa a cup
Contender because they were 1st in the regular season? Maybe, they lost in the first round though. At the end of the day it’s all subjective, or maybe I’m complicating it more than I should. Lol

Thanks pal

Now back to the cougars and grizzly that have been causing issues at my work
- mr.sir

Hahahah.

I’m moving to the Is, probably in the fall. I just hope I can find me a good job, the cougars and grizzlies I can handle!

Oh where abouts? I’m near bracebridge.

And it’s not likely a rattlesnake, but possible.

Those water snakes are bad news, and they bite.
- Arctic_AARDVARK

1. Bracebridge
2. Don’t start a sentence/paragraph with ‘And’
3. Last sentence is awkward. Improper structure. The, comma, highlights, it’s, awkwardness,

Yeah your right anything can happen in the playoffs or any given night a bottom league team can dominate a top 10 team. What I’m saying is if your a cup contender you’ve contended for the cup recently. And the leafs haven’t even won a playoff series since when? I wouldn’t consider a team a cup contender unless it’s a final
4 team. It doesn’t matter what could or couldn’t happen in the league. I think the leafs are being sold to people as cup winners like last year when Tavares signed. I’d hate to break the bubble but the leafs are not a cup contender. Which changes year to year clearly. Blues this year we’re not considered a cup contender but I would co sided them a contender now because of their recent success obviously. It’s subjective and can change year to year. Is Tampa a cup
Contender because they were 1st in the regular season? Maybe, they lost in the first round though. At the end of the day it’s all subjective, or maybe I’m complicating it more than I should. Lol
- Oilersfyr

Dude. You wanna know what a cup contender is?

It's a team that was dead last in thd league in January. Then won the cup.

WTF cares what a cup contender is. its open to interpretation

Yeah your right anything can happen in the playoffs or any given night a bottom league team can dominate a top 10 team. What I’m saying is if your a cup contender you’ve contended for the cup recently. And the leafs haven’t even won a playoff series since when? I wouldn’t consider a team a cup contender unless it’s a final
4 team. It doesn’t matter what could or couldn’t happen in the league. I think the leafs are being sold to people as cup winners like last year when Tavares signed. I’d hate to break the bubble but the leafs are not a cup contender. Which changes year to year clearly. Blues this year we’re not considered a cup contender but I would co sided them a contender now because of their recent success obviously. It’s subjective and can change year to year. Is Tampa a cup
Contender because they were 1st in the regular season? Maybe, they lost in the first round though. At the end of the day it’s all subjective, or maybe I’m complicating it more than I should. Lol
- Oilersfyr

In 2006 were the Oilers cup contenders?I think not.
But somehow they were in the finals, I don't think the Blues were cup contenders either but low and behold they won it all.

Time and again i hear that the Leafs are a true Stanley Cup favourite. Poop on Kadri if you must, but a return to thirty goal form will be hard to stomach for most Leaf fans. Especially when considering the bang for the buck. So with Barrie a UFA at seasons end, there is a real possibility he's gone also. How is this not a panic trade? Kadri should have brought back a D-man with term as well as some snarl. This short term thinking will be the downfall of this GM. Hunter is still looking for work is the response of many, so obviously we made the right choice?? He should have been the man in charge in the first place. The team may have a cup under their belt already.

Dude. You wanna know what a cup contender is?

It's a team that was dead last in thd league in January. Then won the cup.

WTF cares what a cup contender is. its open to interpretation
- systemtool

No more so than in the NHL. The Blues missed the playoffs the season before and as you saifd, were 31st overall half way through the season. People are delusional if they think a team as talented as the Leafs can't be considered a contender.

"Winning a series" in the past argument is so irrelevant.

Time and again i hear that the Leafs are a true Stanley Cup favourite. Poop on Kadri if you must, but a return to thirty goal form will be hard to stomach for most Leaf fans. Especially when considering the bang for the buck. So with Barrie a UFA at seasons end, there is a real possibility he's gone also. How is this not a panic trade? Kadri should have brought back a D-man with term as well as some snarl. This short term thinking will be the downfall of this GM. Hunter is still looking for work is the response of many, so obviously we made the right choice?? He should have been the man in charge in the first place. The team may have a cup under their belt already.
- Hardbalz

Not from the media that's for sure.

Yes, Hunter not being able to find a job does not look good on him. When he was with the Leafs as well everyone asked to speak with Dubas and not him. You handing the Leafs a cup due to a guy who can't get hired by Edmonton is hilarious.

Dubas has had a phenomenal summer. Not sure what you are talking about.

And FYI, Kerfoot came in the Kadri trade, and assuming Barrie is 100% gone is stupid. They have the $ to keep him.

Hahahah.

I’m moving to the Is, probably in the fall. I just hope I can find me a good job, the cougars and grizzlies I can handle!
- Arctic_AARDVARK

Time and again i hear that the Leafs are a true Stanley Cup favourite. Poop on Kadri if you must, but a return to thirty goal form will be hard to stomach for most Leaf fans. Especially when considering the bang for the buck. So with Barrie a UFA at seasons end, there is a real possibility he's gone also. How is this not a panic trade? Kadri should have brought back a D-man with term as well as some snarl. This short term thinking will be the downfall of this GM. Hunter is still looking for work is the response of many, so obviously we made the right choice?? He should have been the man in charge in the first place. The team may have a cup under their belt already.
- Hardbalz