yes.

i remember those times, when andersen's numbers were so much the same.

those were good times.
- Tumbleweed

Remember Par Lindholm?

The guy is a beast now that he’s not a Leaf.

I really miss Kessel. He’d win on this team.

#FlyFreaky4LeafsBackup
- RickJames77

Couldn't hurt... Afterall, he is 4 ft tall and 6 ft wide

They were down the stretch 🤷‍♂️

It’s true tho, the fwds need to help out more.. And Naz was responsible that way.
- Arctic_AARDVARK

the .500 Leafs?

I think still adjusting, Babs isn't using him correctly.

Barrie needs to be given a more offensive role to excel, he's an offensive d-man that is being asked to be more defensively responsible. Didn't have that in Colorado..

It's like giving Marincin PP1 time and then wondering why we'd lead the league in short handed goals against.
- PatC80

Truth.... Look what happened when Therrien tried to change subban from an offensive d to an def d, just so that he fits therriens system. Had he tailored his breakouts and zone coverage to fit the players he had, it would have probably worked better for him long term.

You dont change systems for just anyone. But for super star talents, you can adjust here and there so that their skills are highlighted and the shortcoming mitigated by something as simple as a different partner or where the player can look for support from.

the .500 Leafs?
- senstroll

The Willy-in Leafs, yes..

They were allowing fewer goals.

They had more of a flow going.

Truth.... Look what happened when Therrien tried to change subban from an offensive d to an def d, just so that he fits therriens system. Had he tailored his breakouts and zone coverage to fit the players he had, it would have probably worked better for him long term.

You dont change systems for just anyone. But for super star talents, you can adjust here and there so that their skills are highlighted and the shortcoming mitigated by something as simple as a different partner or where the player can look for support from.
- munky123

I really think that if we are to see the best of Barrie, he needs to be paired with Rielly.

Couldn't hurt... Afterall, he is 4 ft tall and 6 ft wide
- PatC80

It's a walrous! Ridiculous!

It's a walrous! Ridiculous!


- RickJames77

FlyFreaky would be perfect;

Dubas has aquired Muzzin, Ceci, Barrie and do we give him Holl?

Out with Gardiner, Hainsey and Zeitsev

Are they better?

feels like a wash really
- senstroll

I think Dubas has gotten himself into a bit of a pickle here.

barrie hasn't worked out .... long-term not a fit or still adjusting?

I think he's not a fit...
- Tumbleweed

I think he can be a really good fit.

The coaching staff needs to figure out what they're doing with the D and put them with complimentary partners. Barrie is going to pinch and try to hold the line. That's his thing. Muzzin has to be reading that and reacting in case it fails. He needs to swung back to centre when he does it. Conversely, since Barrie doesn't think D-first, Muzzin is pinching and holding his side of the line too often as well when Barrie isn't in a position to help.

Muzzin has been one of our best D in many ways, but he has not been a good partner for maximizing what Barrie can bring to the table. Nor has our coaching and breakout strategies.

A lot of people think Ceci is bringing Rielly down. It's possible. Certainly Ceci is doing little to help the performance of their pairing.

Meanwhile you have Holl and Dermott who have both been playing pretty well and while it's against weaker competition, couldn't be less effective than our current top 4.

They need to mix that up. Rielly - Holl, Barrie - Dermott, Ceci- Muzzin. Holl and Rielly can both skate the puck out of trouble. They are both poised. Barrie and Dermott can, likewise, do the same. Ceci and Muzzin should be able to box people out, and make an outlet pass. Neither one is going to really skate it up ice.

Again.

You don’t have to read.

If I really make you this angry then the best thing is to not respond. Carry on with your life.
- Santo_44

you're the one commenting that others should "stop ranting"..

you are starting to sound like a grumpy olde man... always going back to the same (largely vacuous) arguments.

here's the thing... Hutch was great - team was arguably worse in front of him.

so, yeah get rid of Hutch IF you can find a better replacement

or maybe, just maybe its time to give the entitled highly paid weenies who play in front of the goalie a wake up call.

what would send a wake up call to Matthews more than trading Nylander?

I think Dubas has gotten himself into a bit of a pickle here.
- walshyleafsfan

don't dare to criticize the "Dubas"....

because spreadsheets, zone entries and "stuff"

I really think that if we are to see the best of Barrie, he needs to be paired with Rielly.
- PatC80

You and Santo are both onboard that train, I think.

I am very, very afraid of that ride.

They'd both be pinching or holding the line while the other was in deep . . . Neither one is very good at boxing out opposition or board work or puck retreival.

Max has suggested that Barrie was a bad move. Maybe he was. I like the idea of having 2 defensive pairings who are extremely dangerous from the back end and can rush from the point and create havoc and down low pressure.

That said, he's not all wrong that having a defensively-solid responsible top-4 RHD would have been pretty nice to put out there with Rielly because it would have been stabilizing.

I wish we could go back to the 2018-2019 maple leafs.

I bet that team would have won the cup.

I think he can be a really good fit.

The coaching staff needs to figure out what they're doing with the D and put them with complimentary partners. Barrie is going to pinch and try to hold the line. That's his thing. Muzzin has to be reading that and reacting in case it fails. He needs to swung back to centre when he does it. Conversely, since Barrie doesn't think D-first, Muzzin is pinching and holding his side of the line too often as well when Barrie isn't in a position to help.

Muzzin has been one of our best D in many ways, but he has not been a good partner for maximizing what Barrie can bring to the table. Nor has our coaching and breakout strategies.

A lot of people think Ceci is bringing Rielly down. It's possible. Certainly Ceci is doing little to help the performance of their pairing.

Meanwhile you have Holl and Dermott who have both been playing pretty well and while it's against weaker competition, couldn't be less effective than our current top 4.

They need to mix that up. Rielly - Holl, Barrie - Dermott, Ceci- Muzzin. Holl and Rielly can both skate the puck out of trouble. They are both poised. Barrie and Dermott can, likewise, do the same. Ceci and Muzzin should be able to box people out, and make an outlet pass. Neither one is going to really skate it up ice.
- Monkeypunk

Rielly - Holl would be an interesting pairing that I think could work. Holl doesn't make a lot of mistakes and tends to play a simple, safe game.
I do think Ceci should be getting sheltered minutes. Playing him with Muzzin may not be the best way to limit Ceci's minutes, since we do rely pretty heavily on Muzzin

Did they?
I hadn't heard this.
Before this season started I had suggested that he would be an interesting backup option.
I just checked and indeed see him on an Austrian team, but no games played it seems. Do you know when he joined them?
- MaximusAurelius

barrie, tymashov, marincin

hintz, khodblin

I think Dubas has gotten himself into a bit of a pickle here.
- walshyleafsfan

I think this blueline can still be successful, but to do so Babcock can't do his stubborn dinosaur if I try the same thing over and over until game 73 it will eventually work thing.

Time to switch up the pairs. I'm liking the idea of Holl with Rielly a lot.

I think Dubas has gotten himself into a bit of a pickle here.
- walshyleafsfan

I think he did fine considering the cap space available to make moves

Rielly - Holl would be an interesting pairing that I think could work. Holl doesn't make a lot of mistakes and tends to play a simple, safe game.
I do think Ceci should be getting sheltered minutes. Playing him with Muzzin may not be the best way to limit Ceci's minutes, since we do rely pretty heavily on Muzzin
- PatC80

I know. Therein lies the problem.

Barrie shouldn't be in a position where he's facing top line competition because he's a poor defender.
Ceci shouldn't be a in a position where he's facing top line competition because he's a poor everything - including cook.

One of those 2 ends up playing with Muzzin against tough competition. Muzzin helped settle Zaitsev's game down last year. I was thinking maybe he could do the same for Ceci. Plus Ceci is fairly risk adverse, meaning that Muzzin could pinch or hold the line if he needed to at the opposition's blue line.

You and Santo are both onboard that train, I think.

I am very, very afraid of that ride.

They'd both be pinching or holding the line while the other was in deep . . . Neither one is very good at boxing out opposition or board work or puck retreival.

Max has suggested that Barrie was a bad move. Maybe he was. I like the idea of having 2 defensive pairings who are extremely dangerous from the back end and can rush from the point and create havoc and down low pressure.

That said, he's not all wrong that having a defensively-solid responsible top-4 RHD would have been pretty nice to put out there with Rielly because it would have been stabilizing.
- Monkeypunk

It could be a scary ride, but I honestly think that's when we will see Barrie's real, true value..

Pairing someone that is defensively responsible with an offensive minded d-man only works when they know what the other is doing and can read off of each other.
Ceci is not that quick when it comes to reading plays.
Holl has been impressive, but I don't think he'd be ready to be on the 1st pairing, it would be interesting to see him with Rielly, just not sure he's ready for it.

Barrie and Rielly can both handle top pairing minutes.. Last year, when Babs paired Gardiner and Rielly, they played well in the few minutes that had together.

A Finnish goalie playing for the Leafs

Can't remember the last time it happened, what could possibly go wrong?

I know. Therein lies the problem.

Barrie shouldn't be in a position where he's facing top line competition because he's a poor defender.
Ceci shouldn't be a in a position where he's facing top line competition because he's a poor everything - including cook.

One of those 2 ends up playing with Muzzin against tough competition. Muzzin helped settle Zaitsev's game down last year. I was thinking maybe he could do the same for Ceci. Plus Ceci is fairly risk adverse, meaning that Muzzin could pinch or hold the line if he needed to at the opposition's blue line.
- Monkeypunk

A Finnish goalie playing for the Leafs

Can't remember the last time it happened, what could possibly go wrong?
- TheMussel

i think we missed the bus on that one...

I know. Therein lies the problem.

Barrie shouldn't be in a position where he's facing top line competition because he's a poor defender.
Ceci shouldn't be a in a position where he's facing top line competition because he's a poor everything - including cook.

One of those 2 ends up playing with Muzzin against tough competition. Muzzin helped settle Zaitsev's game down last year. I was thinking maybe he could do the same for Ceci. Plus Ceci is fairly risk adverse, meaning that Muzzin could pinch or hold the line if he needed to at the opposition's blue line.
- Monkeypunk

Babs has trust in Muzzin, but doesn't have that same trust in Barrie or Ceci.
No harm in changing the d-pairings.. I mean, it couldn't hurt, right?

Rielly-Barrie, just give them a poop-ton of O-zone starts and let them do their thing in the opposition's end of the rink.

Not sure why Don Cherry gets so much hate over his comment.

Because of my job, I interact with all kinds of people every week. And I personally haven’t seen many recent immigrants wearing poppies this past week. In fact none. On the other hand, the visual minority groups who have lived in Canada for 15+ years are just likely to wear poppies as Caucasians by my eye test, without doing any formal survey.

Granted, it’s not like as many Caucasians wear poppies any more but at least in the population I deal with in Hamilton, the fact not many recent immigrants wear poppies is not a racist bs but just an object observation.

Now, these immigrants don’t have a lot of connections to Canadian history yet, so one would hope that they would become more respectful of Canadian history in time, and from that perspective perhaps what Don said is a little harsh, but I don’t see anything racist.

Really, it’s a reflection of the suboptimal job the government has done to assimilate new immigrants. Too much emphasis on diversity and not enough emphasis on unity.