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eXXon posted:Leafs lose by failing to trade Polak. Did GMs watch the last playoffs and notice how godawful he was with the Sharks or what? Once they decided they were buyers they were never going to trade a veteran off the team. FWIW I think Lou and Babs 100% believe Polak is a valuable part of the team. I don't necessarily think they'll sign him again but I wouldn't be surprised either way.
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Mar 2, 2017 02:22
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Before tonight, of the 102 goalies that have played at least 30 shootouts, Frederik Andersen is 86th with a save percentage of .603. In just this season, his sv% is .500, placing him 42 out of 51 goalies that have played in a shootout. The Leafs are 1-8 in shootouts this season. (for the record, James Reimer is .713 career and .750 this season)
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Mar 3, 2017 07:37
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I don't even mind that they traded him, I mind that they then traded a 1st and a 2nd for a guy that wasn't appreciably better or younger. It's one of those little cuts of mismanagement that add up.
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Mar 3, 2017 07:41
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The Bruins had every right to sweep the Leafs back in 2013, but instead the Leafs pushed the series as far as it could possibly go. Then it ended the way it did, so maybe we should just accept and love the inevitable curb stompings.
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Mar 4, 2017 00:52
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Soft Shell Crab posted:they fat Pretty rich coming from a goon 
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Mar 9, 2017 17:36
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Historical W/L records are always hilarious, but especially so in this case where the Leafs don't even resemble the same team they were a year ago.
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Mar 9, 2017 20:03
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aejix posted:Probably a typo but hurling is very different from rugby. Watch some highlights from an All Ireland Final, it's an amazing, unusual and quite often violent game. It's awesome. Obviously the "reset" he's talking about is totally nuts but the lunchtime comment struck me as kind of weird, I don't think drinking a beer 30 hours before playing a game is something that should stand out to someone.
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Mar 10, 2017 01:41
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The game is called very differently than what's in the rule book. A lot of the stuff people would like to see is already in there, but if the refs don't enforce it then... Faceoff specialists are overrated because people are really bad at understanding odds/law of large numbers and don't understand the mental bias inherent in anecdotes. Like, for some reason people actually believe stuff like playing 55% Brian Boyle in over 50% Nazem Kadri will somehow guarantee wins when the difference is almost literally zero over the course of a game. People seriously inflate the difference between good and bad players in the dot, there is a baseline of competence in the NHL and face offs occur in such insignificant quantity on a per-game basis to make the events almost random.
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Mar 10, 2017 04:30
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It's definitely better to be good at face offs than bad, and there is definitely a difference between players, for sure. But the point stands, in the grand scheme of the hockey game it's more of a marginal skill, and the benefit of some ace-in-the-whole move or linesman gamesmanship is moot if you can just avoid score-close situations late in games anyway. While we're speaking anecdotally, Boston scored their cup-winning goal over Vancouver off of a "lost" draw, and the assumption that faceoffs automatically mean control/possession is a flaw in these arguments.
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Mar 10, 2017 05:24
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Anyone that wants an explanation for Nyquist's regression doesn't need to look much farther than his shooting % year over year Tatar's best season came under Babcock, he hasn't been able to shoot at the same rate before or after though, seems like maybe a deployment thing? I think the real question for Detroit is what happened to Dylan Larkin between last year and now
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Mar 10, 2017 16:52
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I don't think any Leafs fan has a problem with the minutes or opportunity being given to the Leafs young players. The guys that are on the fringes are all marginal players to begin with, and while we'll split hairs over them all day long it's outright false to say that Babcock isn't giving young guys opportunity.
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Mar 10, 2017 19:51
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Teemu Pokemon posted:No one said this? I said that he did that in Detroit, like Blashill is currently doing, but he's not doing it in Toronto and Blashill didn't do stuff like that at WMU or in GR so find the common link hint: it's Holland Ah ok I misunderstood the thread of causality there, ignore me
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Mar 10, 2017 20:19
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Hand Knit posted:It's cool the Leafs won but that was not a very convincing game. Marner basically was the offence that game. Gardiner got the assist while on the bench too, Willie really likes to drag the puck around. Matthews is going through probably his worst stretch of the year and I'm worried he's finally hit the wall instead of this just being a typical slump. Luckily cool heads are prevailing right now, but if the Leafs miss I shudder to think of the takes. It's to be expected though, he's never played a schedule even close to this before.
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Mar 12, 2017 15:10
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Stretch Marx posted:I can see Komarov being replaced before Hyman simply because of Babcock. Komarov's gone after next season either way, as loved as he is he's going to age out of the group soon and there's going to be guys pushing for spots. Hyman just needs to get bumped down the roster, scoring 30 fewer points than the centre he's literally never been separated from is comical. He's the Carlyle-era Jay McClement of that line.
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Mar 12, 2017 17:32
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Arabian Jesus posted:I think Hyman does a good job when you consider his role is entirely to just battle it out on the boards and pass it to Matthews. That's the narrative but the reality again is that he has 30 fewer points than Matthews, he's not some masterful set-up guy. He tracks down pucks really well, but he struggles to do anything useful with it once he's got it.
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Mar 12, 2017 19:02
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Like, if a guy's role is to be stapled to the hip of his team's best player, one of the most exciting young players in the league, and maybe not even crack 30 points in a season that role probably shouldn't exist.
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Mar 12, 2017 19:06
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I think Laine's got to be the front runner, stuff I read seems to give him an edge and everyone loves goals. Plus I think Matthews getting it would hit a performance bonus and the Leafs cap don't need that
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Mar 14, 2017 22:01
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Yeah, this is why I thought the Leafs shouldn't have been buyers at the deadline. Boyle's been good though!
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Mar 15, 2017 03:19
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Rielly's always given up a ton of shots and goals against, it's what fuels the arguments about Gardiner actually being the Leafs best defender amongst stat people. It's possible to be known for being an occasional bonehead and come out pretty well on aggregate, meanwhile there's tiny but growing despair for Rielly ever playing consistently decent defence. The reasons Rielly gets the benefit of the doubt are a) he didn't spend a lot of time with Carlyle actively scapegoating him and similarly b) Jake has played a few more years on even worse teams. If Rielly is still playing this way two years from now the knives will come out.
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Mar 15, 2017 07:42
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El Gallinero Gros posted:So the Leafs have to be using their cap space on defencemen, yes? Ideally yeah, as much as opinions are divided a guy like Shattenkirk would be a big boon. Ultimately the biggest strides on the roster are going to come from the development and graduation of all the young guys though, imo. What I'd hate to see is the team lose out on the marquee FA signings and settle for giving medium contracts to middle pairing guys. The bottom pair can be improved for basically no money and it's diminishing returns otherwise.
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Mar 15, 2017 17:32
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El Gallinero Gros posted:Wouldn't Alzner make a somewhat significant difference? Aren't caps fans saying he's bad now? Or was that another defender
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Mar 15, 2017 18:01
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El Gallinero Gros posted:Ha! Well, shows what I know. I guess the underlying point I was making is that wouldn't most of the UFA defencemen be better than Hunwick or Polak? Yeah but you can pretty easily find guys for ~$1-2M that are better than those plugs, and the next tier of defenders probably won't be a significant upgrade on Carrick/Zaitsev/Marincin. One of the big pitfalls of Leafs teams post-lockout was stocking up on middling defenders all making $4M so the team ends up capped out and without any high-end talent.
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Mar 15, 2017 19:22
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Hand Knit posted:Valiev and Dermott, I guess. Certainly nobody of the quality that you would expect them to solve any real problems soon. I know some people are saying not to sleep on Dermott (Kristen Shilton most recently) but I haven't seen anything out of him when I watch the Marlies. Over the last several years people have been overrating Marlies' D pretty severely, so it's troubling when reviews of the org's top prospects are so mixed.
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Mar 15, 2017 19:26
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Kalenn Istarion posted:I say this as a true blue Canadian: 
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Mar 16, 2017 06:31
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Kalenn Istarion posted:Hear hear Babcock says it's because both of them can drive lines on their own, which is true. Bozak and JVR separated from Marner basically can't exit their zone with control, and Matthews managed to make Hyman/Brown look like a competent scoring line for a while. Combining them is diminishing returns if it renders another line helpless. I'd have liked to have seen Kapanen/Leipsic called up at some point but injuries didn't cooperate well with that. In terms of who's actually on the roster it's almost criminal that Leivo is sitting the way he's played this season, and I'm not even that high on the guy.
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Mar 17, 2017 17:43
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Hyman is an actually ok PKer iirc, which is something. I don't think he should sit, just that he's over his head the way the team is currently constructed. The elephant in the room when talking about the Leafs roster is always going to be Matt freakin Martin. Pretty crazy how a deal like that ripples through the entire team.
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Mar 17, 2017 23:24
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eXXon posted:He scored a goal last game so he's immune to criticism for the rest of the season. Also hits. We know nothing's going to happen to him until a new, younger, smarter GM gets hired so whatever. Boyle's been great all things considered, but just about anyone would have made an impact over Smith. Point still stands, Martin's presence means someone better than him is sitting regardless of the situation, which has ramifications throughout every line when you've got guys like Hyman/Sosh and Komarov needing spots too. I'm a little concerned about Lou, this is going to be a really important offseason for the team. Even if he can bring himself to part with Polak I'm not certain that he won't just replace him with some equivalent. Last summer was not encouraging, and I don't think he or Babs are going to quit with their insistence on role players until someone makes them.
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Mar 18, 2017 00:41
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Hyman has 3 ES points total in his last 24 games, he's utterly dependent on Matthews making things happen for him and is a black hole when he fades, which is why we're talking about him now. Matthews wouldn't have a scoring drought if Hyman was a competent offensive player.
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Mar 18, 2017 01:13
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Don't get me wrong, the whole reason the Leafs are doing as well as they are this season is you can basically throw anyone half-decent on Matthews' line and have them look like a legitimate threat, or at the very least a plus-possession line. But it's not apparent yet whether or not Hyman is above replacement in that scenario, they've literally never been apart at ES, and the team's recent struggles are leading me to lean against him. I think it's likely that people were overrating Hyman, and while I don't think replacing him with someone else would jump Matthews 20 points I do think the line and team as a whole would benefit from someone more suited to playing offence in that slot.
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Mar 18, 2017 01:48
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Remember when the Leafs traded Kessel and everyone was like "they didn't even get Pouliot/Maata for him?!?" and now it turns out that they were all bad Still gonna be a little bit sad when Vegas takes Rychel in the expansion draft though
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Mar 18, 2017 21:48
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Just think, someone had it in their power to do the right thing but instead they volunteered as a liver donor for Eugene Melnyk.
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Mar 19, 2017 05:14
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So are people still doing #hockeyporn ?? https://twitter.com/reporterchris/status/844026660219424772
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Mar 21, 2017 05:28
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I want TOR-OTT and BOS-MTL in the first round and I will be very upset if the Islanders ruin that -e- oh wait the wildcard is dumb and that might not be possible
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Mar 23, 2017 03:51
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Frederik Andersen is injured, meaning the Leafs starting goaltender is now Curtis McElhinney, and also that they will miss the playoffs
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Mar 26, 2017 01:28
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So postgame Mike Babcock says that it was the Sabres team doctor that requested Andersen be pulled, presumably due to concussion protocol. The Leafs team doctor didn't travel with them on this trip, which seems incredibly stupid, and so the Leafs couldn't give Andersen his baseline test and he had to stay out.
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Mar 26, 2017 03:50
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Kalenn Istarion posted:That seems kinda sketchy, I mean I'd hope someone isn't loving around with concussion protocol for on-ice reasons but agree it's real dumb of the leafs not to have their own guy there to check it out. The thought occurred to me but I think it's too cynical to assume it was done for gamesmanship, the Sabres were all over the crease and Andersen caught a lot of contact. Just seems crazy to me that the Leafs don't have a team doctor at every game.
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Mar 26, 2017 04:41
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N: Kasperi Kapanen was called up V: that's good N: he's skating on the fourth line and Ben Smith got moved up V: that's bad N: Andersen started practice V: that's good N: he left early and the nets belong to Curtis McElhinney and Garrett Sparks V: that's bad
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Mar 27, 2017 17:08
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That's Garrett "first Leaf goalie to ever get a shutout in his debut" Sparks to you
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Mar 27, 2017 18:58
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Arabian Jesus posted:Is Boyle hurt? I thought we traded for him so that we never had to watch Ben Smith play again... He's fine but Leivo and Sosh are injured and call-ups are limited so Smith is playing as a winger.
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Mar 27, 2017 22:20
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DuhSal posted:I thought Kapanen was taking Smith's spot in the lineup? Smith was only in because Sosh and then Leivo were hurt. Unless someone else is hurt, I don't think Smith is playing. Oh Nylander wasn't doing rushes for whatever reason so Smith was on Matthews' wing iirc. It's a non-story, just funny.
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Mar 27, 2017 23:18
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