Leafs - Sabres

[RadioGaGa 162]

Anyone else watching this???

Back and forth in this period....6 goals (combined) in the last 7 minutes.

[Trippingblue 1]

The 3rd was AMAZING. Someone obviously woke up these guys!

[RadioGaGa 162]

The 3rd was AMAZING. Someone obviously woke up these guys!

Good OT too...

Nicely done McCabe!

[Trippingblue 1]

Those were some excellent quality goals by both teams. Too bad I have to watch Anaheim all the time.

[Chadd 916]

The Leafs defense was atrocious in the third period. Outside of Antropov, Kilger and Stajan, it was a pretty ugly game for most of the Leafs.

[RadioGaGa 162]

The Leafs defense was atrocious in the third period. Outside of Antropov, Kilger and Stajan, it was a pretty ugly game for most of the Leafs.

Great/fast end to end action...not always the best case scenario for good defense. But, the Leafs D has looked bad a lot lately.

[Eazy_b97 1]

Their D's been like that for the past year. It's horrible to watch Maurice continually make mistake after mistake behind the bench. It's like the players don't have confidence in the system, and thus have lost confidence in eachother. All of the goals scored (except for the final one) was caused by players attempting to cover eachother before the man was beat.

Nice to see the PK coming around, too bad we continue to be put SH until the other team scores on us.

[kosydar 0]

I had class and missed the third, so I haven't seen the self destruction. I'm just glad that Antropov is starting the season off how he ended last year. People bitch a lot about JFJ, but hanging on to Antropov could prove to be the best move of his career.

[Chadd 916]

Their D's been like that for the past year. It's horrible to watch Maurice continually make mistake after mistake behind the bench. It's like the players don't have confidence in the system, and thus have lost confidence in eachother. All of the goals scored (except for the final one) was caused by players attempting to cover eachother before the man was beat.

Nice to see the PK coming around, too bad we continue to be put SH until the other team scores on us.

The leafs refused to even consider anyone might be going to the back door all night long. It's hard to fault Maurice as they don't really have anyone on their team who is any good in their own zone. Name any combination that you think might be even marginally ok in their own end.

[Eazy_b97 1]

Stajan, Steen, Blake, Devo, Newbury, Kilger, Antro should all be capable. Tucker's a liability, as always, and Belak's Belak. Bates should be better, but isn't. For whatever reason PM chooses to run an extremely odd defensive system based around movement and switches. After you see it nightly, you see the pattern. They give-up the blue line and constantly switch on and off men. I've never seen so much confusion in my life. I've watched these guys for a number of years, playing various systems. I still believe PM's doing a better job than Quinn (who offered nothing in his last year), but outside the blueline this team is lost.

[mrusse01 0]

Stajan, Steen, Blake, Devo, Newbury, Kilger, Antro should all be capable. Tucker's a liability, as always, and Belak's Belak. Bates should be better, but isn't. For whatever reason PM chooses to run an extremely odd defensive system based around movement and switches. After you see it nightly, you see the pattern. They give-up the blue line and constantly switch on and off men. I've never seen so much confusion in my life. I've watched these guys for a number of years, playing various systems. I still believe PM's doing a better job than Quinn (who offered nothing in his last year), but outside the blueline this team is lost.

All those players SHOULD be ok in their own end...hell, its the NHL, everybody should be reasonable able to play defense. Problem is nobody on the Leafs actually IS good in their own end.

It's 3-2 with a minute left in the last game of the season...we need a win to get in the playoffs. Who do you put out there to shut the other team down? Sundin obviously because of his faceoff ability, but other than that you really start scratching your head. Steen? Ok, maybe, he is fast at least. Kilger has some reach and can take a decent draw if Mats gets kicked out. McCabe? Uh, no. Kaberle? Too soft in front. White? Too small, maybe though. Kubina? I guess. Gill? Yeah, he's probably the second easiest choice behind Sundin as to who to put out there. Think about that. When Hal Gill is the second obvious name that comes to mind in a defensive must stop situation...well, then your team has some serious problems.

[Rustpot 1]

They give-up the blue line and constantly switch on and off men. I've never seen so much confusion in my life. I've watched these guys for a number of years, playing various systems. I still believe PM's doing a better job than Quinn (who offered nothing in his last year), but outside the blueline this team is lost.

At least they're not embarrassing themselves and running into each other or the net or anything... oh wait.

It makes you wonder if Tucker, McCabe or any of the others would do well on another team with a better defensive system. Also if Lidstrom was on the Leafs would he be tripping over the blue line or winning Norris trophies.

[Eazy_b97 1]

All those players SHOULD be ok in their own end...hell, its the NHL, everybody should be reasonable able to play defense. Problem is nobody on the Leafs actually IS good in their own end.

It's 3-2 with a minute left in the last game of the season...we need a win to get in the playoffs. Who do you put out there to shut the other team down? Sundin obviously because of his faceoff ability, but other than that you really start scratching your head. Steen? Ok, maybe, he is fast at least. Kilger has some reach and can take a decent draw if Mats gets kicked out. McCabe? Uh, no. Kaberle? Too soft in front. White? Too small, maybe though. Kubina? I guess. Gill? Yeah, he's probably the second easiest choice behind Sundin as to who to put out there. Think about that. When Hal Gill is the second obvious name that comes to mind in a defensive must stop situation...well, then your team has some serious problems.

Gill - Kubina as the D-men. Antro - Mats - Poni or Steen - Stajan - Devo/Kilger. The players they have on their roster, have been solid defensively in the past. Gill's been solid this season, McCabe and Kaberle have been good defensively in the past, Kubina's had experience as a shutdown D-man. A number of their forwards have played key defensive roles in their careers. At that point, it becomes coaching. When players are playing below their expected levels, levels they have shown they are capable of playing at while being in a worse situation, you know the level of talent is there.

[mrusse01 0]

I tend to agree with your assesment...I really like how Maurice comes across in the media, but the X and O's coaching aspect just seems to be lacking, at least early on here this season.

I still think with the money they have invested in Kaberle/McCabe, if you aren't putting at least one of those guys out there in key defensive siutations like the end of the game you have to really question how that money has been spent.

And I haven't seen much of Kubina prior to his Toronto days, but from what I've seen over his career with the Leafs I can't call him a shutdown D-man at all.

[ramensandwich 1]

kaberle is definitely the best. gill is like frankenstein on skates, he should be able to truck anyone.

we've always relied on mccabe for the one-timer on the pp, but the competition got wise to that 3 years ago, yet we're still trying to do it...(toronto fan here) i don't really think we've gotten to even play much defence lately. seems to me like every time play heats up a bit, its either tucker or belak shoving after the whistle, drawing penalties. i mean everyone likes a fight, but quit pushing like girls after every single whistle.

so yeah, while our d is rather weak, spending 10 mins a game on the pk isn't helping anything out either.

[LkptTiger 1]

Forget the Leafs - I need a Sabres/Sens match-up; I hoping that will shut these delusional Buffalo fans up.