• Moderators, please send me a PM if you are unable to access mod permissions. Thanks, Habsy.

Core 4 No More: The Motherfucking Off-Season Thread

CTheBigPicture said:

View: https://youtu.be/DFBIZ1301g4?si=s0bDUu--R86nC_AS

This is basically a compilation of all answers, especially the first and the last two questions, that management is clearly saying they want to do the right thing and break up the core.

Now it's time for threats. JT you waive or else you are stripped of captaincy and relegated to the fourth line until you are gone next year.

Marner, you waive or else we will publically annonce that we aren't resigning you, we will strip you of the A (yes go ahead sue if it's in your contract), and you are relegated to a non- Matthews line no matter how bad you are playing. Life will be hell for you with media pressure if you stay.

And to those who say this is not the way to react because no one will sign here...I disagree. This is the Toronto Maple Leafs. Players who aren't fans of playing in Canada would never want to come and those who are, will have the Leafs on top of the list 9 out of 10 times.

Besides likes of Marner have disappeared year over year in key games. Everyone understands why the Leafs should be ruthless including future players. You earn 10 million? You better drive lines and score goals no matter who is in your goal, or on 3rd 4th lines.

It's time to break up the core with force if need be.
Click to expand...

Maybe dont hand the keys to the asylum to the players , the Muskoka boys have every right to say fuck off
 
I wish we had once tried to actually go with an all-skill playoffs lineup.

just once.

before we now decide, after loading up on grit and unskill every deadline, to trade away talent for more grit.

all while seeing amazingly skilled rush hockey winning in every other series.
 
zeke said:
I wish we had once tried to actually go with an all-skill playoffs lineup.

just once.

before we now decide, after loading up on grit and unskill every deadline, to trade away talent for more grit.

all while seeing amazingly skilled rush hockey winning in every other series.
Click to expand...

Yup. Our season ended because a top pairing defender and a 60 goal scorer linked up on a set play that required elite speed, hands, and a perfectly placed dump in and our reaction to it is likely going to be that we need to be tougher. Again.

When was the last playoff series we actually got bullied? Montreal? It's almost like the organization is stuck in a time loop where they're trying to win that series over and over again like some sort of shitty PTSD.
 
MindzEye said:
When was the last playoff series we actually got bullied? Montreal? It's almost like the organization is stuck in a time loop where they're trying to win that series over and over again like some sort of shitty PTSD.
Click to expand...

The lesson they got from Montreal was "look at those big D-men who can crosscheck our stars at will without penalty"
 
MindzEye said:
Looked at that goal more times than I'd like and my takeaway still hasn't really changed.

- Mitch could have run passive interference in the neutral zone, but like Maurice said in his presser it's really hard to know what he was supposed to be doing there without knowing what Sheldon's coverage is there. It's entirely possible Marner should have been running passive though, sure.

- Mo maybe could have reacted faster to the set play, but looking at the moment of the dump in the defensive strategy looks to be for Boosh to run passive on the 1st forechecker on the strong side and for Mo to the best primary on fetching the dump in. The one thing I really would have liked to see Mo do though is just leave your feet man once this breakdown is recognized, take the tripping call.

- Samsonov though, fuck man.

View attachment 20465


Why are you under the fucking cross bar? If you watch the entire sequence, he actually starts out near the top of the blue paint and backs up to the goal line. There's a reason why this set play isn't tried very often around the league and it's because even with a perfect dump in like this, it has to catch the goalie sleeping.
Click to expand...
So, know your enemy?? Clearly they did.
 
MindzEye said:
There's a reason why this set play isn't tried very often around the league and it's because even with a perfect dump in like this, it has to catch the goalie sleeping.
Click to expand...

...and the Bruins had caught Samsonov sleeping a few times earlier in the series, so it was a decent gamble
 
Would be nice to actually have reliable, solid goaltending in the playoffs. Both Gm7 goals against were trash. Can't score but also can't get the saves.
 
Marner -for- Keller, Durzi + (2) 2nds

Why Utah does it:
- Utah going to start spending money with new ownership and Marner is a very Utah type
- Gives them an all-star to attract another in FA
- They've got a boatload of picks in the first 3 rounds of the new few drafts

Why Toronto does it:
- Winger to replace Marner who is in the next tier
- Puck-moving d-man
- Some added draft capital
 
CH1 said:
The lesson they got from Montreal was "look at those big D-men who can crosscheck our stars at will without penalty"
Click to expand...

Yeah, but then we lost to Tampa: Hedman, Sergachev, McDonagh, Cernak playing huge minutes with Bogo & Cal Foote barely playing as the 5-6. That's a very, very good top 4 with no grenade chuckers to be seen, even Cernak is competent at moving the puck

and then Florida: Montour, Forsling, Ekblad, Staal, Gudas.

Where are the Boosh's, Edmundsons, etc getting top 4 usage?

Yeah, it's like Montreal's super plug blueline gave us PTSD as an organization and we're trying to build that instead of the bluelines who had beaten us the last 2 years.
 
zeke said:
i look around the playoffs and nobody has any reliable goaltending aside from whatever team is playing the leafs.
Click to expand...

Shesty and Swayman are both .930+

Shit, ever Oettinger's .914 is a bit deceiving. He got pumped in game 1 (.733sv%) of the first round and then did this:

Game 2: .920
Game 3: .941
Game 4: .941
Game 5: .926
Game 6: .966
Game 7: .957

With that said, I think the better way of looking at it is percentage of quality starts and ratio of QS to RBS (really bad starts).

In 9 starts Swayman has 7 QS and 2 RBS. In 7 starts Shesty has 5 QS and 0 RBS. Oettinger in 9 starts has 7 QS and 2 RBS.

That's pretty fucking reliable.
 
QS vs the Leafs is about as much of a lock as Tavares tripping over his own dick on a pp zone entry. Swayman suddenly looks human against a real team.

But anyway the team with the .890 goalie is likely to advance there anyway. There's no special formula. They're all good teams, all built differently with different strengths and weaknesses. But the one commonality is that they're all highly skilled teams with the exception of maybe Boston. But even they have some high octane studs and one offensive rockstar on the back end too.
 
Last edited:
zeke said:
I wish we had once tried to actually go with an all-skill playoffs lineup.

just once.

before we now decide, after loading up on grit and unskill every deadline, to trade away talent for more grit.

all while seeing amazingly skilled rush hockey winning in every other series.
Click to expand...
That plus one year without Keefe in charge, to know how much was him and how much was the players.
 
You can have an .890 goalie — they just have to make that save in OT that Sammy didn’t
 
Oilers series: all trash goalies
Stars series: one trash goalie, one solid goalie
Canes series: one stud goalie
Bruins series: one strong goalie getting shelled. .890 goalie likely going to advance.

No real pattern for me here other than what the identities are for all/most of these teams. Skill skill skill skill skill. Obviously an elite dependable goalie is important but they're hard to find and when you do find them they're even harder to rely on each and every series. Swayman is one of many examples of this. We won't even get into Hellebyuck, Sorokin, Saros, Vas letting their teams down in round 1.

Variance in small samples is far too high compared to a stud #1 d or center where you know what you're gonna get each and every series. Samsonov is of course not good enough but choosing to spend all sorts of resources on a goalie is not something I'd subscribe to. It's too easy to miss. You can prioritize goaltending without feeling the need to blow your load on one. There's an in between.

Surprised to see the dunking in this playoff especially. This hasn't been a goalie masterclass of dependability. This year has been all about skill.
 
Last edited:
MindzEye said:
Shesty and Swayman are both .930+

Shit, ever Oettinger's .914 is a bit deceiving. He got pumped in game 1 (.733sv%) of the first round and then did this:

Game 2: .920
Game 3: .941
Game 4: .941
Game 5: .926
Game 6: .966
Game 7: .957

With that said, I think the better way of looking at it is percentage of quality starts and ratio of QS to RBS (really bad starts).

In 9 starts Swayman has 7 QS and 2 RBS. In 7 starts Shesty has 5 QS and 0 RBS. Oettinger in 9 starts has 7 QS and 2 RBS.

That's pretty fucking reliable.
Click to expand...

oettinger's looked pretty shaky tbh. i think his overall number is probably accurate.

swayman's getting pumped by florida. we made him look unbeatable.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top