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GDT #6: Thurs-May 2-8PM - Boston Bruins @ Toronto Maple Leafs - Why Not Us? Bruins Suck, Go Leafs Go!

Kampf Road

Gm1: 1.Boqvist 3:48, 2.Frederic 3:10, 3.Zacha 1:57, 4.Coyle 1:21
Gm2: 1.Frederic 5:15, 2.Boqvist 4:31, 3.Zacha 1:13, 4.Coyle 0:22
Gm5: 1.Boqvist 4:21, 2.Frederic 4:01, 3.Coyle 1:51, 4. Zacha 1:24

Kampf Home

Gm3: 1.Boqvist 3:19, 2.Frederic 3:12, 3.Zacha 2:16, 4.Coyle 1:49
Gm4: 1.Frederic 4:33, 2.Boqvist 4:09, 3.Zacha 1:25, 4.Coyle 0:31



no real change in Kampf deployment tbh.
 
It's genuinely fascinating the discrepancy between how the team performs in the reg season vs. playoffs. I can't say I have much to say about it beyond a few vague guesses, but what an interesting case study these FREAKS make.

It seems like coaching might play a big role? Keefe's maybe too nice, not good enough with fine adjustments mid-series, etc. The night-and-day performances in Games 5 and 6 I think suggest this is indeed a big part of the problem. Maybe it was the forced line adjustments that just randomly ended up working out. Maybe it's that the players have newfound motivation/drive with Matthews out, but managing this stuff has to be an important role for the coach.

Evidence against this is that they also choked with a coach who is seen as Keefe's polar opposite.

Another possibility is there is something wrong with the Big 4. Nylander seems to do ok generally. JT is cooked now but we don't seem to be as dependent on him for creating offense these days. This leaves Marner and Matthews, the two stud pieces who don't really look like studs in the postseason - especially Marner. This is my guess.

If we accept that these guys are chronic underperformers, then what about them makes them underperform year after year? I feel like many here will dispute this idea that Marner and Matthews do not cut it in the playoffs, though. In fairness to Matthews, it seems like he's dealing with illness or injury this year which is maybe getting in his way. Marner has been pretty terrible aside from that beautiful goal a few days ago.

Or maybe the system they use in the reg season does not lend itself to playoff games, putting it on Keefe again.

Another potential problem is iffy goaltending, but IDK. If any team can overcome iffy goaltending it's this offensive juggernaut, who for some reason can't score more than 2 goals in a playoff game.

Anyway, wish I had answers or at least some theory, to give some payoff to this overlong blatherpost, but alas I do not :( . I haven't really followed the league for a while and I wonder if I should even share my thoughts at all lol. I just really find the situation interesting (/ maddening).
 
Factinista said:
It's genuinely fascinating the discrepancy between how the team performs in the reg season vs. playoffs. I can't say I have much to say about it beyond a few vague guesses, but what an interesting case study these FREAKS make.

It seems like coaching might play a big role? Keefe's maybe too nice, not good enough with fine adjustments mid-series, etc. The night-and-day performances in Games 5 and 6 I think suggest this is indeed a big part of the problem. Maybe it was the forced line adjustments that just randomly ended up working out. Maybe it's that the players have newfound motivation/drive with Matthews out, but managing this stuff has to be an important role for the coach.

Evidence against this is that they also choked with a coach who is seen as Keefe's polar opposite.

Another possibility is there is something wrong with the Big 4. Nylander seems to do ok generally. JT is cooked now but we don't seem to be as dependent on him for creating offense these days. This leaves Marner and Matthews, the two stud pieces who don't really look like studs in the postseason - especially Marner. This is my guess.

If we accept that these guys are chronic underperformers, then what about them makes them underperform year after year? I feel like many here will dispute this idea that Marner and Matthews do not cut it in the playoffs, though. In fairness to Matthews, it seems like he's dealing with illness or injury this year which is maybe getting in his way. Marner has been pretty terrible aside from that beautiful goal a few days ago.

Or maybe the system they use in the reg season does not lend itself to playoff games, putting it on Keefe again.

Another potential problem is iffy goaltending, but IDK. If any team can overcome iffy goaltending it's this offensive juggernaut, who for some reason can't score more than 2 goals in a playoff game.

Anyway, wish I had answers or at least some theory, to give some payoff to this overlong blatherpost, but alas I do not :( . I haven't really followed the league for a while and I wonder if I should even share my thoughts at all lol. I just really find the situation interesting (/ maddening).
Click to expand...
Any team that needs to score 5+ goals to win because of their goaltender is dead in the water in the post season no matter what.
 
GeneralT001 said:
Any team that needs to score 5+ goals to win because of their goaltender is dead in the water in the post season no matter what.
Click to expand...
1714677491745.png

I look at this chart and... it's simply too much. Can we maybe start with 2 goals per game? Is 3 too much to ask for? Boston has a sick goalie and plays a tight turtle-y style, but c'mon.
 
zeke said:
yeah obviously he's on ignore but people are still replying to him so i still have to be embarassed for him for the patheticness of a fan of a permanent bottom feeder trolling our board non stop all day long every day.
Click to expand...


I find it rather humourous for the most part.

I suspect more than one of his window panes has fallen out over time.
 
Anyway don't mean to be too negative or anything. Half-heartedly expecting we get the same team tonight as last game, which would be a treat. Wouldn't mind seeing Marchand looking frazzled again either.
 
So Matthews is officially out for game 6 and Matthew will fill that void. I'm actually okay with this as the team will probably actually show up to play this game. Still want to see McMann!!
 
Factinista said:
It's genuinely fascinating the discrepancy between how the team performs in the reg season vs. playoffs. I can't say I have much to say about it beyond a few vague guesses, but what an interesting case study these FREAKS make.

It seems like coaching might play a big role? Keefe's maybe too nice, not good enough with fine adjustments mid-series, etc. The night-and-day performances in Games 5 and 6 I think suggest this is indeed a big part of the problem. Maybe it was the forced line adjustments that just randomly ended up working out. Maybe it's that the players have newfound motivation/drive with Matthews out, but managing this stuff has to be an important role for the coach.

Evidence against this is that they also choked with a coach who is seen as Keefe's polar opposite.

Another possibility is there is something wrong with the Big 4. Nylander seems to do ok generally. JT is cooked now but we don't seem to be as dependent on him for creating offense these days. This leaves Marner and Matthews, the two stud pieces who don't really look like studs in the postseason - especially Marner. This is my guess.

If we accept that these guys are chronic underperformers, then what about them makes them underperform year after year? I feel like many here will dispute this idea that Marner and Matthews do not cut it in the playoffs, though. In fairness to Matthews, it seems like he's dealing with illness or injury this year which is maybe getting in his way. Marner has been pretty terrible aside from that beautiful goal a few days ago.

Or maybe the system they use in the reg season does not lend itself to playoff games, putting it on Keefe again.

Another potential problem is iffy goaltending, but IDK. If any team can overcome iffy goaltending it's this offensive juggernaut, who for some reason can't score more than 2 goals in a playoff game.

Anyway, wish I had answers or at least some theory, to give some payoff to this overlong blatherpost, but alas I do not :( . I haven't really followed the league for a while and I wonder if I should even share my thoughts at all lol. I just really find the situation interesting (/ maddening).
Click to expand...
You're overthinking it. It's not that complicated.

The Leafs have plenty of talent and in the regular season, when half the teams you play are garbage and when teams rarely go all out to win unless it's absolutely necessary to do so, talent alone is usually enough to get it done. But in the playoffs, you don't get any pattycake teams and no one hands it to you. Your opponents, even those which, during the season you may not have had much trouble with, suddenly push back. They start hitting you. They start trying to bully you, and the refs largely ignore things in the postseason that they punish during the regular season.

So if you have a team of talented but mentally fragile players (Matthews to a small degree before this season, and especially Marner every damn season) they don't know how to respond to that pushback and they get pushed around and ultimately fitted for clown suits by their opponents; opponents who are often not as talented as the Leafs are. But that's the thing about the playoffs. Talent is a must have but so is desire, give-a-damn, and a willingness to do whatever it takes, no matter how extreme, to win. Teams built by analytics nerds like Dubas don't get this because they don't know how to measure intangibles. And if they can't measure it, they don't think it's important. But in the playoffs it is often all that really matters.

The regular season Leafs and post-season Leafs aren't really very different. They play the same way and pretty much at the same level. The reason why their numbers dip in the playoffs has less to do with them and everything to do with how much and how well their opponents elevate their own game to meet the challenge of post-season hockey. Fancy stat nerds never want to admit to this so they pretend that it's not important. But it's the whole enchilada. It's the literal difference between winning and losing. As Al Pacino says in "Any Given Sunday", "In any fight, it's the guy who's willing to die, who's going to win that inch..."

Is Mitch Marner willing to metaphorically die (or kill) for that metaphorical inch? He'd better fucking be, because if memory serves, no one yet has ever had to tell Brad Marchand what time it is. He'll be ready to rock when the puck drops tonight. Nerds with spread sheets don't win playoff games. Ill-tempered psychopaths with lethal weapons in their hands and a willingness to use them win playoff games.
 
Preston said:
He has to realize that no one is gonna read that, right?
Click to expand...
Do yourself a favor and read it, you might learn something.

The Leafs have spent the past 8 years pretending that playoff hockey is no different that regular season hockey with predictable results.
 
You almost have to admire the sheer psychotic conviction of this fellow. People would probably be happy to have you around as a punching bag if you could tone it down just a little.
 
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