FTB: Last in the Division is as Easy as 1-2-3
by Chemmy on Oct 22, 2008 9:31 AM EDT
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Print- Down Goes Brown thinks putting Cujo in the shootout was a bad idea, but embarassing Jason Blake was a good one. That's why I read his site daily.
- MF37 has 1500 words on why he hates the MSM vs. Blogosphere debate.
- Torontosportsmedia's guest blogger Neil Smith writes about the goings on in NHL closed door meetings.
- Godd Till doesn't like Alex Steen, but he hates the Belleville Bulls so it evens out.
- eyebleaf wanted to see Avery's antics in Toronto. With Ruutu on the market Toronto could have iced a line of Tucker-Ruutu-Avery. I don't think they'd score, but I'm 100% sure that Toronto would never lose.
- Steve@Hockeyanalysis wonders who's really in Ron Wilson's doghouse. (Trick question Ron Wilson is a cat person).
- Puck Daddy thinks the Leafs' D last night was spectacular.
- Mirtle is hoping for the return of the New Kids on the Block, errr wait, maybe he's talking about teenagers in the NHL.
- The Blog Wars have begun! And Andy has a helpful timeline for the opening skirmishes. Learn it well people, your kids will be quizzed in the future about the days that blogs said that they would not go lightly into the dark.
- Fellow Golden Gael Neate Sager has the top 10 reasons Cujo was inserted last night. Tank for Tavares is just implied.
- Stephen Brunt, a good MSMer, likes another team in Toronto. Dave Perkins agrees although Cox promised us a dissenting opinion yesterday. Probably changed his mind.
- Gus says Toronto doesn't deserve another one because people don't go see teenagers play. Sorry that Toronto has the fourth most culture in the world! Toronto's a top-class city and we'll go to top-class events. Junior hockey, while fun, is far from top-class.
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PPP and I slave away every morning to bring people links, and no one even wants to come say hello?
:(
Pension Plan Puppets*
* Blog contains less than 2% puppet content by weight.
that's what she said
"God's in His heaven. All's right with the world." - Robert Browning (1812-1889)
Top o’ the mornin’, to ya neighbor!
Great job on the links. A lot of really good posts from last night. DGB, MF37, and Steve@ all rocked it out.
by general borschevsky on Oct 22, 2008 10:54 AM EDT up reply actions
not too bad
Better now that you’re here :P
Making stuff up since real Leafs news is far too depressing
Cujo
I’m still trying to figure out why the hell WIlson put a 40-year old Cujo out there cold and sat down a guy who hadn’t allowed a goal since the first period. Percentages smercentages!
by TorontoPassion on Oct 22, 2008 10:46 AM EDT reply actions
I read somewhere last night that Vesa hates the shootout, on top of being bad at it.
Pension Plan Puppets*
* Blog contains less than 2% puppet content by weight.
When your starter is something like 2-7 with a save percentage below .500 and has explicitly stated that he’s uncomfortable in the shootout, why not try something new?
If it works, that’s fantastic. If it fails, who cares? It’s not like the points really matter this year and it’s another lesson learned.
A life-long Toronto Maple Leafs fan comments on the team, the media and the exasperation...http://bitterleaf.blogspot.com
Duly noted – but when your backup is a 40 year old man who’s been sitting on his ass for 60 minutes and is stone cold, I would tend to think that its going to end badly. I’m all for crediting Wilson on trying something new – but I think he out-smarted himself on this one. Its not like Cujo is a closer who’d been warming up in the ‘pen for the past 20 mins. Oh well, one step closer to the #1 pick. Keep the L’s coming.
by TorontoPassion on Oct 22, 2008 10:57 AM EDT up reply actions
Julie the Cat did it
Now he knows that Cujo can’t just drop into the shootout and Vesa knows that he has to shape up. Everything is a lesson learned this year.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
i think the opposite. the shootout, like it or not, is here to stay. he’s a paid professional athelete who has now been given the green light by his coach to wet the bed and crap his pants every time we have a shootout. Not only does it make a mess of the ice, chances are that’s a lot of lossed points.
Vesa needs to find a way to get comfortable in these situations and the coach should not be giving his number one goalie a free pass.
Anybody throws me against the boards I'm gonna piss all over myself.
by blurr1974 on Oct 22, 2008 10:57 AM EDT up reply actions
oh
and good morning
Anybody throws me against the boards I'm gonna piss all over myself.
by blurr1974 on Oct 22, 2008 10:58 AM EDT up reply actions
Top o' the morning to ya
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
And what about the shooters? We’ve lost 3 of 6 this year in the shootout – and whole crap load last year. Let’s not forget to put some of this on them and failure to score.
For those who suffer the Toronto sports scene, and more: http://thepassionthatfrustratesusall.blogspot.com/
by TorontoPassion on Oct 22, 2008 11:00 AM EDT up reply actions
Oh yeah, and Wilson’s been shifting them around as well. But how often do teams win shootouts on the back of one goal and three saves? I think more often than any other result but that’s just anecdotal.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
Seriously, the skill level between Vesa and the rest of the team is night and day. Toskala is a legitimate game stealer. We have some promise in Kulemin, and I want to be angry with Grabs for his goose egg in points, but darn it all, he is so much fun to watch. The goals that were scored last night were what this team needs to do every night. If the Leafs had played like they did in the third through the whole game, a shootout would never have ahppened. Seriously, even though they lost, I think they played this game better than the win against Detroit.
Wilson should recognize that if the plan is to win games. To me, last nights move seemed like a wave of the white flag. You can say that Cujo was cold sitting on the bench, but it’s not like Toskala faced anymore shots in the third than he would have on the bench.
Anybody throws me against the boards I'm gonna piss all over myself.
by blurr1974 on Oct 22, 2008 11:07 AM EDT up reply actions
No, but Vesa was out there skating around and in game mode. Cujo was sitting at the end of the bench, getting a little away time from the wife + kids while he scopes out the beer girl in his section.
For those who suffer the Toronto sports scene, and more: http://thepassionthatfrustratesusall.blogspot.com/
by TorontoPassion on Oct 22, 2008 11:09 AM EDT up reply actions
A white flag?
I don’t mean to be dense, but I don’t follow…
A life-long Toronto Maple Leafs fan comments on the team, the media and the exasperation...http://bitterleaf.blogspot.com
The plan is to learn what each player can do and see how that can be improved and how it can help the team win games.
Vesa in the shootout is basically a loss so trying something new doesn’t hurt anyone. It’s like the starter getting pulled after 8 innings. Could he go 9? Maybe but if he has a history of losing it in the ninth why not put in your closer?
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
me thinks you’re all looking for something to feel better about last nights loss.
I think that if your goalie is hot, and he’s playing hot, you leave him in, especially if you want to win. To me the move to a cold goalie who (maybe kinda hope) will be better in the shootout was the same as accepting defeat.
Toskala played well, he should have been rewarded and the coach should have shown some faith in his number one. Regardless of whether or not Vesa had any himself. To get him over the mental block Toskala has on shootouts, Ron should have shown him that he thinks otherwise.
Or we could toss in a 41 year old goalie and take our one point and chalk the whole thing up to lesson learned.
I’m done ranting. You all disagree and that’s fine with me. I just think a win would have been had if we stayed with the hot goalie.
Anybody throws me against the boards I'm gonna piss all over myself.
by blurr1974 on Oct 22, 2008 11:15 AM EDT up reply actions
However
I would like to put out that Toskala was smoking on Friday night against the Rangers but did not fare so well in the shoot out then.
"God's in His heaven. All's right with the world." - Robert Browning (1812-1889)
correct
about as well as cujo last night…
Also, the entire team sucked balls against Montreal in their home opener. Maybe we should give them the next game off…?
Anybody throws me against the boards I'm gonna piss all over myself.
by blurr1974 on Oct 22, 2008 11:19 AM EDT up reply actions
To answer your question: this season is going to have us doing so much spin control we may have been able to save Enron.
Pension Plan Puppets*
* Blog contains less than 2% puppet content by weight.
Wilson is showing
That he has balls, something neither Quinn or Maurice had
"God's in His heaven. All's right with the world." - Robert Browning (1812-1889)
“Next up in the shootout for Toronto, Deez”
Pension Plan Puppets*
* Blog contains less than 2% puppet content by weight.
Quinn
Had balls but he also had a much better and more veteran team so he didn’t have to worry about sending messages like this one.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
i don’t get the message. Is it “I have no hope in winning with you bunch of losers” or “this season’s a complete loss 6 games in so we might as well try stuff we should have done in the pre-season.”
i don’t like losing…apologies for being grumpy on this, but I ain’t budging.
Anybody throws me against the boards I'm gonna piss all over myself.
by blurr1974 on Oct 22, 2008 11:21 AM EDT up reply actions
hahaha
No problem.
The message is that it doesn’t matter who you are, if you are underperforming in a situation (shootout, PK, PP) then you won’t get to play then until you have improved it.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
No one likes to loose
I’m just curious though, would you still be so adamant against the goalie change had it worked out and Cujo won the day? Or is it the principal of the matter? I’m just trying to pin-point the source it’s all.
I genuinely do not believe that Wilson changed the goalies as a white-flag waving dealy.
"God's in His heaven. All's right with the world." - Robert Browning (1812-1889)
hypothetically
if cujo had won, and the next time we’re in a shootout, and toskala stays in and losses, we’re in a bigger pickle. now you’ve got a backup who’s only good if the number one gets you there, and a number one who doesn’t have the faith in himself or the experience in closing out a close game in high pressure situations.
if we’re all for teaching lessons, then the lesson to Vesa should have been that he’s the number one, and he needs to find a way to win in these situations.
Anybody throws me against the boards I'm gonna piss all over myself.
by blurr1974 on Oct 22, 2008 11:30 AM EDT up reply actions
That’s a big hypothetical.
Vesa is the worst starting goalie in the NHL in the shootout, he’s got a .200 sv % this year and is in the .400 range life time.
What’s the downside to the experiment?
A life-long Toronto Maple Leafs fan comments on the team, the media and the exasperation...http://bitterleaf.blogspot.com
losing
your rational use of math and logic won’t sway me from my opinion.
Anybody throws me against the boards I'm gonna piss all over myself.
by blurr1974 on Oct 22, 2008 11:38 AM EDT up reply actions
A better experiment?
Wilson puts Holwegg in as the goalie and gets him to run the shooter from behind before he can get a shot off.
A life-long Toronto Maple Leafs fan comments on the team, the media and the exasperation...http://bitterleaf.blogspot.com
that's a change
i can believe in.
Anybody throws me against the boards I'm gonna piss all over myself.
by blurr1974 on Oct 22, 2008 11:43 AM EDT up reply actions
No one knows what’s been said between coach and goalies.
Maybe this is Wilson’s way of tightening the screws on Vesa and saying he expects more. He gave him one chance to sit-out the shootout, a part of the game he’s been horrid at and is uncomfortable with, it failed, and now it’s clearly up to Vesa to pick up his game.
A life-long Toronto Maple Leafs fan comments on the team, the media and the exasperation...http://bitterleaf.blogspot.com
I hope
Wilson spoke to Vesa about it. I think to single a goalie out in a shootout is unfair. I know, Vesa is not particularly good at it, and I think that’s partly because he is such an aggressive goaltender. He is usually made to look foolish on some of the dekes in the shootout and when he does play the deke, guys fire wrist shots past him. He struggles, but I still think that after 65 minutes of play, that’s HIS game. By all accounts, Tosky is a team player and I would think he’d give Wilson the go ahead to make that move. I just hope it was discussed that, hey, next we’re in the shootout, I may go to Cujo.
Giguere said it himself, that he’d be pissed if he was Toskala. Goalies are a different bunch, and I know Tosky has a lot of mental fortitude, but at the end of the day, that was his game. And Cox makes a point too, that if Joseph won the shootout, he gets the win, not Toskala. That isn’t fair.
A Toronto sports blog, where we unequivocally and unapologetically support the home team...
And Vesa didn’t get the loss either. The key in that sentence is that individual stats don’t matter.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
unless
you’re Jason Blake.
fist pump!
A Toronto sports blog, where we unequivocally and unapologetically support the home team...
even
when you don’t score
or maybe he was just excited he hit the post which meant he was close
"God's in His heaven. All's right with the world." - Robert Browning (1812-1889)
in his defence
his back was to the net. but he was a little trigger happy.
I LOVE BLAKE…and his 2:34 shifts
A Toronto sports blog, where we unequivocally and unapologetically support the home team...
Welcome
Thanks for joining.
Basically, Wilson is experimenting. I won’t link to it but Cox made a good point about breaking down the team to rebuild it and going after the stars is the best way to do that. I just threw up.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
Cox piece was allright, I thought, but Steve@’s was better.
by general borschevsky on Oct 22, 2008 11:08 AM EDT up reply actions
It tends to be the case but I hammer the SOB so much I want to acknowledge his good.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
Truth is, I nearly left a comment for The Omen to say that it was a good piece, but then I thought, Damien will never read it, so why bother? And the I read Steve@’s and my morning was complete.
by general borschevsky on Oct 22, 2008 11:28 AM EDT up reply actions
Where's the link for Liverpool?
I don’t follow soccer (unless I’m on holidays in Europe and then I’m strangely transfixed by soccer highlights, it’s like I’ve been hypnotized) but I fully expected lots of links and commentary here about Mr. Gillett’s banking woes.
There has to be a way for the habs to take the credit/blame for that too.
A life-long Toronto Maple Leafs fan comments on the team, the media and the exasperation...http://bitterleaf.blogspot.com
It’s all that fucker Tom Hicks’ fault. Now the new stadium is delayed even more so the team can’t match the gate receipts of that shower down the East Lancs or even the gooners.
However, the sun is shining down on the Reds and a title this year will heal all wounds.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
Liverpool in CL Finals > Arsenal in CL Finals
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
Man United
We put the CHAMPION in Champions League
A Toronto sports blog, where we unequivocally and unapologetically support the home team...
And the douchebag in !#(%#%&$^&^&*$#^ douchebag.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
i resent that
A Toronto sports blog, where we unequivocally and unapologetically support the home team...
Sorry, that’s just facts :) Not uniform but mostly…
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
I hope
you’re looking forward to City punking out Man U home and away again this year.
City – the REAL champions of Europe.
punkage
at home and away can occur again…it didn’t mean much…EPL and champions league titles were still ours…
A Toronto sports blog, where we unequivocally and unapologetically support the home team...
Most in debt shower
Led by a drunken degenerate and followed by gloryhunters the world over.
There’s only one team in Manchester.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
That's what I'm talking about
PEtrov out for four months cause the dumbass Bulgaria manager used him for 90 minutes when he was unfit. Dammit.
Tough Break
Internationals are trouble.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
With Ruutu on the market Toronto could have iced a line of Tucker-Ruutu-Avery.
I asked for this in July. Anybody could have had these three guys. You could even call it the R.A.T. line.
Wasted opportunity…
Down Goes Brown - Because it's technically possible that things may get better before we all die.
by Down Goes Brown on Oct 22, 2008 11:59 AM EDT reply actions
In theory I like the concept but in practice I’d probably want to shoot two of those guys.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
It would have made
this season of suck a lot more interesting.
And my point is imagine Cox and Avery in the dressing room. Supposedly, the dislike between Tucker and Cox made everyone in the room uncomfortable last year. They wouldn’t talk to each other and Tucker went out of his way one night to single Cox out. Imagine Avery, who clearly doesn’t shy away from speaking his mind, and the quotes he’d give not only about other players, but about Cox. And then Cox would write a column bashing him, and then Avery would keep talking…it would be a vicious, but glorious, cycle…
A Toronto sports blog, where we unequivocally and unapologetically support the home team...
i’d be most worried about the three of them turning on each other, mid game…
Anybody throws me against the boards I'm gonna piss all over myself.
by blurr1974 on Oct 22, 2008 12:11 PM EDT up reply actions
Once you’re wearing the same jersey, everything is all good. Avery’s proven that he can co-exist with his teammates, but once he leaves, that’s when he starts calling them minor leaguers.
Minor leaguers that beat the Leafs, of course.
A Toronto sports blog, where we unequivocally and unapologetically support the home team...
Since when
Does Damien go into the lockeroom? I thought he did it twice a year to troll the players on post game reactions and skedaddled.
sometimes
he does leave his mother’s basement and hit up the ACC
A Toronto sports blog, where we unequivocally and unapologetically support the home team...
I would have wanted a press pass just to see those Shining Eyes aimed at Cox.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
Cujo likes hot.
Just to touch back on the original discussion, I heard that The Leafs practiced shootouts for half an hour on Monday in their workout and I was at the morning skate on Tuesday and there was an emphasis on breakaway situations. Cujo was the goalie of focus in these drills. As well, trusty Gord Miller commented on how Ron Wilson sat down with his goalies and told Cujo flat out that he would be handling shoot-outs due to VeTo’s terrible results. So Cujo knew he was going in and should have been better equipped mentally to handle the situation. I’ve seen the hallways near the Leafs bench, I feel like he could have gotten Van Ryn to fire pucks at him down there for 5 minutes or something. I applaud the move, goes with the saying “if it ain’t broke then don’t fix it”. Well it is broke, so Ronny baby is trying to fix it. Just my thoughts.
by The Phillips Perspective on Oct 22, 2008 3:33 PM EDT reply actions
Yeah, I heard that you’d be there yesterday! What was the deal with that?
Thanks for letting us know. That basically sums that up.
Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.
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