This is an FTB

Flark. I got home from being trounced 5-1 just in time for the third period.

Last night was stupid.

But today has monster trucks so it’s a bit better.

It’s a FTB or it’s an FTB?

They’re kryptonite.

I agree with him that this season might be quickly getting out of hand.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/article/1119326—cox-another-lost-season-looming-for-maple-leafs

The islanders will be a good test consider they’re on a three game winning streak (including Flyers and Caps).

trade everybody

For those that say fighting has no effect on the outcome of a game.

Scrivens, who stopped 19 of the 21 shots fired at him, said the turning point of the game was when Kelsey Wilson fought Zack Fitzgerald in a spirited donnybrook just as the puck was dropped for the faceoff after the Bulldogs jumped to the quick early lead.

"That fight turned things around. You need those guys on your team," Scrivens said. "People who are opposed to fighting in hockey can take a look at that fight and see how it benefits a team because that really turned the tide for us."

The Ottawa game and last night’s game were the two most frustrating games of the entire season and I had to endure them both in one week. Doesn’t seem fair.

It’s only been 2 games, but what are impressions so far on the Schenn-Phaneuf pairing?

I don’t think they’ve looked too horrible, but I did notice that 1 of the pairing had a tendency to wander out of position.

leaflover and I engaged in a very serious, mature, and lowercase mock ASG draft last night
http://gingersnowflake.blogspot.com/2012/01/gs-all-star-mock-draft-2012.html

The Leafs are currently one game back from 8th and two games back from 7th, during their worst stretch of play this season.

Neil greenberg wrote an article that had NHL’s top 25 under 25 and it has Jonathon Toews as #1. While I dont agree with that, Sid should be #1 regardless of the concussion, the biggest omission in my eyes is John Tavares. Players like Bryan Little, Chris Stewart, Sergei Kostitsyn and David Perron are on it and JT isn’t?

Here is puck daddy’s take on it

Here is the list

Regarding selling Leafs tickets for tomorrow’s game against the Islanders, what is a fair selling price for two tickets in Section 313, Row 4? Face value of $95, I’ve been asked to sell them for charity purposes and have been told to “ask for the best offer”.

If I were to post them on Kijiji with a “Please Contact” tag for price information, what do you guys think is a fair price? Thanks!

The Leafs can change up their style all they want, but if they try to send people to the front of the net, or cycle for extended periods, they don’t have the right personnel.

There’s only 4 winger positions in the top 6, and if Kessel isn’t capable of playing that game, and Lupul can play it, but is actually far more a high-skill kinda guy, then 2 of the slots are already filled by “guys who can’t muck it up in front.”

MacArthur in particular seems to me to be in trouble, even though he has lots of energy, a nice shot, good speed and plays well with Grabbo.

Kulemin is just a world of frustration, as when I went back to look at the films of all his goals last year, an inordinate number – 15-20 at least – were scored from scrambles, rebounds, and out in front. i.e. Just what we needed. But that game just isn’t there this year for the Leafs, and the loss of just those 5-10 goals has been a killer.

When you look further down, we have Lombardi, whom I love, but who isn’t built to take that sort of hitting.

Mike Brown who CAN hit and do some of this, but who hasn’t got the hands to put it in the net.

Joey Crabb can crash a bit, but actually is more reliant on energy and skill than getting in front.

Kadri’s nasty, and slick, and a great passer and all of that, and yes, these skill guys can often fence a pile out of the heap and stab it home… but he’s not big, not gonna screen or smash in many rebounds.

Colby’s been another loss, like Kulemin this year, because he can hang around the net a little, cause shit, disturb goalies, and cash in a few. But not many. And he’s not actually a serious “power forward.”

And the guy who COULD really do that for us in the future, and do so in a way which fits with the speed and skill of the Leafs – namely, Matt Frattin – apparently needed more seasoning. Guy can hit like a truck, a lot like Kulemin, great shot, and quite calm out there. But not sure he has the bull-in-a-china-shop confidence to plow out front and stake out his position.

So that’s 10 wingers, and we have Lupul, whom I’d give a 0.3 “Crash and Bang Scoring Winger” rating… Kulemin who is only actually producing a 0.3 crash and bang… Colby who is injured and not ideal to do it anyway, so a 0.2 when he’s back…. Frattin who is in the minors, so 0.0… Crabb and Brown and Boyce, none of whom have the hands nor the size really, so 0.1 and 0.1 and 0.0…

Which adds up to the equivalent of having about 1 net presence, banging, screening, cycling, but able to score winger on the team. Out of 8 slots.

Now, iF Kulemin gets hot… or IF Frattin returns and has more confidence… or IF Colby comes back happy to go to the paint… then we pick up an extra 10 or so goals in the remainder of the season, and win a couple more games, and make the playoffs.

But more likely in my mind, is that we trade. And since most of these wingers are NHL-capable, that means some of them go.

(Also, at center we have again, very little net presence and banging ability… Connolly, Grabbo, Bozak, Steckel might have 0.5 together, mostly from Steckel, and Grabbo or Bozak when they get psycho-courageous.)

Therefore, I can’t see MacArthur or perhaps even Kadri, staying on. And easy to see some of the other lower wingers being thrown in, Boyce, Crabb, Lombardi, etc.

The other pressing need being that strong, stay-at-home, steadying force on defence, someone who may not be that fast, but can handle the puck under pressure.

And yes, those are two unicorns.

Shit there was a game last night? I went out around 10pm and got extremely drunk and I dont remember why anymore.

This FLA, WSH thing is going to be annoying. Damn division lead rules.

:)

I’m going to make the confession that I am watching the Love Guru on cable at the moment, and it’s making me feel better after the loss last night

Horrible movie, but so much better than doing work

I completely understand the angst we are all feeling right now. I was one of the worst culprits last night. I know we’ve been losing to teams we should be beating, and that is inexcusable.

However, as we sit here we are two points out of a playoff spot. We have 2 games remaining against both the Capitals and the Panthers. We have 2 games next week against a beatable opponent. We are getting JML back whose absence, in my opinion, is a big part of why our powerplay has recently struggled.

We are also getting Colby back (for how long we’ll see), and we are better and tougher with him in the line-up then without. Brian Burke will also make a move or two which will most likely make us better at the expense of something we have in excess. We also have more than a quarter season left to go.

There’s lots of reason to be concerned, but unlike previous years we also have reason to hope. Until such a time that we are out of head to head games against those we are chasing or 3-4 games out I’m not giving up hope.

2 goals, 4 points, 26:33 TOI/GP. Wow.

An absolutely filthy game between the Bruins and Flyers today. Surprise surprise. Looks like the Bruins got a bit of payback. It’s absolutely apparent that the Flyers decided before hand to lay it down.

Part of me wishes teams like this would just beat each other into comas. The problem is, these are the sort of teams the Leafs will have to eventually face as they go forward. And what happens if they hit a Kessel or Grabbo, Dion or Grabbo, or worse, Connolly or Colby???

Th league has to start throwing people out for very long stretches of games. I literally do not remember this many hits to the head, ever, in past decades.