NHL Hockey

[Linus]

Originally Posted by EnderD_503

Well, the Leafs suffered their first big loss last night to Boston, but I'm still feeling pretty good about this season. Out of 6 games they've won 4, lost one in OT and still getting a point from it at least, and then the loss to Boston last night. If they can keep this up, they'll be doing pretty well this year. At least much better than they have throughout the 2000s.

I'm hoping this will give the Leafs coaching staff a heads up to keep Gustavsson firmly benched. I don't think it's complete coincidence that with him back in net, the Leafs ended up with that many in the back of the net. Weak goaltending...get it off the ice. Reimer, on the other hand, has already proven this year that he can keep the gates shut when the Leafs are in a tight spot.

You can't have Reimer doing all the games. He'll burn out before they get to the Playoffs. Additionally, Gustavsson wasn't solely responsible for all those goals. As a former goalie, if those in front of me aren't doing their job (aka defense and scoring) there is only so much a goalie can do (he faced 43 shots on net compared to Thomas who had 28). Additionally, there were a lot of stupid penalties.

And the Bruins shut down Kessel since they knew what he was like. Even the Leafs admit to allowing too many turnovers. (see here, last paragraph: http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=...0&cmpid=ggl1bx )

[EnderD_503]

Originally Posted by Linus

You can't have Reimer doing all the games. He'll burn out before they get to the Playoffs. Additionally, Gustavsson wasn't solely responsible for all those goals. As a former goalie, if those in front of me aren't doing their job (aka defense and scoring) there is only so much a goalie can do (he faced 43 shots on net compared to Thomas who had 28). Additionally, there were a lot of stupid penalties.

And the Bruins shut down Kessel since they knew what he was like. Even the Leafs admit to allowing too many turnovers. (see here, last paragraph: http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=...0&cmpid=ggl1bx )

It's game 6 of the season. There wasn't such a huge risk of burning out Reimer that they had to throw away all strategy in putting in Gustavsson against Boston of all teams. It was poor strategy and poor decisions in this team aren't exactly counter to history. When a goalie lets in two goals in barely more than a minute's time and three goals in the span of five minutes...there's a goaltending issue. If they're going to rest Reimer then they should realise Gustavsson has never been a strong goalie (Gustavsson himself acknowledges he's been doing a shit job), and they would have been better off bringing up a back up from the minors than even keeping Gustavsson as the official backup. The more a team is in the hole, often the more stupid penalties players take and the more enforcers step up which never really helps.

Not to mention poor decisions in other line shuffling: inserting Kadri is a poor choice. Inserting Rosehill instead of MacArthur is a poor choice. Another attribute of a poor Leafs team this last decade...not allowing lines to solidify and work together, but pointless shuffling when current lineups are working well. Every time they get the opportunity to insert Kadri because he's supposedly the "new up and comer" yet it doesn't translate into consistent contribution. Instead they've got real "new up and comers" who are doing a better job. So yeah, neither Gustavsson and his poor goaltending nor the staff who made these decisions get any sympathy from me They need to stick with what worked the last 5 games.

[EnderD_503]

Jonas Jerebko, apparently a Detroit Pistons player (can you tell I don't know shit about basketball? ) tries to play hockey...hilarity ensues:

http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/con...d=35&id=129694

[Kelz]

I think Reimer should have played against Boston. It was only game 6. Although the Leafs defense was horrible that game anyway and Boston was desperate for a win.

They won against the Habs which is great especially on their turf The game was tight and it looks like Grabovski is finally back! And Kessel... MAN the guy is on fire!

[EnderD_503]

Yeah, definitely great to see the Leafs get a win last night. I hope Reimer recovers well, though. They say that they'll be calling up Ben Scrivens from the Marlies if Reimer's a no go for tomorrow, so it'd kind of be interesting to see him play. But ugh...in a game against Philly? Fingers crossed and the Leafs are able to rally together and pull off a big win against the Flyers. That would really cement a good start to the season.

I think calling up another back up was a good call, though. At this point Gustavsson just seems to be going from bad to worse. He got them through last night against the Habs, but didn't inspire too much confidence. I feel bad for the guy, but damn...he's really not giving fans too much to go on.

On another note...ditto on Grabovski and Kessel. Kessel really is on fire this season, it'll be interesting to see how he ends up ranking in goalscoring...cause its been like 1+ goals for him so far minus the Boston fiasco.

I'm also really loving Liles. He's definitely turning into a favourite. That was a smart acquisition on the Leafs' part.

[Kelz]

They definitely didn't play well at all against the Phillies. Horrible game the defense wasn't there for the Leafs.

Reimer is still out and the Leafs managed a win today against the Rangers however it didn't look like it after the first period. Much better game, they looked well rested and their passes were clean and the defense was solid after the first. I have to admit Gustavsson is holding down the fort!

I agree with you Liles is really good along with Gardiner, young kid. Well they come back home to face the Penguins on Saturday hope for another win!

[EnderD_503]

Good win against the Rangers last night for sure. I hope Reimer's good for Sunday, though. The Pens game Saturday without him is going to be tough. Also hoping Kessel's good to go. Two too many key players injured for my liking!