NHL Random Thoughts Thread

[Slateman]

I hate this team so damned much.

[Slateman]

Goddamnit I fucking love this team

[Price]

[leaffan]

6 lose in a row.

50 million shots allowed on net and when the leafs some how come crawling back Carlyle puts Phaneuf and Franson on point and they fuck up 2 draws after Phaneuf had what probably was his worst game ever as a leaf.

Fuckin retarded.

[Guest]

[leaffan]

Insane stat I read today:

#Leafs and #Blues goalies have identical .916 save%. Only difference is Blues have allowed 800 fewer shots on goal this season.

This is pretty much equal to the leafs are giving up a goal against a game more then the Blues.

[kmanharris]

Lucic calling someone a chicken for a perfectly legal and clean hip-check.

One of the more dirty players in the league and he whines about a legal check.

BOSTON - Bruins forward Milan Lucic called Montreal Canadiens defenseman Alexei Emelin "a chicken" after the Canadiens snapped Boston's winning streak at 12 games with a 2-1 shootout win at TD Garden.

Early in the first period, Emelin upended Lucic with a clean, open-ice hip check in the neutral zone. Bruins captain Zdeno Chara took exception to the hit and tried to get Emelin to drop the gloves but he did not oblige and Chara was given a two-minute roughing penalty at 1:19.

"Whether it's fair, legal or whatever you want to call it, if he wasn't scared, he would stand up and hit me and not go after my knees," Lucic said. "It just shows how big of a chicken he is that he needs to go down like that to take me down. It shows what kind of player he is, and on my end, you know you've got to keep your guard up at all times."

Lucic and Emelin continued their physical play throughout the game. Late in the third period, the video replay showed Lucic hit Emelin in the backside with the toe of his stick, but it's unclear exactly where he connected. Emelin skated off the ice hunched over.

"Just skating by him and that's all," Lucic said. "People are trying to say I speared him. I did not spear him, so that's it."

[PP]

1st place bruins.

[leaffan]

1st place bruins.

[leaffan]

I have to laugh. I spent a good part of 2 hours today reading and listening to sportswriters talk about "whats wrong with the leafs".

I also have found that the clueless bandwagon fans and clueless fans are in full force lately. I've pretty much said since last offseason that the leafs were a fringe wild card team who were prone to going on massive losing streaks and going through odd spells where they win everything. Some notes I'm going to leave here just to see what happens in the future.

- People are calling for Dave Bolland to be signed for 5+ mil here. 5 FUCKIN MILLION for a guy who was hurt all year and has never been a 20 goal scorer. If he truly doesn't want a reup at maybe 3.5mil for a year then trade his rights away or let him walk. Let someone else deal with a Clarkson contract cuz the leafs certaintly don't need it. Especially when they have a player (Peter Holland) who can come in and do the same job for a lot cheaper.

- Carlyle should be fired. His odd strategies for a team that's not built for the way he plays is weird. This is more on Nonis not addressing this situation.

- It's time to start trading some players for improvements where needed. I'm talking Lupul and Bozak. Lupul could fetch a nice 2/3 or 4dman with a prospect. Bozak is at the highest his trade value will ever be. Sitting in between two all stars all year cashing in on easy points has probably got most people thinking he's a 1/2C. Realistically he's a 3C. He has a modified NTC though so that probably won't happen. Not sure what the market fetches for him. To be rid of his contract and have a clean cupboard at C starting with Holland and Kadri it would be nice.

- Fix the defense or at least attempt to. The bottom 2 dman position has been a sore spot for many years and it basically causes the top guys to play a hell of a lot more because the bottom 2 suck. They realistically need to find another solid top 4 dman and another bottom 2. Ranger and Gleason need to be either gone or in the case of gleason traded away or given low play time. Phaneuf is worth the 7mil he's going to get. That's a hell of a bargin but he doesn't fare well playing a ton of mins (he was well north of 25 for the first 30 games this year) and as shown this year he's prone to breaking down.

- The bottom 6 at forward has been odd. It's time to start playing the skilled prospects they do have (like every other top team does) and get rid of some of the dead weight. My fav player Orr needs to be sent to the AHL along with his friend McLaren and guys like Bodie, D'Amingo and Ashton given more play time. When your top 2 wingers are literally 5th and 6th in TOI for forwards it shows there isn't a lot of depth there.

- They need to go after a top centerman. Stastny has to be someone the leafs throw some money at if he hits the ufa market. They literally won't have the cap space if they keep the other pieces around though. He could be unreal in between Kessel and JVR. If he's unavailable they need to look at someone like Eric Stall if available. Long shot I know but they really can't not attempt to seriously go after someone now.

[Guest]

Bryz encouraging the heckling while the puck is in his zone........never change sir

[leaffan]

Leafs and Caps playoff chances actually went up last night btw

[Guest]

Leafs and Caps playoff chances actually went up last night btw

I actually want us to miss the playoffs. A drastic change in philosophy is needed in regards to building the roster, and another playoff appearance would just add to the perception that we are doing fine.

[leaffan]

I actually want us to miss the playoffs. A drastic change in philosophy is needed in regards to building the roster, and another playoff appearance would just add to the perception that we are doing fine.

It really feels like there is an absolute ton of that going around this season. The eastern conference alone has turned into a cesspool of teams that need to be fixed. I think a lot of the problem stems from the fact that its been two seasons now where teams have been frozen with what they can do contractionally because the cap got lowered on them and there's no wiggle room for monster deals. The caps expected to rise to around 71mil next season and this should start giving some teams the room they need to spend away.

I really think with Buffalo and Vancouver in full sell off mode coming up that could inject some quality players into some teams.

[Guest]

It really feels like there is an absolute ton of that going around this season. The eastern conference alone has turned into a cesspool of teams that need to be fixed. I think a lot of the problem stems from the fact that its been two seasons now where teams have been frozen with what they can do contractionally because the cap got lowered on them and there's no wiggle room for monster deals. The caps expected to rise to around 71mil next season and this should start giving some teams the room they need to spend away.

I really think with Buffalo and Vancouver in full sell off mode coming up that could inject some quality players into some teams.

Good point with Buffalo and Vancouver. The Capitals have picks and prospects that they could afford to deal, so they could look at the trade market instead of making a big move in FA.