that Tarasenko kid for the Blues looked real sharp, I remember seeing him earlier in the season before he got hurt and he was playing real well then too, looks like he's gotten healthy and back up to speed
Kings continue to have the Blues' number
Well, at least we pulled it out in the end. Lupul with an absolute beauty too! Now Rennadrel, I think we would be at least a much more solid 5th or in 4th right now, but I very much doubt we would be first. Trust me, I wish we were so I could tell some stupid Canuck fan's to just shut the hell up already.
How ridiculous is Ottawa right now? How deep can your goal tending get? Robin Lehner, Ben Bishop and Craig Anderson? Holy crap!
Last edited by Juno86; 2013-03-29 at 04:14 AM.
Sometimes months go by where you say nothing remotely retarded. Then this little gem.
5 games. It's FIVE games. If he puts up 40+ ina full season, yes, good for him, well worth the money. You can't use 5 games as a statistical basis for anything. The Leafs didn't win for 5 games not even a couple weeks ago. They won't make the playoffs by that logic.
As to the 'would probably be 1st in the East' part. Are you kidding me? This is a team with 100 goals against already this season. Yes they have the 2nd most goals in the league, but they also have like the 22nd ranked GAA or some shit. Lupul alone would not have stopped/prevented a slump like they had. They still have above average, but largely mediocre, goaltending. They still have the most giveaways in the league by over 60 or something. Defensively, they are quite leaky - their last 15 games they've allowed 50 goals. You really can't compare them to Pittsburgh or Boston (even to a lesser extent, Montreal) with the way they play in their own end.
Like if push comes to shove, I'm pretty sure no one gives Toronto a chance in a 7 game series against Pittsburgh, Boston, and potentially Montreal and a healthy Ottawa.
Are they a good team? Kind of, in certain ways. Is there a LOT of room for improvement? Absolutely.
My biggest issue with the Leafs is that if I was playing them, all I would have to think when I get the puck is high glove side... every.. single... time. Reimer's glove hand looks like he's got MS sometimes or something. Both him and Scrivens seem to have big problems tracking the puck, and Reimer gives up rebounds like the (insert generic poor defensive NBA team here).
They should comfortably make the playoffs (there's a 5 game stretch that starts in a week that will be very telling), but I would peg them as a first or second round bust at absolute best with the team they currently have.
I can see the Leafs beating the other 3 canadian teams in the playoffs tbh. They probably lose to Pittsburgh pretty handily but I'm not completely sold on Boston. They have a lot of streaky players and the last time they won the cup, they didn't exactly crush the opposition. I think I'd take a bet on Toronto to beat Boston in the playoffs if the spread was right for sure.
5 games lost where we still got points in all but 1 game. Toronto is 4-2-4 in their last 10, 4 of those games garnered us a point, two didn't and the other 4 were regulation wins. Our goals against during the losing stretch was bad but the team was still putting up goals to compete. Even when the goaltending isn't playing the best, the offense can keep the team in the game. Reimer has less of rebound problems then Scrivens does, and if we had to play Pittsburgh in the playoffs at any point it would be a complete routing because they score best off rebounds and second chances.
Toronto could use a top 2 defensive defender on the blue line so Phaneuf can play the cycle game like he does without having to worry about chasing the puck out of the offensive zone, and Gardiner needs to fix his defensive game a bit. The offense is more then good enough to compete, I'd say the depth is there but the consistency is on occasion an issue. But hey, we already know that Lupul can score goals by the truck load, look at how well he played last season before the injury, he was on pace for 50 goals. Playing on the 2nd line now he is on pace to score at least 20 goals by the end of the season, which would only be 21 games played for the entire season. They need to trade Grabs though and get an asset that will help them long term.
http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2...o-trade-talks/
Apparently the Leafs are considering trading for Luongo again... Kind of surprising to me. I mean, their goaltending hasn't been amazing, but it's been solid. Reimer's going through a bit of a rough stretch, but he was playing great earlier in the season. Plus they're still winning with him, 13 wins in 19 starts isn't bad at all. Bringing in Luongo would seem to say they don't see Reimer as remaining their #1 moving forward, unless they're planning on having Luongo be his back up, but with a 5+ million cap hit, that wouldn't make sense...
Maybe I just don't watch the Leafs enough though. I'm interested to hear what Leafs' fans thoughts on this are.
(Plus, Reimer is one of my fantasy goalies, so it would suck to lose him as a starter heading into my league's playoffs :P)
NHL Top 8 Goalies
I like how Melrose didn't even vote for Lundqvist/Quick and voted Crawford second. Good man.
We always play well against Pittsburgh and when we lose it's generally 1 goal games; Yes, they have Iginla and Morrow now, but Fleury is overrated because of the offensive production of the Penguins and we can score on him. I'd honestly take playing Penguins over playing the Jets right now. Winnipeg we suck a bit against, Carolina we suck badly against vs. Ward, and Boston we blow against. Montreal and Ottawa we can outplay IMO; Price is absolute shit in the playoffs and Eller's line is the only one that seems able to score on us this year. Both teams have been shutout by us and lost more so far this season. Additionally, playoffs is a new story and Leafs have the stronger players.
Raliek, I'd like to get Luongo if we don't give too much up; Especially since Reimer still needs work on glove side & 5 hole. However, keep in mind that Damien Cox is no Bob Mckenzie.
Last edited by Greeney; 2013-03-29 at 03:25 PM.
Considering how shit Lundqvist and Quick have been for much of this shortened season, it doesn't surprise me that they weren't picked. Bernier has been one of the reasons why LA is still in a playoff spot.
---------- Post added 2013-03-29 at 11:38 AM ----------
I think it all depends on what the trade winds up being. If they are willing to take on salary in the form of Grabovski and a goalie like Rynnas or Owuya, then I wouldn't have an issue with the Leafs making the trade. I just don't think that what Vancouver wanted initially is what will get done. There is no way in hell Nonis trades Bozak and Kadri, who have a combined 24 goals for the Leafs this season, plus a 1st round pick, for Luongo unless something else is coming back that makes our team better now as well. The reason I suggest trading Grabovski is because he is a good depth centre and we really need to have a guy on the 3rd line who isn't a skill player but more of a shut down type. Paying a 3rd line centre 5 million a year doesn't make sense and this team has loads of talent in the 1st and 2nd lines. Our needs are a reliable starting goalie who can win games that has experience, but so far all we have seen from Luongo in the past is much like the team in front of him, he vanishes in the playoffs and can't handle the pressure. Plus the Leafs need a true shut down 1st pairing defender, as I have said before. Getting a 3rd line checking centre would really complete this team, but it isn't the most pressing of our needs. Teams looking for depth down the middle going into the playoffs could use Grabovski and I think a team who wants a relatively young and experienced centre with a lot of scoring ability would get that with him, plus he thrives in a more offensive oriented system.
There are only a couple of deals I would make, and Vancouver would have to take on salary that is currently against our cap. There is no way we give up any other roster player other then Grabs right now. Gardiner and Reilly are our only true untouchables at this point, most of our other prospects are fair game I think, but we have a log jam coming up when it comes to goaltending and with MacIntyre playing so well for the Marlies and Sparks potentially making the Marlies next season since his junior career is close to done, we need to get rid of a goalie or two via trades. I think Rynnas is a free agent though, so he might not see an extension with the Marlies, I just don't think he is good enough to make the NHL as a starter anyway.
Lundqvist isn't playing his best, but he's the reason the Rangers aren't losing every game by 5 goals.
Grabovski is making more than Luongo until 2017 and doesn't want to leave Toronto because of his girlfriend. I don't see Graboski waiving his no trade clause or Gillis approving it as it would leave the Canucks in the same position. Especially since Luongo is more valuable to both teams than Grabovski. It would need to be a combination of either prospects, (hopefully low) draft picks, McArthur/Kulemin, and d-men in my opinion.
Rinne is a good goalie, but he's been very average this year. Thats not all his fault, but he's let in some very soft goals this season that normally dont get through.
P.S. I'll also add that this has been one of the more lackluster seasons I've seen for goalies. Other than maybe the two Chicago goalies during that stretch, no one has set the world on fire between the pipes.
Last edited by Armourboy; 2013-03-29 at 07:16 PM.
Vancouver is going to want a center especially with the uncertainty of Ryan Kesler's health so far this year. If there is a deal, I can see it being a multi player deal so they can shed some cap room but I get the feeling their price is still quite high. If there is a deal between the Canucks and the Leafs you can expect they want at least 1st and a center. I dunno if I'd really want to give up depth going into the playoffs. Leafs are gonna need to be deep to beat teams like Boston or Pittsburgh in a 7 game series. I think I'd want them to just stick with what they've got and see what they can do in the playoffs. Reimer and Scrivens' numbers aren't that far off compared to Luongo so far this year while Luo is the more proven guy, I would want to see how your 2 guys react in the post season before you make a deal. There's always next year since he's signed for 50 more years.
Woulden't put too much weight into articles on nhl.com. You'll also notice there is hardly any mention of the goalie tandem in Anaheim but those 2 guys have been amazing. Fasth is a god damn wall. Personally, I'd put Rask in the top 3 so far this season. He has very impressive numbers and so does Crawford.
I guess they're voting on who is the best in the game right now not who is playing the best so far this year. Nevermind me.
Last edited by Zeoni; 2013-03-30 at 12:47 AM.