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NHL February 2014 |OT| The A on Dustin Brown's jersey stands for Asshole

S

Silexx

Member
KernelPanic said:
We got the trees in this case, Turris and Zibanejad.
Click to expand...

No.

The team lacks wingers. Michalek was dead weight last night and Zibanejad deserves to be at centre where he excels. (despite me not believing he's a top six center at this time, he gives us great depth.)

Spezza is not playing good, I will not deny this, but needs some goddamn support out there because we're only running one line right now.
 
K

KernelPanic

Member
Samyy said:
Spezza was a PPG centre for most of his career guys :lol
Turris and Zibby I'm sure they will be great for you but seriously they haven't proven anything. Next season they could be shit for all you know too, would you give up on them too?

If Spezza is having problems then I'm just wondering why the coach hasn't been able to address them more then half-way into the season.
Click to expand...

And Dany Heatley was once a two time 50G scorer.

This has nothing to do with his point production really, he is awful defensively, always was and it's only getting worse. They've tried all wingers with him and no matter who plays with him his line spends most of their time in our zone chasing the puck(which often goes in).

What would you have the coach do if he refuses to backcheck? MacLean's two-way puck pursuit system requires all players to be responsible, backcheck and cover for pinching D-men. What are you supposed to do when your CAPTAIN is basically uncoachable and thinks he can do whatever he wants(which generally means cherry picking in the neutral zone)? They brought Ryan in to play with him but they figured out early on that Turris is a far more effective center.

Turris is already our #1 center, opponents send their best checkers against his line because him, MacArthur and Ryan are the most dangerous. Spezza's line is the line they send their best scoring forwards against because they know they'll got lots of possession time in our zone. There's a reason he is a -22. No one is concerned about him 5on5 because he's a trainwreck, he's only dangerous on the PP where he has lots of time and room to make passes.

The only question is whether he is less effective because of age/injuries or because he doesn't give a shit. After blaming a teammate for his fuck up I'm willing to bet it's the latter. Either way the Sens need to cut him loose before his value drops even more.

Silexx said:
No.
Spezza is not playing good, I will not deny this, but needs some goddamn support out there because we're only running one line right now.
Click to expand...

How many years have they tried to find a winger for him? LOL It's the same story no matter who he plays with. His line loses possession quickly and they spend their time in our zone getting outshot. Zibenajad isn't ready for top6 duty yet but by the time Spezza's contract is up he will be for sure. Either way I'd rather take my chances with him than a declining Spezza whose game hasn't evolved one fucking bit since he entered the NHL.

How many fucking goals do we have to allow due to his lazy play before it's his fault? He is the fucking captain and he blames Greening for his lazy play? Sure it was a bad time for him to get off but how does that excuse his loafing on the ice? No fucking urgency at all.

ROFL Is that who you want setting an example for our prospects?
 
U

Unhandled Exception

Member
If Spezza really doesn't give any fucks as much as that you'd think he would be talking trade himself. Wonder what's going on there. Maybe he's just done playing hawkie.
 
S

Silexx

Member
KernelPanic said:
How many years have they tried to find a winger for him? LOL It's the same story no matter who he plays with. His line loses possession quickly and they spend their time in our zone getting outshot. Zibenajad isn't ready for top6 duty yet but by the time Spezza's contract is up he will be for sure. Either way I'd rather take my chances with him than a declining Spezza whose game hasn't evolved one fucking bit since he entered the NHL.?
Click to expand...

And he's had wingers. He had Heatley, he had Alfredsson and he had Michalek until his injuries caught up with him.

But now he's got no one and even management realizes this since every time they talk about acquiring someone, it's always a top six forward.
 
K

KernelPanic

Member
19 & 21 said:
If Spezza really doesn't give any fucks as much as that you'd think he would be talking trade himself. Wonder what's going on there. Maybe he's just done playing hawkie.
Click to expand...

He's apparently asked for a trade before back when a few years ago when we lost to Pittsburgh in first round and his lazy pass to Volchenkov cost us a goal and the game. He was boo'd off the ice and supposedly was willing to be traded. Our GM talked him out of it but they did apparently explore some trade options before his NMC kicked in.

Maybe he does give a shit to some extent but he flat out refuses to backcheck and play defensively responsible hockey. He is what he is and he's not going to change. The coaching staff has to coddle him with defensively responsible wingers and shelter him because he gets destroyed when he's up against the other team's top scorers.

I'm willing to bet his numbers will tank over the next few years just like his BFF Heatley.

Silexx said:
And he's had wingers. He had Heatley, he had Alfredsson and he had Michalek until his injuries caught up with him.
Click to expand...

Who do they think they expected Ryan to play with when they acquired him?

And how will this mythical top-6 winger they will acquire help him backcheck and stop coasting on the ice? Because he is costing this team goals and games with his lazy play and he's even willing to blame someone else for it too. That's not what you want from a captain at all.

At best he is not cut out for MacLean's system, maybe he will do better elsewhere, but he is not the type of player for a team that "skates all 200ft of the ice" like MacLean puts it. He's a slow skater, not going to get any faster with age and he's never been a defensively responsible player and he's not going to start anytime soon it looks like.
 
M

MetatronM

Unconfirmed Member
Marc Staal missed morning skate today. His wife was giving birth to their new daughter. He is in the lineup tonight against the Avs.

Ryan Callahan is also expected to be in the lineup tonight.
 
C

Cake Boss

Banned
Silexx said:
And he's had wingers. He had Heatley, he had Alfredsson and he had Michalek until his injuries caught up with him.

But now he's got no one and even management realizes this since every time they talk about acquiring someone, it's always a top six forward.
Click to expand...

Lol why is it that Ryan and MacArthur work well with Turris and not Spezza.

Why is it that Conacher works well with Zibby as his center or even DaCosta as his center, why are Michalek's best games this season have come from Zibby centering him and not Spezza.


You people need to finally learn is that he doesnt even help make his wingers better but actually makes them worse and brings them down to his shitty level, quite opposite of what a top 6 center should do. Wingers arent the problem, hes the fucking problem.
 
K

Kave_Man

come in my shame circle
Bodie sits so we can get our thug nasty line out there (orr/smithson/mclaren)

Fuck man...

I can only hope next year we don't bring back Orr. Dude lost his soul when Parros got hurt. :(
 
M

MetatronM

Unconfirmed Member
Same lines and d-pairings tonight for the Rangers. I can't remember the last time the roster was this stable. I don't think there have been any changes to the lineup, aside from the odd Talbot start here and there, for weeks now.
 
C

Cake Boss

Banned
Dubbedinenglish said:
Maybe move Spezza to wing? Take away the defensive responsibilities and have a two way centerman. Then trade Methot for Goc and he can be the 3C.
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We tried to give him our best defensive players to play with him on the wing and that hasnt worked either (Smith, Condra, MacArthur etc)
 
L

LevelNth

Banned
Kave_Man said:
Bodie sits so we can get our thug nasty line out there (orr/smithson/mclaren)

Fuck man...

I can only hope next year we don't bring back Orr. Dude lost his soul when Parros got hurt. :(
Click to expand...
Bodie only has one game left of eligibility before he'll have to clear waivers to get sent down, which likely will need to happen with Bolland coming back if a trade/cap dump is not made this week.

We're forced to use the two thugs at least once this week with Ashton hurt, so if we have to, shouldn't we use them against the worst of the three teams we play?
 
K

KernelPanic

Member
Cake Boss said:
We tried to give him our best defensive players to play with him on the wing and that hasnt worked either (Smith, Condra, MacArthur etc)
Click to expand...

No winger in the universe will make him back check. You can contain the damage somewhat with guys like Condra but he's always going to be a massive liability on the ice 5 on 5.

At what point do we hold him accountable and not who he's playing with?

This myth that we need some magical top 6 winger to play with him needs to stop.
 
U

Unhandled Exception

Member
Well shit, if Spezza is really that bad then good luck getting a damn thing for him. Would be a monster fleecing to get anything of value. I hear the Wings is where you send players to die so maybe he could join Alfredsson for Nyquist or something.
 
C

Cake Boss

Banned
Team gets roasted by a rival for 6 goals on Saturday.
Teams gets fucked by 48 shots against by the Pens.
Optional skate the following day.

Good coaching!!

Every single motherfucker should be bag skated.
 
M

Merguson

Banned
The Leafs will trade for Spezza and it will be like the JVR trade.

To mirror the JVR trade as closely as possible, the return will be Cody Franson.
 
K

KernelPanic

Member
Solo said:
I'd sure love to run a guy out of town who has 660 points in 662 games....
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Players decline man. How much of a free pass do past accomplishments get you?

Why are the Habs wanting to trade Markov? He's been largely awesome for you guys over the years.

Same scenario I think.
 
K

KernelPanic

Member
Solo said:
Spezza had 84 points in his last full season! It's not like he's had 3 or 4 bad years in a row.
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It's not about points, he's coasting Kovalev style out there. Every fucking night.

His points will decline with age, but he'll continue to be lazy.

Maybe it's due to injuries but all the more reason to bail out. Turris has already replaced him.
 
C

Curufinwe

Member
Merguson said:
The Leafs will trade for Spezza and it will be like the JVR trade.

To mirror the JVR trade as closely as possible, the return will be Cody Franson.
Click to expand...

But Franson is a big point producer who also give up a lot of goals against. While LSChenn, at least in Philly, is a low scoring defenseman who is a positive player.
 
D

DopeyFish

Not bitter, just unsweetened
Why are leafs dressing orr and mclaren?

Did florida acquire goons while i was asleep?

Either way, cant wait to see them for a grand total of 2.5 minutes!
 
B

BigJonsson

Member
Clarkson is back tonight.........

What is the Leafs record without Clarkson? I'm sure it's pretty damn good when he isn't in the lineup
 
S

Samyy

Member
Curufinwe said:
But Franson is a big point producer who also give up a lot of goals against. While LSChenn, at least in Philly, is a low scoring defenseman who is a positive player.
Click to expand...

So is Schenn getting better? I always liked him, hope he can find his way. His first season in the league was so good :(

BigJonsson said:
Clarkson is back tonight.........

What is the Leafs record without Clarkson? I'm sure it's pretty damn good when he isn't in the lineup
Click to expand...

17-17-5 with
13-4-1 without
 
H

Heretic

Member
Samyy said:
I understand he's having a bad season but he was a real good player before, don't jump the gun.
Its possible management made a mistake making him captain and he can't handle the pressure, I don't know, but to give up on a player of that caliber after a poor season seems wasteful.
Click to expand...

Getzlaf went through the same thing when he was named captain and now he's in beast mode!
 
M

Merguson

Banned
Samyy said:
So is Schenn getting better? I always liked him, hope he can find his way. His first season in the league was so good :(



17-17-5 with
13-4-1 without
Click to expand...

Pretty skewed due to that slide the Leafs were on. That and the beginning of the season where they had a nice performance which is never representative of the actual team.

Curufinwe said:
But Franson is a big point producer who also give up a lot of goals against. While LSChenn, at least in Philly, is a low scoring defenseman who is a positive player.
Click to expand...

Fine, Paul Ranger.
 
S

Smiley90

Stop shitting on my team. Start shitting on my finger.
God I hope Spezza gets traded and returns to his NORMAL form so Cakeboss and Kernel see how stupid complaining about a guy having ONE bad season is.
 
C

CrazedArabMan

Member
Lone_Prodigy said:
Apparently there was an Edler to Detroit deal at the draft that fell through? Wonder if he would waive his NTC to go there.
Click to expand...

I believe it was Nyquist, Smith, and a 1st was the rumor, but I'm not sure if that is correct. The other one being that the Nucks wanted 3 pieces and a 1st for him.

Who knows though, to be honest I'm glad we kept Nyquist and Smith is having a much better season (though still can be improved) than last year.

Coldplay619 said:
At this point just fucking send all the Swedes there.
Click to expand...

Backstrom is next on the list for Swedes to aquire! Him and Z together with Nyquist, hnnnnggggg....

Oh, and Edler got checked into the bench by Jurco yesterday, sweet!

9465198.jpg



Edit:

So I haven't visited Eklund for some laughs in a while, but he has Detroit in on Kadri and Gaborik. That's right Leafs, Crayon is ours!!!
 
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