It takes certain people from the East a few years to figure things out.
I don't know if TSN's article about the Leafs' lack of defence makes me more laugh or be angry.
TORONTO - The Toronto Maple Leafs are having an awfully tough time keeping the puck out of their net these days, but no one's pointing a finger at Vesa Toskala or Andrew Raycroft.Lack of team defence in Toronto is not a divine revelation. It's been going on for years. Last year, sure, Raycroft had the odd bad night. But the team defence in front of him was.....ASS. In recent past, the Leafs' have always had this problem. They just had superb goalies like Curtis Joseph and Ed Belfour to bail them out. Well, Raycroft and maybe even Toskala are not Cujo's and Belfour's.
Every player in a blue and white jersey feels some responsibility for the team's defensive struggles.
"We've got to keep four, five, six goals out of our net," forward Alex Steen said after Saturday's 6-4 loss to Pittsburgh. "It's not helping us when they're scoring six goals on us. We've got to minimize the chances they get.
"It's not the defencemen (that are at fault), it's everybody. Us forwards need to come back, help out, and make sure we're available."
No team in the Eastern Conference has allowed more goals than the Leafs.
It's just hilarious almost that Toskala was brought in to Toronto to be the saviour and he isn't one.
I just don't get the Leafs or Paul Maurice. Wasn't Maurice supposed to be a defencive minded coach? He sure made the Hurricanes boring to watch in the early 2000's with that trapping play. But it was effective. Either he has changed his style completely, or the players are not listening to him. I can't tell which it is. Probably both.
I don't like what Steen said, "it's not the defencemen's fault, it's everybody." C'mon, don't take too much heat off the D in T.O. They are either a bunch of pylons (Hal Gill) or take too many chances offensively and get caught (Kaberle and McCabe).
Somehow, Maurice is going to have to teach these guys how to play defence and get them to buy into a different system.
Good luck.
Until then every time there is an odd-man rush against the Leafs, take a shot of whatever alcohol you are drinking. I guarantee you'll be passed out before the 3rd period is over.
T Tags: Maple+Leafs defence sucks balls
Labels: Leafs
7 Comments:
I thought you were going to focus more on the Canucks and forget about those sad sack Leafs in this blog. Not that I'm a fan of either team, but don't we hear enough about the Leafs on TSN, Sportsnet and the CBC. It's time to burn that Leafs jersey and put your full support into the Canucks.
Although, if you're really looking for a 2nd team to support, the Flames are always there for ya!
Waaahaaha! NEEEEEEEEVVVVVEEEEERRRRRR!
Flames suck, dude. I hated them since day 1 of me being a hockey fan.
Oh, I'll throw a few Leaf posts in here....especially mocking posts. I'm still not totally over them yet. It's kinda like being in a long term relationship with a girl who treated ya poorly, yet you stuck with her hoping it would change. Even when you finally gather up the balls to dump her, it hurts for a long time afterward. Strange psychology. It's probably more weakness than anything else.
52 shots against, that was just recockulous.
Once it was 3-1 for the leafs, the gf said "ok it's over now right? we can go out?" and I sez "hah, these are the leafs we're watchin here! They'll give up 4 goals within a period no sweat!" And I was very nearly right.
RAGE!
I wonder if the season will be like this though.. Inspirational win, crushing defeat. Repeat so nothing ever gets changed.
As for the Flames, come on.. I can't figure them out, on paper they are a much better team than actually shows up. On paper the leafs suck as bad as in person!
Well, Keenan has temporarily cured the Flames road woes....gotta say.
The Leafs' inconsistency has been going on for too long. Frustrating.
Pretty much every time I watch the Leafs I'm screaming at McCabe aka "Fatty McCabe" nonstop. If he scores 1 goal, he is pretty much guaranteed to cause at least 2 to go in his own net from a defensive screwup.
Pretty much the only Leaf I don't scream at constantly is Mats. Him and some of the grinders like Pohl, Battaglia, etc.
Yeah, Mats and the grinders for me. I like Devereaux and Kilger fo sho.
Being a Bruins fan, I cannot relate to poor defensive team play at all.
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