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Around the NHL 2016-2017

Re: Around the NHL 2015-2016

leafman101 said:
Well they keep taking a mix of L and R dmen so that is clearly a factor for them. Its so much easier to play on your strong side, so if you have the luxury of being able to have that balance and still take a bunch of star players I get the logic.

Burns just had a hell of a year and knocked Subban out this time around. Doughty, Weber and Pietrangalo are locks on the right side. I agree that Letang is a big oversight on the left side though. He's a great defenseman, and is completely underrated defensively.
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Funny enough, I think Burns and Subban are better players than Weber or Pietrangelo... maybe Doughty too. And I'd take Subban playing the left side over either Vlasic or Muzzin. C'est la vie though... their team is still sick.

Agreed re Letang. He's criminally underrated defensively and physically.

Funny enough, they don't mind bringing 12 centers though.
 
Re: Around the NHL 2015-2016

MindzEye said:
I think it more has to do with Babcock knowing how he wants his team to play, and wanting pieces to fill those roles. With how dominant we were in Sochi, I'm not really willing to argue with his approach. It's not like he's picking any Rob Zamuner's or Chris Draper's. Muzzin is a legit top pairing defender in his own right, who just happens to be the full time running mate of Canada's best defender.


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He's a major possession driver for LAK, excellent shot suppressor and played 82 games a year with Doughty. He's not out of his element in that level of competition.
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I'm sure you recall how hard a time we had scoring... Price had to be phenomenal to lead them to victory. I know you rely on your forwards for scoring but man... a Subban and Letang sure could have helped lead to some goals I'd think.
 
Re: Around the NHL 2015-2016

MindzEye said:
The guy who Habs fans should be upset about being named ahead of PK is Pietrangelo, & Weber. Burns & Doughty are no brainers...but both Pietrangelo & Weber are living off of reputation imo. PK is better than both. Weber has been exposed since Suter left Nashville as a poor possession defender, and Pietrangelo would probably be exposed as similar if he didn't play on such a talent loaded team.
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I completely agree. Those guys are there out of habit at this point.
 
Re: Around the NHL 2015-2016

MindzEye said:
The guy who Habs fans should be upset about being named ahead of PK is Pietrangelo, & Weber. Burns & Doughty are no brainers...but both Pietrangelo & Weber are living off of reputation imo. PK is better than both. Weber has been exposed since Suter left Nashville as a poor possession defender, and Pietrangelo would probably be exposed as similar if he didn't play on such a talent loaded team.
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Agreed. No way Pietrangelo is better
 
Re: Around the NHL 2015-2016

JaysCyYoung said:
Morgan was just named a Top 3 Player on a gold medal winning World Championship roster, logging the most ice time, and being Canada's best defenceman throughout the entire tournament.

Johnny will have to get used to seeing him feature as a mainstay on future Canadian editions for the Olympics and Worlds.
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The World Championships? :lol

The tournament that made Patrick Wiercioch look like a solid defenseman?

Double Heh.

I know it's been a while since any Leafs were relevant, and most of the last decade out of the playoff picture can suck, but is it so bad that you now believe the World Championship loser tournament has any remote value?
 
Re: Around the NHL 2015-2016

Rielly is a damn good young dman. I'm not quite sure he's a candidate for team Canada (when everyone is available) just yet... but he's not far off. Definitely next Olympics.
 
Re: Around the NHL 2015-2016

It's when it comes to determining the best hockey nations on the planet where the World Championships is largely useless as an evaluation tool. But the level of play in the majority of the games is sufficiently high that it is actually very impressive when a 21 year-old defenseman is the #1 guy on a Canadian team that ended up winning gold, or when a pair of 18 year-olds end up being dominant offensive players in the tournament.
 
Re: Around the NHL 2015-2016

Habspatrol said:
I'm sure you recall how hard a time we had scoring... Price had to be phenomenal to lead them to victory. I know you rely on your forwards for scoring but man... a Subban and Letang sure could have helped lead to some goals I'd think.
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Or to more goals in our net. Neither is particularly good defensively. I mean, we finished the tournament with a goal differential of 18-3. This is what we did from a S/SA standpoint

V Norway (38-20)
V Austria (46-23)
V Finland (27-15)
V Latvia (57-16)
V USA (37-31)
V Sweden (36-24)

The game against the USA was the only game Carey Price had to wake up on time for, the rest of the games were complete possession wipe outs that Canada dominated from front to back.
 
Re: Around the NHL 2015-2016

Habspatrol said:
Rielly is a damn good young dman. I'm not quite sure he's a candidate for team Canada (when everyone is available) just yet... but he's not far off. Definitely next Olympics.
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Yep, which is why I listed him in the group of LHD that missed the cut this time around. Johnny is just being Johnny.
 
Re: Around the NHL 2015-2016

Habspatrol said:
Funny enough, I think Burns and Subban are better players than Weber or Pietrangelo... maybe Doughty too.
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No. Burns maybe, if we're playing the hot hand theory, but Doughty > Subban. It's just the truth.



And I'd take Subban playing the left side over either Vlasic or Muzzin.
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Nah, I'd rather either over an out of position. Both are really, really good 2 way defenders. I think they're being massively slept on by Habs fans.

Agreed re Letang. He's criminally underrated defensively and physically.
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Physically sure, defensively...nah.
 
Re: Around the NHL 2015-2016

MindzEye said:
No. Burns maybe, if we're playing the hot hand theory, but Doughty > Subban. It's just the truth.
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Doughty is definitely better defensively but man... 15+ points is a pretty big difference for dmen.


Nah, I'd rather either over an out of position. Both are really, really good 2 way defenders. I think they're being massively slept on by Habs fans.
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They're good players but neither are even close to Subban or Letang.

Physically sure, defensively...nah.
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Definitely defensively. People talk as if he's a sieve.... he's definitely above average defensively... I'd even say good.
 
Re: Around the NHL 2015-2016

Habspatrol said:
Doughty is definitely better defensively but man... 15+ points is a pretty big difference for dmen.



They're good players but neither are even close to Subban or Letang.


Definitely defensively. People talk as if he's a sieve.... he's definitely above average defensively... I'd even say good.
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He's pretty soft and runs around a lot(gets out of position). Reminds me a bit of Erik Karlsson the way he defends.
 
Re: Around the NHL 2015-2016

Habspatrol said:
Doughty is definitely better defensively but man... 15+ points is a pretty big difference for dmen.
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Doughty is elite in both ends of the ice, PK is elite at one end. PK is the bigger PP weapon, that's about it.


They're good players but neither are even close to Subban or Letang.
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They're a lot closer than you think.


Definitely defensively. People talk as if he's a sieve.... he's definitely above average defensively... I'd even say good.
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Nah, he's averagish defensively. Poor at shot suppression and a high quality of shots given up relative to team mates. He's not a sieve, but he's not good either.
 
Re: Around the NHL 2015-2016

JohnnyHolmes said:
The World Championships? :lol

The tournament that made Patrick Wiercioch look like a solid defenseman?

Double Heh.

I know it's been a while since any Leafs were relevant, and most of the last decade out of the playoff picture can suck, but is it so bad that you now believe the World Championship loser tournament has any remote value?
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It's a great tournament with a very high level of competition. I'm not sure why you would scoff it off like that. After the Olympics it's the best international tournament around.

Check out Canada's roster from Prague last May. It was essentially the Olympic team with a few changes.
 
Re: Around the NHL 2015-2016

Well if people think the arguments here are bad, there was a guy behind me at the Jays game who thought Tanev should have made the team.
 
Re: Around the NHL 2015-2016

I don't watch west coast games much but from what I have gathered they think Tanev=jesus?
 
Re: Around the NHL 2015-2016

Any idea why Kessel didn't make the USA squad?
 
Re: Around the NHL 2015-2016

Nevermind, I read the great Steve Simmons and he has the ANSWER.

The truth on Phil Kessel and Team USA: They didn’t want him around for the World Cup of Hockey.

Kessel led Team USA in scoring at the Sochi Olympics and led the round-robin portion of the tournament in scoring before he disappeared in the medal round. The U.S. team ended the Games greatly disappointed and many players pointed to Kessel as letting them down.
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