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The ****ing 2017-18 Season

Bought one already... Will likely get the lettering done later. Have a marner st pats but still deciding what to do with this one.
 
Maple Leafs relying on sports science to determine Matthews’ status
Chris Johnston

The first person who greeted Auston Matthews when he came off the ice from Wednesday’s practice wasn’t a trainer or public-relations staffer.

It was Dr. Jeremy Bettle, the Toronto Maple Leafs director of sports science and performance, and he went straight for No. 34’s shoulder pads.

The Catapult GPS tracker Matthews wore for the 40-minute skate arguably contained the most important information about whether he’ll be cleared to return to the Leafs lineup on Thursday night after missing three games with an undisclosed upper-body injury.

You’d probably have better luck getting the nuclear codes than having a member of the organization disclose exactly how that information is applied, but it’s become clear that the Leafs are among a growing number of NHL teams leaning heavily on biometrics in their decision-making.

...

here’s been a distinct change in tone since Babcock’s first season behind the Leafs bench. Where once he seemed almost skeptical of the sports science department – repeatedly referencing the “science project” when asked about the status of an injured player – he’s now largely deferential to their role within the organization.

It has been most apparent during the Matthews injury situation because it’s believed the star centre’s absence is more about maintenance than anything else.

...

After rejoining the Leafs for practice on Wednesday, he noted that he’d been operating under “restrictions” placed upon him by the sports science staff.

...

Clearly, he’d like to play against the Devils. Babcock certainly wouldn’t have trouble finding a spot for him in the lineup – he put Matthews back between William Nylander and Zach Hyman in line rushes and had him participate in power-play drills during Wednesday’s practice.

In years gone by, that might have been enough to ensure a player’s return.

Now there’s at least one other factor being weighed in the conversation and, by Matthews’ own admission, he wasn’t completely himself in his first full practice back with the team. You’d have to think that showed up in the GPS data gathered by Bettle.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/maple-leafs-relying-sports-science-determine-matthews-status/

Maybe the Leafs health isn't luck. Obviously the sports science injury can't prevent catastrophic trauma like Polak's injury, but you have to think this stuff dramatically affects the wear and tear injuries and keeps players away from extended absences and nagging injuries.
 
Matthews leads the forwards in ice time, but ranks 76th in the league amongst forwards.

Zaitsev ranks 39th amongst defensemen.

The free agents we signed - Marleau and Hainsey - are beasts with near flawless injury histories.

Yeah i don't think it's all luck.
 
The Athletic @TheAthleticTO
1d
The #Leafs shoot from in close more than every other NHL team. @mirtle (with the help of some players) explains how they do it: theathletic.com/155913/2017/11…


feel free to share, subscribers.
 
Different Article, but another one today on the Leafs lethal PP.


Dellow: Maple Leafs in a whole different league than rest of the NHL on the power play

You know which team is having a pretty incredible season in terms of average distance on unblocked shot attempts at 5-on-4? The Florida Panthers. Florida is currently averaging shots from a distance of 28.9 feet. Before this year, the only team to be credited with a shorter average shot distance at 5-on-4 is the 2010-11 New York Rangers, who allegedly averaged 28.4 feet. The distance measurements from Madison Square Garden are notoriously somewhat suspect, so it wouldn't surprise me if Florida has actually managed to shoot from closer than the Rangers team mentioned. Pretty impressive stuff.

Also of note: the Maple Leafs are currently averaging a shot distance of 26.7 feet at 5-on-4, almost two feet ahead of the 2010-11 Rangers. As a rule, I try to avoid exclamation points in my writing, but: !!!

...

Let's deal with the numbers first. This unit is scoring 14.9 GF/60. The average 4F1D is scoring something like 7.5 GF/60. So that's pretty good. The shot volume they're generating is nuts: both 86.2 SF/60 and 144.2 CF/60 are wild numbers. They're getting nearly 60 per cent of their shot attempts on goal, which is really high, but then it's easier to hit the net when you're shooting from closer than any other team. A 17.3 per cent shooting percentage is really high but, again, you'll put more pucks into the net when you shoot from close.

...

Now, about those rebounds. I cite two numbers up there: 21.5 rebounds per 60 and rebound percentage of 30.2 per cent. Rebounds per 60 is pretty self-explanatory. Rebound percentage is the percentage of shots on goal that don't go into the net (goals can't produce rebounds) that result in a rebound shot. That 30.2 per cent leads the NHL amongst five-man units that have been on the ice for at least 20 saved shots. Only four such groups are above 20 per cent.

...

I took every five-man unit to be on the ice for at least 40 saves since 2010-11 and looked at their rebound rate. In all, 148 five-man units have been on the ice for at least 40 5-on-4 saves. This Toronto unit ranks first in terms of rebound rate amongst those groups. Second is a unit from the 2016-17 Anaheim Ducks (Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, Ryan Kesler, Cam Fowler and Sami Vatanen) at 24. 7 per cent. Only six of the 148 units manage to top a rebound rate of 20 per cent, let alone the 30 per cent that Toronto's PP1 is currently rolling along at. Generally speaking, these have involved small samples, but even by small sample standards, the numbers are absurd.

Obviously, if you're generating a lot of rebound chances, it will help keep the shot distance down. The average distance for a rebound shot for this unit has been 13 feet and, as I've explained above, they've had a lot of them.

Those numbers are from the Marner-Kadri-JVR-Bozak-Reilly unit.

https://theathletic.com/155800/2017...eague-than-rest-of-the-nhl-on-the-power-play/
 
Also interesting, he compared the shot location of the Habs and Leafs top PP units which produce a similar quantity of shots:

TOR12.png


MTL11.png



Its easy to see why the Leafs score so many more goals.
 
How does Zach Hyman have more goals than Nylander right now?

pick it up, willy.
It's funny, Marner's been the one taking all the heat so far this year.

Meanwhile, he has one less goal, and is tied for points with Nylander right now. And he hasn't had the benefit of being on the ice with Auston Matthews for all but three games so far this season.

So yeah, Willy's got to pick it up. With his shot, I honestly thought he had a real chance at 30 this year.
 
yeah, I mean you can see Marner isn't going to be a big goalscorer, but Nylander can absolutely rifle it. 3 goals in a quarter season with that release is kind of baffling.
 
They've basically had the reverse season.

Marner started off with 6 points in his first 14 games, and has now heated up for 7 in his last 5.

Nylander started off hot with 9 points in his first 8 games, and has cooled off with 4 points in his last 11.

That is the great part about have so much depth of high end talent. Players are going to slump. Especially 20 year old ones. So its great to have two other elite talents to pick up the slack. Plus guys like Kadri, JVR and Marleau.

A couple years ago when Kessel would go into a slump we couldn't score. Slumps matter much less when you aren't relying on one player.

I don't worry about either Marner or Nylander.
 
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Matthews is officially still out for tonight's game.

And looks like Soshnikov is taking Leivo's place in the lineup tonight.
 
I think Willie is a bit predictable on the wing at times. Still really good, but someone with his shot and playmaking skills should be in the middle to maximize his options.
 
I agree. Willy's getting stuck doing the same move. Reminding me of Kaberle a bit lately.
 
Young Leafs lead the pack in TSN Hockey's U-24 Core Four ranking

1. TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

PLAYER AGE 2017-18 GP G A PTS
1. Auston Matthews, C 20 Toronto 16 10 9 19
2. Morgan Rielly, LD 23 Toronto 19 3 13 16
3. William Nylander, RW 21 Toronto 19 3 10 13
4. Mitch Marner, RW 19 Toronto 19 2 11 13

Last Year: Second (+1)
Aged Out: None
Scoop: A potential perennial 50-goal scorer, an anchor and leader on the blueline and two crafty and quick wingers who can read and think the game as well as any young players. The Maple Leafs narrowly edged the team with TSN Hockey’s consensus preseason No. 1 player based on the completeness and depth of their entry. Plus, the gap between Matthews and McDavid – force of nature versus freak of nature – seems to be narrowing by the week.

http://www.tsn.ca/young-leafs-lead-the-pack-in-tsn-hockey-s-u-24-core-four-ranking-1.917336
 
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