Toronto Maple Leafs

Clark's new article about the Orr re-signing got me thinking. I honestly believe that the Leafs have yet to move on from the culture of hockey pre-2005. There have been a lot of moves that Toronto has made that seem to stem from a very outdated mindset. I get that some people believe that building a team like the 2004 squad is a good idea. They were the last Leaf playoff team after all. However, that was almost a decade ago. We've had two new CBA's since then, and the league has been cracking down on penalties. Players can no longer hook and hold when a faster player skates around them. In every season since the 2005 lockout, the Leafs appear to be making the necessary changes to adapt to the new playing style, only to make moves which reverse that trend. Having both Orr and McLaren playing at the same time is the most recent example of this. In this three-part series of posts, I will go through each season after the 2005 lockout, detailing the moves that Toronto has made in an effort to show that the Leafs have yet to truly move on from 2004. 2005-2006 General Manager: John Ferguson Jr. Head Coach: Pat Quinn Key Additions: Eric Lindros (Centre), Jason Allison (Centre), Alex Khavanov (Defence), Mariusz Czerkawski (Winger), Jeff O'Neill (Winger), Luke Richardson (Defence), Jean-Sebastian Aubin (Goalie) Key Departures: Gary Roberts (Winger), Joe Nieuwendyk (Centre), Brian Leetch (Defence), Owen Nolan (Winger), Alexander Mogilny (Winger), Ron Francis (Centre), Mikael Renberg (Winger), Robert Reichel (Centre) The Toronto Maple Leafs were seemingly the first victim of the new CBA. The Maple Leafs could no longer afford to keep all their high-priced, veteran talent. So in an effort to maximize his cap flexibility, John Ferguson didn't bring back Gary Roberts, Joe Nieuwendyk and Alex Mogilny. Brian Leetch didn't want to come back, and signed with the Bruins for what would be his last season. Owen Nolan was embroiled in a legal dispute with the team, and would not play another game for the Maple Leafs. Ron Francis retired, while the ridiculously disappointing duo of Robert Reichel and Mikael Renberg were simply let go. That left a lot of holes that needed to be fixed. Luckily, the Leafs had a few young players who could have taken their spots. Alex Steen, Matt Stajan, Kyle Wellwood, Nikolai Antropov and Alexei Ponikarovsky were ready to take on more minutes and more responsibility. What's important here is that these group of players were ready. GM Ferguson had a different plan. You see, instead of making this season a rebuilding one (Which was sorely needed), he opted to make a run for the playoffs. The timing was atrocious for such a run, seeing as how their window was completely closed following the 2003-04 playoffs. Aging goaltender Ed Belfour also opted to sit out the entire lockout, which would be disastrous for the Leafs. Fear not however, Ferguson had a plan. You see, there's been one franchise player who has always wanted to don the Blue and White. His name was Eric Lindros, and Toronto finally acquired him. Lindros was considered the most talented hockey player since Gretzky. That was in 1995 however. Lindros ceased being a #1 player after the 2001-2002 season. He wasn't really that old when he signed with the Leafs. At the age of 32 he could have bounced back. But with a history of head injuries, his on-ice age was realistically about 38 or 39. Nevertheless, Leaf Nation was excited to see Lindros in a Leafs jersey. Ferguson backed up Lindros by signing centreman Jason Allison to play on a third scoring line. Jeff O'neill was also brought in to play with Mats Sundin, but his days as a legitimate sniper were long gone. Mariusz Czerkawski was signed to give the Leafs some depth, speed and a little scoring. The forward lineup was set, and on paper it didn't look too bad. Toronto's main problem in years past however was their defence. The Leafs seemed to rotate through "impact" defencemen

After the opening two games between the Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins, the Stanley Cup final is tied at one game apiece for the first time since the lockout.Well, not this year’s lockout. I mean, that would be true, but it wouldn’t be very interesting. And because we need to be more specific in Gary Bettman’s wonderful world of perpetual work stoppages, let’s try this again: This year’s final is tied 1-1 for the first time since the lockout that wiped out the entire 2004-05 season. Much better.Yes, in all seven Stanley Cup final series since 2004, the team that won the first game also won the second. (Although two of those teams still ended up losing the series.) Given that, I thought it would be worthwhile to look back at the most recent 10 times that we’ve found ourselves even after two games, and to see if the past has anything to teach us about what we might be able to expect this year.>> Read the full post on Grantland

BigBadBoss’ video story on the Leafs‘ playoff run. Google+

This is the second part of a series on defensemen who could fit within the Leafs top-four for next season. If you would like to read part one, you can find it here. To determine who made the list I looked through CorsiRelQoC's of the past year (and sometimes further back) in order to determine if the player had played difficult minutes on their team. From there I considered CorsiRel and CorsiON as well as Zone Start Percentage to see how the player fared against the tough competition. These players all played well in shutdown roles and are, to varying degrees, conceivable targets whether it be by free agency or trade. 5. Johnny Oduya: 31 years old, 6' 0", 190 lbs, Cap hit of $3.38 million Johnny Oduya is the second Blackhawk defender to make the list, and of the two is probably the more available. Oduya is a smooth skating player, who is more defensive in nature than a lot of players in his mould. He is smart, and can play as a shutdown defender with far more proficiency than he is given credit for. His offensive contributions are limited (12 points in 48 games this year) but he could play on the powerplay in a pinch. Oduya's possession numbers are very impressive, as he sported the best CorsiRel and CorsiON of any Chicago defenseman who played 30+ games, with a 1.8 and 9.03 in those categories respectively. His CorsiRelQoC was also second on the Chicago blueline, with a score of 1.105 and an Offensive Zone Start % of 50.9% – one of the highest on the list. Oduya's possession numbers suggest that he played effectively against top competition night-in night-out. His high Offensive Zone Start % can be attributed to usage as well as Chicago's depth at blueline (Niklas Hjalmarsson had the lowest Offensive Zone Start % of 48%, which when compared to some other defensemen is really quite manageable). It seems likely that given Chicago's top-four is amongst – if not the – best in the league, Joel Quennville was able to rotate zone starts effectively. Given his possession numbers, it seems fair to expect Oduya to be able to play heavy minutes in Toronto. Whether he would be paired with Dion Phaneuf or someone like Cody Franson instead remains to be seen, but regardless, he would definitely help lessen the burden on Phaneuf and Gunnarsson. Oduya's price would probably be at or around the same as when he was acquired by Chicago (a 2nd and 3rd round pick). Given his age, and Chicago's cap situation, he could very well be made available for less, especially if Toronto were willing to take on some dead weight (i.e. Steve Montador). Oduya's contract runs two more years, which would give the Leafs ample time to develop some of their defensive prospects while also remaining competitive for a playoff spot. Overall, Oduya would be a welcome addition to Toronto's blueline, however, given his lack of physical edge he may not be an attractive option to Dave Nonis and Randy Carlyle. If Carlyle and Nonis want to prioritize physicality that is fine by all means, provided they look at accomplished defensemen rather than overrated pilons. While Oduya is unlikely to be priority #1 this offseason he is definitely someone the Leafs should inquire about as he provides a solid veteran defensive presence at a moderate price. 6. Jordan Leopold: 32 years old, 6' 1", 206 lbs, UFA, Cap hit last year of $3 million Jordan Leopold is another solid veteran option on defense, and should be target #1 for the Maple Leafs amongst this years UFA crop. Leopold is a smart and smooth skating defenseman who is usually accompanied by those great descriptors of "makes a good first pass" and "positionally sound"; he is in many respects, the definition of the cerebral veteran. On offense Leopold had a rocky season putting up only 10 points in 39 games. However, he is only two seasons removed from a 35 point campaign (on pace for 40 points had he played the whole season) and could be expected to add occasional offense, or play on the powerplay if nee

(Credit goes to mf37 for the title) On Thursday, a large contingent of the fanbase was made very happy (and another contingent of the fanbase was made quite livid) by news that Colton Orr was being rewarded for his, ahem, "contributions" to the Leafs making the playoffs for the first time since 2004 with a 2-year contract extension worth $925k per season. The 31-year old winger will be patrolling the fourth line and punching faces six minutes a night for two more seasons. Naturally, opinions are very divided on this move. While I certainly appreciate Colton Orr's talents at disregarding the physical safety of other hockey players (by punching them repeatedly), the fact remains that by virtually every objective and subjective category, Colton Orr is an inadequate NHL calibre hockey player. Based solely on his hockey skills, there's not a single case to be made for Orr's continued placement in an NHL lineup. The case basically revolves around some sort of mysticism involving the role of a fighter and intangible qualities that make Colton Orr indispensable to the Leafs dressing room. But this isn't about Colton Orr, because frankly Colton Orr matters little to the present and future of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He plays 6 minutes a night (poorly, I will add one last time), and makes very little against the salary cap. Pro-Orr supporters generally fall back to the point of "it's such a small contract. who cares?" We'll get to that later. But for now, let's examine the other ways in which this contract extension paints a very unflattering picture about the motivations and the thought process of the Toronto Maple Leafs management team. Priorities The other off-ice news in the NHL on Thursday was that the Pittsburgh Penguions announced that they have come to terms with superstar Evegeni Malkin on a very rich new deal. I say come to terms because acording to the CBA, the Penguins aren't actually allowed to announce an extension for another three weeks. Because you see, Evgeni Malkin's current contract runs until the end of the 2014 season, and the CBA does not permit teams from announcing a contract extension until one year before the expiration of their existing deal. The Penguins esentially announced they've agreed to the deal that Malkin will sign on July 5 when free agency opens. What does Malkin's new contract have to do with Orr? Nothing. But Penguins GM Ray Shero knows who butters his bread, and has ensured that the Penguins continue to have a dominant core at centre with Sidney Crosby (signed to a long extension last year), and now Malkin. Even though the Penguins have a ton of unrestricted free agents this summer, including long-time forward Pascal Dupuis, and trade deadline mercenaries Jarome Iginla and Brenden Morrow, and a Norris Trophy candidate in Kris Letang also due for a new contract in 2014, Shero knows that his team will succeed or fail based on Crosby and Malkin, and ensured he retains both of them as long as possible. Contrast that with Toronto. The Leafs captain, Dion Phaneuf, and their top scorer and overall best player, Phil Kessel, are both scheduled to be free agents in 2014, same as Malkin was. The Leafs goaltender, James Reimer, who dragged the Leafs within a minute of the second round of this year's playoffs, is a RFA that summer. Three of their top 9 forwards and 2 of their expected top 4 defence are free agents this summer. The Leafs are facing key personnel decisions that will shape how this club looks the next two seasons, and Nonis first move is to re-sign a fighter who plays six minutes a night. That isn't to say that the Leafs won't take care of these players, but it's certainly frustrating to see a team that's been among the league's elite prioritize taking care of business with its superstar well in advance, and the Leafs now have a goon under contract longer than all but four of their players. via upload.wikimedia.org Alternatives I didn't mention him with the other free agents, but F

It isn't too far-fetched to believe that Everett Silvertips defenseman Mirco Mueller one day could be reunited with his old partner in the Western Hockey League. During the 2012 NHL Draft in Pittsburgh, the Columbus Blue Jackets chose Silvertip...

The Myth: Randy Carlyle's collapsing defensive system pushes shots to the outside and away from the dangerous areas of the ice. All season long, this was repeated time and time again. Even though shot totals were way up from previous years, we were told that it's just because teams aren't able to get the puck in close to the net and are forced to take more shots from the outside out of frustration. Just yesterday Travis Yost (a Sens blogger) posted an article on the site that shall not be named (but will be linked for the sake of this article) trying to look at shot quality and how it might be tied into shot distance. He postulated that teams with higher shot distance averages would have higher team save percentages. Turns out, there is virtually no correlation between average shot distance and save percentage. In that post you can see that the Leafs had the farthest average shot distance in the league, while also being dead last in 5v5 SA/60. Another area where I've seen Carlyle's system defending in how the percentage of shots from 30+ for the Leafs in highest in the league. 64% of the Leafs ESSOG came from 30+ feet versus only 55% league wide. (Link to these numbers will be below, but I don't want to spoil the rest now.) My Hypothesis: The Leafs high average shot distance and high average SA/G, coupled with watching teams get a free reset or uncontested point shot due to Carlyle's collapsing system, are indicative that rather than removing shots from the dangerous areas and pushing them to the outside, Carlyle's system has merely added shots from the outside/points while leaving shots from under 30 feet relatively unchanged. Using PPP user and all around nice guy ninjagreg's amazing Super Shot Search, I tabulated the totals shots for the Leafs and the NHL as a whole from 0-10, 10-20, 20-30, and 30+ feet. Then I normalized these to a per game number. The results might surprise you (but not me because this was my gut feeling): ES Shots Per Game Average From Certain Distances (link to spreadsheet) Team Year 0-10 10-20 20-30 30+ TML 2009-12 0.83 2.37 1.87 7.38 TML 2013 0.73 2.69 1.85 9.44 NHL 2009-2013 1.03 2.48 1.91 6.68 (In the words of Willem Dafoe "We'll start the ass kissing with you.") The total ES shot per game difference under 30 feet between the 2009-12 Leafs and the 2013 Leafs? 0.15 shots. The shot difference from 30+ feet? 2.06 shots. The total ES shot per game difference between the 2009-13 NHL vs 2013 Leafs under 30 feet? 0.20 shots. The shot difference from 30+ feet? 2.76 shots. Conclusion: Randy Carlyle's collapsing defensive system doesn't "push" shots to the outside; it merely adds them. This myth is busted.

We reviewed Clarke MacArthur the other day here at MLHS. The feedback seemed rather divided on the question of whether to keep or not to keep the pending UFA. Meanwhile, there’s no doubting that David Clarkson’s name will only continue to remain attached to the Leafs in rumour circles as we approach free agency and [more…]

Links After 46 Years Without a Cup, Yes the Leafs Still Matter Well duh. Hart vs Ted Lindsay Which would you rather win? And that's really it until the draft comes.

0 0 1 429 2450 Prospect Communications 20 5 2874 14.0 Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} One of the things that has run through my mind during my mini-sabbatical from writing daily about the Leafs is this: despite the sometimes pervasive negativity about the team (which we are almost all part of, to some degree) as well as the bluster and the sometimes hard-to-fully-decipher micro-analysis of the team that goes on, the Toronto Maple Leafs still matter. At the end of the day, for each our own reasons, to many, many people, the Maple Leafs are a big part of their lives.Oh, cheering for the team is not as important as our loved ones, our health, or those things in life that touch us on an ethical or spiritual level, but as part of our day-to-day struggle to endure the up's and down's that life throws at us, caring about a team - any team, but maybe especially one with the tradition of the blue and white - provides a diversion, gives us something to cheer for, something to follow and get amped up about.To provide some context for my thoughts, let me take a step back. A week ago I penned a short piece where I discussed in broad terms some of my concerns about where the public discourse seems to be headed at times when it comes to “talking Leafs”. Not that there aren’t many fine mainstream media folks covering the Leaf “beat” out there, and just as many (if not more) exceptionally gifted bloggers. It’s just that, on occasion, the high-octane yelling within the fan base and blogospehere seems to drown out the more thoughtful voices in the community. (That is not to say that the the quieter, sometimes more thoughtful voices are more “right” than louder voices, just a bit less shrill, you might say…)As part of my commentary that day, I acknowledged that I’d like some time away from the self-imposed (and it is self-imposed, no one is making me write...) grind, if you don’t mind my calling it that, of writing pretty much daily—year-round—about the Leafs in this tiny corner of the blog world. And I still will continue to take that time to reflect, as I determine if VLM should continue on its snail’s pace path in a sometimes-frenzied marketplace of opinions.When a number of regular visitors here took the time to encourage me to continue with my efforts here, all the while respecting my decision regarding time away, I was quite touched. But more than anything, what it evoked, at least in me, is that after all these years, after all the pent-up frustration, and yes, after all the years of “losing” (including the crushing loss to the Bruins in Game 7 just a few short weeks ago), people still really and truly love to talk about the Maple Leafs—and many like to do it the way I try to do it here at VLM.So while I don’t really have a new post today (lest I draw myself into doing the every thing I am trying to pull myself away from!) I’d like to share a couple of columns I wrote on this subject of why the Leafs still matter. (And for good measure, I'm including one of my favourite old-time Leaf photos that I still have, of mid-1950s Leaf netminder Eddie Chadwi