NHL 2017 -Official Discussion Thread

[StCapps]

I'm not so much worried about Fleury right now. We have four lines that can score and honestly if Murray is available I would continue to roll with Fleury until the wheels fall off.

You know the wheels are going to fall off, waiting for it to happen makes no sense. Fleury is a regular season goalie who is great at helping your team get a high seed for the playoffs, but he's a mental midget once you actually get there. As soon as Murray is good to go, y'all should bench that other chump immediately before he costs you a game you never should have lost.

[Smitty-48]

Having seen him in action for two years now, the strength of Babcock is that he uses everybody, he squeezes the lemon to get the most juice out of all the parts, he doesn't write anybody off, he doesn't shorten his bench, he doesn't break up the lines, he challenges everybody to be the best that they can be, he gives everybody a chance to play a role, and he's getting great buy in for it, he's made the Leafs into a team, and that's how they get it done, even Martin Marincin, who everybody makes fun of, he stepped up last night and pretty much single handedly shut the caps down on a five on three, he played the whole penalty kill, then he got hurt and now he's out, but Babcock will just throw somebody else in and challenge them to step up, that's the secret, the Leafs are not relying on any one guy, or even any one unit, anybody can step up on any given night.

That's the thing about Kadri, Wilson wrote him off, Carlisle wrote him off, Babcock came in and said "whatever happened before I got here, I don't care, I'm giving you a chance to step up, clean slate, I believe in you", and he's done that with everybody, so he's completely changed up the room, they are playing their hearts out for him, because he's given them the benefit of the doubt and a chance to control their own destiny.

So even if the Caps come back and grind the Leafs defence down by sheer attrition and win it in six or seven, you can tell, this is just the beginning, Babcock is just getting started, this playoffs here, this is just house money, nobody expected to be here yet, so really they are just going out and having fun. If you look at the Caps, they're not having fun, they're getting stressed out, and that's how the Leafs are staying alive here.

[SilverEagle]

Having seen him in action for two years now, the strength of Babcock is that he uses everybody, he squeezes the lemon to get the most juice out of all the parts, he doesn't write anybody off, he doesn't shorten his bench, he doesn't break up the lines, he challenges everybody to be the best that they can be, he gives everybody a chance to play a role, and he's getting great buy in for it, he's made the Leafs into a team, and that's how they get it done, even Martin Marincin, who everybody makes fun of, he stepped up last night and pretty much single handedly shut the caps down on a five on three, he played the whole penalty kill, then he got hurt and now he's out, but Babcock will just throw somebody else in and challenge them to step up, that's the secret, the Leafs are not relying on any one guy, or even any one unit, anybody can step up on any given night.

That's the thing about Kadri, Wilson wrote him off, Carlisle wrote him off, Babcock came in and said "whatever happened before I got here, I don't care, I'm giving you a chance to step up, clean slate, I believe in you", and he's done that with everybody, so he's completely changed up the room, they are playing their hearts out for him, because he's given them the benefit of the doubt and a chance to control their own destiny.

So even if the Caps come back and grind the Leafs defence down by sheer attrition and win it in six or seven, you can tell, this is just the beginning, Babcock is just getting started, this playoffs here, this is just house money, nobody expected to be here yet, so really they are just going out and having fun. If you look at the Caps, they're not having fun, they're getting stressed out, and that's how the Leafs are staying alive here.

I will say Babcock might be the best coach in the NHL.

[Smitty-48]

Thing is, this season is not a flash in the pan, because it hasn't been luck, I mean, winning the lottery and getting Matthews required some luck, but other than that, it's been all process, it's been deliberate and systematic, it's not smoke and mirrors, they're actually building towards something and this is just the bare bones right now, this ain't the finished product by any means, so for the Leafs to lose, it will still be a "great season!", whereas if the Caps lose, it will be the biggest disaster in the history of the franchise, so the Leafs just have to exploit that, stay loose, have fun, and make the Caps meltdown under the self imposed pressure.

It's only game four, but already it's pretty much "must win" for the Caps, the Leafs have to try to weather the storm and win tommorow, if they can, then they have a real chance in a best of three, because the Leafs are good on the road, down in Washington the Leafs are under even less pressure than they are at home, so in a best of three, I don't think home ice advantage is neccessarily that big of an advantage, I actually worry about the Leafs at home more than on the road, at the ACC they can fall into the trap of trying to put on a show, on the road the Leafs actually simplfiy their game, which is what you need in the playoffs.

This is a pivotal game coming up, if Washington wins, I can see the Leafs just running out of gas in the next three, but if the Leafs win, Leafs in six becomes a legitmate possibility, they have to make Washington look into the abyss to incite the choke, just don't let them back into this series. No matter what the Caps say, they took the Leafs lightly coming into the series, just subconsciously, maybe they didn't think it would be a total cake walk, but they were thinking that they were going to be dictating the terms, that has given the Leafs a chance to get them into a choke hold, now the Leafs have to find a way to squeeze.

That's still a long shot mind you, as a young team, letting the opponent off the mat has been the Leafs downfall all year, but might as well just go for it, there's no pressure, they've already exceeded expectations, this series is basically the Leafs "championship" at this juncture, no need to look beyond Washington, just leave it all on the ice.

[skankhunt42]

This Hawks post season has been depressing, thankfully the Bulls are going to slay the Celtics.

[SuburbanFarmer]

This Hawks post season has been depressing, thankfully the Bulls are going to slay the Celtics.

Go Cubs Go, man...

[skankhunt42]

This Hawks post season has been depressing, thankfully the Bulls are going to slay the Celtics.

Go Cubs Go, man...

We will get to baseball in October.

[TheReal_ND]

Hockey is cool and all but if you're a real racist there is only one sport to watch.

[Fife]

[TheReal_ND]

NO!