The Good, The Bad, And The New Boss
No matter what the final result of tonight’s match up, the headline was going to be all about Randy Carlyle. The first game of his Maple Leaf coaching career, it would be unfair at this point to truly make any judgement about his coaching philosophies, how much could truly be changed in a single morning skate? The answer is surprisingly little, and more than you would think. Carlyle appears to have entered this situation with eyes wide open, he needs his players to perform with a certain amount of heart and grit to truly make his systems approach work. The first step in this is realizing the internal talents that the Maple Leafs current roster has.
The one weapon the Leafs possess is speed. When they properly utilize it, this team is truly dangerous. The team now needs to find an element which they have never had before, and that is they ability to fight and win board battles. The team is kind of a shrinking violet when the puck goes into the corners, which is where playoff type games are win and lost. The biggest problem is that this is true at both ends of the ice, and if the Leafs really want to make any noise in the NHL, this has to change.
Guys that deserve a watch down the stretch under Carlyle specifically by my estimation would be Mike Komisarek, Luke Schenn, and Jonas Gustavsson. Komisarek never really was able to play the game which he was best at under Wilson, the activation of defense was asking a lot of a guy that was never known for his offensive skills. Same goes for Schenn as Carlyle is well documented for liking a physical brand of hockey. Gustavsson on the other hand clearly had a strange relationship with Wilson, who would’nt hesitate to throw anybody under the bus. Will a new coach reinvigorate these three as well as the rest of the team.
The Good
-The Leafs from about the 08:00 minute mark in the second period looked like a different team. They hit, they skated hard, they looked great in the defensive zone.
-The Physical play started to arrive that was promised a few years ago. There were guys throwing hits that you would never have thought could.
-Monster looked uncomfortable at times, but found a way to win and stop the puck when need be.
-Shot blocking has reemerged for the Blue and White, finally supporting the goalie.
-Salmon on the ice is just funny. Who carries around a recently deceased salmon? It’s like something from the Family Guy
-Nice to start the Carlyle era off with a win
The Bad
-Somebody not named Tim Connolly has to put a guy like PK Subban in his place.
-It might get frustrating watching the line match game over time, but for now it seems like it was working so god bless it
-Might be too harsh to criticize the power play for a coach who met his team less than 24 hours ago, but when they are ineffective, they are ineffective. Also forgivable given they were playing against the best penalty killers in the NHL, and last week they had shown life in losses to the Chicago Blackhawks and Florida Panthers.
-No Mike Brown for an extended period could be painful, getting hurt in a first period fight with Brad Staubitz.
-Don Cherry is off base and needs to quiet down. The Leafs have 8 Americans and 10 Canadians on the roster and it means effectively nothing. The task Brian Burke has is to assemble the best hockey team he can, not appease the guy between the first and second period on Saturday nights. Is this the best team available? absolutely not. But whether they be from Canada, The USA, The Netherlands should not mean a thing.