Toronto Maple Leafs: Shut Up About Jake Gardiner
Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Jake Gardiner did not exactly put in a stellar performance in Wednesday’s contest against the New Jersey Devils.
He looked uncharacteristically slow, flat-footed, and made some truly baffling decisions, both with and without the puck. This, in turn, led many Toronto Maple Leafs “fans” to storm to their Twitter accounts and promptly announce that they were right all along; Jake Gardiner is bad.
But, here’s the thing. Jake Gardiner is good. Like, really, really good. Such a statement should be so obvious now that, quite frankly, I have zero patience for those who claim otherwise. The bulk of Gardiner’s harshest critics seem to consist primarily of those who shun the value of advanced stats, in favour of the “eye test”. Throw a possession metric at them, and they’ll throw their fists right back. This is not an attack on those people. This is simply an observation.
Naturally, the “eye test” is their crutch, a method which has totally been proven effective time and time again. And by proven effective, I mean that it remains an essentially worthless method of evaluating players. Our human eyes are filthy liars, capable of tricking a certain sportswriter into thinking he is a handsome young man. You guessed right, that sportswriter is me. There’s a reason my podcast hasn’t pivoted to video.
So, here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to use the eye test to support the seemingly obvious fact that Gardiner is a good player. Specifically, I intend to focus on two separate scoring plays from this very season, as they both highlight distinctly why he is so special. Here we go.
Skating
Jake Gardiner can skate like the gosh dang wind. While there exist a multitude of valid criticisms regarding Gardiner’s game, his skating is not and has never been, one of them. In a league trending overwhelmingly in the direction of a fast paced, speed centric style of play, this ability sets him apart. Just take a look at this goal and you’ll see why.
In the entire NHL, there exists only a select handful of players that can successfully execute what Gardiner just did. Beginning at 0:10, and spanning a mere matter of seconds, Gardiner: collects the puck at his own blue line, carries it up the middle of the ice, splits the D, and scores easily on Henrik Lundquist. That’s incredible.
What makes this goal all the more impressive is that Gardiner accomplishes all those intricate maneuvers while never reaching his full speed. Instead, he uses the sheer “potential” of his full speed to his advantage. Notice how, when he hits the opposing blue line, the Rangers D-men flinch for a split second? Brendan Smith, #42 on your screen, initially goes to stick check Gardiner, only to realize his mistake and backtrack immediately. This leaves him a full step behind the play.
Gardiner’s skating remains such an asset, that the mere chance of him reaching his maximum speed is more than enough to create chances all by itself. Go tweet that.
Vision
Want to know what turns a good defenceman into a great defenceman? Vision and Jake Gardiner has loads of it. His ability to identify outlets and potential scoring chances that his opponents simply cannot provide him with a crucial leg up on his competition. Gardiner’s vision, at the very least in the offensive end, is borderline elite. Let’s use an example from the Leafs curb-stomping of the Jets to illustrate this. In the meantime, please join me in giving mad props to the YouTube channel “Goal Leafs Goal” imparting upon us the dulcet tones of Joe Bowen each and every game.
At 0:33, Gardiner receives a sneaky handoff pass from Auston Matthews at the opposing blue line. When placed in this situation, 99% of the NHL’s D-men would immediately fire the puck on net, in hopes of either a deflection or rebound. However, that is not what Gardiner does.
Instead, he stops for a split second, surveys his options, then subtly fakes a shot, and slides the puck over to a wide-open William Nylander. Actually, “wide open” simply fails to do justice when describing just how open Nylander was to shoot in that moment.
Delving Deeper
Gardiner declines to commit fully when faking his shot, opting instead to simply lurch in the direction that suggests a shot is coming. This accomplishes two vital things for the play.
First, it doesn’t negatively impact Gardiner’s ability to get a pass off in an instant. Were he to have wound up to fake the shot, it would have then taken him at least an extra second to compose himself enough to pass it off. Secondly, it served as precisely the right amount of movement to coerce Steve Mason into completely committing to it. Look at Mason’s reaction to Gardiner’s fake. He slides completely to one side, squaring his body to anticipate a shot that never actually comes.
Now, let’s combine these two outcomes. Gardiner’s tiny shoulder fake draws the opposing goaltender completely out of position, allowing Gardiner to not only find a wide open Nylander to his off side but then fire off a lightning-quick pass before any Jets player can react to it. While audiences marveled at the ludicrous amount of time Nylander was given, it should be mentioned that it was Gardiner who orchestrated it all, within a span of approximately four seconds.
Conclusion
So, here’s my conclusion: shut up. Hockey players have bad games. They’re humans, just like you or me. Just because Jake Gardiner lays an egg once every 15 games certainly doesn’t mean he’s a bad player by any stretch.
So, next time you feel the urge to throw a fit about Gardiner’s playing ability, just remember my one golden rule: Shut up.