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Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

Welcome to the Neno's Place!

Neno's Place Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality


Neno

I can be reached by phone or text 8am-7pm cst 972-768-9772 or, once joining the board I can be reached by a (PM) Private Message.

Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

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Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

Many Topics Including The Oldest Dinar Community. Copyright © 2006-2020


    Toronto Maple Leafs

    jedi17
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    Posts : 10738
    Join date : 2013-02-20
    • Post n°1

    Toronto Maple Leafs Empty Toronto Maple Leafs

    Post by jedi17 Fri 17 Feb 2017, 6:37 pm

    Thoughts on 2016/17 Maple Leafs
    February 17, 2017, 11:02 AM ET [155 Comments]
    Lucas Neilson
    Toronto Maple Leafs Tor Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • RSS • Archive • CONTACT
    It’s Friday and supposed to be a beautiful weekend outside in Southern Ontario. A little heat wave has rolled in for the Battle of Ontario that’s going to take place on Saturday night in Toronto. I for one am jacked up for this game, it’s very tight in the East as we know and Toronto and Ottawa are close in the standings. 

    A venture down the QEW and I will be at Real Sports to soak down a few cold ones for my pre game warm up.  

    One thing I can assure you, I will be chirping a few Sens fans wearing Daniel Alfredsson jerseys.  

    As the season continues to move forward I thought it would be good to mention a few thoughts about how the team has done so far and who have been the biggest surprises and who have been the biggest let downs (on forward and defense).

    Biggest surprises: (Forward: Marner) (Defense: Zaitsev)

    Mitch Marner came into the season with a santa sac full of trophy’s and awards from his stellar season with the London Knights just a season ago. He was a human highlight reel whenever he touched the puck, but his size, age and lack of experience made him a big question mark heading into the 2016/17 season. Marner impressed in pre-season but not to the extent he has mesmerized the coaching staff and Leafs fans. He’s been lights out, creating a fortune of scoring chances for the Buds as well as creating a number of turn overs being quick on the puck.

    Marner I figured would be a good player, but this quick? It’s something special. Mitch Marner “the Orhcard” seems to be quite fitting as this magical season continues to move forward.

    Nikita Zaitsev just may be the Maple Leafs best overall defensemen. Really? Yeah, it’s mind blowing but the way he’s played this season as a top defender has been huge for the Leafs. A free agent scoop up from the KHL turning into a top pairing defenseman is something special. Zaitsev has found himself getting more and more power play time as Babcock has full faith in his 25 year old rookie defender.

    Biggest letdown: (Forward: Michalek) (Defense: Carrick)

    It may seem weird that I chose Michalek, part of that would be because the Leafs forward core has been excellent overall. Matthews, Marner and Nylander have all exceeded expectations, the role that both Martin and Komarov play is important to the team and their success, and players like Kadri, JVR, Bozak who are the veterans have done their job most nights. Of course Brown and Hyman have stood out with their die hard worth ethic, so really Michalek being lazy and not working hard is the biggest disappoint to me. For the prime reason that we could have possibly packaged him up with someone like Polak for a draft pick of some sort to a team in need of some depth.  

    Playing fourth line minutes with some showcasing could have helped the Leafs fetch a return of some sort, mind you; I’m not losing sleep over Milan Michalek. I could have cared less for him when we got him, or now. What I really wanted were all the Leafs rookies to get a fair shot so they could prove their worth. So at the end of the day, I am more than happy with the way things turned out; I just thought Milan could have helped with some leadership and a return at the deadline.

    Connor Carrick looked as if he was going to be quite the pickup when the Leafs traded away Winnik to Washington. He still may be a good player, but this season I’ve felt he was the biggest let down on the defensive end. I think I just expected more offense from Carrick after he scored 18 points in 15 playoff games for the Marlies last season. With 2 goals and 5 assists through 52 games I feel his production has been disappointing but his defensive play hasn’t been all that bad.  

    With 105 games under his belt, I think Babcock will continue to mould Carrick and his game will improve in time (likely his points per game total as well).
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