131 replies to this topic

[racer888]

Just wondering what peoples thoughts are on the great collapse of last year and what it say's about the teams character?

[PuQ]

I thought it showcased some of the tallent that this team has, and really hilighted some of the weak spots.

I think it was a great year for helping management asess what this team needs and doesent need. (plus gave us the 5th overall pick )

[blake55-ml5]

Showed us that we aren't experienced enough, and we need to add some veterans with leadership skills and playoff games under their belt.

[J-BOLD]

It showed us we needed a goaltender..

[racer888]

Agreed on the goal tender part

[MikeBosse]

Uhh! Even 18 wheelers go off the cliff from time to time! I think we have 2 or 3 peices leaving (Schenn for Reemer) is one, I think Burke may be trying to move Lombardi/Connolly but my guess is he keeps Connolly and maybe a prospect or two (trades)but for who, is anyones' guess (I say Getzlaf) (I dreamt about it so it must be true)soon we'll have cap space coming out of our Rs' and be in fine shape!

[11PJ11]

I think it is a nessecary experience builder for character of a team. I can say I remember the Hawks, through their rebuild had the same sort of thing 2 years before they actually won the cup. They did need to add some pieces to make it work... Hossa which came with a good price tag but loads of experience being to the cup finals both years prior with two different teams. I am not really worried about this team but I am concerned that Dion isn't Cpt material. To me the only option is pay the price for Getzlaf and make him our Cpt.

[RPaj]

I think it had more to do with coaching than anything else. The system Wilson used made the defenders always focus on offense, same with the forwards. Carlyle didn't have enough time to fix a sinking ship, you look at all the other coaches who were replaced this year, and you will see that it has taken them more then a month to get their system in place. I think with the off season and a full training camp, we will really see what Carlyle brings for the Leafs. Wilson also liked used to boards way too much in our zone, our defense should be looking to pass side to side to look for the opening, instead of always shooting around the boards and hoping the wingers can deflect it out.

Not to mention, it doesn't help when your coach is constantly throwing your teammates under the bus. When it happens as much as it did, the team will slowly wilt away. Theres a difference between throwing a name out there publicly and saying that player needs to step up his game, and blaming your struggles on players every week.

For the last 2-4 weeks also, our first line consisted of Lombardi/Connolly/Bozak/Kessel. Pretty laughable if you actually think about it.

[Dick7]

I think that showed that we don't have a true leader in our team.

[IrishLeaffan]

I think it had more to do with coaching than anything else. The system Wilson used made the defenders always focus on offense, same with the forwards. Carlyle didn't have enough time to fix a sinking ship, you look at all the other coaches who were replaced this year, and you will see that it has taken them more then a month to get their system in place. I think with the off season and a full training camp, we will really see what Carlyle brings for the Leafs. Wilson also liked used to boards way too much in our zone, our defense should be looking to pass side to side to look for the opening, instead of always shooting around the boards and hoping the wingers can deflect it out.

Not to mention, it doesn't help when your coach is constantly throwing your teammates under the bus. When it happens as much as it did, the team will slowly wilt away. Theres a difference between throwing a name out there publicly and saying that player needs to step up his game, and blaming your struggles on players every week.

For the last 2-4 weeks also, our first line consisted of Lombardi/Connolly/Bozak/Kessel. Pretty laughable if you actually think about it.

I agree 100%. When you are in a slide the coach needs to stand up for the players instead of using them for scapegoats.

[jockdent]

The collapse was no surprise really.

So many areas that needed upgrading.

Wilson was mostly to blame; however, we had no goaltending, no defense, no toughness, and no leadership.

How did we not end up with the 1st overall pick?

[25alex56]

The collapse was no surprise really.

So many areas that needed upgrading.

Wilson was mostly to blame; however, we had no goaltending, no defense, no toughness, and no leadership.

How did we not end up with the 1st overall pick?

Well, for most of the first half of the season, we had goaltending, a little bit of defense, a little bit of leadership, and a lot of LUPUL TO KESSEL HE SCORES!

[Tigon]

I think, taking the some players out of the equitation (down years, injuries, slumps etc). We all know of the injuries and slump so I will leave that out and look for other reason. Every team has players that hit slumps in a season or players that suffer from bad luck/injury and find a way to push forward.

Wilson's system was too offence minded and couldn't get his players under control when things went bad in a game. I don't mind having a system focused on the forwards hard forecheck but when you have all 5 guys relentlessly pushing, it creates problems.

He also didn't utilize his players well - Franson benching for first 10 games, Komisarek in some nights instead of Schenn or Franson, Connolly not given a real chance with Kessel/Lupul, line juggling several times through out a game, waiting way too long for lines to click when they simply weren't producing while on the flip side you have the Connolly example where players/lines were never given more than a games chance to get chemistry.

[J-BOLD]

I think that showed that we don't have a true leader in our team.

We have a couple leaders. Their names are Liles and Phaneuf.

It's just simply not enough.

[howiegethere]

The team as a whole lacked toughness and size and leadership was a problem . Mostly they just folded when the going got tough and other teams got their acts together .
Not much has changed there and the Schenn for JVR trade made the Leafs softer Burke must be hoping a speed game is going to save them but I doubt that . The Leafs need a few guys that can maintain puck possesion and aren't afraid to do battle in the dirty areas to get the job done .
Sadly i think a repeat performance can and will happen if Burke doesn't trade off some of the softies he collected from the bargain bin . Carlyle may want the team to play tougher but wanting and doing are totally different especially when the will is not there .

[Boneshaker]

I think it showed us that the Leafs and MLSE for that part need to figure how to get off to a better start each game. Whether it's getting the players fired up and motivated, or cutting out all the pre-game shenanigans that just kill all the motivation the players have when they leave the dressing room for the start of the game.

You can't win too many games when you constantly find yourself trailing after only the first 5-10 minutes of the game. Slow starts did seem to happen on the road as well, but not nearly as often as they did at home.

[Cinquecento]

It was a strange photo negative of our usual late rush. I thought the team had it in them to fight for the last playoff spots, maybe not make it but certainly not collapse either. Leafs became a broken team and it is a complete mystery to me whether they have sorted out just what the hel* happened.

[Poyetas]

It showed how dysfunctional a group BB put together....

I predict we'll finish 9th or 10th this year. JVR will get injured and we won't get Luongo...

[Zizzzzy]

It showed how dysfunctional a group BB put together....

I predict we'll finish 9th or 10th this year. JVR will get injured and we won't get Luongo...

Do you by chance, not like Brian Burke?

[Carmissimo]

The team as a whole lacked toughness and size and leadership was a problem . Mostly they just folded when the going got tough and other teams got their acts together .
Not much has changed there and the Schenn for JVR trade made the Leafs softer Burke must be hoping a speed game is going to save them but I doubt that . The Leafs need a few guys that can maintain puck possesion and aren't afraid to do battle in the dirty areas to get the job done .
Sadly i think a repeat performance can and will happen if Burke doesn't trade off some of the softies he collected from the bargain bin . Carlyle may want the team to play tougher but wanting and doing are totally different especially when the will is not there .

Teams get their acts together usually by the end of November and yet the Leafs' collapse didn't really kick in until the middle of February. From January 3 through to February 6 the Leafs were 10-4-1. They were very much playoff bound and at a point in the season when teams had long ago shaken off any summer rust.

If this had been about teams getting their games going, the collapse would have happened more like a few weeks before Christmas or somewhere thereabouts, not in the middle of February. That was the part that really puzzled me.

My theory is that whereas the team handled the pressure when things were going well, the first significant slump of the season was something that the leadership on this team wasn't strong enough to overcome. A slump can grow in intensity as it goes on and that's when some veteran leadership comes in handy. Yet the Leafs last season were I believe the league's second-youngest franchise and while there is ample skill, veteran savvy is not so prominent. Komisarek was supposed to help with that but he has struggled the entire time he has been a Leaf and his ice time has been meagre at slightly more than 16 minutes a game. Armstrong was supposed to help with that but he kept getting injured and his ice time was an even more meagre 9:19 minutes per game.

The goaltending, meanwhile, was fragile. Reimer was trying to recover from a significant injury and struggled with a sophomore jinx. Gustavsson took it too hard every time he was scored on and as the slump gained momentum his confidence diminished all the more.

The slump turned into a death watch for Wilson. The playoffs slipped away and the energy with which the Leafs outskated opponents before that point slipped away as well. The Leafs were about speed and scoring chances before the slump and going through the motions during and after. It didn't help, either, that on March 6 Lupul suffered a season-ending injury, especially since scoring from the Grabovski line had pretty much dried up by that point. MacArthur scored all of three goals from Feb. 7 onwards. Kulemin had three goals from Dec. 31 onwards. After Lupul went down, they combined for three goals. Kessel couldn't do it alone.

If there had been more production from the second unit, steadier goaltending, and some veterans to pull the Leafs together in the face of a worrisome slump, the season would have been dramatically different. How you avoid a repeat, well, not sure, really.