This is why I brought up the Yzerman comparison. You know the lore that surrounds the transformation of Yzerman from perennial 40 - 65 goal scorer, to a dude who gave all that up to become a Stanley cup champion after a single conversation with Scotty Bowman..
2025-26 Toronto Maple Leafs General Discussion
- Thread starter herman
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This is why I brought up the Yzerman comparison. You know the lore that surrounds the transformation of Yzerman from perennial 40 - 65 goal scorer, to a dude who gave all that up to become a Stanley cup champion after a single conversation with Scotty Bowman..
Kopitar and Toews were literally the two NHLers that Matthews was compared to the most as a prospect so it's not like this stuff is new or came out of nowhere.
herman
Well-known member
Yes. And then he scored 4 goals in his debut and it wasn’t exactly a fluke.
Well he's never done it again, so I mean, technically...
You know who has never scored 4 goals in a game at all?
I think Scott Laughton did it with Philly
Gordie Howe never did it
herman
Well-known member
The Maple Leafs' playoff prospects depend on solving these five-on-five structural problems
Given the Maple Leafs’ underwhelming possession metrics over 100 games into his coaching tenure, it’s interesting to revisit Craig Berube’s comments about puck possession when he was first hired in Toronto: Berube: “In St. Louis, we were one of the highest puck-possession teams in the league. We...
mapleleafshotstove.com
The premise is sound, but the execution remains elusive, probably because the underlying tactics are not helping.
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The Maple Leafs' playoff prospects depend on solving these five-on-five structural problems
Given the Maple Leafs’ underwhelming possession metrics over 100 games into his coaching tenure, it’s interesting to revisit Craig Berube’s comments about puck possession when he was first hired in Toronto: Berube: “In St. Louis, we were one of the highest puck-possession teams in the league. We...
The premise is sound, but the execution remains elusive, probably because the underlying tactics are not helping.
Well that team also had a defence that was made up of:
Alex Pietrangelo
Colton Parayko
Vince Dunn
Jay Bouwmeester
Joel Edmundson
Robert Bortuzzo
And extras of:
Carl Gunnarsson
Michael Del Zotto
Although Del Zotto did not play in the playoffs. But he was there man. He was there.
I didn't spend a lot of time evaluating the article in detail. I thought it was a decent one. It reminded me of discussions on here of Pat Quinn's teams and how much the forwards poor defensive play were impacting the team defense while the defensemen were shouldering the brunt of the criticism. The article reinforces that is also true today. I'd been watching why McMann's speed wasn't generating more turnovers. Part of that was basically explained in the article about the play of the other forwards leaving easy outs. The talent on this roster should be higher in the standings. The article describes some of the reasons it isn't.The Maple Leafs' playoff prospects depend on solving these five-on-five structural problems
Given the Maple Leafs’ underwhelming possession metrics over 100 games into his coaching tenure, it’s interesting to revisit Craig Berube’s comments about puck possession when he was first hired in Toronto: Berube: “In St. Louis, we were one of the highest puck-possession teams in the league. We...
The premise is sound, but the execution remains elusive, probably because the underlying tactics are not helping.