4EVRLEAFAN
Active member
That's one, 5 game win streak coming up, hey it could happen. 
Blues @ Leafs - Nov. 18th, 7:00pm - TSN4
- Thread starter CarltonTheBear
- Start date
herman
Well-known member
That's one, 5 game win streak coming up, hey it could happen.
I liked Babcock's system of trying to win 4 out of every 7. In fact, I liked a lot of what Babcock established systemically, mechanically grinding down the opponents with short shifts and quick possession/transition. So if someone could apply all that stuff without the egomaniacal BS, that'd be swell.
I agree in principle but it's not Tre's fault that Auston's bones are made of the same material as Joffrey Lupul's. Blais has a punctured lung, Knies seemed to be injured randomly. Apart from Tanev (Stoli has always been injury prone/low volume goalie) who do we think injuries are age related? The two oldest players are looking pretty solid right now. We've been pretty lucky with injuries for many years - how much of that is luck and how much of that was having a young team?
Tre had to know what was up with Matthews last season. He hasn't fully recovered and doesn't look like he ever will. Tre had to have a fair idea on the prognosis and that Matthews was injury prone to some degree before signing him to his current deal. Injuries associated with age are related to wear. If a player blows their shoulder out when they're young, then they're older than their age if you will. Stolarz health history arguably relates to that. We're only a quarter of the way into this season. There are likely to be plenty more injuries to come with some of them relating to the past of the older battle worn players.
Better do it soon because the schedule is going to be tougherThat's one, 5 game win streak coming up, hey it could happen.
4EVRLEAFAN
Active member
Not so much this year ...
At a glance, they've beaten only 2 teams in the top 16 in win%: Flyers & Penguins
Only one is in the top 14: Penguins 6th
They look more like a team in a fight for a playoff spot than a team fighting to have a parade.
Hopefully, they find a way to improve on that
As I said, I agree Matthews seems to be injury prone, but he's in prime physical age, so I don't buy the sweeping argument that all the injuries are related to having an older team vs. players that are injury prone like Stoli and Matthews. It plays a role but I don't think we have any conclusive evidence that age per se is the reason for 7 regulars being out and that it isn't a confluence of many different factors like luck, style of play, injury history, age, bad decisions etc.
OldTimeHockey
Well-known member
This will receive flack, but my gut is Matthews doesn't like pushing past his comfort zone. Perhaps the game was too easy for him coming up and he never had to push. It's why he doesn't excel in the playoffs. And why every bump seems to take him out, or limit his performance ability.
This is something that I have always tried to put into words. I feel that I will fail here, but I will try. I don't think Matthews, Nylander, and Marner respect the playoffs. When the Leafs decided that winning was more important than building out the team in Matthews and Marner's first year, I think that had the undesirable effect of teaching them that making the playoffs is easy. They've done it every year that they have been in the league. So they don't have this idea that this is going to be their only shot at winning the cup, so they better take it. That leads them to not want it as much as the guys across the ice from them. The don't feel they need to sacrifice as much. It's kinda like that Kessel story where he's playing this game and he scores a couple goals early on, he's feeling it, but he doesn't backcheck on one of the plays and the team gets it back. The coach is screaming at him to play defence, and Kessel is just looking at him like "Why do I need to play defence? I'll just go score some more". I think that's sort of what has happened to Matthews, Marner and Nylander. When they hit the wall, they can't push through it because they'll just get another shot at it next year, so why worry about this year.
No one ever claimed "all the injuries are related to having an older team". That is a strawman
Matthews himself has played a lot of hockey - international tournaments, all-star games, etc plus more NHL games than anyone in his draft year in spite of his injuries. He in the top 25 among forwards for ice time since he came into the league. So he's older on the wear and tear scale for a 28 year old. 28 is roughly the year before NHL forwards tend to start to decline. It is very probable with his wear and injury history that Matthews has begun his descent. Doesn't mean he can't have another good year but in light of his injuries, his trend is probably downwards from last season largely due to his injuries.
Like any general thought, there are exceptions like John Tavares. Some of that is due to his devotion to taking care of his body. Nylander with his aversion to hitting or shot blocking has probably aged better than average. But statistical trends for points or games played or time on ice show the general decline with age and wear and a hunk of that due to injuries.
Older teams are more injury prone because of the wear and tear of their older players playing many hockey games and getting more ice time. Some injuries to back, neck, hip, shoulder, knee, head (concussions), groin, etc are cumulative or never fully heal - including after surgery. In some case, arthritis creeps in - which is part of the reason some slow down. etc. A number are related to overuse and repetitive wear. And older players tend to take longer to heal and therefore miss more games due to injury. Tanev is likely out longer because of the number of whacks to his head over his career.
All teams, including their young players have injuries. Older teams tend to have more injuries and games lost to injuries.
For the Leafs, they're particularly vulnerable in goal and defense. Stolarz 31 with 3 significant knee surgeries and Woll who I suspect has not had an injury free season in his pro career. The Leafs dmen have 6 of 9 31 years or older and their top five are in the top 70 for time on ice among dmen over the last 12 years. So they're likely to have more injury trouble there as the season goes on.
Treliving had to know all that when he was messing with the team "DNA".