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Gustavsson

ZBBM

ZBBM

Well-known member
If Reimer's out, the talk about Gus will be incessant, so I thought I'd start a thread.

I just don't know.  He's been inconsistent, at best.  Doesn't look confident and all of that.

But ... if he has to start in Philly there won't be much pressure.  If he can turn in a good game, maybe he can get on track. 

I am not ready to write him off but I can see how anyone could feel that way.
 
He's been in two games. One against the Cup champs where the whole team mailed it in, one where he wasn't expected to play, made some big saves and got the win.

I was one of the more staunch advocates of not going into the season with a Gus/Reimer tandem but it's downright nutty to give up on the guy after these two games.
 
I hope he proves me wrong, but I feel like he'll be replaced by January (either by Scrivens or a veteran brought in from outside the organization) and I expect he'll be back in Sweden next season.
 
There is no reason to think the Leafs will play with confidence in front of him.

Gus is not the answer to anything except missing the playoffs again.
 
Fanatic said:
There is no reason to think the Leafs will play with confidence in front of him.
Click to expand...

Except for the comeback victory we just saw in front of him, sure.
 
Saint Nik said:
Fanatic said:
There is no reason to think the Leafs will play with confidence in front of him.
Click to expand...

Except for the comeback victory we just saw in front of him, sure.
Click to expand...

Why did they have to comeback to begin with? The Leafs outplayed the Habs and gave away a point to a key rival because goaltending let them down.

 
Fanatic said:
Why did they have to comeback to begin with?
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Because the Habs scored three goals. One that was more or less unstoppable, another on a deflection that was right in front of the net and the third which was, admittedly, stoppable but no more stoppable than the one Reimer let in.

Considering he wasn't supposed to play at all tonight it was a pretty good performance but, while I appreciate the attempt to change the subject, the Leafs did play with confidence in front of him.
 
The Habs are now 1-4-2. The Leafs should have not too much trouble beating them and tonight they looked like the better team. I think the Leafs won in spite of Gus and the last time I checked this was a board for opinions.
 
Fanatic said:
The Habs are now 1-4-2. The Leafs should have not too much trouble beating them and tonight they looked like the better team.
Click to expand...

The Sens are busted junk. They lit up Reimer for 4 goals in a period. Gus hung in, he got the win. Was it a A+ performance, no. But in light of the circumstances it certainly wasn't the career ender it's being made out to be.
 
Saint Nik said:
Fanatic said:
The Habs are now 1-4-2. The Leafs should have not too much trouble beating them and tonight they looked like the better team.
Click to expand...

The Sens are busted junk. They lit up Reimer for 4 goals in a period. Gus hung in, he got the win. Was it a A+ performance, no. But in light of the circumstances it certainly wasn't the career ender it's being made out to be.
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Well played Nik, as always.

Gus has been around long enough now for fans to have an idea of what he is and what he is capable of. Reimer did great at the end of last season and is starting just his first season now. That gives him a benefit of the doubt, with most people, that Gus is no longer afforded.

Is that fair? Is it statistically sound? Perhaps not, but to each their own. There is no denying that teams play better in front of goaltending that they believe that they can count on. To a man, I think the Leafs players would have much more confidence in front of Reimer than Gus just as most people here have more confidence in Reimer playing over Gus.
 
Fanatic said:
Is that fair? Is it statistically sound? Perhaps not, but to each their own.
Click to expand...

I'm not overly concerned with debating who I think engenders more confidence in the team. I'm not overly concerned with debating who deserves the benefit of the doubt. Both of those things are entirely up to the individual. What I'm saying, no more and no less, is that the reaction to Gus' play has not been in line with the actual quality of Gus' play so far. Especially not when you compare it to the reaction to Reimer's play.

If people were saying of Reimer "Yeah, he's been slow, but I have faith he'll pick it up" then you could chalk it up to the benefit of the doubt but he was still getting raves after four mediocre games in a row.

I'm not arguing that Gus is better than Reimer. I'm saying that to give up on Gus as a back-up after two games, one of which he won, is, as my people would say, farkert.
 
With Gus, he seems to make big saves in close, although if he doesn't control the rebounds - even the short ones, the opposition seems to be able to get in there and grab them.

But the shots from further out - like the faceoff circle - are most definitely an adventure. And not an exciting-make-you-smile adventure.
 
He'll be fine.  Stop worrying so much.  He may let in one more goal than Reimer on average, but the Leafs seem able to score more too so it all works out.
 
IMO both goalies have been sketchy so far.  Reimer's SO in the opener was due more to MTL's weak offense than great play (and incidentally they showed that again tonight -- they are not a very good team right now).  He had a disastrous 3rd against OTT.  He has been good, and yes he has been resilient (always a good thing in a goalie, and just what Gus seems to be lacking now).  But Reimer has hardly been brilliant.

Gustavsson had a really inconsistent game against BOS.  It's worth remembering that he kept them in the game during the first, when the Bruins had 18 SOG.  And he hung in in the 2nd for the most part.  But there's no question that he doesn't look comfortable in net.
 
Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate said:
IMO both goalies have been sketchy so far.  Reimer's SO in the opener was due more to MTL's weak offense than great play (and incidentally they showed that again tonight -- they are not a very good team right now).  He had a disastrous 3rd against OTT.  He has been good, and yes he has been resilient (always a good thing in a goalie, and just what Gus seems to be lacking now).  But Reimer has hardly been brilliant.

Gustavsson had a really inconsistent game against BOS.  It's worth remembering that he kept them in the game during the first, when the Bruins had 18 SOG.  And he hung in in the 2nd for the most part.  But there's no question that he doesn't look comfortable in net.
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I agree with this completely. Reimer hasn't looked great and let in more stoppable/soft goals than I recall last year after a similar stretch of games.

Gus continues to look uncomfortable/confused/awkward (whatever adjective you want to choose). To me, he looked better when he first showed up than he does now so he's probably got some problems between the ears.

Sometime between now and the 20 game mark, the question will have to be asked: 'is Gus the second best goalie we have?' If Gus wants to be the answer to that question, he's going to have to play better. With Wilson's neck on the block, he has to know that question will be asked fairly early on.

If I had to answer that question right now, based upon what I've seen in the past year, my answer would be "no, Ben Scrivens is the second best goalie the Leafs have". The good news for this club is that they do have a or some respectable alternatives.

It's do or die time for Gus over the next few weeks. Wilson will not stand by and lose his job trying to save Gustavsson's backup job.
 
The only thing I'm not liking about Gus are the things that should've been fixed (or at least better) by now. Overplaying the puck(ie flopping around), losing sight of the puck, dropping too early. This are the little things that I assumed would've been fixed.

I'm also not convinced that Gus has the mental toughness to play in this mkt.  He seems to get down on himself real easy and if he catches any whiff of what goes on in the media that's not going to help.

I'm still pulling for him cause this kid has not had an easy couple of years since his mom passed and all the heart stuff.  I'm just hoping he can be solid in backing up Reimer and get his game and confidence back.
 
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