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Jan. 19, Toronto vs Montreal, 7 PM


dlbalr

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The snowing call annoyed me because maybe a minute or two later, you had a Leaf player with his skate right up against Price but that isn't a call. A little snow? Oh deary me! How unsportsmanlike!

Waiting for the day that players get two minutes for bullying...

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Was Galchenyuk punished? or was he put on the third line and Bourque on the second in an attempt to shake things up and get more offence?

I think its the latter and you are seeing something that isn't there.

Yeah, Brian pointed out his shift chart and there are a couple who were saying that Therrien was loading up his top two lines (with Bourque?) with those playing best. I can accept that. Still a little disappointing for me, though, since I didn't see Bourque as any better than Galy - but the decision as stated here is reasonable; not a lark like in previous years.

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I see the bitching about line-juggling and player selection is starting off gingerly. Won't be long until it's in full chorus. Of course, practically every coach juggles lines and makes contentious decisions about player usage, but that doesn't stop fans from attacking them as if this weren't the case.

While there are cases where the coach does indeed overthink himself into some bizarre moves (e.g., Martin denying Cole PP time) most of the time the griping erroneously assumes a single best answer, overlooks various specific variables, and, effectively, serves as excuse-making for crummy player performance, as when we say player X would do better if only he didn't have dogs for linemates, etc.. One of the more tiresome gambits in internet forum discussion IMHO.

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Line juggling is funny. I recall back in the day I used to argue that Andrei Kostitsyn could play either wing and people need to stop complaining about him on the left wing. Now I always make it adamant that Cole, Gionta and Bourque have to play the right wing or else we'll be misplaying them.

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Line juggling is funny. I recall back in the day I used to argue that Andrei Kostitsyn could play either wing and people need to stop complaining about him on the left wing. Now I always make it adamant that Cole, Gionta and Bourque have to play the right wing or else we'll be misplaying them.

I agree, and its funny as I think Gionta (who shoots right) has the best chance of succeeding on the Left side.

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I agree, and its funny as I think Gionta (who shoots right) has the best chance of succeeding on the Left side.

He probably would. Alot of the higher end goal scorers play on their off wing and on PP's goal scorers almost always play on their off wing. It should be at least tried.

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He probably would. Alot of the higher end goal scorers play on their off wing and on PP's goal scorers almost always play on their off wing. It should be at least tried.

Although that's true with some, I could see Gio struggling with boardplay on his off-wing. It's tough enough with his size at RW; to put him in a situation where he has to turn away from the play more often might prove too punishing.

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The lack of coordination between players was to be expected. What I was disappointed with was the fact that our boys were undisciplined on saturday night and the Leafs took advantage of that! We can expect the Habs to be a little off for at least another 4-5 games.

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Therrian made a good point in his interview today. He's still learning everything about this team and players. Most teams are starting the season with the coach they had last year so they know what the coach wants from them and their coach knows what to expect from each player. We're starting on a clean slate, so there is going to be a learning curve. I would expect next game we look alot better. Maybe not a win, but looking alot better.

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Therrian made a good point in his interview today. He's still learning everything about this team and players. Most teams are starting the season with the coach they had last year so they know what the coach wants from them and their coach knows what to expect from each player. We're starting on a clean slate, so there is going to be a learning curve. I would expect next game we look alot better. Maybe not a win, but looking alot better.

That is the most important part of the first 10 games. It is a short season so we can't be "finding" ourselves for too long but they need to at least look like a club soon and play some really hockey.

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