Comments on: Leafs Bell Suspended Indefinately

By: 92-93

92-93 — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 20:36:18 +0000

thank you for holding your tongue on Steen.

i know your position about him and its good enough to agree to disagree on him.

but yeah, injuries is the key here - and the leafs probably wont get 280 goals for that very reason. but they DO have one of the best offenses in the East and no one seems to notice that.

i think their depth players and 3rd/4th liners will do fine this year as they did last year (they did an incredible job filling in for the injured 1st/2nd liners like Wellwood and Tucker and Antropov). and I think THAT is the problem - re: that they didnt have enough 1st-liner type player and only 2-3-4th liner players.

Blake solves that problem - but its not the one that i am most concerned with.

its the giveaways, the PK, the injuries, the inconsistent defensive play. THAT has and will be a problem for the leafs.

By: 92-93

92-93 — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 20:32:39 +0000

again, the 2nd and 3rd line will receive equal ice time in my projection. i like the idea of rolling out 3 strong lines that get practically the same amount of ice time per game. the leafs will be harder to play against night-in and night-out.

By: 92-93

92-93 — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 20:31:21 +0000

nothing.

i made my comment about the article - and i moved on.

i dont think they'll get 280 - that is the total IF they stay healthy. in other words, that aint happening so your projection is probably closer.

losing Perreault (who scored a few goals for the Leafs) and O'Neill (who also cost toronto numerous goals thanks to his non-backchecking tendencies) wont hurt toronto at all.

but yeah, the leafs still have a team full of softies when it comes to good, sound D. and anytime you have McGiveaway playing 28 minutes - you are in trouble (he is great if he plays 25 minutes). but you look at montreal this year, sure they lost Souray and his PP goals, but they are better off having Hamrlik OR at least having both and having a reduced 5-on-5 role for Souray.

By: Hockey_Insider

Hockey_Insider — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 14:24:25 +0000

Except it wasn't a homicide. A homicide is when someone gets killed. The man Mark Bell hit was not killed, there for it's only DUI and hit and run. If it was a homicide, Bell would have been thrown in jail faster than Rory Fitzpatrick falls to he ice.

By: Hockey_Insider

Hockey_Insider — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 14:14:16 +0000

One thing, Blake is not going to score more goals than Tucker, and Tucker would definatly not play on the third line- hes either 1st or 2nd. And Steen is definatly not going to be on the third line. He's good, but he's not that good.

By: antmonkey

antmonkey — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 10:49:25 +0000

bell isn't going to miss any more than a few games of the regular season (if that). if I am wrong, you can quote me and spread it around all you like. but if I'm right, you must refer to me as "THE TRUTH" from now on.

By: jarcpitre

jarcpitre — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 10:27:39 +0000

I agree totally with you. Just a bunch of Hab fans waiting to bash again. They better look at their own team which should rank about 28th to 30th. GO LEAFS GO!!!!111

By: the_word

the_word — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 09:26:10 +0000

The numbers on the bottom two lines seem a little inflated (I don't see Pohl getting 15 with limited ice time) other than Tucker who should be a lock for at least 25, but he'll score at least half his goals on the PP. Those numbers are fairly realistic (again assuming everyone remains healthy). I think it draws attention to a glaring problem for the Leafs, a lack of role and grit players on the bottom six end. Arguably the best role player the Leafs have are Tucker and Blake, got are expected to be scorers though. Kilger, Bell, Bataglia, Pohl and Devereux are all filler that aren't gifted enough to be skill players and not responsible enough to be sound defensively. This is what will kill the Leafs over the course of the season.

I'll hold my tongue about Steen, as my views on his game are well documented.

By: the_word

the_word — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 08:50:18 +0000

Then what is a appropriate? A pound of flesh? Keep in mind to the aim of punishment is rehabilitation, not to make the guilty suffer. For instance, in Bell's case all signs point to a full recovery. So long as Bell is not a danger to drink and drive again, what's the point the jailing him?

By: the_word

the_word — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 08:20:25 +0000

I don't mean to be callous, nor I'm I interested in exchanging horror stories, but there is a world of difference between a DUI and vehicular homicide.