Better to get another report in while the getting is good, our hero is better on the heels of a 3 game win streak than in the gutter after a 4 game losing streak.
Notice the crafty little play that has been happening from time to time... on an icing they send a winger in to take the face off and that winger gets in too fast for a couple of attempts and then gets thrown out so that the center man, who they want to take the draw comes in. The whole process eats up some time allowing the team some rest, because of course you cannot change on an icing. A neat little way to exploit the rules and take advantage of overzealous linesmen who are more than happy to take forever to drop the puck and niggle over the process. I probably shouldn't have pointed that out, but i'm sure most teams do it and will continue to do it until the league comes up with a new rule to stop teams from taking advantage of another rule.
Now with all of the armchair GM's out there calling for trades, i have to say the Leafs would have to be crazy to trade either Morgan Reilly or Jake Gardiner, the two young speedster d-men who have elements to their game that very few that come along do. Sure they still need some development on the defensive end of their game, but as they say, you can't teach speed. Just keep playing them.
Now Tyler Bozak is proving all of the naysayers wrong... he has this silent ability to do so many things right making those around him better and constantly winning key possession battles. He is not a big man, as they say you need to be, but if you measured his heart he would stand about 10 feet tall.
Joffrey Lupul seems to be in a bit of a fog lately with respect to his defensive coverage, which in turn affects his offensive contributions, but is deadly in the shootouts helping the team get points. A big help has been the play of the Holland, Clarkson, Keulimun line that spends a lot of time in the oppositions end of the ice grinding things out down low. New defense man Tim Gleason is quietly taking care of business in his own end of the ice and both goalies have recent wins under their belts. These are all good signs... did i mention Dave Bolland was skating this week, but truth be told he didn't look that strong... This is to be expected. Remember that after you sever a tendon you can't even move for a month so the conditioning you lose in that time must be incredible, not to mention finding out how important certain tendons are in controlling slight and deft foot motions. From everything i have heard the recovery from injuries of that sort require incredible physiotherapy work... good news is that Bolland is a natural workaholic on that level... truth be told it will probably be a long time before he is back to 100%, but lets face it, Dave Bolland at 80% is better than some other options.
Keep it going boys
The dog days of the season
Robertson goes ape
Notice the crafty little play that has been happening from time to time... on an icing they send a winger in to take the face off and that winger gets in too fast for a couple of attempts and then gets thrown out so that the center man, who they want to take the draw comes in. The whole process eats up some time allowing the team some rest, because of course you cannot change on an icing. A neat little way to exploit the rules and take advantage of overzealous linesmen who are more than happy to take forever to drop the puck and niggle over the process. I probably shouldn't have pointed that out, but i'm sure most teams do it and will continue to do it until the league comes up with a new rule to stop teams from taking advantage of another rule.
Now with all of the armchair GM's out there calling for trades, i have to say the Leafs would have to be crazy to trade either Morgan Reilly or Jake Gardiner, the two young speedster d-men who have elements to their game that very few that come along do. Sure they still need some development on the defensive end of their game, but as they say, you can't teach speed. Just keep playing them.
Now Tyler Bozak is proving all of the naysayers wrong... he has this silent ability to do so many things right making those around him better and constantly winning key possession battles. He is not a big man, as they say you need to be, but if you measured his heart he would stand about 10 feet tall.
Joffrey Lupul seems to be in a bit of a fog lately with respect to his defensive coverage, which in turn affects his offensive contributions, but is deadly in the shootouts helping the team get points. A big help has been the play of the Holland, Clarkson, Keulimun line that spends a lot of time in the oppositions end of the ice grinding things out down low. New defense man Tim Gleason is quietly taking care of business in his own end of the ice and both goalies have recent wins under their belts. These are all good signs... did i mention Dave Bolland was skating this week, but truth be told he didn't look that strong... This is to be expected. Remember that after you sever a tendon you can't even move for a month so the conditioning you lose in that time must be incredible, not to mention finding out how important certain tendons are in controlling slight and deft foot motions. From everything i have heard the recovery from injuries of that sort require incredible physiotherapy work... good news is that Bolland is a natural workaholic on that level... truth be told it will probably be a long time before he is back to 100%, but lets face it, Dave Bolland at 80% is better than some other options.
Keep it going boys
The dog days of the season
Robertson goes ape
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