Game Day Thread: Leafs/Rangers Round 3

@ 4evrblue:
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It’s hardly a conspiracy theory, you can literally watch teams take their game up another level against us. You think players get fired up to play Florida? Half of the hockey world is from Southern Ontario and either loves or hates the Leafs. Playing on Hockey Night in Canada is special. How many times do we see the opposition has 2 or 3 players who’ve brought their entire extended family and all their friends to the game? It happens almost every week. You can write it off as ridiculous if you want, but the fact of the matter is that the Leafs and the Habs contend with something that none of the other 28 teams do in this regard. If you were in the NHL, wouldn’t you want to find an extra gear in Toronto on HNIC? Wouldn’t you want to block that shot just a little bit more? Try just a little harder to make that ridiculous pad save?
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It’s not an excuse, but dealing with that added adrenaline players get in Toronto is something we need to learn to deal with better.

I’d love to see Burke try to fire the team up without making any real personnel moves. Trade for Wheeler, and sign Guerin. Two guns added to the roster might make everyone feel a little more comfortable with the team’s overall scoring prowess. Might also shock Kulemin into finding the net, and Versteeg into owning the PP like he did to start the season.
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Wheeler – Bozak – Kessel
Kulemin – Grabo – Guerin
MacArthur – Versteeg – Caputi
Sjostrom – Brent – C.Orr
(Brown)
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Double shift Caputi, Versteeg and MacArthur into Guerin’s spot as the game allows – he doesn’t need to be out there 20 minutes a night to score – throw him out on the PP and give him the odd shift. Have him on the bench shouting encouragement.

@ 4evrblue:
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Yea, you’re right. Playing on the pinnacle of hockey’s media, fulfilling childhood fantasies, and going against the league’s most hated franchise is probably just an ordinary night for all the players in the league. I bet they don’t even notice the throngs of reporters that cover them doing everything from warming up to taking a shit. And I’m sure none of the homegrown Southern Ontario talent cares at all about playing in front of family and friends.

@ dlb:
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It’s just that Kaberle isn’t dominating the games like he was to start the year. It’s hard for any defensemen to maintain that though. Lidstrom doesn’t even control games like that on a regular basis. He’s always very solid of course, but taking it to that special level only comes in bunches for most defensemen.

@ 4evrblue:
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That’s true, and I wasn’t denying any of that really. But dlb’s original point still stands. Yes, we need more top level talent, and yes, some of the players need to step their game up, and yes, secondary scoring needs to come. However, none of that changes the fact that the Leafs deal with adversaries who have a heightened desire to win every night. Only the Leafs and the Habs really deal with that on a nightly basis, whereas other teams have one or two rivalries to deal with. We absolutely dominated the Rangers from start to finish last night, and lost the game. We hit posts, and missed open nets, and got robbed by one of the best goalies in the league on numerous occassions. Yes, they have been lacklustre at times, but to say they didn’t brng their A game last night is wrong in my opinion.