I know it was a tough season and I don't want this to be a drink the burke aid thread but what are some of the positives to take away from this mess?
-We have 2 of the 4 PPG wingers this year??? Hope they keep inproving next year
-Gardiner is looking like he has huge upside
-Marlies are looking great with 2 of the top goaltenders in the AHL
-Greg McKegg tearing it up on one of the top teams in the OHL
-Top 5 draft pick
-one less year of LACK lol
Any other things you are looking forward to next year??
Positive: Brian Burke is on his last leg. One more playoff miss and he's toast.
Negative: Brian Burke is on his last leg. One more playoff miss and he's toast. He might trade away the future for a short-term gain in order to save his own job.
Positives:
1. Kessel's emergence as a legitimate star.
2. Lupul's rebirth as the player he was expected to become when he was drafted.
3. Gardiner exceeding everyone's expectations far earlier than anticipated.
4. Top 5 pick.
5. Performance of the Marlies.
Positives:
1. Kessel's emergence as a legitimate star.
2. Lupul's rebirth as the player he was expected to become when he was drafted.
3. Gardiner exceeding everyone's expectations far earlier than anticipated.
4. Top 5 pick.
5. Performance of the Marlies.
Agreed.
I'd also add:
6. Randy Carlyle - a high caliber coach who knows how to win and will bring the required style for this team to do well in the East.
For absolute garbage.None of those things are positives,except Gardiner who still has a long way to go.
Another positive,ticket prices need to go up,way up.Im guessing 1500 per seat.Just feed em hot air,they will buy anything.Oh yeah popcorn?$45 for a small bag.Oh i forgot we need to raise parking prices to pay for all those wonderful free agents.
Kessel is a bonafide top line winger, and would be on many many teams in this league. Lupul was impressive to say the least, great leadership skills too.
And Jake Gardiner. Finally have a rookie kid that is exciting and VERY promising. Nothing more to say about this guy, stellar. Hope he becomes our version of Ottawa's Karlsson.
Positives:
1. Kessel's emergence as a legitimate star.
2. Lupul's rebirth as the player he was expected to become when he was drafted.
3. Gardiner exceeding everyone's expectations far earlier than anticipated.
4. Top 5 pick.
5. Performance of the Marlies.
Positives: the coaching change.
1 year closer to a GM change.
A lottery pick if Burke doesn't squander it again.
The pressure being applied by the media and fans.
1 more year of development for our young players.
Not many positives considering how we finished the last quarter of the season or so. The way we played Boston is scandalous, an embarrassment to the entire organisation and this teams heritage.
One of the worst seasons or finishes to a season whatever that I've seen since the Ballard days. This team is a mess with no end in sight. At least we have a coach now for the first time since Quinn.
Positives:
1. Kessel's emergence as a legitimate star.
2. Lupul's rebirth as the player he was expected to become when he was drafted.
3. Gardiner exceeding everyone's expectations far earlier than anticipated.
4. Top 5 pick.
5. Performance of the Marlies.
That's a pretty good and comprehensive list. I'd maybe add, losing Wilson.
Positives:
1. Kessel's emergence as a legitimate star.
2. Lupul's rebirth as the player he was expected to become when he was drafted.
3. Gardiner exceeding everyone's expectations far earlier than anticipated.
4. Top 5 pick.
5. Performance of the Marlies.
I guess I should also credit this list to be fair. Kessel bugs me and he will until he has the proper linemates to play with.
I know it was a tough season and I don't want this to be a drink the burke aid thread but what are some of the positives to take away from this mess?
-We have 2 of the 4 PPG wingers this year??? Hope they keep inproving next year
-Gardiner is looking like he has huge upside
-Marlies are looking great with 2 of the top goaltenders in the AHL
-Greg McKegg tearing it up on one of the top teams in the OHL
-Top 5 draft pick
-one less year of LACK lol
Any other things you are looking forward to next year??
There are no positives. The Leafs have missed the playoffs for 7 years in a row and have never really made any progress since the new regime has taken over. Yes, we may have better young players in the system but shouldn't this be a given for a team that has been out of playoff picture for so long?
Kessel is not a positive, it's whats expected for a guy we gave up 2 first round draft picks for. Lupul had a very good year but let's see if he can keep it up next season.
Gardiner has been fantastic and yes he is a positive but most teams in the league have young players that impress on a year to year basis.....Leafs aren't used to this.
Marlies do look great but too bad there is really nothing on the roster that the Leafs brass can look forward other than the obvious (Kadri, Colborne,etc.) it would have been nice to see these guys really step up and take an NHL job.
McKegg was a good pick and the kid is highly skilled but he's isn't the first player to tear up the OHL and amount to nothing. The kid has a long way to go.
A top 5 pick is not a positive, it's a failure. The objective is to win the Stanley Cup not get top draft picks. Yes, the Leafs do need highly skilled players in the system so they could use the pick, but by no means is this a positive.
There are no positives. The Leafs have missed the playoffs for 7 years in a row and have never really made any progress since the new regime has taken over. Yes, we may have better young players in the system but shouldn't this be a given for a team that has been out of playoff picture for so long?
Considering what Burke came in with, in terms of legitimate porspects (and this is the ONLY praise I will ever give him unless he does something else worth commending), I'd say yes, this is a positive. One thing he has done well is build up the prospect pool.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlMo
Kessel is not a positive, it's whats expected for a guy we gave up 2 first round draft picks for. Lupul had a very good year but let's see if he can keep it up next season.
Kessel is absolutely a positive. Take into consideration the circumstances surrounding him since he arrived. He's been centred almost exclusively by Tyler Bozak and had a mish mash of spare parts as linemates. He's also the focus of the opposition's top defensive attention on a nightly basis and still manages to put up 30+ goals a year. And now that he finally had a linemate that wasn't a total stiff (Lupul), we saw him put up career highs in all major offensive statistical categories. Are Kessel and Lupul positives? Absolutely yes. No question about it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlMo
Gardiner has been fantastic and yes he is a positive but most teams in the league have young players that impress on a year to year basis.....Leafs aren't used to this.
You're darn right we're not used to this. Like I said, our prospect pool prior to Burke was pathetic. When was the last time the Leafs had a young player step right in and play really well as a rookie? The only name that springs to mind is Tomas Kaberle. And how long ago was that? Gardiner a positive? Triple check.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlMo
Marlies do look great but too bad there is really nothing on the roster that the Leafs brass can look forward other than the obvious (Kadri, Colborne,etc.) it would have been nice to see these guys really step up and take an NHL job.
Kadri will be on the big club next year, guaranteed. Colborne might need one more season to bulk up and work on his game. And the obvious is precisely why the Marlies performance is a positive. When have we seen this complete a roster from the Leafs' AHL affiliate? Kadri, Colborne, Blacker, Holzer, Scrivens, Rynnas, Owuya, the list goes on. Marlies a positive? Double check.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlMo
McKegg was a good pick and the kid is highly skilled but he's isn't the first player to tear up the OHL and amount to nothing. The kid has a long way to go.
On this point, I agree wholeheartedly. McKegg has some things he needs to work on, most definitely (namely his skating) before he can even think of contributing at the NHL level. I think a full season with the Marlies will do wonders for his game, especially being coached by Dallas Eakins. Not really a positive just yet, but neither is it a negative.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlMo
A top 5 pick is not a positive, it's a failure. The objective is to win the Stanley Cup not get top draft picks. Yes, the Leafs do need highly skilled players in the system so they could use the pick, but by no means is this a positive.
Considering the scope of the season and how it ultimately went straight down after looking for certain like this team would qualify for the playoffs, yes, I will agree. A top 5 pick is a disappointment. But in of itself, a top 5 pick is exactly what this team needs moving forward. Burke needs to hold onto this pick, trade up, whatever he has to do (aside from trading it away) to ensure he drafts a top young player. This is what Burke should have done from the beginning: rebuild from the ground up, stockpile picks, and use those picks to infuse the Leafs with top young talent. Depending on how you want to look at it, the top 5 pick is either a positive or a disappointment. I choose to look at it as a positive.
Only 7 players contributed to more of their team's goals than Kessel:
Steven Stamkos 0.41
John Tavares 0.40
Anze Kopitar 0.39
Evgeni Malkin 0.39
Ilya Kovalchuk 0.36
Jordan Eberle 0.36
Ray Whitney 0.36
Phil Kessel 0.35
Kessel finished 4th in the league for even strength points with 59. He had more ES points than the following had total points: Nash, Ryan, Getzlaf, Stastny, Lecavalier, M. Richards. His ES totals were within 10 or less of the following player's total points: Parise, Staal, Zetterberg, Iginla, D. Sedin, Datsyuk, B. Richards, Kane, Ovechkin, Perry.
The list of consecutive 30 goal seasons since Kessel first hit it has now shrunk to 7:
Iginla
Kovalchuk
Nash (got in on last day)
Ovechkin
Ryan (got in on last day)
Marleau (got in on last day)
Still has some defense to work on and has to figure out how to make himself productive against teams that play tight and physical but offensively, the guy is truly in some rarified air.
- Top 5 Pick
- Gardiner looks great
- Schenn will hopefully be in 2010-2011 form
- Randy Carlyle won't have the players in a great depression
- Burke is on his last bullet.
Hiring RC is the only positive I can see. I have no idea why people think Gardiner is so good. He's not 18 years old or anything. He still has so much work to do in terms of his defensive game.
lupul - kessel was the major highlight gardiner was a pleasant suprise scrivens looks like a capable backup bozak was better gunnarsson was better frattin was a nice pickup kadri colborne ashton look pretty close to making it
replacing wilson with carlyle was smart
Positive: Brian Burke is on his last leg. One more playoff miss and he's toast.
Negative: Brian Burke is on his last leg. One more playoff miss and he's toast. He might trade away the future for a short-term gain in order to save his own job.
Idk how many times people have to tell people like u that burke has a plan in place and there not going for a quick fix now. He has also stated he is not going to trade assets for aging veterans. Brian burke Is a great GM and the team let him down, I don't remember seeing any negative burke threads/posts when the leafs were in the playoffs.
Hiring RC is the only positive I can see. I have no idea why people think Gardiner is so good. He's not 18 years old or anything. He still has so much work to do in terms of his defensive game.
