Making sense of the Leafs defensive pairings

Making sense of the Leafs defensive pairings

Coming out of the last playoff loss to Tampa, and honestly the years before it as well, some of the criticism around Sheldon Keefe was that he wasn’t quick enough to adapt and was too insistent on sticking with his lines and his defensive pairings whether they were working at the moment or not. That’s where the objections to the rest line/pairing blender seem a bit strange, especially when Toronto is trying to find a fit for a number of new faces in the lineup. Complaining is kinda what we do and when it comes to the Leafs forward group it seems like everything is in a holding pattern until Ryan O’Reilly returns and the Leafs have an opportunity to make some sense of things. That said, the Leafs could truly benefit from some consistent defensive pairings, and it’s time to start building those so the partners understand what the other defenseman on the ice is going to do coverage wise and players like McCabe, who are …

Read More

Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

The AHL playoff format and why NHL fans should get ready to see something like it

The NHL’s current playoff format isn’t the greatest, but what if I told you there might be some change in the future?
As it stands right now, the top three teams from each of the four divisions — plus two wild card teams from each conference — make the playoffs. It’s not the most popular format out there.
It’s in fact flawed.
Having two teams such as the Maple Leafs and Lightning facing off in the first round, as exciting of a series it is, just shouldn’t happen.
Who enjoys seeing two of the NHL’s top “Stanley Cup contenders” as some might say, battle it out in the first round? You’re cutting the excitement in half after the opening series.
A lot of fans reminisce on the days when the NHL’s playoff format took the top-eight teams from each conference, having the number one team face the eighth seed and so on.
It was more fun. It made sense. It allowed for more cinderella stories that the current playoff format doesn’t.
As good as it was, I highly doubt we see it for a long time. Partly due to the NHL saying they’re not going back to it, but also because of what the AHL is currently testing out.
If you don’t already know — with the AHL being the league right below the NHL — they’re usually the first to try something before it makes it to the league above.
They did it with the hybrid icings back in 2012 and they even test …

Read More

Author: Nick Barden / The Leafs Nation

BJN Radio – Ep. 120: Three BOLD off-season predictions, thoughts on MLB’s playoff format, and more!

Though the playoff run ended very quicky, there’s plenty to talk about in Blue Jays land.

We took a look back at Toronto’s two-game sweep to Seattle in the wild-card series with a different perspective now that the 111-win Los Angeles Dodgers and 101-win Atlanta Braves also got dropped in five-game sets. Does it matter that the higher-seeded teams are losing if it adds more drama and excitement?
After that, we talked about off-season stuff, including whether Shohei Ohtani wants out of Anaheim, which Blue Jays could ink long-term contracts this winter, who the most realistic trade partners would be, and the arbitration projections MLBTR made for 13 players.
We also made three bold predictions for the off-season that we’ll be sticking to no matter what!
You can listen to the episode here…
POINTSBET IS LIVE IN ONTARIO

Read More

Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation

Blue Jays clinch home-field advantage in the wild-card series as Seattle loses to Detroit

Playoff baseball is returning to Toronto.

The Blue Jays came into play on Monday with their magic number for clinching the top wild-card spot in the American League down to two. A 5-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles pushed that number to one and then the Blue Jays clinched as the Seattle Mariners lost by a score of 4-3 to the Detroit Tigers.
With home-field advantage locked up, the Blue Jays can now take it easy during their final two games of the season in Baltimore and give their regular players some time to rest. Mitch White is lined up to start against the O’s on Tuesday and Wednesday’s game is listed as TBA, though Yusei Kikuchi seems to be the likely candidate to start.
The only thing left to determine is who the Blue Jays will be hosting this weekend. The Tampa Bay Rays also lost on Monday so they remain a game-and-a-half back of the Mariners in the standings. Seattle has three more games left against the Tigers, including a doubleheader on Tuesday, while the Rays have two games left against the Boston Red Sox. Tampa also owns the tiebreaker between the two teams based on head-to-head record.
This weekend’s wild-card series will be Toronto’s first taste of playoff baseball at home since 2 …

Read More

Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation