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Post by Chance on Sept 13, 2008 1:27:34 GMT -5
And just a shout out to Unholy_Goalie before I hit the hay. Not to nit pick or mean offense but:
#28 Mark Bell
#18 Jeremy Williams
#2 Luke Schenn
And I'm pretty sure when he was called up #51 Robbie Earl was the number he donned.
That's allllllllllz, PEACE~
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Post by Lee Denault on Sept 13, 2008 1:43:58 GMT -5
Come on. The "Nik Mik Nik" line. You like it admit it. I've heard reports that all three have started skating together on a mock line before pre-season and that they look good out there. The Nik's are great two-way players, Hagman leading the Stars last season in short handed goals as well as popping in quite a few too. Kulemin I think will be huge. I could totally just be dazzled by the hype and eat my words, but I really believe he'll be my favourite leaf this season. I hope at least. Big hits, soft hands and some quick speed. I like it. I do like it, I like it a lot. Let's call it the 'iky' line. iky meaning disgusting. disgusting meaning good. |
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Post by leafer84 on Sept 14, 2008 8:38:31 GMT -5
I still think:
Steen - Antro - Kulemin/Tlusty
Hagman - Grabs - Tlusty/Kulemin
Poni - Stajan - Blake
Mayers - Bell - whoever (either go for toughness or heart)
Kaberle - Kubina
Stralman - Frogren
Colaiacovo - Finger
Van Ryn
Toskala
Cujo
The top two lines give the young guys a lot of pressure to compete, the third line will round out Stajan's defensive game and the other two are pretty much plugs, the fourth is tough but with a guy like Bell can actually be somewhat of a threat at times.
Defensive pairings you could split up Kubina and Kaberle and pair Colaiacovo and Stralman with each but Stralman and Frogren are going to play together. Also, don't be fooled by Carlo and Finger being 5th and 6th dmen and the split would be a lot more even, not 30, 20, 10 mins each...more like 25, 20, 15 if not 20 each.
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Post by thatleafsguy on Sept 14, 2008 10:22:40 GMT -5
Antropov-Steen-Blake
Kulemin-Grabovski-Hagman
Ponikarovsky-Stajan-Tlusty
Bell-Mayers-Hollweg
Extras: Devereaux, Moore, Williams
Kaberle-Kubina
Finger-Van Ryn
Stralman-Colaiacovo
Frogren
Extras: Kronwall, White,
Clearly roster moves still need to be made both up front and on defense. It's all about earning your spot this year with the Leafs and training camp will make those decisions.
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Post by Chance on Sept 14, 2008 11:33:31 GMT -5
Does anyone think Tim Stapleton could crack the line up or destined for the Marlies? He had more then a point per game in the finish league, and though lacking size apparently has some real nice hands.
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Post by Alex Tran on Sept 14, 2008 15:56:59 GMT -5
Does anyone think Tim Stapleton could crack the line up or destined for the Marlies? He had more then a point per game in the finish league, and though lacking size apparently has some real nice hands. Marlies. He's just another Simon Gamache type. |
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Post by Chance on Sept 14, 2008 22:46:03 GMT -5
I don't think so to be honest. I'm not saying he's going to be huge but take a look at his stats.
Alright we'll get the worst out of the way in that he's 5'9 a whopping 160lbs but hey that's the same size as St. Louis and Briere (not comparing skill obviously). He's quick though and got some good hands. Consider that over the summer Pittsburgh signed Janne Pesonen whom is said to be the elite finish player as he's coming off an award winning season (Goals, Points, +/-, the championship) and won MVP in 2007.
A year ago in the campaign season where he was MVP he had 55 points and then seven in the post season where he played in nine games. Last year are good buddy Timmy Stapleton got 62 points in the regular season then notched 17 in fourteen playoff appearances. Pesonen was a
Last year to have the goal lead Pesonen only had five more goals than Stapleton (35 vs. 29) to take the goal scoring lead in the league and had 78 points in total. Alright that's sixteen more than our bud Tim had but hey, he's not being projected to play as Crosby's winger.
I'm just saying don't right the kid off just cause he's small or that there's not to much heard about him. He could always disappoint us and not crack the roster and then jet back to Europe ala Simon Gamache, but I could see him cracking the roster or at least tearing it up in the AHL.
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Post by leafer84 on Sept 17, 2008 20:38:19 GMT -5
Dreger said the top two lines would look something like:
Antro - Grabs - Poni
Kulemin - Steen - Tlusty
And Stajan would centre the third. That first line is absolutely horrible, but the second line is pretty interesting.
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Post by Micheal Aldred on Sept 17, 2008 20:45:26 GMT -5
Anyone who truly believes Tlusty and Kulemin will be on the top line are dreaming in technicolor. Same with Grabovski, no way, no how.
Top line, as somewhat expected: Ponikarovsky - Antropov - rotating winger. No one will be a sure thing alongside these two, and you can not break up Antropov and Poni, they've been together for too long, and really, they are the only two "big" guys that can play a first line role.
Kulemin will see second line minutes on the third line. Steen - Stajan - Blake will be reunited, as it seemed the only fit last year for Blake to actually produce anything. At times this line looked fantastic. At other times, it looked like (insert something terrible here)
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Post by Alex Tran on Sept 17, 2008 20:50:35 GMT -5
Why is Kulemin on the top line such a stretch?
Prior to last seaon, they Leafs had pencilled a 21 year old Kulemin onto the 1st line of what they believed at the time to be a playoff team.
Wouldn't a 22 year old Kulemin be even more likely to receive a 1st line role on a rebuilding team, especially since Sundin is gone (clearing up one more spot)?
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Post by Micheal Aldred on Sept 17, 2008 21:00:06 GMT -5
No, he has to prove himself by moving into the North American game, and the kid won't be absolutely spectacular in his first year. He's an energy player with a decent shot but not that great of hands. He likes to dig in the corners, he'll be a third line player. You can argue me all you want, but there's no way Wilson is going to let a rookie player who's never played a second of North American hockey in his career immediately claim the spotlight.
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Post by Alex Tran on Sept 17, 2008 21:05:42 GMT -5
No, he has to prove himself by moving into the North American game, and the kid won't be absolutely spectacular in his first year. He's an energy player with a decent shot but not that great of hands. He likes to dig in the corners, he'll be a third line player. You can argue me all you want, but there's no way Wilson is going to let a rookie player who's never played a second of North American hockey in his career immediately claim the spotlight. I never said he's going to be spectacular in his first year. I just said the Leafs were willing to put him on the 1st line last season. You could certainly make the case that this season would be a much better opporunity to put him on the 1st line than last. |
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Post by Micheal Aldred on Sept 17, 2008 22:51:00 GMT -5
lol im not trying to cut you down or anything, but show me proof that they were willing to just automatically hand over the 1st line unit to the kid. cause im curious. You have to think that even Hoglund was on the top line in Leaf land at one point, so I could believe they were willing to give it to the kid, but I'm saying he's not a 1st line player and won't be for another year or two, if he gets that good.
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Post by Alex Tran on Sept 17, 2008 22:55:53 GMT -5
lol im not trying to cut you down or anything, but show me proof that they were willing to just automatically hand over the 1st line unit to the kid. cause im curious. You have to think that even Hoglund was on the top line in Leaf land at one point, so I could believe they were willing to give it to the kid, but I'm saying he's not a 1st line player and won't be for another year or two, if he gets that good. I tried looking for the link earlier but couldn't find it. It was a Toronto Sun article about this time last year that mentioned that if Kulemin was willing to come over, they were looking to slot him on the first line alongside Sundin and Blake. I agree with you that he's not a 1st line player, but like you mentioned, Hoglund tells us that you don't have to be a 1st line player to fill a 1st line role. I think they're going to give the kid a ton of minutes to see what he can do, but I'm really not expecting anything above 35-40 points. |
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Post by Micheal Aldred on Sept 17, 2008 23:59:46 GMT -5
Yeah, I've been waiting 3 years now for this kid to come over and although I'm expecting something good from the guy I'm not delusional about possible shortcomings or length of time it takes for the kid to grow. If people think he's going to step in easy like Malkin and Ovy, they got another thing coming. He may have been Malkin's linemate, but he's not going to step in that easy. I expect between 40 to 50 points from him.
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