tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-600575121886358008.post1884166875191145708..comments2023-04-28T05:53:41.295-04:00Comments on Vintage Leaf Memories - Michael Langlois: I'm reminded of young Kadri after seeing a comment from ex-Leaf Johnny Wilson- a window into how the game is so different nowMichael Langloishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17526281022840514679noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-600575121886358008.post-21983263488898329162012-01-02T21:47:57.611-05:002012-01-02T21:47:57.611-05:00DP, the waiver restrictions you cite are important...DP, the waiver restrictions you cite are important, I'm sure, in determining who stays up and for how long. Both Kadri and Frattin seem on the cusp of proven they "belong" long-term, but they both still have things to prove. Hopefully they will both continue to get that opportunity.<br /><br />Skill2Envy...the larger rink size argument is one that seems logical, though I admit I have no proof that it would lessen the number of serious injuries. I have to believe it would and I'd be interested in hearing the views of others who have studied this much more than I have.<br /><br />While I acknowledge I have never been as big a fan as some people of the larger ice surface, we are in a new era with many players who are bigger and almost everyone is faster than was typically the case in earlier eras. (There were always speedy players but we're into a whole generation of guys who can fly, it seems...)<br /><br />The reality seems to be that NHL owners are reluctant to pay to change the seating arrangements in their buildings. Much like NFL owners who insist on their multi-million dollar stars playing on concrete (though yes, the new turf is a bit better) because it's cheaper to maintain, NHL owners perhaps care more for premium seating revenue than protecting their highly-paid players-- the guys who actually sell the tickets.<br /><br />Thanks for posting!Michael Langloishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17526281022840514679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-600575121886358008.post-38272140676032481382012-01-02T21:19:26.521-05:002012-01-02T21:19:26.521-05:00My reply will be somewhat off topic but will come ...My reply will be somewhat off topic but will come full circle if you take the time to read. Concussions seem to be a big issue. Equipment is the leading cause behind this, followed by (in my opinion) ice size.<br /><br />Look at the size of theses players: Howe (6'1, 205lbs), Gretzky (6'0, 189lbs), Orr (5'11, 200lbs), Bossy (6'0, 185lbs), Hull Sr (5'11, 208lbs), Hull Jr (5'10, 200lbs). I have listed a decent sampling of players. The Era in which they played all pretty much mesh together and as you can notice they are all roughly the same size. Players today are easily much bigger in every aspect and then you put them in even larger equipment. Anyone under 6 foot and less than 200lbs is considered "small". I would say most players now are around 6'2" and 205lbs. The league has guys around 6'6" and over 230lbs. (Chara stands 6'9", Byfuglien is 265lbs)<br /><br />People talk about growing the game but never stop to think what that really means. Everything has grown but the area they play in, the rink. Everyone is much bigger and a bigger space is needed. Time for the owners and league to put their bottom line aside and increase the rink size while taking from the seats. Even something as small as a simply yard increase to each side of the ice would make a world of difference.<br /><br /> For example, you have a Honda Civic Hatchback and only you ride in it. Then you get a girlfriend, then a dog, then you have a child, then a second....the point, as the players grow, so does the space they need. A logical person would get a bigger vehicle to accommodate the size increase of "players", why does the NHL not think this way.<br /><br />How does this tie into the topic? More space equals more freedom or creativity. The players I listed played in a league that was smaller thus giving them more space and time. Some could argue the more space would only increase the time given to build up a thunderous hit but I beg to differ. That is a narrow sighted excuse if you think increasing space would increase injury and wouldn't increase creativity.Skill2Envyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07339255754539098184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-600575121886358008.post-13004090464385376692012-01-02T20:59:03.631-05:002012-01-02T20:59:03.631-05:00Looks like Wilson is listening
- Joey Crabb was b...Looks like Wilson is listening<br /><br />- Joey Crabb was bumped up to more of a scoring line in practice, something Wilson said was a reward for how he has played. He'll skate with Grabovski and Kulemin while Matt Frattin goes to the fourth line. Clarke MacArthur was with Matt Lombardi and Nazem Kadri. <br /><br />I checked and I think because of his age, Frattin only has 60 games of NHL play before he loses his waiver exemption. <br /><br />He's already played 36, so he's only got 24 games left. If they are going to send him down they have to do it soon or Frattin will burn through his waiver exemption this year. <br /><br />Because Kadri is younger, I think he gets 80 games. That gives the Leafs way more room. Kadri has played 38 games and has 42 more before he loses waiver exemption. <br /><br />42 vs 24?<br /><br />For that reason alone Kadri should be allowed to play some games without worry.<br /><br />Give Kadri some games this year. If not all now, then later in the year. Try to put him in for at least 20 games. He has room in his waiver exemption..while Frattin is running out of time on his.DPnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-600575121886358008.post-2159331039159999172012-01-02T20:02:01.191-05:002012-01-02T20:02:01.191-05:00Happy New Year to you, Long Suffering...You've...Happy New Year to you, Long Suffering...You've captured precisely what I was trying to say in my column. It's not that there aren't wonderful things and skills on display in today's game, but it is so "coached" from the youngest levels that I think it sometimes detracts from the "watch-ability" for fans and doesn't allow players the freedom to react instinctively at times...Michael Langloishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17526281022840514679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-600575121886358008.post-21463400666964884122012-01-02T19:49:26.889-05:002012-01-02T19:49:26.889-05:00I'm not sure about Frattin's waiver limita...I'm not sure about Frattin's waiver limitations, DP. Some others will have a better handle on that one. I'm guessing he can be sent down without his being exposed to a waiver claim.<br /><br />Kadri has looked good, yes. It looks like he'll have the opportunity to show he can be consistent and play well all over the ice...Michael Langloishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17526281022840514679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-600575121886358008.post-26006035752898744422012-01-02T19:44:31.771-05:002012-01-02T19:44:31.771-05:00Happy New Year Mike and to the rest of vintage Lea...Happy New Year Mike and to the rest of vintage Leafs followers! Funny thing reading your post today. I recall not so long ago in an radio interview that Pat Quinn basically stated the same thing. He felt that the game had become sooo much about x's and o's that it was sucking the creativity out of the players. It is certainly dishearten when you see it at the developing level of minor hockey. Kids playing midget hockey already are being shape into what I call "robot hockey!" So much so that some minor coaches are grooming young players to be defensive specialist as their ticket to the NHL. Not that it is a bad thing in teaching kids defense, but, not at the expense of individual creative instincts. The game may be faster than in glory days of the flying Frenchmen, Blackhawks and Red Wings, but as you accurate said, maybe its time to allow the young Kadri's too use their creativity without fear of receiving a ticket to the minors. To every NHL executive who cares about this game of ours, please allow some creativity back into the game before the "ROBOTS" completely take over!!Long suffering Leaf fannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-600575121886358008.post-33585836962827897012012-01-02T19:13:18.161-05:002012-01-02T19:13:18.161-05:00I was actually at the game in Winnipeg and Kadri s...I was actually at the game in Winnipeg and Kadri sure looked like full-time NHL player to me...let him play.<br /><br />He was noticably dangerous and created scoring chances. He could hang on to the puck in the offensive zone like few other players on the ice. <br /><br />I would not trade him. He didn't look any smaller than Lombardi. There is too much potential. I would hang on to Kadri for a while longer and see how he develops. <br /><br />I didn't even mind his penalty. It showed some spunk against a larger player. <br /><br />I would only send Kadri down if he regresses and stops playing with energy and speed. <br /><br />But at the same time, you have to give Frattin an equal degree of scutiny. It seems like Frattin has had it easier than Kadri. Frattin hasn't done that much and he is older. Frattin blows scoring chances all the time...while I think Kadri would bury those chances. Frattin shot a prime chance right over the net in Winnipeg.<br /><br />When Armstong returns I would send Frattin down before Kadri. <br /><br />Would the older Frattin still be waiver exempt?DPnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-600575121886358008.post-68987647889092668592012-01-02T14:57:46.240-05:002012-01-02T14:57:46.240-05:00Thanks for the comment, 1967ers...
I agree, there...Thanks for the comment, 1967ers...<br /><br />I agree, there have always been systems of play in hockey. I saw that myself in the late 1950s a and early '60s with the Red Wings, who I followed a lot, and of course Montreal, Toronto and even the Black Hawks. (If I'm not mistaken, HOF'er Pierre Pilote has said the Hawks should have won more Cups, but they couldn't adjust to a more defensive style of play come playoff time.)<br /><br />The Leafs were almost always a defense-first team in my memory (even before, as you cite with Hap Day). They certainly were under Imlach in the late '50s and through the '60s and of course a decade later Roger Neilson.<br /><br />To Meeker's comment, I don't doubt he is correct about the speed of the game now. We all see it. It has to be awfully tough for the players, even guys who see the ice and anticipate well.<br /><br />As I said in chatting here with A. Donnybrook, the challenge is having players work within whatever "system" of play your team believes in, but allowing for individuals to use their own instincts as situations demand. Easier said than done, I'm sure.Michael Langloishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17526281022840514679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-600575121886358008.post-7344443703557388202012-01-02T14:45:55.267-05:002012-01-02T14:45:55.267-05:00There was an interesting comment by Howie Meeker n...There was an interesting comment by Howie Meeker not that long ago in which he said that the speed of the modern game actually hindered the modern player. The game happened so fast that you couldn't think your way through the game the way you did before. You rarely see the quality of passes you once did because there isn't time to make them.<br /><br />So perhaps the modern emphasis on systems is really there to help the player because the game happens too quickly to be dealt with otherwise. He has to already be in position because the play will be past him if he isn't.<br /><br />I think there was a lot of defensive awareness in the old days. Hap Day was looking at 5-man defensive systems in the 1940s and an inability to fit that style led to a one-way ticket out of town (ask Gordie Drillon). I think the terminology has become more developed and there is more variation, but systems like the left-wing lock have been around for decades.<br /><br />Elmer Lach, back in the 50s, said you couldn't even compare offensive numbers of players on different teams because you had to understand their system of play first.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-600575121886358008.post-53178308373155135532012-01-02T12:52:27.419-05:002012-01-02T12:52:27.419-05:00I think I see your point, A. Donnybrook. And I ag...I think I see your point, A. Donnybrook. And I agree. Repetition, doing something so often that it becomes reflexive, "muscle-memory", in a sense, obviously is part of being instinctive and being really good at something, whatever it might be.<br /><br />I guess the only distinction I draw, and maybe it's only in my mind, is that coaches so emphasize systems that a player sometimes does things that are counter-intuitive for fear of betraying the "system" and facing the repercussions from the coach. For me, there needs to be a balance between the hours and hours of "practice" and training and the in-game capacity (and being allowed) to follow your gut....<br /><br />Thanks for posting.Michael Langloishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17526281022840514679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-600575121886358008.post-86325457968173381362012-01-02T12:41:31.507-05:002012-01-02T12:41:31.507-05:00Well if one practices something, whether it be a s...Well if one practices something, whether it be a sport, music or whatever. the more you practice the more it becomes instinctual. The idea of "over coaching" is just that, do something over and over again so that it becomes instinct... its the talent in that particular thing that makes this possible... think about something you're good at (naturally talented at) and practice doing it over and over again and soon enough you can do it without event thinking.A. Donnybrooknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-600575121886358008.post-82911261745388368722012-01-02T09:53:25.762-05:002012-01-02T09:53:25.762-05:00Very well said, Gerund O'....it does look like...Very well said, Gerund O'....it does look like Kadri is finding a balance between what his instincts tell him and what the coaches "want"...We'll see if it can continue....Michael Langloishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17526281022840514679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-600575121886358008.post-65016008315424773132012-01-02T01:15:52.705-05:002012-01-02T01:15:52.705-05:00It's difficult not to observe that even with b...It's difficult not to observe that even with bench coaches and video and "eyes in the sky", the 2012 Leafs still can't get a decent PK together. I don't think it was any worse back in the days of "let 'em play"!<br />Of course, systems are going to be with us for a good long time, because they "work", but there's still lots of opportunity for instinctive play - it's the essence of game. And I think that's where a player like the old Kadri got caught - too much instinct, not enough system. These days, he seems to have found the balance - I hope it continues.<br />It may not be fair, and may even harm certain players' development or career possibilities, but I think it's the same in all pro sports at the highest level. Players have to mould their skills to the coaches' plans - and to the openings available to them on their team. Thankfully, it looks like Kadri has put it together this time around!Gerund O'Malleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18212577489787017900noreply@blogger.com