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The Toronto Maple Marlies Defeat The Vegas Golden Nuggets |
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Hey Everyone! This will be a real blog and not a joke like the last one. Thank you Wedginald for the AI script. The poor prose and scatterbrained farts coming shortly will disabuse anyone that this is generated by something other than a pickled brained human. I would first like to lament the loss of two great Buzzers in M in B and Bill Meltzer. Mike and Bill were staples here on HB and helped grow rabid and at times tumultuously insane fanbases. Both have written and podcasted through franchise highs and lows...Bill getting the better of that trade early on...and have garnered their own fans outright. I was not as close to them as I was to former writers like Travis "TSN" Yost, but I never had any poor interactions with the two. Eklund will be hard pressed to find writers with their dedication and love of the sport. I'm sure Eklund will find a full time Leafs writer...I mean there are millions of fans out there, so somebody can do it, but since I watch 90% of the games, I might as well step in. I will be doing more prospect/CHL/World Junior coverage as the year goes on.
The Leafs played a very "New" Leafs game. There have been some stinkers, but overall this team looks much improved under Craig Berube. This might be due to the revamped defense core gelling so well that I can't really believe that this team is actually good at defense for the first time since..........1993? or that Stolarz and to a lesser extent Woll are giving them very good goaltending. You know what, let's just say it's all of the above. The Knights had about 3 chances that scared me, but mostly the shots were kept to the outside and the chances to a minimum. It was a really good overall defensive effort in my opinion.
It's still frustrating that this team can somehow tame the top teams while taking a steaming pile against borderline AHL squads like the Blue Jackets, but that is why they are the Leafs and so very, very Leafy.
Shout out to the stat makers who somehow gave Simon Benoit 8 hits and OEL/Tanev/Rielly/Timmins all a combined 0...I want what drugs you're on. It shows how seemingly useless the "real time" stats can be at times like how the guy who counts the hits at Islanders games seems to give their 4th line 12 hits each a night to inflate their toughness.
Some Notes!
Fraser Minten - Minten scored his first NHL goal last night and it was the type of goal we can expect to see him score for years to come. Minten has been a very intriguing prospect in Leafland ever since he randomly made the team out of his draft year. He obviously was sent back down and was not ready for the show, but it was a sign of the type of player he is. He's what I like to call a "High Floor" prospect. The type of player that really doesn't blow you away with any discernable skillset, but does everything fairly well and has an NHL style game. I think we saw a glimpse of the high-end third liner that Minten projects to be and I was pretty shocked at how much he was played (obviously the Knies injury added to his minutes...but we'll get to that!).
Nikita Grebyonkin - Now spelled Grebenkin because Russian...replaced an injured Max Domi and was...fine? I really didn't notice him too much this game. He's been a fun prospect to follow as he's been able to elevate year to year in the MHL/VHL/KHL system. Last year was his coming out party in the KHL after winning the KHL Rookie of the Year award the year before. His transition to the AHL has gone well by all accounts and he's looking like a future NHLer. I don't think he's long for the big show this season, but with Robertson floundering and the Leafs always looking for cheap young talent, he might be a full timer as early as next season.
The Woll! - Stolarz has been the story of the season so far with Woll starting the year injured and him having the best save percentage in the NHL...again, however Woll has been good as well. Despite the 31 save shutout, I wouldn't say this was really Woll's best game, but he was solid and dependable in a game of not a ton of high quality Knights opportunities. Health aside, I haven't been this comfortable from the eye test on goalies from the Leafs since...oh FFS...2004? I feel like I'm going back in time a lot, I guess that's what happens when you cheer for the franchise that takes all of their members on the PTSD express.
Matthew Cries - Knies' sophomore season has been a roaring success. He's looking like the Zach Hyman replacement the team has needed since...well...he left. Unfortunately the big kid got rocked in a hit that got to showcase how hilarious the NHL's refs are by being a major and then nothing. We can all debate it, I didn't like the follow through and extension, but I hope he's ok and I will leave this here
Rule 48 – Illegal Check to the Head
48.1 Illegal Check to the Head – A hit resulting in contact with an
opponent’s head where the head was the main point of contact and
such contact to the head was avoidable is not permitted.
In determining whether contact with an opponent's head was
avoidable, the circumstances of the hit including the following shall be
considered:
(i) Whether the player attempted to hit squarely through the
opponent’s body and the head was not "picked" as a result of poor
timing, poor angle of approach, or unnecessary extension of the
body upward or outward.
(ii) Whether the opponent put himself in a vulnerable position by
assuming a posture that made head contact on an otherwise full
body check unavoidable.
(iii) Whether the opponent materially changed the position of his body
or head immediately prior to or simultaneously with the hit in a way
that significantly contributed to the head contact.
48.2 Minor Penalty – For violation of this rule, a minor penalty shall be
assessed.
48.3 Major Penalty – There is no provision for a major penalty for this rule.
48.4 Game Misconduct Penalty – There is no provision for a game
misconduct for this rule.
48.5 Match Penalty – The Referee, at his discretion, may assess a match
penalty if, in his judgment, the player attempted to or deliberately
injured his opponent with an illegal check to the head.
Thanks for reading!
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