Weekly Sports Thoughts delayed one day again due to personal illness. But all back to normal, the extra day allowed us to get the return of John Tavares to New York.
The long-awaited return to New York could not have gone worse! Leafs didn't just lose, they got pummelled. But this game certainly brings up many questions.
There are many places we could start, but let's go in order. Let's start at the back. Goaltending looks to be a major issue if Freddie Andersen isn't playing. The frustrating part here is the Leafs had solid goaltending last season and you can't really blame them for doing what they did. Sparks hasn't been all that bad, the problem is his inconsistency. Personally, I would have loved to see more of Sparks throughout the season to see if we can trust him as the backup, but because of either Babcock stubbornness or the risk of not having your starter for an important game, the Leafs decided not to play him. But I look at a situation like this back-to-back. I would much rather have Andersen in net for the Islander game rather than Sparks. This could have been avoided by giving Andersen the night off against the Oil. Sparks certainly should have some easier matchups instead of the back end of the back-to-back. I would love to see Andersen under 60 games, nice and fresh, headed to the playoffs. But it looks like we are going to have an inconsistent backup and a starter who has taken the majority of the load.
Let's continue our way up the ice. We head to the D-men. Where can we start! If we start at the top, we definitely have a number 1 d-man in Rielly. But why is he partnered up with Ron Hainsey all the time? It's pretty obvious in watching Hainsey with Rielly that Ron can still play decent hockey. The issue is his age and he can't do what he once did. He's still capable of playing less minutes and making more of an impact on the team. Babcock keeps insisting on putting him on the first line with Rielly. The argument before was he had nobody else to put up there, but with Muzzin on the team, what's the real reason?
As I pointed out at the time of the Muzzin trade, my only concern was that Muzzin plays on the left side on a team with plenty of left-sided D-men and barely and right D. It turns out my concern was justified. And it doesn't make much sense. I would have loved to see Muzzin be experimented on the right side, because until I see him play on that side I will always question the Babcock logic. Muzzin does not belong on the third line, especially when we consider how deep this group of D-men is. It's really not!
Jake Gardiner is a solid 2nd line D-man on this team, and I will not criticize him for the job he's done. Toronto will miss him while he's injured. I will also not complain about Dermott's work on this team. I feel he deserves more minutes than what he's been playing. Such a shame he doesn't get them. Can't wait for him to get better!
That takes me to the biggest liability on this team, aka our only working right-handed D-man, Nikita Zaitsev! I don't like his $4.5 million for 7 years deal, never did. I really wish we could get rid of this salary! We really have a lack of depth, I wish we could have gotten another right-handed D to be a 6 or 7 on this team. The issue is how Babcock would utilize them.
I don't want to touch the forwards. For the most part, no complaints. We have too much talent, I feel we could be a bit better. I want to judge come playoff time, that's when it really matters. Up until now, only the back end has shown me the massive concern. For me, it's getting to the point that if Babcock can't get this team past the first round, we need to look at a change at the coaching spot. It's not that Babs is a bad coach, he just isn't the right coach for this team.
Onto the Raptors. Kawhi doesn't play Sunday versus the Magic and loses. Kawhi plays versus the Celtics and the Raps have one of their best games of the year. This up and down team sometimes shows they may be the team to beat in the post-season. The biggest hope for the Raptors is to maintain second overall and hope the Bucks trip up and allow them to cruise to the finals. I'd like to have home-court advantage through the playoffs, and it may be a possibility.
Toronto FC re-sign Jozy Altidore. After a disappointing Champions League, the reds look focused on recovering in the league after being champions two seasons ago. The contract of Pozuelo is a sign they're still interested in winning, just with a different attitude. With the new season about to begin, the team needs to refocus to make the playoffs. Step 1, I truly believe, is restarting in the coaching position. Greg Vanney has done everything he could with this squad. I think it's time for a new voice. We shall see where this goes week to week.
Benfica won 4-0 versus Chaves to set up the epic matchup against Porto for the title this weekend. For that reason, we will refrain from comment on Portuguese soccer, as the good stuff is coming up. Braga is out of the title race, and as good as both top teams are playing, everything and anything is possible. It's time to see what will happen!
Thank you for reading! Til next week!
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