Why signing John Tavares is THE WORST move the Toronto Maple Leafs could have made.
Pittsburg won the cup with a no-name blue line? So then the Leafs can too...right?
WRONG,
There's is something about the position of "defenseman" in hockey you aren't taking into account, and it' a big reason why the Penguins will once again, soon, hoist the most storied trophy in sports and the Leafs will suffer through another generation of humiliation (Drop the beat and I'll rap it)
The thing about Pittsburg that people don't get, is that Crosby and Malkin are absolute traditional COMPLETE centers. A "real" center plays as the third defenseman, covering the slot and behind the net, a lot of the time, your best "Puck moving D" is actually your center, a lot of people don't seem to understand how the center position differs from any other position in hockey.
They should watch more Penguins games, they would learn......FAST. Between the two of them Crosby and Malkin DOMINATE both ends of the ice, getting the puck, moving the puck, distributing the puck, they ARE the Pittsburg Penguins, they don't rely on any player other than the goaltender, if something needs doing on the ice during a Pittsburg game, chances are, either Crosby or Malkin already did it before you got a chance to even check. They are the gold standard for the center ice position and have the cups to prove it.
How about the Leafs?
You KNOW this isn't going to be good news, right? because if you thought Tavares, Mathews, Marner, Kadri, Nylander take..... your pick, were even CLOSE to being in the Crosby/Malkin league you are kidding yourself. Worse yet, their collective strengths and weaknesses, don't add up to whole players, they don't cover up one another's deficiency, they MAGNIFY them, mostly because they are the SAME PROBLEMS.
Mathews is decent at the all-around game, but he can be a little bit "Self-centered" in his play, offensively a great center should be like a quarterback, reading the defense and calling audibles, then connecting teammates as a conduit for the team's potential offense. Mathews really reminds me of the "new" style of hockey player, who is taught from an early age to keep the spotlight on themselves whenever possible, and keep coaches playing you by staying responsible in the D zone, but the death of the playmaker is being expedited by hockey parents and agents who are teaching kids to: "Don't pass! SHOOT! At least you'll be credited with a shot if you pass and your teammate misses it doesn't show up on the stat sheet" Mathews has always struck me as a guy who was trained with that headspace in the forefront, he's not an ideal first line center, his presence creates a "me first" attitude amongst his line.
Tavares is really talented, he was amongst the first wave of "me first" centers, and once he arrived he altered his game and started to play more like a first line center should. The problem is he's not tenacious in the D zone if he's your first line center, then that line can be overwhelmed, Tavares's lack of playoff success bears this out, Tavares is just MORE POINTS and not the kind in the standings, he doesn't change or control the tempo of your team's play, he simply scores, and no that ISN'T enough.
Nylander needs to be on the wing, he can't handle the responsibilities of an NHL center,
Marner, like Tavares, is present but not tenacious and even less detailed, his line too can be pushed to slip on the proverbial banana peel.
Kadri is actually quite good, but on a "me first" team, he plays to the culture of where he is at.
So the REAL difference between Toronto and Pittsburg's blue line is not in the defensemen, at least not in the pairings, it's in the THIRD defencemen all of whom have serious holes in their games, the funny thing is that Patric Marleau, who began his career as a center, was moved to the wing permanently FOR BOTH REASON'S, an unwillingness to use his linemates and for a lack of defensive tenacity.
Crosby and Malkin are the antitheses of players like these, they DEMAND the puck in the defensive zone, they are generals with the puck on offense, maneuvering and using their linemates like fighter squadrons being launched and directed by a supreme commander, why fly's nearby in a stealth bomber.
The Leafs have NO PLAYER who is even CLOSE to being in their league and Leafs fans don't realize, their defense often looks bad because the center isn't doing his job, thus leaving them undermanned and overwhelmed, the signing of Tavares will do NOTHING to alleviate this, in fact it will make it WORSE as a bunch of "me first" players try and do everything on their own (Except defend)
Leafs fans should not have been excited about the Tavares signing, he's not what they needed, not even close, in fact, his presence will further expose the team's weakness. Pittsburg has another cup in them before the Crosby Malkin era is over, that cup will come and go, be a distant memory eventually, and the Leafs STILL will not have won a cup, actually, with their current roster, I doubt they even make it out of the first round.
And there isn't a damn thing John Tavares can do about it, because it's not his game to do what it would take to ...or Mathews' or Marners'.....ect.
WRONG,
There's is something about the position of "defenseman" in hockey you aren't taking into account, and it' a big reason why the Penguins will once again, soon, hoist the most storied trophy in sports and the Leafs will suffer through another generation of humiliation (Drop the beat and I'll rap it)
The thing about Pittsburg that people don't get, is that Crosby and Malkin are absolute traditional COMPLETE centers. A "real" center plays as the third defenseman, covering the slot and behind the net, a lot of the time, your best "Puck moving D" is actually your center, a lot of people don't seem to understand how the center position differs from any other position in hockey.
They should watch more Penguins games, they would learn......FAST. Between the two of them Crosby and Malkin DOMINATE both ends of the ice, getting the puck, moving the puck, distributing the puck, they ARE the Pittsburg Penguins, they don't rely on any player other than the goaltender, if something needs doing on the ice during a Pittsburg game, chances are, either Crosby or Malkin already did it before you got a chance to even check. They are the gold standard for the center ice position and have the cups to prove it.
How about the Leafs?
You KNOW this isn't going to be good news, right? because if you thought Tavares, Mathews, Marner, Kadri, Nylander take..... your pick, were even CLOSE to being in the Crosby/Malkin league you are kidding yourself. Worse yet, their collective strengths and weaknesses, don't add up to whole players, they don't cover up one another's deficiency, they MAGNIFY them, mostly because they are the SAME PROBLEMS.
Mathews is decent at the all-around game, but he can be a little bit "Self-centered" in his play, offensively a great center should be like a quarterback, reading the defense and calling audibles, then connecting teammates as a conduit for the team's potential offense. Mathews really reminds me of the "new" style of hockey player, who is taught from an early age to keep the spotlight on themselves whenever possible, and keep coaches playing you by staying responsible in the D zone, but the death of the playmaker is being expedited by hockey parents and agents who are teaching kids to: "Don't pass! SHOOT! At least you'll be credited with a shot if you pass and your teammate misses it doesn't show up on the stat sheet" Mathews has always struck me as a guy who was trained with that headspace in the forefront, he's not an ideal first line center, his presence creates a "me first" attitude amongst his line.
Tavares is really talented, he was amongst the first wave of "me first" centers, and once he arrived he altered his game and started to play more like a first line center should. The problem is he's not tenacious in the D zone if he's your first line center, then that line can be overwhelmed, Tavares's lack of playoff success bears this out, Tavares is just MORE POINTS and not the kind in the standings, he doesn't change or control the tempo of your team's play, he simply scores, and no that ISN'T enough.
Nylander needs to be on the wing, he can't handle the responsibilities of an NHL center,
Marner, like Tavares, is present but not tenacious and even less detailed, his line too can be pushed to slip on the proverbial banana peel.
Kadri is actually quite good, but on a "me first" team, he plays to the culture of where he is at.
So the REAL difference between Toronto and Pittsburg's blue line is not in the defensemen, at least not in the pairings, it's in the THIRD defencemen all of whom have serious holes in their games, the funny thing is that Patric Marleau, who began his career as a center, was moved to the wing permanently FOR BOTH REASON'S, an unwillingness to use his linemates and for a lack of defensive tenacity.
Crosby and Malkin are the antitheses of players like these, they DEMAND the puck in the defensive zone, they are generals with the puck on offense, maneuvering and using their linemates like fighter squadrons being launched and directed by a supreme commander, why fly's nearby in a stealth bomber.
The Leafs have NO PLAYER who is even CLOSE to being in their league and Leafs fans don't realize, their defense often looks bad because the center isn't doing his job, thus leaving them undermanned and overwhelmed, the signing of Tavares will do NOTHING to alleviate this, in fact it will make it WORSE as a bunch of "me first" players try and do everything on their own (Except defend)
Leafs fans should not have been excited about the Tavares signing, he's not what they needed, not even close, in fact, his presence will further expose the team's weakness. Pittsburg has another cup in them before the Crosby Malkin era is over, that cup will come and go, be a distant memory eventually, and the Leafs STILL will not have won a cup, actually, with their current roster, I doubt they even make it out of the first round.
And there isn't a damn thing John Tavares can do about it, because it's not his game to do what it would take to ...or Mathews' or Marners'.....ect.
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