Post by torontogm on Feb 19, 2014 16:37:14 GMT -5
Toronto, ON - A win by the Toronto Marlies has not been an unusual thing this season, but tonight's 4-1 victory over the Oakland Seals marked only the second time this season that the club had only given up 1 goal. The Marlies have been a strong team over the past few seasons, and this season they are continuing that trend, but the way they are doing it has everyone in their organization baffled.
There is little surprise around the Toronto club that they are tied for second overall in scoring. The club has solid scoring veterans like Aaron Palushaj and Brett Sterling, and talented rookies such as Jordan Weal and Reilly Smith. The club is getting strong secondary scoring from players like Michael Latta and Mike Hedden, while blueliners Jonas Brodin and TJ Brennan have chipped in on a regular basis as well. What is surprising is the goals against. Going into tonight's game the club had actually been outscored by 3 goals in spite of having the third best record in the AsHL.
Going into the season the club was a little concerned that they would have a hard time replacing the offense generated by Jeremy Williams over the past few years. He had been dominant and the club had relied on him heavily. What everyone in the organization was confident of was that they would still be very strong defensively and in net. With tonight's win Ben Bishop, who is tagged as Toronto's goalie of the future, finally dropped his goals against average below three. The Marlies have been using a three goalie rotation as they have waited for someone to get hot and go on a run. So far their collective performances have been inconsistent at best. The club is very deep in net, with Eddie Lack and Alex Stalock rounding out the group minding the twine in Toronto. While Bishop is considered a lock to take over at least the backup role in Toronto next season, the other two goalies will not make his path to the NsHL an easy one. They are both considered NsHL calibre goalies in the not-too-distant future.
So what is the difference in Toronto? Coach Glen Gulutzan has preached a bit more offense that predecessor Jim Schoenfeld, but not so much to explain away a huge upsurge in goals against. The club's defensemen are allowed a little more free reign, but the coach makes it very clear that they need to take care of the little things such as clearing the front of the net and making a strong break-out pass. The loss of Slava Voynov to the big club has been filled admirably by newcomer Jonas Brodin, though he is still adjusting to AsHL play. He has logged big minutes for the club and is getting better with each game. John Moore has struggled to find his game this season after a very effective one last year. He has managed just 6 assists so far and is a -6, but it is hard to hang all their defensive woes on one player. "It has been weird. I've had to adjust to new partners this year, but it's not like I feel bad out there. Our system has not changed that much, and every guy I play with is a quality player," said Moore.
"Some statistics do not do players justice," said coach Gulutzan. "Plus minus is one of those that I don't put too much stock in. John has been pretty good overall and we have moved him all over the lineup to try to find the right complementary player for him. He'll figure things out."
Keith Aulie has logged the most minutes of any defenseman in Toronto so far this season, and has been extremely solid. He can't explain what has happened this year. "My numbers look good, but I can't say that I have felt that any of our other players have been any less effective than me. We have had some rough games collectively, and some strong ones," said the veteran.
For Toronto there is the strong hope that the last 2 games are a sign of the club turning the corner defensively. They have given up just 3 goals in those two games - it had been 11 games since they gave up fewer than 3 in one game.
--- Barbie Q Pork for the Hogtown Hockey News
There is little surprise around the Toronto club that they are tied for second overall in scoring. The club has solid scoring veterans like Aaron Palushaj and Brett Sterling, and talented rookies such as Jordan Weal and Reilly Smith. The club is getting strong secondary scoring from players like Michael Latta and Mike Hedden, while blueliners Jonas Brodin and TJ Brennan have chipped in on a regular basis as well. What is surprising is the goals against. Going into tonight's game the club had actually been outscored by 3 goals in spite of having the third best record in the AsHL.
Going into the season the club was a little concerned that they would have a hard time replacing the offense generated by Jeremy Williams over the past few years. He had been dominant and the club had relied on him heavily. What everyone in the organization was confident of was that they would still be very strong defensively and in net. With tonight's win Ben Bishop, who is tagged as Toronto's goalie of the future, finally dropped his goals against average below three. The Marlies have been using a three goalie rotation as they have waited for someone to get hot and go on a run. So far their collective performances have been inconsistent at best. The club is very deep in net, with Eddie Lack and Alex Stalock rounding out the group minding the twine in Toronto. While Bishop is considered a lock to take over at least the backup role in Toronto next season, the other two goalies will not make his path to the NsHL an easy one. They are both considered NsHL calibre goalies in the not-too-distant future.
So what is the difference in Toronto? Coach Glen Gulutzan has preached a bit more offense that predecessor Jim Schoenfeld, but not so much to explain away a huge upsurge in goals against. The club's defensemen are allowed a little more free reign, but the coach makes it very clear that they need to take care of the little things such as clearing the front of the net and making a strong break-out pass. The loss of Slava Voynov to the big club has been filled admirably by newcomer Jonas Brodin, though he is still adjusting to AsHL play. He has logged big minutes for the club and is getting better with each game. John Moore has struggled to find his game this season after a very effective one last year. He has managed just 6 assists so far and is a -6, but it is hard to hang all their defensive woes on one player. "It has been weird. I've had to adjust to new partners this year, but it's not like I feel bad out there. Our system has not changed that much, and every guy I play with is a quality player," said Moore.
"Some statistics do not do players justice," said coach Gulutzan. "Plus minus is one of those that I don't put too much stock in. John has been pretty good overall and we have moved him all over the lineup to try to find the right complementary player for him. He'll figure things out."
Keith Aulie has logged the most minutes of any defenseman in Toronto so far this season, and has been extremely solid. He can't explain what has happened this year. "My numbers look good, but I can't say that I have felt that any of our other players have been any less effective than me. We have had some rough games collectively, and some strong ones," said the veteran.
For Toronto there is the strong hope that the last 2 games are a sign of the club turning the corner defensively. They have given up just 3 goals in those two games - it had been 11 games since they gave up fewer than 3 in one game.
--- Barbie Q Pork for the Hogtown Hockey News