Derek21 Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 Clarkson is going to be fine. I don't think you understand how long it has been since the Leafs have had Good Ontario Boys on the team. The fact that Wendel Clark - yeah he had some good years, but ultimately is not a great player (who reveres Gerard Gallant in Detroit?) - is the guy to live up to says it all. Clarkson will hit and fight and score a few goals and the people who would complain about his contract will complain about it, but Joe Leaf Fan will like Clarkson and wish they had more guys like him on the team. And he'll get to talk with Don Cherry on HNIC all the time. Clark was a bull for the Leafs on those 2 Conference Final teams. He was beloved. They made the smart play acquiring Sundin. A trade made possible because the teams were in opposite conferences. An exciting time to be a hockey fan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Rockies 1976 Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 Clarkson is going to be fine. I don't think you understand how long it has been since the Leafs have had Good Ontario Boys on the team. The fact that Wendel Clark - yeah he had some good years, but ultimately is not a great player (who reveres Gerard Gallant in Detroit?) - is the guy to live up to says it all. Clarkson will hit and fight and score a few goals and the people who would complain about his contract will complain about it, but Joe Leaf Fan will like Clarkson and wish they had more guys like him on the team. And he'll get to talk with Don Cherry on HNIC all the time. Clark wasn't great, but he was unique...you don't see too many guys who could be as gritty as Clark, yet could find the back of the net as often as he did (and you admitted yourself that you weren't even really watching hockey when Clark played his first 10 seasons or so). He had a way of making his presence felt pretty heavily in a number of games, in multiple ways, when he was actually on the ice. He played in Live Puck for most of his Leafs career, but he did score 260 goals in 608 career games as a Leaf (that's 35 per 82 GP), and scored 30 or more six times. Of course, Clark missed a ton of games throughout his career, and was done by the age of 33 (he looked 43). His brutish style of play came at a heavy price. Whether or not Clarkson will be fine will depend on how Leaf fans accept him. If they're happy with 15-20 goals, 30-40 points, and Clarkson's work ethic, and don't mind that the Leafs overpaid quite a bit for his skillset, yeah, he could be OK, at least for the first few seasons. By logic, all the Leaf faithful have to do is check out his Devil numbers to realize the 30-goal season was probably a fluke, and that he's not going to be racking up 50-60 points per season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devilsrule33 Posted August 1, 2013 Author Share Posted August 1, 2013 Whether or not Clarkson will be fine will depend on how Leaf fans accept him. If they're happy with 15-20 goals, 30-40 points, and Clarkson's work ethic, and don't mind that the Leafs overpaid quite a bit for his skillset, yeah, he could be OK, at least for the first few seasons. By logic, all the Leaf faithful have to do is check out his Devil numbers to realize the 30-goal season was probably a fluke, and that he's not going to be racking up 50-60 points per season. Well you got two sides here: You have old-school fans who are happy with the off-season Nonis had building a team that Carlyle liked. They got rid of Grabovski who was someone who wasn't very good and couldn't play for Carlyle, They added two great rough and tough Canadian boys in Dave Bolland (Stanley Cup game winning goal!) and David Clarkson. So these guys are only going to improve team toughness and grit when you add that with McLaren and Orr. This is an improvement on a playoff team that was 10 minutes away from defeating the best team in the East. They can play with anyone. And you have some newer school fans or old school too who realize Grabovski wasn't ultilized right by Carlyle and is actually an extremely effective player when used right. And replacing him with Bolland is insane. They also realize the Leafs were one of the luckiest playoff teams ever with an awful defense, that was bailed out by Reimer all year They played with a PDO way over 1.000. They were the most outshot playoff team since the Canadiens in 2002, who had a fluky year of their own led by Hart Trophy winner Jose Theodore. They regressed heavily in 2003, and fired their coach mid-season and eventually missed the playoffs. So if the Leafs start to struggle, I think the fans generally excited about what Clarkson brings will take out a ton of frustrations on him and won't even enjoy any of the attributes that Tri and Don Cherry mentioned. Some other fans will know Clarkson is one bad move in a generally awful off-season by Dave Nonis and that this team was bound to regress. I think we know which voice will be heard louder. In my opinion, the Leafs are doomed to struggle, and unless Clarkson is the one shining star, he's going to be the whipping boy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 Clarkson's going to play more in Toronto than he did in New Jersey (except for this past year). He'll play on the 2nd line with Nazem Kadri. Even with his horrible shooting luck this year, he was still on pace for 25 goals in 82 games. While I think the Leafs will struggle, the media narrative will be about defense - the Leafs actually have decent forwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DH26 Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 Clarkson's going to play more in Toronto than he did in New Jersey (except for this past year). He'll play on the 2nd line with Nazem Kadri. Even with his horrible shooting luck this year, he was still on pace for 25 goals in 82 games. While I think the Leafs will struggle, the media narrative will be about defense - the Leafs actually have decent forwards. Paul Ranger and Mark Fraser playing big minutes not doing it for ya? And of course they'll trade Franson because leafs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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