I want to preface this by saying that even if we lost the game 20-0, it would still be worth it to have the Amirov family there and pay tribute to Rodion. I'm so proud of the way our team has handled the entire awful situation, and there are things that are so much more important than hockey.
From what we know about Samsonov, he's an emotional guy, he has a big heart, and he had a close bond with Amirov in the short time they shared together.
I only bring this up because I saw a lot of "oh, here we go again" sentiment about Sammy and I think there's simply a reasonable explanation as to why he was not at his best. I have to imagine he spent time with the Amirov family before the game, it was probably emotionally draining, and he even may have been "trying too hard" to win for Rodion.
Going into last night's game, he was 18-3-1 with a .915 SV% since January 21st, with only one "really bad start" (sub-.850 SV%). He's been a good goalie basically since he was recalled, and one bad start under unique circumstances does not change that.
17 comments
mike jeffries
I don’t even blame him for most of the goals. Our PK was awful and the PP was anemic as usual.
I really want Keefe and Boucher to try a different look PP1. They need to get a shooting mentality on the PP because all they do now 90% of the time is just pass around the perimeter.
A very logical and human explanation. I have been in Sammy’s corner since we signed him.
I think he’ll be fine, one bad game in his recent run should not get Leaf fans down. He has been phenomenal since his reset.
We Leaf fans seem very quick to roll our eyes up every time we see a dip in the road and with our recent results, they are warranted, but for hockey God’s sake, can we please just take it as a loss and move on.
I like Sammy but I wonder if Matt Murray will get another chance to reclaim glory.
I think everyone understands that this could just be a bad game for him, all this analysis is overblown.
While I generally agree with you, us leaf fans are a fragile, reactive group (for good reason) so I think it’s only natural that we will be white knuckling his performances leading into the playoffs
sammy stole us at least a couple games since he’s been back, and we had at least 2-3 defensive zone collapses against the devils that left him in tough situations. that L shouldn’t be put solely on him
I think people assume foreigners from the same country are super close wayyy too much, but if you read that article that I’m not gonna bother reading and believe it’s not just Kloke needing something to write, I’ll take your word for it here, and it’s a fair point. I still don’t buy this January cutoff. Players, especially goalies, run hot and cold. You can’t just say “well he’s been fantastic if you take out all the games he was bad!!” He is, for his career, a very slightly below average goaltender in the NHL. For his career in Toronto, he’s a very slightly above average goaltender in the NHL. I would probably start him for game one because Joseph Woll sure as hell still looks hurt, and Martin Jones’s last 500 shots against don’t convince me he’s not the goalie he was for the five years before that when he’s 34. But I don’t have a world of confidence in him. It’s fine, I don’t have any confidence at all in the roster players who aren’t maybe eight forwards, Rielly, and Liljegren.
Every single goalie in the sport has bad games all the time. Here’s some of the league’s best goalies by sub-.850 performances in the past 10 games
0: Jordan Binnington
1: Ilya Samsonov, Jake Oettinger, Thatcher Demko, Linus Ullmark, Stuart Skinner, Cam Talbot, Logan Thompson
2: Connor Hellebuyck, Igor Shesterkin, Ilya Sorokin, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Juuse Saros, Jacob Markstrom, Alexandar Georgiev, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
3: Sergei Bobrovsky, Jeremy Swayman
5: Tristan Jarry
Yes, Samsonov’s history gives us a bit more cause for concern than Jets or Rangers fans, but one bad game in game 70-something isn’t the end of the world.
Classic over reaction from leaf fans over that lose.
I see what happened. So, congratulations on waking up from your coma in January. Contrary to what you apparently believe, Samsonov actually has history that goes back years, not just a couple months. And that history includes being shit for weeks after a bad game more often than you need to see from a cup contending team’s starting goalie.
You also seem to think “I’m concerned this will result in that thing he’s been doing his whole career” is the same as “He’s definitely shit and there’s no chance he performs well in the playoffs.” It’s fine, you haven’t watched a hockey game in 3 years before January, so I get it.
Oh, and if a goalie isn’t mentally strong enough to withstand a tribute video pregame then he’s not strong enough to withstand 4 rounds of playoff hockey and needs to get the fuck off this team yesterday.
I don’t put any stock in Sammy’s performance against NJ at all, I don’t care. We know he can do it, we know he will do it
Winning these games would be nice, but I’d rather gear up for playoffs and get matthews to 70 tonight
Sammy gets a pass from me
He’s literally been the best goalie in the entire league since getting called back up
If I’m not mistaken, Woll was supposed to start that game. Wonder if Samsonov was given enough notice to get into the right frame of mind (headspace) when he was told he was starting. Yes, our D and special teams sucked on that night but Samsonov’s positioning after some of those saves gave me flashbacks to before his demotion. Tonight will tell if this was a bad game, or cause for concern…..I mean it’s the Leafs, there’s always cause for concern lol
sometimes goalies just have a bad game I don’t think it’s really worth reading into. Samsonov has been inconsistent his whole career sometimes maybe good sometimes maybe shit.
Does anyone have the article about Amirov’s day with the Leafs from the athletic? I can’t read it behind the paywall.
Still can’t help but dream about the player Rodion would have become!!! God rest his soul.