Jon Cooper makes asinine comment about Leafs' center depth
In Game 1, we saw John Tavares and Ryan O'Reilly deployed on the same line by Sheldon Keefe. After being booed off the ice at the end of the game, Keefe decided to split up O'Reilly and Tavares and deploy O'Reilly as a third line center the following day at practice. That lineup change stuck for Game 2 and it paid dividends for the Leafs.
O'Reilly and Noel Acciari sheltered Matthew Knies in his first playoff game on the third line and the line looked very good, generating scoring chances and sustained offensive zone pressure. Auston Matthews and Tavares each powered their own lines with Tavares netting a hat trick and Matthews adding another 2 assists in the Leafs' 7-2 win.
Following the game, Lightning coach Jon Cooper was asked how the addition of O'Reilly and the use of him as third line center and how it challenged the Lightning's depth down the middle. Cooper responded the only way he knows how, creating another headline for the media by saying, "Give me Point, Cirelli and Paul all day against anybody in the league."
Ummm, excuse me, Jon? If the Leafs offered you Auston Matthews, John Tavares and Ryan O'Reilly for Point, Cirelli and Paul right now (salary cap aside), you'd decline? That's quite the load of BS from Cooper if you ask me.
The trio are younger and Cirelli and Point are much lighter on their skates than Tavares and O'Reilly, but I don't know how anyone can say with a straight face that the trio of Point, Cirelli and Paul are better than the trio of Matthews, Tavares and O'Reilly. That's just madness.
Previously on MapleLeafsDaily
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 21 | 75 ANSWERS Jon Cooper makes asinine comment about Leafs' center depth Who would you rather have on your team? | ||
| Point, Cirelli, Paul | 5 | 6.7 % |
| Matthews, Tavares, O'Reilly | 38 | 50.7 % |
| It's silly that we're even having this convo | 32 | 42.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
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