Back to Excited Hockey Podcast

We discuss the rest of the NHL including: How bad the Oilers are Columbus' all-in moves The Western conference playoff picture The Athletic's player poll

Episode 53 - Here's Johnny by Arvind, Acting the Fulemin

[0:47] The Leafs/Habs game, including: [2:37] William Nylander's strong showing [5:33] Connor Brown offensive ineptitude [10:45] The duality of Auston Matthews [18:00] Leafs defenders and usage [26:45] Cat shit guy [32:48] What should the Leafs do (if anything) as a result of Nylander's excellent play as a centre [47:25] What's up with Mitch Marner [53:00] Deadline deals around the league

The Leafs poor performance against Arizona [0:56] William Nylander has been the Leafs best forward for about 2 weeks [4:38] The impact of the weak competition they face on Nylander’s and Kadri’s success [7:02] We talk about math, and the strengths and weaknesses of the models used to assess play driving, factoring in the context in which a skater plays [9:02] How we feel about Mike Babcock’s toys...

The Leafs win in Montreal, including their struggling power play and where they and the Habs differ [0:57] The Auston Matthews contract [10:45] What the Leafs should do for Mitch Marner’s contract [28:30] A quick look around the Atlantic Division [42:30] Early returns on Jake Muzzin [56:57]

Episode 49 - Twitter Mailbag by Arvind, Acting the Fulemin

Episode 48 - Jake Muzzin Trade by Arvind, Acting the Fulemin

[3:00] NHL All-Star PR [12:00] Patrick Marleau's season [24:53] Burke and Nylander [37:45] Questrade commercials [40:37] The Islanders, Lou, and Hunter [58:00] The Oilers

William Nylander’s evident demotion to the 4th line [2:20] Whether the Leafs should match Kadri up to the opposing team’s top line again [14:35] If we’d be on board with trading Kapanen (plus more assets) to Carolina for Dougie Hamilton [26:00] Why I think the Leafs (and their fans) should not even come close to panicking [39:00] Various Leafs defense targets [50:24] Criticism of the Leafs’ system...

On this episode, we discuss: The Trevor Moore contract - 3:25 The Leafs losing to the Bruins and the noise about them needing to be heavier - 9:06 The success of the Nylander/Kadri duo in doing everything but score - 32:07 Our mild concerns with Auston Matthews - 44:56 Mitch Marner's absurd play - 59:25

On this episode, we discuss: The Vancouver Canucks and how excited we are at the prospect of more Jim Benning moves - 1:15 The rumours surrounding the Carolina Hurricanes, and why they are so much worse than their shot metrics - 11:00 Can the Leafs make a competitive offer for Alex Pietrangelo, and should they? - 27:00 Is a cheaper option like Nick Jensen worth a shot? - 43:43 Fulemin makes fun of...

Welcome back to another episode of Back to Excited. On this episode, we discuss: 3:33 - Columbus and New York games 9:32 - Sparks stuff 21:20 - Things we were wrong about (Gauthier - 22:20, Marner - 29:16, Nylander - 42:30) 1:00:09 - The Oilers continual stupidity

On this episode, we discuss: The last five games for the Leafs [1:20] How William Nylander has performed [5:50] The game vs Tampa Bay and the NHL's divisional setup [18:00] A rant about Troy Brouwer's hit on Kasperi Kapanen [23:00] Whether we're concerned about a series against Buffalo [30:11] The knock on effect of having Nylander in our lineup [38:40] More discussion of how stacked Tampa is [41:...

Today we discuss: The Leafs loss in Boston and whether this changes how we think of them or their tactics [1:30] The Alex Pietrangelo Rumours, and other possible deadline acquisitions, including Wayne Simmonds, Rick Nash, and more [38:04]

Episode 40 - All Nylander, All the time by Arvind, Acting the Fulemin

On this episode we play a game of Real or Fake. Each of us make a claim about the season so far, and we determine whether it will hold over the rest of the year. Kasperi Kapanen is a first line winger - 2:30 Morgan Rielly is the Norris favourite - 14:57 Travis Dermott is the Leafs' 2nd best defenseman - 24:02 Frederik Andersen is the Vezina favourite - 39:40 Frederik Gauthier is competent - 51:30...

Welcome back to another episode of Back To Excited. On this episode, we discuss: The latest on the Nylander contract dispute, based on the reporting from the Headlines segment of Hockey Night in Canada, and our thoughts on it, and the situation as a whole. [0:53] The otherwise strong week for the Leafs, last night notwithstanding [28:18] How do we feel about facing Boston in the playoffs? [29:45]...

1:08 - How have the lightning been? 3:08 - How are the leafs relative to them? 4:15 - How does this lightning team compare to last years 5:40 - How do you deal with the banality of the regular season when you’re a good team 8:20 - Fan psychology 16:45 - the frustration that exists in the leafs fanbase despite their success 19:00 - The Yanni Gourde signing, and what it means for the Lightning’s cap...

On this episode, we discuss: The Leafs winning two in a row against the Jets [1:40] The HNIC commentators and how bad they are [3:40] Auston Matthews' injury [10:00] William Nylander (again) [13:50] Why sponsorship dollars for players like Nylander aren't a difference maker [17:40] How the Leafs will line up without Matthews [25:20] Freddie Gauthier and the surprisingly competent Leafs fourth line...

On this episode, we discuss: Where do the Leafs stand, and is Babcock earning his money - 2:31 Matthews’ lines struggles and potential solutions - 20:42 Our resignation that the Gardiner Zaitsev pair doesnt work - 32:15 Assorted short chatter on other teams - 40:00 Nylander chatter - 43:20

On this episode, we discuss: How Kasperi Kapanen has revived Auston Matthews' line at even strength [1:00] Whether Kapanen's play adjusts where we play William Nylander when he returns [5:30] or his value to the team [10:00] Auston Matthews' defense [21:00] How close Matthews is to McDavid [26:00] Why other teams hate us... we then proceed to tell them to fuck off for about 15 minutes [30:00] The...

We discuss the first three games of the Leafs season and go into great detail on: [2:38] - Reviewing the overall level of play from the Leafs [6:33] - The Leafs' 'system' and whether it's holding the team back, and whether fans blaming it for the Leafs struggles are justified. [30:00] - A review of just about every player on the team

1:30 - Leafs preseason talk and projected lineups 10:00 - Frederik Gauthier 12:00 - Leafs D pairings 17:00 - The ability of the Leafs to score against the run of play 19:20 - Our thoughts on the goalies 21:20 - Fulemin talks about offer sheets 24:52 - Should we be worried about Marner’s contract 45:50 - We swoon over the fact that we’re adding Nylander to this offensive group 48:26 - Are we still...

In this episode, we discuss the Leafs preseason including: Who impressed us [2:10] Who was just OK [30:10] Who disappointed us [33:00] We also talk about people galaxy braining the Leafs lineup [1:07:30] and why Buffalo will still be bad this season [1:16:30]

2:41 - Ottawa's bad decisions 4:29 - Is Hossa better than Alfredsson 6:28 - The Karlsson trade and the many, many mistakes Ottawa made throughout this process 19:19 - Fulemin disrespects Nikolai Kulemin 23:30 - the Melnyk video 28 - other assorted bad decisions 34:31 - should the Mens learn from the Jets 37:20 - Should we be worried about the Nylander deal 42:20 - Why using just Ehlers deal in arg...