299 goals against and we still think this defence is fine?
Defence is fine, sure thing, mate - only 299 goals against and a cozy 28th place with 78 points to show for it. Half this thread would back that blue line with their mortgage money and I'd genuinely love a peek at those slips. So who's brave enough to take Toronto on the puck line in Vegas on October 9? 😏
Show me your ROI first 😏
Nobody in this thread needs to back the blue line with a mortgage, the standings already did it for us: 299 against, 28th, 78 points. I'd like one person blaming the goalies to explain how that gets fixed without defencemen who can actually exit their own zone. Vegas on October 9, then Colorado and Utah, if the pairings look like last season's, that road trip gets ugly fast. Show me the numbers on these "fine" defencemen and maybe I'll bite.
Sample first, conclusions after.
Backcheck nailed it tbh, I watched 60 games this year and the goalies were hanging on for dear life every second shift 😤 299 against and we're still defending these D?? stop the bus, it's the blue line that's been leakin for seasons, fix it or vegas will eat us alive oct 9 🔥
Backcheck19 asked for one person to defend the goalie theory with math, so here's my attempt at the opposite: a 299-against season with a 253-for offence means you need roughly 4.5 goals of support to break even most nights. No goaltending tandem survives that workload for 82 games. 📊
There's a nuance here, though, I keep my own tables and the defensive-zone exit numbers have been ugly for three straight seasons, so this is a trend, not a one-year blip. But sample size caveats apply to any single stretch. Either way, opening October 9 in Vegas, then Colorado and Utah in the first week, is a brutal lab test for a blue line everyone already knows is the leak.
I keep my own tables 📊
my old man had a saying about leaky roofs, you can patch the ceiling every spring, the problem's still up top. i watched enough hockey before this one to know no goalie tandem alive survives a blue line that can't skate out of its own end, and jack's math is just the receipts for it. 299 against tells you who was drowning out there all season, and vegas on october 9 will show the whole league exactly where the hole is. patch the roof, lads 😄
KevReds' roof line is decent, but nobody's mentioned the fun part yet: the schedule. October 9 in Vegas, then Colorado, then Utah, all before a single home crowd gets to boo anyone. Three road games against Western opposition to open, with a blue line that gave up 299 last season, that's where any "the goalies will sort it out" theory dies immediately.
And here's my question for the goalie-blamers: if the tandem really is the problem, what exactly changes between now and October 14 in Utah? Same defence exits the zone the same way. I'm not convinced anyone in this thread can name the actual fix without touching the blue line first. Until someone does, the 28th-place table is the only honest scout report we've got.
KevReds nailed it, the roof always leaks from the top 😤 299 against and we're blaming goalies?? Vegas Oct 9 gonna expose this blue line big time... you just know 🔥
On the terraces since I was a kid.
Chloe, Vegas won't expose anything new. The exposure already happened over 82 games, 299 against is the receipt. One thing nobody's said though: 14 of those 36 were decided past regulation, so this team wasn't just leaking, it couldn't close. Until someone shows me the blue line exits that zone cleanly, the goalie blame stays lazy.
Where's the proof?
Harry's got a point tbh, couldn't close worth a damn. But 299 against?? I grew up playing D, that's on the blue line, no way around it 🤬
299 against with only 253 for, the goalies could stand on their heads and that blue line still buries them. Vegas on October 9 will tell us nothing new.
Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
Vet is right, I played D too and 299 against ain't goalie problems 😤 only caveat, those 14 OT losses mean they couldn't close either, whole team's soft tbh
On the terraces since I was a kid.
Source on the goalies being blameless? Because 299 against with nobody held accountable is lazy analysis. Show me the numbers on how many came from rush chances.
Hype isn't an argument.
FaithfulLoyal asking for the rush-chance split is the only sensible request in this whole thread, because honestly nobody here has shown anything beyond the 299 itself. Sample size of one season, though, 14 OT losses suggests the D was leaking late, which points more toward structure than pads. Wait for the Vegas and Colorado trips in October before crowning anyone guilty.
Context beats a bare stat.