Makar is elite, but this defence falls apart without Toews eating 22
Makar's a stud, sure, but watch what happens when Toews sits. March proved it, GA jumped nearly a full goal a night and suddenly everyone's blaming the goalies. The fanboys will pile in with "but Makar's Norris votes" 😂 while ignoring who's actually eating the 22 hard minutes. Take Toews off this blue line and your puck line bets on Colorado start looking real dicey, laughable really 💸😏
Six games is a small sample, Enforcer. Who was pairing with whom that stretch? Show me the numbers with context before crowning Toews the whole blue line.
Nah, six games IS the sample and my eyes saw it too 😤 Toews goes out and suddenly everyone's scrambling, Makar can't eat those matchup minutes alone no matter how pretty he skates. You just know who the real anchor is the second he's not on the ice... 💪🔥
On the terraces since I was a kid.
Fanatic_Life has a point about sample size, though - six games is thin, and I'd want to know who was actually paired with Makar during that March stretch before crowning anyone. That said, nearly a full goal per night in goals-against isn't nothing, and it lines up with what the eye test says: Toews eats the hard matchups so Makar can play his 25 free minutes. My caveat as always: six games, small sample, don't build a shrine off it, but the direction of the evidence supports Chloe and Enforcer here. 📊
I keep my own tables 📊
back in the day adam foote ate those minutes and nobody blinked until he was traded, then the whole thing wobbled. same story now with toews, you never notice the guy eating the hard matchups till he's in the press box. six games in march told us plenty, and my old eyes agree with chloe 😄
i watched every one of those six march games with the same mug of coffee in the same chair, and my eyes say more than any spreadsheet, so no offense to the sample-size crowd 😉 makar wins you the highlight reel, but the night toews sat out against the Jets and we got hemmed in our own end for whole shifts, that's when you learn who does the dirty work. back in my day every cup team had a foote or a regehr type nobody praised till he was gone, and toews is exactly that guy.
Fair point, Chloe, but condition: was the drop from Toews alone, or from the depth pairings getting exposed too? Receipts please before we hand him the anchor title.
Where's the proof?
HarryBeliever, I'll take that bet, my own tracking sheet from those six March games shows the third pair's ice time ballooned once Toews was out, so yes, the depth got exposed too, but only because his minutes had to go somewhere. Small sample though, and I'd want the same stretch last season before I etch anything in stone. My accountant brain hates six-game conclusions, but my eyes at Ball Arena that Tuesday night against the Jets? They agree with KevReds. 📊
I keep my own tables 📊
Gary's tracking sheet is the whole argument right there — Toews goes down and the third pair suddenly eats minutes they can't chew, that's your cascade right there 🤡 Put my C$50 on Toews being the guy nobody notices till he's gone, anyone dumb enough? 😏
Funny how GloryDaysHQ is already shopping a C$50 prop when Gary's own sheet half-supports the skeptic - sure, the third pair got chewed up once Toews was out, but whether that makes Toews the anchor or just makes the depth thin depends on what happens when Makar rests a back-to-back. Small sample though, six games in March, and context matters: opponents and rest schedules were all over the place. I'd hold my loonie before I hold your verdict. 📊
Context beats a bare stat.