362 replies to this topic

[skyphoenix]

I have always backed him up through the whole season here and even when he was traded. I love to see that he's doing well and I hope he keeps putting up points. Philly really deserves to go all the way now as much as I hate Pronger. I would much rather see the Flyers win than the Blackhawks or the Sharks.

[dirtydangles]

just checked.. 11 pts in 10 games. nice. and he took 6 shots today, most on team. i see much more confidence in ville in philly.

[Nightfall]

Its great to see Leino do well in Philly. Its just further proof that there are a few players that when faced with a change of scenery, they do well. Is it the coach? Is it the environment? Who knows. All I do know is that he deserved the success he has had so far. Wings fans shouldn't feel slighted at all as this does happen from time to time.

[Hockeytown0001]

Nice job by the Flyers tonight. Leino's goal never should have gone in, but good for him nonetheless.

[Andy Pred 48]

Im happy for Ville that he's doing well for his new team. The whole goalscoring tag he seems to have bestowed on him by some on here is a bit puzzling thou. He was never an out and out goal scorer before he came here. His Finnish career was 69 goals in 294 games,a further 136 assists with a +66 rating seems more like a poor mans Datsyuk type player than a Brett Hull goal machine.

[Drake_Marcus]

I don't agree with your assessment that everyone here just claimed that he was awful. I never got that impression. Everyone seemed to agree that he had a lot of talent, he just wasn't making effective use of the extra ice time he could have seen. He had a golden opportunity to make a name for himself here, but for whatever reason, couldn't/wouldn't/didn't. How is that not frustrating when you had such high hopes for a player?

It was very frustrating! I had him in my signature and he betrayed me Thus I had to change my sig to one focused on funny ex-Wings like Melrose (well not technically a true Wing but he tried).

[dat's sick]

To be honest I didn't expect him to do this well in Philly. Just didn't seem like the right team for him. Happy for him though.

I was disappointed when we had to let him go because I knew he had it in him, a shame we were in a position where we couldn't have more patience with him.

[SouthernWingsFan]

Ville Leino is pointing and laughing at each and every one of you right now.

[mindfly]

He looks good in philly because he plays on the pp, top2 lines and doesnt have to pay as much attention to defense in philly like he had to in detroit.

[Heroes of Hockeytown]

He looks good in philly because he plays on the pp, top2 lines and doesnt have to pay as much attention to defense in philly like he had to in detroit.

He was on the top lines in Detroit a lot of the time, but the top lines kept changing with the injury situation. It looks like he spent the majority of his season with either Hank and Dano, or Flip and Willy, but ended up doing a lot of other things with a lot of other players half the time.

I don't know why he couldn't put it together here but he has been dominant for Philly so far in the playoffs.

[CaliWingsNut]

I love how everyone who thinks he's worthless just talks about the latter half of his time with the wings this season. I guess no one else recalls the Filppula line at the beginning of the season? His how many goals during a week of play in 08-09? The number of injuries he was helping cover?

The Red Wings got 9 injuries, and Ville was forced into roles and jobs he likely hasn't be needed to fill for some time (or ever, much less at an NHL level). I think the pressure of needing to perform these other roles on top of it being his first season got to him. I never saw anything to suggest that he himself changed something to make him suck so bad (please... point this out, what did he change that made him lose the puck more than previously? what changed in his game, not stats, other than team injuries and assistance from those missing star players?).

Babcock (like for Hudler) just did his usual cutting ice time. Which obviously doesn't work for everyone, especially a new kid unsure what he's doing wrong (which is really what I took from the reporters twisting words). I felt trading him was a poor decision, but something had to be done to clear a roster spot. I can't recall if Williams was still on IR at that point or not (which would have blocked him being dumped instead).

To be honest I didn't expect him to do this well in Philly. Just didn't seem like the right team for him. Happy for him though.

I was disappointed when we had to let him go because I knew he had it in him, a shame we were in a position where we couldn't have more patience with him.

I thought Philly was a great choice for him. The Flyers seem to have solved the confidence issues (most likely with the added grit, be it motivation or protection), because he's accomplishing things he didn't his last months in red (such as making it deep into the zone, keeping the puck, & points).

[mindfly]

I'm still not convinced he can make it in the nhl, he's still weak physically and weak on the skates.

[Hockeytown0001]

I'm still not convinced he can make it in the nhl, he's still weak physically and weak on the skates.

He needs to spend some serious time in the weight room during the off-season. He gets pushed around like a rag doll out there.

[mindfly]

Zetterberg isn't the fastest skater by any means and he's about the same height and maybe only 10lbs more size but he still doesn't get pushed around, he has balance and strength despite lack of size... Datsyuk compensate the lack of size by very good speed and dangledangle skills... leino just gotta find his thing, if he ever will develope one, to make up for his weak skating ability and lack of MUSCLE, IMO.

Edited by mindfly, 19 May 2010 - 10:02 AM.

[CaliWingsNut]

Zetterberg isn't the fastest skater by any means and he's about the same height and maybe only 10lbs more size but he still doesn't get pushed around, he has balance and strength despite lack of size... Datsyuk compensate the lack of size by very good speed and dangledangle skills... leino just gotta find his thing, if he ever will develope one, to make up for his weak skating ability and lack of MUSCLE, IMO.

yes... a lack of muscle has been the cause... that's why he still sucks in Philly. /sarcasm

Edited by CaliWingsNut, 19 May 2010 - 10:15 AM.

[mindfly]

Every player gets on a hot streak once in a while, he will cool off eventually.

[dobbles]

i think what people are forgetting is that leino didn't really play all too well in philly either until the last 2 weeks. he was scratched 50% of the regular season games with them. additionally, he didn't play the first 4 games of the playoffs and only was brought in after carter got hurt.

he is on a hot streak, its great for him. but he also had a similar streak last year when called up. will he be able to translate the last 2 weeks success into an nhl career? who knows.

i think there are a lot of people though that are making the assumptions that he was awful in detroit and great in philly and that it was something with the coaching, the motivation, the fans, etc... it took 30 team games with the flyers before he did anything noteworthy.

i am happy leino is playing better and hope he has a good career. it sucks he is doing it for another team, but so goes life.

[CenterIce]

From NHL.com:

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=529595

"You want to enjoy hockey and I can't play hockey if I'm not having fun," Leino told NHL.com. "If I'm not feeling confident out there ... In Detroit I always had a coach or somebody behind my back telling me to do this, do that or don't do that, and I don't know if it just didn't work out there. I'm not blaming anyone because it was a great learning experience, but it just didn't work out. Now it's just a different situation."

There were high hopes in Detroit this season for Leino, but it just never materialized, as the native of Savonlinna, Finland, mustered a disappointing 4 goals and 7 points in 42 regular-season games.

"I think some coaches were thinking maybe they wanted me to become more like a (Tomas) Holmstrom or (Dan) Cleary or even a (Johan) Franzen," the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Leino said. "But I'm not just a pure goal-scorer. I'm more of a playmaker."

Edited by CenterIce, 19 May 2010 - 11:25 AM.

[Hockeytown0001]

From NHL.com:

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=529595

I think he's kidding himself if he thinks Detroit expected him to play like Franzen.

[Finnish Wing]

i think what people are forgetting is that leino didn't really play all too well in philly either until the last 2 weeks. he was scratched 50% of the regular season games with them. additionally, he didn't play the first 4 games of the playoffs and only was brought in after carter got hurt.

He was scratched because Laviolette said he ain't gonna chance a winning lineup. He said already later, that Leino wasn't scratch because he wasn't "good enough". He was also injured for few games when they playoffs started.

Then came the other injuries and he took his chance. You can say he's on a hot streak, but he's still leading the scoring among rookies in the playoffs. I find it kinda hard to believe that he wouldn't be an NHL in the future.