Friday's Game - Schastlivy

Who here attended the game on Friday night. I didn't, but I was listening to the post-game show, and they mentioned something interesting about my favourite oft-injured left winger. He was paired up with Spezza, and the guys on the radio were marvelling at his defensive play that game, saying that he made 4 or 5 great defensive plays. They even went as far as to say that if he played like that defensively, he would even need to score at all to maintain a spot on the roster. I thought those were pretty bold words for a guy that is not known as a defensive presence at all.

If anyone who was at the game could provide some insight on this it would be great. If he can be more sound defensively, then it gives the team a lot more flexibility in creating our lines.

Not sure, but if he is improving his defense, then great. Means he could get paired up with Spezza during the season. I also noticed both are in the lineup tomorrow so it looks like we'll see them together again.

I was at the game tonight. I was very pleased with what I saw. The notables of the game:

- Marian Hossa
- Antoine Vermette
- Jason Spezza
- Petr Schastlivy
- Denis Hamel
- Alexandre Giroux
- Peter Schaefer

Hossa looks alot better then last season. Has obviously bulked up over the summer and did a good job of making Toronto's defense look like pylons..

Vermette used his speed effectively and was rewarded by getting to his own rebound. Excellent game for Vermette with a good showing on defense aswell.

Spezza was all over the place, Another player who made Toronto's defense look like pylons. If their were any question marks regarding Spezza's skating, They are erased.

Schastlivy had some nice shifts out there. Broke up a few plays in his own zone and was pretty shifty on one occassion on the power play. He looks like a bonafide top 6 forward.

Denis Hamel has game. Likes to use the back of the net to trick defensmen and maintain the puck. Hamel had a few nice hits out there including a fight with Perrott. Perrott ran Lalime the shift before the fight.

Alexandre Giroux had an outstanding game aswell. Including a good fight with Pushor. Defientely a player that has a future in our organization.

Peter Schaefer was taking alot of abuse cycling the puck along the boards. Defientely worked his ass off and got rewarded for it. Expect him to reach career high's this season.

It was a pretty entertaining game. Some good fights and it was good to see the team stand up for one another. Toronto's defense looked pretty bad. Other then that, I don't know what else to mention..

How were the ticket sales?
Was it a sell-out?

How were the ticket sales?


the announced crowd was 18 036... lots of leafs fans (unfortunately most of them in my section )


the worst part of the game was when they showed a close-up of this fat guy in a Leafs sweater with a pink confetti streamer wig (?)

then the camera panned out and he wasnt wearing any pants, just tighty whitey underwears... then he stood up and started gyrating his crotch..... :eek: :( :cry:


anyways..


i liked schastlivy's game.... he didnt do too much offensively but was digging for the puck along the boards all night and didnt dissapear from the play like he did so often last year

shaefer was really impressive... was one of the top 3 forwards for the senators... deserved a star of the game but they gave it to hossa instead





bonk and berg were *right* about to scrap... but stupid chara jumped in and tackled aki before anything could happen

i was happy when he got a game misconduct for 3rd man in... i really wanted to see Bonkie kick some ass and chara ruined all the fun :mad:


lalime was amazing... covered all the angles and made the saves look simple

Hossa looks alot better then last season. Has obviously bulked up over the summer and did a good job of making Toronto's defense look like pylons.


Again?? Last summer he put on about 15 pounds while becoming faster. Are you telling me he did the same thing again? If he bulked up again he must be 6"1 220 at least (he was at 215 last year). That would make him an elite Power Forward.

If all the reports about Spezza's conditioning are accurate, a Spezza-Hossa line is going to have a hell of a lot of muscle.

Again?? Last summer he put on about 15 pounds while becoming faster. Are you telling me he did the same thing again? If he bulked up again he must be 6"1 220 at least (he was at 215 last year). That would make him an elite Power Forward.

If all the reports about Spezza's conditioning are accurate, a Spezza-Hossa line is going to have a hell of a lot of muscle.

Was at the game... not sure if Hossa bulked up again or not, but he's definitely in solid game-shape right now. There are times when he looks like he's playing a different game than the players around him.

As for Schastlivy, I can't say I would gush about his play as much as the reports seemed to, but he had a solid game. It's good that he's coming along defensively (he did make a couple of good plays), but his role is unquestionably to score goals. We have many many players who can play the two-way game - I would have liked to have seen a bit more from him offensively.

Thats the thing about Schastlivy he isnt the type of player you notice until the puck is on his stick in the slot and that red light goes on. Im very very happy that he has shown that he is defensively responsible. He isnt the guy thats going to do that end to end rush or make a fancy pass he needs other players on his line to dish him the puck. Thats why he is a pefect fit with Hossa and Spezza. Im being very honest here I think if I had one shooter to shoot between the hash marks he would be my first choice on the sens.

As for Schastlivy, I can't say I would gush about his play as much as the reports seemed to, but he had a solid game. It's good that he's coming along defensively (he did make a couple of good plays), but his role is unquestionably to score goals. We have many many players who can play the two-way game - I would have liked to have seen a bit more from him offensively.

The reason why I'm so happy to see his defensive side develop is that if he improves in that end of the ice, he'll get more playing time on this team.

If he can take care of his defensive responsibilities, the scariest offensive line we can put together is Schastlivy-Spezza-Hossa. If Schastlivy isn't defensively responsible, this line won't see the light of day in the regular season, as we would need to put a defence harness on Hossa so that he can pick up the slack of his linemates, and you don't want your most dynamic offensive weapon thinking about his backcheck when he's got a scoring opportunity.

Good to hear, I want Schastlivy to do well this season.

Also awesome to hear about Hossa doing so well already.