1st reviews for Yip...Delievered one of the hits of the night, IMO!!!!! Didn't look too lost, considering he just arrived to the team. I could tell he is mighty, mighty slow though. It was strange Mattie was the one to sit, for sure.
1st reviews for Yip...Delievered one of the hits of the night, IMO!!!!! Didn't look too lost, considering he just arrived to the team. I could tell he is mighty, mighty slow though. It was strange Mattie was the one to sit, for sure.
I'd also add he was pretty effective down low, stays on the puck well, tougher on boards and such then I expected, and did a nice job clearing the zone.
And Hals better be nicked up; there is no way that Smithson should be playing in front of any of these guys. Yes, we all know Trotz loves him, but really??
Yeah I am not too happy with Hali being scratched over Yip. Hali his battled all year to earn his spot and put up good numbers doing it. Smithson is the one who needs to gtfo
i am fine with it if it is a one game thing for Hali. He is still young. It may be a good thing to have last night off. maybe he gets a few extra minutes in the B2B. I know Trotz said it wasn't performance based, but any bump or bruise may be gone now, and combine that with the all star break and a ton of games the last 2 months, he will be fresh down the stretch.
sorry guys.. yip was not impressive last night. he's a 4th line forward that has no hands and sucks at skating.. he is an upgrade over smithson however. but we all know smithson isn't going anywhere.. trotz loves him. and halischuk wasnt injured according to trotz
Despite THE goal he scored in last year's game 5 o.t., thank you Smithers, PLEASE be the one.
#1 overall faceoff % guy, #2 PK faceoff % guy ... his role in the world is to eat up PK minutes and win faceoffs ... has a better goals against per 60mins of PK time than Spaling. He has the lowest percentage of shifts staring in the offensive zone of anyone on the team ... a trust to take those defensive end starts.
There are a lot of reasons to keep him in spite of his low offensive production.
sorry guys.. yip was not impressive last night. he's a 4th line forward that has no hands and sucks at skating.. he is an upgrade over smithson however. but we all know smithson isn't going anywhere.. trotz loves him. and halischuk wasnt injured according to trotz
There is no way in the world that he is an upgrade over Smithson. Smithson provides a strong defensive game. If we are depending on him for offense then we are doing something wrong. Smithson is a good guy to have on your team.
There is no way in the world that he is an upgrade over Smithson. Smithson provides a strong defensive game. If we are depending on him for offense then we are doing something wrong. Smithson is a good guy to have on your team.
sorry offensive upgrade .. obviously not defensively..
#1 overall faceoff % guy, #2 PK faceoff % guy ... his role in the world is to eat up PK minutes and win faceoffs ... has a better goals against per 60mins of PK time than Spaling. He has the lowest percentage of shifts staring in the offensive zone of anyone on the team ... a trust to take those defensive end starts.
There are a lot of reasons to keep him in spite of his low offensive production.
All this. Smithson is the type of guy that helps you grind out Cups with everything he does on the defensive side of the puck. In some ways, the closest thing we have to a Sami Pahlsson/John Madden type.
As for the trade speculation, I don't necessarily see this as a precursor to a deal. Adding another body to the mix to keep everyone fresh and push everyone that much harder to keep their spot is a good problem to have, IMO. Also can't see Poile trading any of the bottom 6ers that actually have value (Spaling, Hali, Smithson, Tootoo).
I didn't think Yip played all that poorly. His skating isn't the greatest, but his presence along the boards is pretty strong and is something we could use. With a little coaching, I could see him turn into a Ward-type player. I don't think he should play over Halischuk, though, if it's an either/or situation.
It's funny we talk about his skating. If we were to base players on first impression I didn't think Josi had a chance in Hades to stick with us. I thought he looked slow the first game or two. Glad I was wrong on that one. In Yip's case, I'd like a bit more of a sample size to base his play. He'll be a bottom 6 guy for us if he sticks, nothing more, nothing less.
Well, we also enjoyed yelling "yip yip yip" and the video of those guys watching the phone ringing during the video review and all of the "yipping" had me in tears laughing so hard.
As to his actual play, I noticed a big hit, that's about it for now. Too bad he is slow cuz he would've had a breakaway.
I like the acquisition if for no other reason than it provides Trotz with another bottom six option to fit into the lineup rather than McGrattan on nights when Big Ern isn't supposed to be in the lineup and will play ~4 minutes.
It was clear from watching practice Friday and the game last night that Yip has missed a lot of time this season and that his conditioning level is going to need some work, but I like his skill base and know from the work ethic I saw at and after practice on Friday that he will get there soon.
Not going to light the world on fire, shouldn't bump Halischuk out of the lineup on a long-term basis, but provides quality bottom-6 depth with some experience and skills to work with should a trade opportunity result in moving a bottom-six roster forward.
FWIW, I think that Halischuk is the most likely roster forward to be moved in a trade this season. His 10 goals from the 4th line, age, and hustle when paired with a pick should have pretty good value for a team looking to move a rental...
Sure seems to me we'd be better off moving Horny than Hals. You'd expect a considerably better return for Horny than Hals. Assuming we get a F back it lets him settle into a top6 role and no one is displaced; if it's a D we can move Smith back to top6 role. Horny is also the logical one displaced by an acquisition of an F and he sure isn't gonna' skate on that Spals line any way you wanna' configure it, which puts his $3mil salary on the Smithson line and the PP. We also save $2mil in salary and I believe we don't lose a ton of production over the next couple years. Of course if we get a C back then all bets are off on what Trotz does with those lines.
Sure seems to me we'd be better off moving Horny than Hals. You'd expect a considerably better return for Horny than Hals. Assuming we get a F back it lets him settle into a top6 role and no one is displaced; if it's a D we can move Smith back to top6 role. Horny is also the logical one displaced by an acquisition of an F and he sure isn't gonna' skate on that Spals line any way you wanna' configure it, which puts his $3mil salary on the Smithson line and the PP. We also save $2mil in salary and I believe we don't lose a ton of production over the next couple years. Of course if we get a C back then all bets are off on what Trotz does with those lines.
Hornqvist leads the team in goalscoring over the last 3 seasons, and pretty handily. He's the only player that we have that's consistently productive in front of the net. I don't get the belief that some have that he's an overrated goalscorer.
Hornqvist leads the team in goalscoring over the last 3 seasons, and pretty handily. He's the only player that we have that's consistently productive in front of the net. I don't get the belief that some have that he's an overrated goalscorer.
I do... He scores junk goals. Not skilled goals. If he scored even SOME skilled goals, I'd be all for keeping him because he can score in various ways. But we can put anyone in front of the net with good/soft hands and score the goals he scores (see Geoffrion at the end of last year, Halischuk this year, Tootoo this year, etc). In other words, you need skilled guys to be successful in order for guys like Hornqvist to succeed. So if you take a guy that can create shots off the ice in order to keep Hornqvist, Hornqvist is completely useless.
With this being said, if we don't have anyone else that can go stand in front of the net on the PP and provide a screen, we have to keep Hornqvist... Cause I don't think there is anyone outside of Halischuk and Tootoo (who has God-awful hands)
The thing with Hornqvist is that he DOES stand in front of the net. We tried to get so many players to do it over the years and nobody would consistently go to the crease. You can downplay his skill all day, but his willingness is what gets the job done. Easy to replace the skill of putting in garbage goals, very difficult to replace the mentality of taking the punishment on a nightly basis.
No one on this team stands in front of the net. Hornqvist has the quickest hands for rebounds on the team. His willingness to stand in front get garbage goals makes him unmovable
The thing with Hornqvist is that he DOES stand in front of the net. We tried to get so many players to do it over the years and nobody would consistently go to the crease. You can downplay his skill all day, but his willingness is what gets the job done. Easy to replace the skill of putting in garbage goals, very difficult to replace the mentality of taking the punishment on a nightly basis.
I bolded your comment because it highlights a historical perspective that only fans who have watched with frustration from Game One October 10, 1998 can truly appreciate
So many seasons with so many players who have failed to embrace the role of "garbage man".
