Go back to seven D? Get Wideman and maybe Green off of the ice in case of another two goal lead?
I actually liked Erskine. Because he would drop the gloves. And I don't think Hunter utilized Erskine enough or Schultz for that matter while Green was out. Instead he wore out Carlson, Alzner and Wideman.
What will Hunter do?
Don't think those guys should have had to take down the Free Knuble sign. Although I agree with Scratch Hunter I understand security requesting that one to be taken down.
And finally we need a new Lottery Game called Scratch Caps featuring the mugs of Knuble, Hamrlik, Erskine and Hunter. Put different pics of players in five rows of four across. You win if its Knuble, Hamrlik, Erksine and Hunter across the tickey! Get ready boys!
I've always wonder what the rules were when it came to publicly owned arenas in regards to this kind of stuff, Verizon Center is however owned by Leonsis.
Knuble had every chance here, including a ton of that coveted 1RW time. Sure with that he scratched out his 20 goals in front. George brought in Brouwer and Ward, the writing was on the wall. Beagle was pushed to RW when we got Halpern. It's not Dale's fault he is sitting at -16, nor that George stocked up on RW's.
Erskine only gets a sweater when injuries hit, or when we play a tough opponent. Lets not fool ourselves, we aren't even built to man up to tough opponents; we are built to turn the other cheek. He sits.
Hammer is a victim of our rebuild and healthy D. I always lobby to get the young Dman time, its how to rebuild, you know, play the young players. If he fails, he learned. We are doing that in spades these days. Hmr will be back in when injuries hit.
Nothing to see here folks, other than the struggle/juggle between rebuilding and trying to see if its out turn to be handed the cup. Ovi expedited our chances at a cup, but make no mistake, our rebuild continues.
Knuble had every chance here, including a ton of that coveted 1RW time. Sure with that he scratched out his 20 goals in front. George brought in Brouwer and Ward, the writing was on the wall. Beagle was pushed to RW when we got Halpern. It's not Dale's fault he is sitting at -16, nor that George stocked up on RW's.
Erskine only gets a sweater when injuries hit, or when we play a tough opponent. Lets not fool ourselves, we aren't even built to man up to tough opponents; we are built to turn the other cheek. He sits.
Hammer is a victim of our rebuild and healthy D. I always lobby to get the young Dman time, its how to rebuild, you know, play the young players. If he fails, he learned. We are doing that in spades these days. Hmr will be back in when injuries hit.
Nothing to see here folks, other than the struggle/juggle between rebuilding and trying to see if its out turn to be handed the cup. Ovi expedited our chances at a cup, but make no mistake, our rebuild continues.
Just kidding. Your response is respectful.
But speaking of respect and if the organization wants to go with youth, would it not have been more appropriate to share that information with those players behind closed doors instead of singling them out through the media and blaming them for games lost?
If youth is why Hamrlik is sitting I've no qualms with that as I understand evolution (getting older) and I'm sure Hamr does too. But with what happened how much has his value gone down? And now with the current play is scratching your vets even the route to go - if you want to make the playoffs? Or has the towel been thrown in and whatever happens, happens? You still never know what can happen if you do make the playoffs.
With respect to Knuble he does set an example with his net presence. That's something severely lacking on this time aside from Troy Brouwer. And Matt Hendricks has at times wanted me to pull my hair out with his puck handling and gifts to the opposition.
With respect to John Erskine - all I can say is poor guy.
Where they really failed with Hammer, falls back on Sarge dragging his feet in his snails pace development over the past 4 years. Not that it was his fault, I more blame George for letting his development get so stale. If Sarge was developing every year, we didn't need to sign hammer this summer. Sarge had regressed instead.
And still even just a month ago, we didn't know if Sarge could stand up on his own 2 feet. Most wanted Sarge moved for... anything. Yet I have long thought George wouldn't move him for anything. He is his special long term project in this rebuild. George would jump off a cliff if he got moved and became a Norris candidate.
So when the debutante stepped onto the ice a few weeks before the deadline, we didn't have a big enough sample size on nuSarge. Amazingly, the jury was still out after all these years and probably 400 games.
Hammer stayed. Don't listen to George's lies, as he will never tell you that Hammer was insurance for Sarge.
Only so many guys can play I guess but I'm not a fan of having his faceoff percentage out of the lineup especially if there is a D zone faceoff at the end of the period.
Hunter appears to have come full circle in using all of his vets to send messages to the rest of the team? Will anybody get scratched?
I don't read much into the Halpern scratch as yet. He could very well have been nicked up. Or just tired from dragging Ward on his back everywhere. It may be about Beagle as well.
I don't read much into the Halpern scratch as yet. He could very well have nicked up. Or just tired from dragging Ward on his back everywhere. It may be about Beagle as well.
Speaking of Ward, how does he manage not to get scratched?
During yesterday's third period, Joe B made note that Ward was from Toronto and I thought that he would look good in a Maple Leafs uniform. Would love to see the Caps move him a long with some other piece(s) for Kulemin.
Your response is respectful.
