Rundblad was great last night. I watched him every time on the ice, and he was extremely solid and confident with the puck. His shot also is a cannon - it is noticeably harder than our other defensemen and he was very accurate. My seats were at a perfect angle to see his shots in the 3rd period and every one was on net. Some were blocked, but he has a heavy shot that will produce goals thrugh deflections if nothing else. When you think of the young talent we have on the blueline, it's very promising.
He got better as the game went along. In the 3rd he was creating scoring chances and showing us really what the hype is all about. The first was pretty scary. I'm indifferent about his second period. The third got me pretty excited. He had 5 shots on goal in the game and I loved his play on the PP (although the empty net goal was a tad aggravating).
I noticed Rundblad is pretty skinny for his size and 190 at 6'2 is generous. They had a closeup of him pregame and he doesn't look like an NHL Dman. Very flat shoulders and tiny arms. I'd like to see him play on a rotational basis while training with the NHL staff and coached by Playfair. It's important for a guy like him to fully understand the system, similar to Yandle. He also needs the right partner, like Klesla or Aucoin, who can stay at home and cover. Putting him against grinders who are much bigger than him with an inexperienced partner like Summers was pretty harrowing.
The instincts are there. I'm of the opinion that he needs more coaching and training rather than minor league icetime. Reminds me a lot of Mike Green.
Yeah, he's not a physically imposing kid. Very slight build. Good news is he's 6'2'' so the is room to add weight.
It's funny how your perspective changes when you see these guys close up. I've talked to Kurt Sauer, Alex Goligoski, and Rusty Klesla in the same elevator.
I'm 6'1", 185lbs.
Kurt Sauer is a monster. A Viking. Hands like a bundle of bananas. He could tear me in two.
Klesla, again just a striking guy. The thousand dollar suits help, obviously, but still, a big solid guy like that, with the battle scars, is pretty effing intimidating.
Alex Goligoski? I was looking for a locker to shove the little twerp into. Everyone else in the elevator probably thought he was a media guy, or something. Does not look anything like a pro athlete.
They all play the same position. All arguably very effective. So amazingly different in "presence".
It makes you understand when Maloney talks about adding "heavy" defensemen. He user that term over and over when he picked up Rozy and Klesla. I can see what he means.
I like that Rundblad doen't just make the routine pass across to the other Dman on the power play.
He moves in toward the net and actually shoots the puck and gets it on net. He showed a lot of poise. He still needs to show more urgency in the defensive part of his game and move the puck faster.
Huge potential - Loved watching him.
Yeah, he's not a physically imposing kid. Very slight build. Good news is he's 6'2'' so the is room to add weight.
It's funny how your perspective changes when you see these guys close up. I've talked to Kurt Sauer, Alex Goligoski, and Rusty Klesla in the same elevator.
I'm 6'1", 185lbs.
Kurt Sauer is a monster. A Viking. Hands like a bundle of bananas. He could tear me in two.
Klesla, again just a striking guy. The thousand dollar suits help, obviously, but still, a big solid guy like that, with the battle scars, is pretty effing intimidating.
Alex Goligoski? I was looking for a locker to shove the little twerp into. Everyone else in the elevator probably thought he was a media guy, or something. Does not look anything like a pro athlete.
They all play the same position. All arguably very effective. So amazingly different in "presence".
It makes you understand when Maloney talks about adding "heavy" defensemen. He user that term over and over when he picked up Rozy and Klesla. I can see what he means.
I like that Rundblad doen't just make the routine pass across to the other Dman on the power play.
He moves in toward the net and actually shoots the puck and gets it on net. He showed a lot of poise. He still needs to show more urgency in the defensive part of his game and move the puck faster.
Huge potential - Loved watching him.
Rundblad may be our best hope to solve our anemic powerplay. We will not win a playoff series (if we make it) against the likes of Detroit, Vancouver, St Louis...without being able to generate offense on the powerplay.
Rundblad may be our best hope to solve our anemic powerplay. We will not win a playoff series (if we make it) against the likes of Detroit, Vancouver, St Louis...without being able to generate offense on the powerplay.
That's one of many reasons. Lets not forget that a pretty bad PP won the cup most recently.
Rundblad may be our best hope to solve our anemic powerplay. We will not win a playoff series (if we make it) against the likes of Detroit, Vancouver, St Louis...without being able to generate offense on the powerplay.
The powerplay is downright unprofessional. I'm not sure what the thought process is with all the fancy passes and 2 forwards on the points when you have Yandle, OEL and Rundblad now. They still dump and chase! Seriously. Is there a team in the top 10 that does that? I doubt it. It's almost like they've given up coaching it and just look at it as a bonus.
We need the NHL equivalent of the goal line rushing play. They know it's coming, you know it, but they still have to stop it. On a team full of lunch pail type guys (Whitney aside) why are they making more than 1 or 2 passes before shooting? Crash the net!
On a team full of lunch pail type guys (Whitney aside) why are they making more than 1 or 2 passes before shooting? Crash the net!
I agree. They are taking the pack mentality to an art form with the over passing, which usually ends up with NO shot on goal.
Rundblad has 3 assists in 3 games because he shoots.
We need lunchpail goals on the PP.
BTW, - not only is the PP ineffective, it has allowed 2 SH goals in the last 2 games - ouch!!
It's always a good sign with a D prospect when you are upset that the player isn't getting more playing time. With Rundblad I'm constantly wanting to see more of him on the ice. His stickhandling and ability to play in the offensive zone is breathtaking. I honestly believe he should be seeing first unit PP time now. I know its very early but I can envision him pushing Yandle to our #3 slot within two seasons. I like his poise with the puck that much right now.
Buy nose bleed tickets, and start smoking. If ever you get on the elevator by the smoking section and the elevator attendant tells you the elevator has to go another floor down, before it comes back up, that means it's picking somebody up from restricted entrance(or so I imagine). I suppose that must be where players, press, etc. catch the same elevator. I'm not really sure. All I know is I've seen a few players in there over the years. I talked to Sauer briefly way back in the day when we expected him to come back. I gave Goligoski a very small amount of lip because I was drunk. I can't remember if that was last season or this season, but he was a Dallas Star so it was recently. The other night I talked to Klesla for a brief moment. I've also bumped into Todd Walsh once. But that was on the concourse. I also saw Mike Ricci once on the concourse and had my ex g/f pose for a picture with him.
That's pretty much it, though. Seeing a grand total of one media type and four players around the arena in fifteen years of going to games isn't really all that amazing, is it? I figured you STH types have these kinds of things happen all of the time.
I also saw Mike Ricci once on the concourse and had my ex g/f pose for a picture with him.
I hope for your sake she's not an ex because of Ricci. If you could lose a girl to a guy who looks like that, you've got a face for message boards and not much else.
I hope for your sake she's not an ex because of Ricci. If you could lose a girl to a guy who looks like that, you've got a face for message boards and not much else.
No, no. She's an ex because she's a drug addict. I'll have you know I'm an extremely handsome young man. Handsome Dan they call me.
