GM#9:Feb 4th, 2013|Carolina @ Toronto|For the love of god Kessel score!
Leafs aim to bounce back against Hurricanes
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HURRICANES (3-4-0) at MAPLE LEAFS (4-4-0)
TV: FS-CR, SNET-O
Season series: This is the first of three season meetings. Carolina took three of four from the Maple Leafs in 2011-12.
Big story: Two teams figuring to be on the cusp of playoff contention in this shortened campaign will look to secure a valuable two points Monday in Toronto. The Leafs had won two straight before falling 1-0 against Boston on Saturday, while the Hurricanes fell to the Flyers, 5-3, in their most recent outing.
"They started to grind us,” Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said. “That's the way they play and they're a good team. They did what they had to do to be effective to play a road game and we didn't do enough of the things that we're capable of to establish a strong home game in the 60 minutes." - Carlyle on the Bruins game.
I don't buy the "cross bar is unlucky for shooter, lucky for goaltender" argument for even one moment. Parameters are pre-defined, and you shoot for the net. Shooting posts/crossbar just tells you weren't good enough.
Same thing for goaltender. If he earns shutout, and had 3 shots hit the post behind him, he still did his job which was stop all the pucks that were going in the net.
Not unlucky. Kessel is way too predictable and defenses have adapted. You know Kessel isn't going to take it to the net, so all you have to do is cut the angle and get your stick in his shooting lane.
And guess what? Just off memory from watching every game i can safely say about 25-35% of his shots have been deflected or blocked. Not to mention if he does get a shot to the net, its generally from 30 ft+ out.
Until Kessel does something that is a little less obvious, anyone with a brain of how to skate could be put out on defence to stop Kessel because realistically you don't have to worry about him cutting back in towards the slot and taking it to the net, rendering him very easy to defend against. The only thing you have to worry about is that if he miraculously finally gets his shot off, he HAS the ability to pick corners unlike many players in the NHL.
Unfortunately for us, that does not have a high probability and has made him have 0 goals in 8 games. Kessel either needs to drive to the net with his speed to draw a penalty and show that he's a multi threat, or flip the puck into the slot and then snap it on net much like Kadri. If he keeps skating to the outsides, or keeps shooting from 30 ft out, i don't expect him to have many goals at all this season.
I don't buy the "cross bar is unlucky for shooter, lucky for goaltender" argument for even one moment. Parameters are pre-defined, and you shoot for the net. Shooting posts/crossbar just tells you weren't good enough.
Same thing for goaltender. If he earns shutout, and had 3 shots hit the post behind him, he still did his job which was stop all the pucks that were going in the net.
Aucoin pulled one off the line in the NYI game. Thats being unlucky
Not unlucky. Kessel is way too predictable and defenses have adapted. You know Kessel isn't going to take it to the net, so all you have to do is cut the angle and get your stick in his shooting lane.
And guess what? Just off memory from watching every game i can safely say about 25-35% of his shots have been deflected or blocked. Not to mention if he does get a shot to the net, its generally from 30 ft+ out.
Until Kessel does something that is a little less obvious, anyone with a brain of how to skate could be put out on defence to stop Kessel because realistically you don't have to worry about him cutting back in towards the slot and taking it to the net, rendering him very easy to defend against. The only thing you have to worry about is that if he miraculously finally gets his shot off, he HAS the ability to pick corners unlike many players in the NHL.
Unfortunately for us, that does not have a high probability and has made him have 0 goals in 8 games. Kessel either needs to drive to the net with his speed to draw a penalty and show that he's a multi threat, or flip the puck into the slot and then snap it on net much like Kadri. If he keeps skating to the outsides, or keeps shooting from 30 ft out, i don't expect him to have many goals at all this season.
Really? You mean the NHL just got the book on Kessel? In his 7th season? Dude has consistently scored 30g a season every year practically.
If he wasn't generating offense or shots I'd be concerned. He leads the league in shots, meaning as soon as they start going in for him his SH% is going to go through the roof along with his goal totals.
Not unlucky. Kessel is way too predictable and defenses have adapted. You know Kessel isn't going to take it to the net, so all you have to do is cut the angle and get your stick in his shooting lane.
And guess what? Just off memory from watching every game i can safely say about 25-35% of his shots have been deflected or blocked. Not to mention if he does get a shot to the net, its generally from 30 ft+ out.
Until Kessel does something that is a little less obvious, anyone with a brain of how to skate could be put out on defence to stop Kessel because realistically you don't have to worry about him cutting back in towards the slot and taking it to the net, rendering him very easy to defend against. The only thing you have to worry about is that if he miraculously finally gets his shot off, he HAS the ability to pick corners unlike many players in the NHL.
Unfortunately for us, that does not have a high probability and has made him have 0 goals in 8 games. Kessel either needs to drive to the net with his speed to draw a penalty and show that he's a multi threat, or flip the puck into the slot and then snap it on net much like Kadri. If he keeps skating to the outsides, or keeps shooting from 30 ft out, i don't expect him to have many goals at all this season.
The stat is pathetic. Kessel himself has been a little bit of both. Unlucky on the Aucoin goal, and on some of the saves. Pathetic on the empty net miss and a couple other really good scoring chances.
Does anyone think Kessel is shooting from the outside perimeter way too much? There's more ways to score a goal than a wrist shot.
I've seen him take a bunch of nice slapshots during the power play, but I don't see him getting in front of the net. He is indeed getting dirty along the boards. That's one thing I like about him, he fights for the puck along the boards, digs for the puck and wins some board battles.
But he has to do something other than skate wide and shoot at the goalie with a wrist or snap shot. I'm sick of seeing him do that. I heard a nice comment on the radio: Kessel should take a long hard look at the way Kulemin scored against Washington, diving to the ground and flailing his stick behind the goalie to tap a freebie into the net.
Does anyone think Kessel is shooting from the outside perimeter way too much? There's more ways to score a goal than a wrist shot.
I've seen him take a bunch of nice slapshots during the power play, but I don't see him getting in front of the net. He is indeed getting dirty along the boards. That's one thing I like about him, he fights for the puck along the boards, digs for the puck and wins some board battles.
But he has to do something other than skate wide and shoot at the goalie with a wrist or snap shot. I'm sick of seeing him do that. I heard a nice comment on the radio: Kessel should take a long hard look at the way Kulemin scored against Washington, diving to the ground and flailing his stick behind the goalie to tap a freebie into the net.
He would get knocked down in less than 5 seconds in front of the net.
Let him do what he did his whole life and brought him success. He's always been a shooter.
Took them long enough.
