At first when I heard Eugene talking about your team (other teams are jealous), i laughed; but he was right....this team WILL be something to worry about going forward.
Lehner needs to get some starts, kids gunna be a stud.
Smith, Greening and Neil are essential pieces that every team would love to have in their bottom 6.
I am a sore loser, but gracious winner. You guys played a helluva game, tried to hang on and it almost bit us in the ass....Solid effort all around, good buzz from your team...they will get a lot of teams on their heels.
I've noticed that Methot has been making a few Karlsson-esque rushes the last few games. Hopefully he can develop that puck moving aspect of his game further. Then next year we will have the ability to rely on Cowen and Methot as well as Karlsson to rush the puck up the ice.
Just got back from the game. Turris was brutal. Zibby is going to be a stud! Alfie was god. Bishop had an off game. Michalek was a nice boost. Methot is really really good. Proud of the heart this team has. Leaf fans were super nervous during that last minute. Plus, good coaching call to pull the goalie!
Thoughts after two, Greening and Wiercioch so far look really good. Wiercioch is still struggling immensely with the defensive side of his game but he's doing great things with the puck on his stick. He can be pretty valuable with the limited ice time and protected role he's in.
I did not foresee Greening producing this way without Spezza. Props to him and he looks to have simplified his game a bit and is just more decisive. Looks good on Turris' wing.
Phillips is starting to get into Phillips form. The notorious slow starter is picking up his game at an opportune time.
Crazy stat action: Zibanejad has only been a minus twice in his 18 games. Two -1 games.
Also, Stone does not look out place. Getting around the ice very well.
EDIT:
Third done. Good period for Ottawa. I feel like Ottawa managed to manufacture a lot more quality chances than against the Islanders.
Hoping Maclean saw what I saw with the Stone-Zibanejad duo. Neil is a nice complementary player there. JOB or Condra maybe even Regin could work there.
Smith with Michalek and Alfie should be further explored. The possible matchups there are harder to play against imo. Other teams are less likely to go with their best players against this line with Smith's presence and faceoff ability. If they can draw the other team's checking line that gets them away from Turris. Smith likes to shoot, Michalek (at least recently) and Alfie both like to pass. We saw Turris have some better shifts later in this game with Kostka and Gunnarsson out there and Greening/Silfverberg/Condra as wingers.
And please Mac, get Jim O'Brien in the line up.
Last edited by FolignoQuantumLeap: 03-07-2013 at 02:37 AM.
Turris was brutal. Zibby is going to be a stud! Alfie was god. Bishop had an off game. Michalek was a nice boost. Methot is really really good.
Turris wad not brutal at all.And he plays half of the game with hand injury. Methot was good, but JVR goal is clearly on him. Agree on Bishop. He is a reason we lost.
Turris wad not brutal at all.And he plays half of the game with hand injury. Methot was good, but JVR goal is clearly on him. Agree on Bishop. He is a reason we lost.
Another excuse for Turris.
He was awful for most of the game. Pre-injury as well. Got blown off the puck for a gosl against. Was predictable offensively. Made terrible passes. Not a good night
He's having a tough stretch no question. He needs to change his mind-space and just relax on the stick. Couple of times he made the pass when the shot was there.
Worked for Smith is this game.
Condra and Greening seem to have fun out there as well.
To me, Turris seems to have the classic "trying too hard" syndrome.
Looks like he feels the pressure of being "the guy" and really wants to do well. It's wonderful (if I'm right) that he cares, but he'll struggle until he relaxes and plays loose. Spezza and Karlsson returning should be great for him. He's fine as the #3 offensive threat right now in his career.
-Turris had some bad giveaways again, but all in all had a better game than the last bunch. He needs to bury on breakaways like that.
-Michalek was an absolute beast in the corners and creating space for his line. I forgot how good at that he is (when he's playing his game).
-Zib needs to be more selfish and unleash his shot. He had atleast 2 opportunities where he had it in the slot and chose to pass. (Although if that pass to Michalek got through it would've been goal no question. Still would've like to have seen him walk it out front and try to snipe.)
-Bishop finally has a bad game, he was due for it. Unfortunately it happened against the leafs.
-We actually looked like a dangerous team for a chunk of the first period and majority of the third period. It was very refreshing to watch after watching the offensive struggles this season.
Surprised I've gone through the last page and seen no praise of stone.
Ill say this though, there's no place to knock a kids feet if he's always one step ahead of the play. This kids gonna be good. Not many kids fake high level hockey sense in their debut.
- The ACC crowd is terrible. People barely pay attention and are late to find their seats after intermissions. It's hilarious how quiet and disengaged everyone is. They make the most noise when they boo Alfie. No one even tried to trash talk me in my Sens gear.
- Kyle Turris is excellent at skating the puck up ice into the offensive zone. He appears to be a player who can only play on the rush, because it is obvious that his turns invisible in the offensive zone. He reminds me of a less skilled, more defensively responsible version of Phil Kessel.
- Zach Smith has the worst hands I've ever seen. He is constantly shooting/dumping pucks into shin pads. Combine this with the fact that he always seems to have the puck around him, and you have a frustrating player. The IQ is there.
- Daniel Alfredsson was our best forward. He was always creative with the puck, and found ways to pull checkers toward him, and make space for other players. However, he desperately needs some talent around him.
- If Jakob Silfverberg does not improve his all-around quickness, he will be back in Sweden soon enough. He is way too slow to play the game he wants to play.
- Ben Bishop was not very good. In fact, Kadri's stinker of a goal was the difference.
- The ACC crowd is terrible. People barely pay attention and are late to find their seats after intermissions. It's hilarious how quiet and disengaged everyone is. They make the most noise when they boo Alfie. No one even tried to trash talk me in my Sens gear.
They seemed pretty loud on t.v. Sportsnet should take notes on where to place their mics in SBP.
- Zach Smith has the worst hands I've ever seen. He is constantly shooting/dumping pucks into shin pads. Combine this with the fact that he always seems to have the puck around him, and you have a frustrating player. The IQ is there.
I agree..he's so frustrating to watch but yeah the puck likes to go where he is.
Just picked at a few comments. It was just one of those games where we start slow, end strong and come up just short. At least we got more than 2 goals though..hopefully the guys can build off that.
"They seemed pretty loud on t.v. Sportsnet should take notes on where to place their mics in SBP."
Just picked at a few comments. It was just one of those games where we start slow, end strong and come up just short. At least we got more than 2 goals though..hopefully the guys can build off that.
I know ACC used to use a kick drum mic on the glass. I think they do that at SBP too though.
The puck doesn't follow Smith he's just a lot better than people give him credit for. He's a smart player...late bloomer.
And many on these boards wanted him up in the pressbox no more than a game ago.
Face-offs, forecheck, physical play, and moving the puck away from our net is what he does well. Goals aren't required for him to be an effective player, but that was a nice feed to Alfie for an apple.
Felt like a laugh so I wondered over to the Leafs GDT to read responses to Alfie's goal. Found a good one here.
It was glorious. They booed Alfie all night long, and then he scored, and they had to hear his name over the PA. I rocked my Alfie shirt hard at that point.
Good thing about quickness is its something that any player can improve. But you aren't worth listening to if you don't think silfverberg is an nhler right now. Sorry
Good thing about quickness is its something that any player can improve. But you aren't worth listening to if you don't think silfverberg is an nhler right now. Sorry
Did I say that? Yes, he's a bottom six NHLer right now. We have tons of bottom 6 NHLers.
And, like you, I am comforted that his deficiency can be solved. He just needs to put in the effort this offseason.
Surprised I've gone through the last page and seen no praise of stone.
Ill say this though, there's no place to knock a kids feet if he's always one step ahead of the play. This kids gonna be good. Not many kids fake high level hockey sense in their debut.
Stone looked great out there; he was playing smart and was really involved in the play. He even had a few big hits. The only knock on him IMO is that he just needs to become bigger and stronger to play his style in the NHL. With a bit of added mass and strength, which will come with age, he will be a more effective player and could very likely become a dominant player out there.
Like you and I have stated previously, his hockey IQ is off the charts.
And many on these boards wanted him up in the pressbox no more than a game ago.
Face-offs, forecheck, physical play, and moving the puck away from our net is what he does well. Goals aren't required for him to be an effective player, but that was a nice feed to Alfie for an apple.
Ya Smith was playing well prior to this game. He was doing a great job of shutting down the other teams top line. If he can continue his play from this game, then he will become the first line center until Spezza gets back.
I'm still a little shocked that people were talking about trading him before this game. Players like Smith are pretty hard to come by.
- The ACC crowd is terrible. People barely pay attention and are late to find their seats after intermissions. It's hilarious how quiet and disengaged everyone is. They make the most noise when they boo Alfie. No one even tried to trash talk me in my Sens gear.
- Kyle Turris is excellent at skating the puck up ice into the offensive zone. He appears to be a player who can only play on the rush, because it is obvious that his turns invisible in the offensive zone. He reminds me of a less skilled, more defensively responsible version of Phil Kessel.
- Zach Smith has the worst hands I've ever seen. He is constantly shooting/dumping pucks into shin pads. Combine this with the fact that he always seems to have the puck around him, and you have a frustrating player. The IQ is there.
- Daniel Alfredsson was our best forward. He was always creative with the puck, and found ways to pull checkers toward him, and make space for other players. However, he desperately needs some talent around him.
- If Jakob Silfverberg does not improve his all-around quickness, he will be back in Sweden soon enough. He is way too slow to play the game he wants to play.
- Ben Bishop was not very good. In fact, Kadri's stinker of a goal was the difference.
I found that the crowd was quiet as well, Usually they get a few good chants going, but they were alot of empty seats.
