Rather than claim any more marginal players on waivers, I would rather see some of our prospects in Portland get a chance. Pouliot and Summers have played well.
MacLean is again leading the farm in goals - he couldn't do any worse than POS or COR did.
Brule may just be the exception and work out, hopefully. We'll see.
I was pretty happy with MAP before Brule kind of stole the spotlight. We shall see if Brule can keep it up. I've seen more out of Brule and MAP than either COR or POS. The latter two I feel I've seen enough of.
I was pretty happy with MAP before Brule kind of stole the spotlight. We shall see if Brule can keep it up. I've seen more out of Brule and MAP than either COR or POS. The latter two I feel I've seen enough of.
Just check the stats-not even close in games played goals assists expierence and winning percentage while being in the NHL lineups.Sully is better than all of them and has proved it. All he needs is the Opportunity with other players that have hands and not cement mitts found on the 3rd and 4th lines.Same ol' just different sized lumps,give it a shake.
Just check the stats-not even close in games played goals assists expierence and winning percentage while being in the NHL lineups.Sully is better than all of them and has proved it. All he needs is the Opportunity with other players that have hands and not cement mitts found on the 3rd and 4th lines.Same ol' just different sized lumps,give it a shake.
Quite frankly I think POS had that opportunity when he first joined the league and he dropped the ball. He's spent the better part of his career trying to get back to that type of situation and at some point it has to be determined that it isn't just the system. He has talent, nobody has ever questioned that. His ability to play effectively consistently in a team game is still a question mark. He's got talent yes but he's not so talented that I think the organization would even consider building around him or relying on him for the long-term to be a key player for this team. He's a bandaid... and when you don't need the bandaid you typically just take it off and throw it away.
Sully,"Trade me right f-ing now!".:laughNon-issue with Pops,re-connected years ago when in La La land.In fact their getting the whole band back together on the coast with Grandson" Bam Bam".Sorry we don't talk about family with the vagrants and loiters.
Sully,"Trade me right f-ing now!".:laughNon-issue with Pops,re-connected years ago when in La La land.In fact their getting the whole band back together on the coast with Grandson" Bam Bam".Sorry we don't talk about family with the vagrants and loiters.
Just check the stats-not even close in games played goals assists expierence and winning percentage while being in the NHL lineups.Sully is better than all of them and has proved it. All he needs is the Opportunity with other players that have hands and not cement mitts found on the 3rd and 4th lines.Same ol' just different sized lumps,give it a shake.
I think we need to clear something up.
O'Sullivan was asked to play on the 4th line, that's true. And it's also true that you can't expect a player to set the league on fire when he's getting 4th-line minutes game in and game out.
What you seem to have missed is that Dave Tippett knows this. He wasn't expecting O'Sullivan to produce like a 1st liner playing 4th-line minutes with 4th-line talent. That was never the point.
Rather, Tippett was asking O'Sullivan to prove that he could be an NHL-caliber player in all three zones, and to show that he could help a moribund power play. If POS could do that, he'd stay up and play more.
That didn't happen. Now POS is behind COR, MAP, and Brule on the organizational depth chart, because those players have shown more when given the same opportunity. There's nothing insidious or mind-bending about it. Why do you keep insisting on giving POS an expanded role when he couldn't justify even a limited one?
Just check the stats-not even close in games played goals assists expierence and winning percentage while being in the NHL lineups.Sully is better than all of them and has proved it. All he needs is the Opportunity with other players that have hands and not cement mitts found on the 3rd and 4th lines.Same ol' just different sized lumps,give it a shake.
O'Sullivan was asked to play on the 4th line, that's true. And it's also true that you can't expect a player to set the league on fire when he's getting 4th-line minutes game in and game out.
What you seem to have missed is that Dave Tippett knows this. He wasn't expecting O'Sullivan to produce like a 1st liner playing 4th-line minutes with 4th-line talent. That was never the point.
Rather, Tippett was asking O'Sullivan to prove that he could be an NHL-caliber player in all three zones, and to show that he could help a moribund power play. If POS could do that, he'd stay up and play more.
That didn't happen. Now POS is behind COR, MAP, and Brule on the organizational depth chart, because those players have shown more when given the same opportunity. There's nothing insidious or mind-bending about it. Why do you keep insisting on giving POS an expanded role when he couldn't justify even a limited one?
I don't know if it's the ownership thing keeping me from caring as much or I've just become used to it. The fact is that players that are offensively oriented without much defensive skill simply won't play here, especially the young ones. Tippett won't sacrifice defense for offense AT ALL. The thing that used to bother me is he won't give guys minutes to learn and develop defensively and he won't combine the younger offensive players with other offensively skilled players (not that we've had many) to try and take advantage of what some of these guys bring to the table.
You don't have to look any further than our overtime pairings and PP to see this. How many times would we see Turris pulling splinters out of his butt while Fiddler, Hanzal and Belanger were getting all the PP time and were our 3 centers in OT? I love Hanzal but I can't stand watching him as one of our top options in OT and on the PP and the other two are just a joke in those situations. Chipchura in OT? Are you kidding me??
Would it change if we traded for established, older scorers? I hope so but that won't happen until we get an owner. Until then Tippett will keep enjoying playing a roster full of bottom six forwards which are all Maloney is able to get and our young offensively skilled forwards will either develop for someone else, not develop at all or learn to play so scared their game develops at a crawl (See Boedker).
That used to bother me. Now, it is what it is. Until/unless we get an owner, it's just another joke our organization is the butt of these days.
I don't know if it's the ownership thing keeping me from caring as much or I've just become used to it. The fact is that players that are offensively oriented without much defensive skill simply won't play here, especially the young ones.
It's a function of the budgetary forces that have shaped the roster, and in turn the conservative style of hockey the team has to play to win.
At any rate, Pouliot and Brule have both shown more offensively than O'Sullivan.
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not develop at all or learn to play so scared their game develops at a crawl (See Boedker).
Boedker's problem isn't fear. It's that he can't seem to finish. He's creating some nice chances for himself because he's fast, he can stickhandle pretty well and he can drive the net, sometimes with a surprising degree of power. I think of the way he's played this year and it seems like he should have more goals, just on his own merits. And since he plays a lot on the Doan/Langkow line, I doubt if ice time is really the problem.
Yeah, I don't think Boedker is playing scared at all. He's entering the zone and driving the net with as much authority as anyone on the team.
The problem stems from two very related issues. The first is that he's not shooting enough. His shooting percentage is a respectable 14%, but he has only 50 shots this season (in 46 games). That's brutal. The other issue, stemming from this one, is that he has no one who can finish for him. Passing too much isn't an issue when you have a triggerman on your line. Perhaps when Hanzal returns, a Vrbata-Hanzal-Boedker line would work.
It's a function of the budgetary forces that have shaped the roster, and in turn the conservative style of hockey the team has to play to win.
At any rate, Pouliot and Brule have both shown more offensively than O'Sullivan.
Boedker's problem isn't fear. It's that he can't seem to finish. He's creating some nice chances for himself because he's fast, he can stickhandle pretty well and he can drive the net, sometimes with a surprising degree of power. I think of the way he's played this year and it seems like he should have more goals, just on his own merits. And since he plays a lot on the Doan/Langkow line, I doubt if ice time is really the problem.
ture Boedker has a lot of ice time because he earned it.
One thing I've realized with this team is that you earn your ice time and the coach distributes it accordingly.
No matter who you are and if you are a top draft pick or not... you need to earn it. Some team gives breaks to younger players and it may work but sometimes it doesnt work on the long run too.
We need to upgrade on Langkow. He just isn't the same player that we saw in October. I like him and I suspect we'll bring him back next year at a much reduced rate but we need another offensive center who can create chances. Langkow is invisible most nights once he crosses the blueline.
We need to upgrade on Langkow. He just isn't the same player that we saw in October. I like him and I suspect we'll bring him back next year at a much reduced rate but we need another offensive center who can create chances. Langkow is invisible most nights once he crosses the blueline.
Hanzal will be back this week so that will probably solves that problem.
you have also Gordon, Chipchura, Pouliot at center + Brule who can play there too but I really think he is better on the wing with his style.
With Hanzal's retunr Langkow ice time will probably decrease a bit.
Maybe we could get the whole band back together on the Island or west coast!
i
