Good call on Strait. I'm sorry that I forgot that one. I thought he was excellent defensively and really smart in terms of jumping in offensively. Only played 12:19, but he was NOT a liability out there. Far from it . . . he looked like a really good #6 tonight.
The only two times i really remember seeing him was that shot set up by Sully and that huge blocked shot in the 3rd.
Pretty much exactly what you want from a rookie.
And for a mediocre goalie MAF sure has been playing extremely mediocre lately!
+ Still loving the work ethic and the passion I'm seeing every shift. These boys really upped their game a knotch. I don't know what has gotten into them, but they are feisty and looking to make a name for themselves this year instead of feeling bad for the injuries.
+ Strait: I didn't expect that. I know he has that talent, but man he exploded tonight with a great game. I think he looked better than Lovejoy.
side note: that BS how Flower was great goalie but stats do not show just got exposed.
Since Flower has been REALLY great his save percentage is something rediculous 945, or in that range, that is a great goalie, there must be no better statistic in all the sports than save percentage and when Flower is barely over 900 that is not your Vezina material.
Quite a coincidence that Fleury's SV% starts to improve around the same time Martin and Michalek remembered how to play defense, isn't it? But no, you're right. SV% is solely representative of a goalie's performance. It obviously has nothing to do with the number and quality of scoring chances allowed by the defense.
Quite a coincidence that Fleury's SV% starts to improve around the same time Martin and Michalek remembered how to play defense, isn't it? But no, you're right. SV% is solely representative of a goalie's performance. It obviously has nothing to do with the number and quality of scoring chances allowed by the defense.
Z was ****ing awesome tonight. Earlier in the game, the Coyotes tried to pull a Geno by going forward on the faceoff and centering it to the open man, and he read it like a ****ing book, put his shaft down, and intercepted it.
I bought a Malkin jersey to celebrate our 2 - 0 victory over the Rangers. Since I bought the jersey, we've been undefeated. Wednesday night my jersey takes its first trip to the pub, as my Leaf homer friend and I watch his season come to a sorry end. I'm even more pumped about next week though. Toronto and Florida are likely wins, and then next week we really test our mettle, having to play Boston, New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia in an eight day gauntlet where the boys show what it is to be a Penguin!
In the case of Strait v Lovejoy, is waiver eligibility such a big issue?
Strait's cost vs. Lovejoy's cost is an issue, though. Strait's cap hit holds merit on a team against the cap.
Strait carries a cap hit of $861,667 for the full season right (thanks to likely unobtainable bonuses), Lovejoy's cap hit in his deal is $525,000. That and the whole two-way/one-way deal thing...but I'm just talking about an either/or situation.
That has kept Strait down in WBS as much as anything else. The good news is that his rookie deal ends after this season, so his next deal won't come with as high of a cap hit...at the same time that's only going to make him all the more appealing to other teams on the waiver wire.
I'm really not that worried about Sneep not clearing at this point...he may get plucked off the waiver wire, but the waiver wire is going to be so hefty at the start of the year it's hard to imagine someone being that enamored with an unproven Sneep that they take him. Strait is the one that I think has legitimate every day future in the NHL, even if it is only as a #6. He has one of those quiet defensive games that gets under-appreciated by everyone but coaches. Also his beard potential is through the roof.
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“The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile, but that it is indifferent. If we can come to terms with this indifference and accept the challenges of life within the boundaries of death, our existence as a species can have genuine meaning and fulfillment. However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light.” - Stanley Kubrick
Strait's cost vs. Lovejoy's cost is an issue, though. Strait's cap hit holds merit on a team against the cap.
Strait carries a cap hit of $861,667 for the full season right (thanks to likely unobtainable bonuses), Lovejoy's cap hit in his deal is $525,000. That and the whole two-way/one-way deal thing...but I'm just talking about an either/or situation.
That has kept Strait down in WBS as much as anything else. The good news is that his rookie deal ends after this season, so his next deal won't come with as high of a cap hit...at the same time that's only going to make him all the more appealing to other teams on the waiver wire.
I'm really not that worried about Sneep not clearing at this point...he may get plucked off the waiver wire, but the waiver wire is going to be so hefty at the start of the year it's hard to imagine someone being that enamored with an unproven Sneep that they take him. Strait is the one that I think has legitimate every day future in the NHL, even if it is only as a #6. He has one of those quiet defensive games that gets under-appreciated by everyone but coaches. Also his beard potential is through the roof.
I thought we played flat and without intensity for most of the game. You could tell the Coyotes really wanted that game more than the Pens, and they just couldn't do it. Shows a lot about the skill of this team.
Strait's cost vs. Lovejoy's cost is an issue, though. Strait's cap hit holds merit on a team against the cap.
Strait carries a cap hit of $861,667 for the full season right (thanks to likely unobtainable bonuses), Lovejoy's cap hit in his deal is $525,000. That and the whole two-way/one-way deal thing...but I'm just talking about an either/or situation.
That has kept Strait down in WBS as much as anything else. The good news is that his rookie deal ends after this season, so his next deal won't come with as high of a cap hit...at the same time that's only going to make him all the more appealing to other teams on the waiver wire.
I'm really not that worried about Sneep not clearing at this point...he may get plucked off the waiver wire, but the waiver wire is going to be so hefty at the start of the year it's hard to imagine someone being that enamored with an unproven Sneep that they take him. Strait is the one that I think has legitimate every day future in the NHL, even if it is only as a #6. He has one of those quiet defensive games that gets under-appreciated by everyone but coaches. Also his beard potential is through the roof.
With Fletcher and Yeo in Minn, I hope RS has learned his lesson about trying to sneak anyone he wants to keep in the system through waivers.
I'm over the 'best third line in hockey' being our second line. Staal is now better without Kennedy on his wing than he was. His game has surpassed TK's.
I think Strait has earned another game or two. If he can string performances together like he just had...he's an NHL'er right now.
The only flaw I saw in his game last night was most of his shots missed the net. He had quite a few last night. He has a very good shot but accuracy seemed to be a problem. I guess that's why he doesn't play PP in WBS.
And then Vrbata just walks in front of the net. Assignment wise Whitney is the trailer which is the responsibly of the back checkers.
Really? When has chasing a guy that got the puck in the corner and waiving your stick at him, when there is a wide open man in front of the net, been a smart defensive play? Sure Whitney is technically the trailer's man, but you don't leave him wide open if you see that there are no back checkers covering him.
Vrbata really was not a risk there. You tie up the open man or at least keep him checked until Geno or Neal get back in the play. Geno definitely needed to backcheck harder, but that doesn't excuse a poor defensive decision.
Does anyone have Cooke’s post game interview video? Where he basically calls out the referee for making s**t up.
Smith and Yandle should have got 2 each and the Pens should have got a 5 on 3 pp or 4 minutes pp. Instead the refs send Cooke to the box as well for no ****ing reason, good for Cookie for calling those zebras out
Does anyone have Cooke’s post game interview video? Where he basically calls out the referee for making s**t up.
I don't know if it's anywhere online but I did see it on ROOT last night. This is the best I have from the PG.
Quote:
Smith was called for roughing after he tried to maul Cooke after Cooke had been knocked into his crease, but Cooke picked up a delayed minor after he had returned to the bench.
"I got the craziest explanation from the referee," he said. "He told me that he had to give Smith something. He didn't want to put them down five-on-three, so he gave me a penalty. ... I've never had that explanation before."
I don’t understand why this isn’t getting more coverage.
Ref’s trying to fix the game so it stays close is BS. All other post game interviews from last night are on the pens site, that one is missing.
with all due respect, it's like we watched two different games tonight?
Yeah I'm not sure what game you watched. Maybe it was slight exaggeration on my part, but this is an excellent defensive team in Phoenix that doesn't give up much of anything off the rush, and that's where much of Malkin's offense comes from. They didn't give him a lot there and he was still able to generate a lot of good opportunities for his line with lots of sustained pressure. That's exactly what I want to see moving forward, as teams are going to try and do that to him every night in the playoffs. That line needs to be able to click when teams take away the middle of the ice just like tonight. So I was impressed with how they performed, all things considered.
Last edited by Malkin4Top6Wingerz: 03-06-2012 at 02:06 PM.
