well hopefully this doesnt hurt the crunch playoff run, but i liked Clark alot 2 yrs ago the transition to pro hockey for shutdown dmen takes a while cant wait to see him
I think you're all reading too much into this. BB has said he thinks he owes it to the teams in the Pacific race to ice his strongest lineup, so unless Lydman is hurt again this is likely just to be the 7th defenseman because Guenin broke his face. Maybe tomorrow however against Edmonton.
thats ill advised he needs to do whats best for this team. getting these kids NHL games is pretty important
The Ducks have to get a sense of Clark for next year. If he can handle the NHL speed and skill level, we might see him in the 6th/7th position next season.
Giving a kid a very brief trial, then basing roster decisions on it.
I would say that's a bad idea but it's actually pretty much exactly what Murray likes to do.
But if it's just the 6/7 spot and not something vital, there isn't much downside to it.
BTW is it bad that the first thing I thought when I heard about Gauthier being fired in Montreal was "I wonder what are the chances they hire Murray?"
thats ill advised he needs to do whats best for this team. getting these kids NHL games is pretty important
There's a lot of importance in seeing them getting the experience of winning in a playoff environment as well. It's pretty clear both BB and Murray feel that way.
As far as tonight is concerned
Quote:
In 136 career AHL games, all with Syracuse, Clark has three goals and 28 points with 194 penalty minutes. Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said that he would not*make his NHL*debut*against Phoenix but that they at least needed insurance for tomorrow’s home finale against Edmonton in case of any injuries on the blue line.
“We’ve got six*[defensemen] and you got back-to-back games,” Boudreau said.*”[Syracuse] plays tonight as well. And it would have been tough in my mind to have to get him on the 6:30 [a.m.] flight and get him there to Anaheim tomorrow.
“If one of our guys goes down today … as much as we want Syracuse to do well, the*number one*thing is to worry about the big club.”
Sit Visnovsky or Lydman and give Clark a game against Edmonton. That would be more important for his future boost rather than play our this seasons two busts.
P.S. Loved how in one moment against the Yotes last night: Deslauriers leaves the puck behind the net and Visnovsky just stands there dreaming and I swear could even hear Deslauriers screaming - skate, damn skate
Sit Visnovsky or Lydman and give Clark a game against Edmonton. That would be more important for his future boost rather than play our this seasons two busts.
P.S. Loved how in one moment against the Yotes last night: Deslauriers leaves the puck behind the net and Visnovsky just stands there dreaming and I swear could even hear Deslauriers screaming - skate, damn skate
Tonight is the fan appreciation night, so possibly best lineup will be put on. That is why JDD was in net yesterday.
Sit Visnovsky or Lydman and give Clark a game against Edmonton. That would be more important for his future boost rather than play our this seasons two busts.
P.S. Loved how in one moment against the Yotes last night: Deslauriers leaves the puck behind the net and Visnovsky just stands there dreaming and I swear could even hear Deslauriers screaming - skate, damn skate
I also saw JDD instead of freezing the puck like he should of throwing it to the corner for no reason.
I thought Clark played well, and was just as effective as Lydman while he was here. Playoff experience with the Crunch would be good tho.
Really? That's a huge stretch. People really take Lydman for granted sometimes. I wish this site wasn't notorious with posters who let their expectations of a player factor into their evaluation of their actual on ice ability. Lydman has failed to meet expectations but he's still a much more effective player than Clark, Brookbank, Guenin and all the other scrubs we've had playing in the #6 role this season.
Edit: That post wasn't directed at you in particular, but the mentality of this site where people rank guys like Engelland over Martin, Brookbank over Visnovsky or anybody over Bouwmeester because the former is playing way over their ability level in a lower pairing role and the latter player is having a down year and struggling in a much bigger role or has a contract that pays them like a superstar when they're not quite at that level.
Yeah maybe it was just me, but I didn't think Clark was very good at all. He seemed suprised by the speed and had several turnovers in both games. He's definitely not ready to be a full time player, and I honestly will be suprised if he ever has more of a NHL career then Festerling.
Perhaps I was exaggerating a bit, but I thought he was OK.
Sorry for the rant, I've just been reading too much on here the past few weeks where people are ranking Brookbank and Guenin over Lydman and on the main boards a guy like Bouwmeester has regressed to Wade Redden levels because he's overpaid by about $2M. Also apparently Engelland has been the Pens best defenseman this year, despite only averaging 15 minutes per game.
I thought he looked out of his depth to be honest. Stay at home guys take a while to develop though so I'm not overly worried about how he looked in 2 games as a 21 year old.
I think you're being a little tough on him - no credited giveaways (although he did have several failed clears), and what rookie doesn't look like they aren't ready for the speed at first? He seemed to have good positioning, blocked several shots, and didn't ever seem to have that flustered headless chicken look that Festerling and Mikkelson did. I think he was just making sure clears rather than fancy plays so he didn't screw up. I also liked that he appeared to have some nastiness in him. I'm not pencilling him into the lineup but I also wasn't thinking "oh crap get this guy off the ice". It WAS Vancouver he was playing against, that's a pretty rough go in your second ever game......
I think you're being a little tough on him - no credited giveaways (although he did have several failed clears), and what rookie doesn't look like they aren't ready for the speed at first? He seemed to have good positioning, blocked several shots, and didn't ever seem to have that flustered headless chicken look that Festerling and Mikkelson did. I think he was just making sure clears rather than fancy plays so he didn't screw up. I also liked that he appeared to have some nastiness in him. I'm not pencilling him into the lineup but I also wasn't thinking "oh crap get this guy off the ice". It WAS Vancouver he was playing against, that's a pretty rough go in your second ever game......
I know rookies get caught off guard by the speed, but it seemed more then that to me. I'm not saying he for sure won't be better then those (I could have worded it better), but I don't see him being any better then Brookbank. Still too early to give long predicitions for him, but he doesn't strike me as someone who's going to be very effective. I didn't see this nastiness you're referring to either. The hit that knocked Kassian out? That wasn't a nasty hit, it was just how Kassian's arm got stuck. He was somewhat physical, but not much, although he may become more physical as he gets more comfortable. Maybe he was just making simple plays to not make a mistake, and I hope that's all it is, but the guy just didn't give me a good first impression. He was OK, but definitely not an NHL caliber player (yet). Hope he improves.
Yeah maybe it was just me, but I didn't think Clark was very good at all. He seemed suprised by the speed and had several turnovers in both games. He's definitely not ready to be a full time player, and I honestly will be suprised if he ever has more of a NHL career then Festerling.
wow you're already predicting a failure based on two games? surprised by the speed? of course he is! almost every young player has an adjustment period!
Clark seemed fine. There were a couple times when he clearly wasn't expecting the forechecker to be on him that fast, but there wasn't any panic, which would have been a much more worrying sign.
wow you're already predicting a failure based on two games? surprised by the speed? of course he is! almost every young player has an adjustment period!
I'm not predicting a failure, but yeah right now I don't see him being much more then Brookbank or Festerling. Too early to tell, just first impressions.
