Fletcher assembled a team the is tough to play against and hard working and competitive just like he promised..
When you don't have a lot of offensive players you need to play sound defensively and out work your opponent.
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Signature: There is no greater demonstration of Fan patience then to suggest to "Play the Kids " and be willing to accept the consequences of those actions..
Blake terrible.
Coli not so good.
Antro and Pony brutal.
MVR mediocre.
I thought Blake-Antropov-Pony were solid. They did have some great scoring chances, of course Poni hit the post and Blake flubbed a few.
They were the best line defensively tonight IMO. They were overshadowed offensively by the 2nd and 3rd lines, however.
MVR was OK. I'm not a huge fan of his but he made a solid play at the very end there to dive and block the pass/shot.
Cola has to play better.
In the end, it is one game, so I'm not going to be so quick to label heroes and zeroes just yet.
I like Wilson as a coach (always stated that hiring Maurice was JFJ's worst move) but I'm not sure how much I buy Mayers as a first unit PK/last minute of the game kind of guy.
Terminate Stajan. The Stajan we're come to know has resurfaced. It's funny how many of you guys were rooting for him to get the C or at least an A. It's not even funny anymore.
Anton Stralman replaces Van Ryn/Colaiacovo/Frogren against Montreal?
Ain't happening. Knowing RW this won't happen, especially when Stralman ain't THAT great defensively. What a tactical genious RW is, that game book of his has just too much thought put into it. GO RW!!
Tlusty, Hagman, Grabovski, Kulemin, Moore, Van Ryn and Kubina were exceptional tonight.
Our top line needs to be better. Antropov cant win a draw, Poni and Blake were just plain bad.
I think Tlusty was our best youngster on the night. Fast, strong on the puck, good in both ends of the rink. Schenn was good too, but you can tell he needs to be stronger and faster, and he will be incredibly effective, more so than now.
All in all, a good game, glad to see we actually held on.
other than Stajan this was one of the most entertaining leaf games i've watched in years!
Big fan of the results, i hope these young guys continue to develop. I loved how Garbo, Hagman, Kulemin looked tonight. Moore and Steen played great as well!
Barely generated any chances, Blake is back to his old ways and the turnovers were terrible in all three zones.
For now I wouldn't give up on that line. Give them another game together and go from there.
I already mentioned three specific chances, one of which included a post.
Cherry just highlighted the line and their defensive play.
I didn't see anything you describe from any of the three. They weren't the best line but they weren't brutal IMO. I've already stated that the other two lines overshadowed them offensively.
What a game that was, totally different team then last year's version. Kulemin's goal was a beauty and I was really impressed with the Tlusty, Hagman, Grabovsky line. That line looks like it could do some serious offensive damage this season.
It is going to be hard sending Schenn down when he plays like that...he really is NHL ready.
It was great to see such a good team effort and a well deserved win. Man, is it ever great to have hockey back! It thought it was a good game all round but I was especially pleased with Tlusty and Steen. Kulemin's goal was the best moment of the game. Schenn was very impressive.
