The guy has a goal differential of EVEN through 35 games on the powerplay. What's him standing in front of the net accomplished on the powerplay? Oh, wait...he doesn't stand in front of the net on the powerplay. He hangs out by the halfboards trying to be Peter Forsberg because he has awesome skills. His specialty is turning the puck over because his puckhandling skills are Wallin-esque, then whiffing on one-timers, firing the puck right at the goalie's chest and other amazing plays we have learned to expect from Cole.
Here is the only place I disagree with you, sort of. He has no business being on the power play. Even when he scored 30 goals he was not a regular on the power play. That's gotta be on the coaching staff.
If he fails to make an impact, as I said, I will say I was wrong. He didn't miss his one-timer last night, and I definitely think he made an impact.
Point taken.
btw imayagainknowanton, 10 goals in 34 games, you do realize that translates into 25 goals over 82 games, right?
So much for "bringing nothing" and "worthless"!
BTW, 3 assists in 34 games, you do realize that translates into 7 assists over 82 games, right?
So that gives him a whopping 31-point pace (it's actually a 24-goal pace unless you round 24.12 up to 25). AMAZING. All for the bargain price of $2.9M/yr and gained while getting excessive amounts of ice time that any objective person realizes he doesn't deserve. Oh, wait, he brings speed and physicality, lulz.
I would also note that half of those goals came in two games. So WTF was he doing the rest of the time? 5 goals and 3 assists in his other 32 games.
You know a player is worthless when someone mentions that they have 4 points in 8 games or that they are outscoring Miroslav Satan to defend them.
Last edited by Amaxing Joni Jokel: 03-30-2010 at 07:12 AM.
Just an honest question, SVT...how many points does Eric Staal have in his last 17 games? (I genuinely have no idea)
Cole's doing alright. He's going to be better next year if he stays healthy. The points will come. He brings more than just goals and assists to the ice. Physical play + willing to get dirty in front of the opposing goaltender + speed + locker room presence.
Do you really hate Erik that much?
I hate his $3mil contract THAT much... If he was making $1mil, like he's worth, you wouldn't hear a peep from me... But his contract is a burden on this team... The guy is at best a 3rd line winger
Also, you over estimate his impact and skating Chuck... Last year, while sucking in the playoffs, he at least back checked and played D.... This year, he half cherry picks, waiting for breakout attempts that he can fail more miserably on than any player in the NHL... When Staals breakaways create better shots than yours, you have ZERO finishing skills...
The skate up the right wing fast after cherry picking at your blue line, then ducking your shoulder as you try to draw a penalty (which the refs don't give you anymore), then pulling the puck to your back hand, waiting too long, and gently placing against the G's right pad, is getting old...
I would also note that half of those goals came in two games. So WTF was he doing the rest of the time? 5 goals and 3 assists in his other 32 games.
That's biggest issue... The guy puts the highest % of goose eggs on the board from any person that plays his minutes...
The guy has completely 0/0 in 25 of 34 games... Every year he gets 3-4 big games and .2 ppg or less the rest... That works out to taking a double bagel 61 of 82 games
The skate up the right wing fast after cherry picking at your blue line, then ducking your shoulder as you try to draw a penalty (which the refs don't give you anymore), then pulling the puck to your back hand, waiting too long, and gently placing against the G's right pad, is getting old...
LaRose doesn't even make it past the blueline. He just carries the puck up the ice at three miles per hour (but people say he's fast because his little feet move so quickly), refuses to pass, allows defenders to converge on him, runs out of options and then dumps the puck in the zone.
LaRose doesn't even make it past the blueline. He just carries the puck up the ice at three miles per hour (but people say he's fast because his little feet move so quickly), refuses to pass, allows defenders to converge on him, runs out of options and then dumps the puck in the zone.
Effort > hustling > grit > speed > intangibles > locker room presence >>>>> actual results that contribute to winning hockey games. It's why players like LaRose and Cole are fan favorites. As long as players show up and try and display heart, it doesn't matter if the team goes 0-81-1.
And costs more than a $1 million less and actually hits someone... LaRose is a third liner, making close to experienced third line money, who back checks and hits...
funny how pople scapegoat e cole for this lost season when the obvious reason is P Maurice. Yet i seem to be the only one calling for his job - he is a consistent loser and extremely poor motivator and leader of men. his leadership is the only reason this team has underwhelmed this season and buried themselves the first couple of months of the season.
LaRose doesn't even make it past the blueline. He just carries the puck up the ice at three miles per hour (but people say he's fast because his little feet move so quickly), refuses to pass, allows defenders to converge on him, runs out of options and then dumps the puck in the zone.
Which isn't a turnover. Which is more than what can be said for Cole.
funny how pople scapegoat e cole for this lost season when the obvious reason is P Maurice. Yet i seem to be the only one calling for his job - he is a consistent loser and extremely poor motivator and leader of men. his leadership is the only reason this team has underwhelmed this season and buried themselves the first couple of months of the season.
umm, no you're not... Mo must go... I agree... Dineen please
I hate his $3mil contract THAT much... If he was making $1mil, like he's worth, you wouldn't hear a peep from me... But his contract is a burden on this team... The guy is at best a 3rd line winger
And that's just it Chuck. If he was making even half of what he makes now, no one would be complaining in the least. Cole would be a fantastic fourth liner or a pretty decent 3rd liner in a healthy year, but he's being paid to be somebody he's not (anymore). Cole is one of my favorite players, but I can clearly see he's gone downhill. The speed is still there, but that's about it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by snakepliskin
funny how pople scapegoat e cole for this lost season when the obvious reason is P Maurice. Yet i seem to be the only one calling for his job - he is a consistent loser and extremely poor motivator and leader of men. his leadership is the only reason this team has underwhelmed this season and buried themselves the first couple of months of the season.
Mo is one of the last people that should be blamed for this season. The same crap has been happening since 2006/2007 under Lavi. It's not Mo, it's the group of players under him. We all have our little gripes about him and how he shuffles lines ridiculously and sometimes gives PP time to the wrong guys, but that's hardly a case for firing. I think he's done well this year, given the circumstances and the team handed to him.
funny how pople scapegoat e cole for this lost season when the obvious reason is P Maurice. Yet i seem to be the only one calling for his job - he is a consistent loser and extremely poor motivator and leader of men. his leadership is the only reason this team has underwhelmed this season and buried themselves the first couple of months of the season.
I don't think anyone is scapegoating Cole. The whole team sucked for 3 months (except for Brandon Sutter because he's awesome) and everyone is aware of that. The obvious reason isn't P. Maurice either, for the record. Sure he's not a very good coach but the GM who for whatever reason has been allowed to be below average for 10 years with 3 very good playoff runs put together a flawed team. Instead of building on what got them to the ECF last year, he went back to the neanderthal thinking that he had to out muscle pittsburgh, not realizing that he made his team old and slow. To his credit, he unloaded most of the crap he signed for draft picks so maybe he redeems himself, but this teams utter suckitude was mostly his fault.
I don't think anyone is scapegoating Cole. The whole team sucked for 3 months (except for Brandon Sutter because he's awesome) and everyone is aware of that. The obvious reason isn't P. Maurice either, for the record. Sure he's not a very good coach but the GM who for whatever reason has been allowed to be below average for 10 years with 3 very good playoff runs put together a flawed team. Instead of building on what got them to the ECF last year, he went back to the neanderthal thinking that he had to out muscle pittsburgh, not realizing that he made his team old and slow. To his credit, he unloaded most of the crap he signed for draft picks so maybe he redeems himself, but this teams utter suckitude was mostly his fault.
I agree.
If anyone is to blame for this lost season, it is Jim Rutherford.
The team was 8th in goals against in the league and made into the ECF. But no, we had "too many puck-moving defensemen."
I question the sanity of a GM who claims he is building a team to go far in the playoffs and beat Pittsburgh, but then turns around and signs a player who is mired in a 32-game playoff goal-scoring drought with only five assists in that timespan (that would be Cole, if you're wondering). Or acquires Aaron Ward, who looked like an absolute pylon against the Hurricanes in the playoffs last season and clearly had lost a step or three to anyone who was watching him and not just looking at his pretty +/- rating gained playing with the Norris winner in front of the Vezina winner behind one of the highest scoring teams in the league.
All in the offseason it was about how we needed to "get bigger" and "add grit." The epic fail started when we selected Philippe mother****ing Paradis in the first round. Yeah, he can barely score in the QMJHL, but at least he's big! Power forward! Grit! I'm sure he also provides a locker room presence and has a nice smile or whatever the **** else is used to justify re-signing and acquiring endless amounts of 3rd/4th liners and #5/6 defensemen.
So then we get rid of a Top 4 defenseman who was excellent at moving the puck and also was a fairly physical player and very good at blocking shots (Seidenberg) as well as a 25-year old defenseman who scored 16 goals with second unit powerplay time (I don't even need to type his name)...and replaced them with an aging Gritty Veteran AWardo and a career bottom-pairing defenseman with almost zero skill (Alberts). And we compound that by buying out Kaberle and keeping Wallin. (Not that Kaberle is any good or even better than Walin, but his skillset would have been more useful to the team than Wallin's).
So we go from "too many puck-moving defensemen" to Pitkanen and Corvo. I remember thinking that the team was already lacking skill and speed on defense and that it would be a total disaster if either of Pitkanen or Corvo got hurt. Well, guess what? It happened.
It's not Maurice's fault that Rutherford built a defense full of clutch-and-grab pylons with no discernible skills, to go with a forward group featuring one first line winger who happens to be 37 (and has not played like a first liner this year...quite the shocker for a 37-year old). When Brett Carson is superior to half of the defense you put on the ice to start the year, you failed.
Last edited by Amaxing Joni Jokel: 03-30-2010 at 09:33 AM.
If anyone is to blame for this lost season, it is Jim Rutherford.
The team was 8th in goals against in the league and made into the ECF. But no, we had "too many puck-moving defensemen."
I question the sanity of a GM who claims he is building a team to go far in the playoffs and beat Pittsburgh, but then turns around and signs a player who is mired in a 32-game playoff goal-scoring drought with only five assists in that timespan (that would be Cole, if you're wondering). Or acquires Aaron Ward, who looked like an absolute pylon against the Hurricanes in the playoffs last season and clearly had lost a step or three to anyone who was watching him and not just looking at his pretty +/- rating gained playing with the Norris winner in front of the Vezina winner behind one of the highest scoring teams in the league.
All in the offseason it was about how we needed to "get bigger" and "add grit." The epic fail started when we selected Philippe mother****ing Paradis in the first round. Yeah, he can barely score in the QMJHL, but at least he's big! Power forward! Grit! I'm sure he also provides a locker room presence and has a nice smile or whatever the **** else is used to justify re-signing and acquiring endless amounts of 3rd/4th liners and #5/6 defensemen.
So then we get rid of a Top 4 defenseman who was excellent at moving the puck and also was a fairly physical player and very good at blocking shots (Seidenberg) as well as a 25-year old defenseman who scored 16 goals with second unit powerplay time (I don't even need to type his name)...and replaced them with an aging Gritty Veteran AWardo and a career bottom-pairing defenseman with almost zero skill (Alberts). And we compound that by buying out Kaberle and keeping Wallin. (Not that Kaberle is any good or even better than Walin, but his skillset would have been more useful to the team than Wallin's).
So we go from "too many puck-moving defensemen" to Pitkanen and Corvo. I remember thinking that the team was already lacking skill and speed on defense and that it would be a total disaster if either of Pitkanen or Corvo got hurt. Well, guess what? It happened.
It's not Maurice's fault that Rutherford built a defense full of clutch-and-grab pylons with no discernible skills, to go with a forward group featuring one first line winger who happens to be 37 (and has not played like a first liner this year...quite the shocker for a 37-year old). When Brett Carson is superior to half of the defense you put on the ice to start the year, you failed.
JR is obviously the biggest reason for failure, but I also blame Mo... I think Mo was closely involved and gave approval for Cole and Ward and I really disliked camp this year...
