Ok not to be rude but do people watch the games before they post? Stepan gets sent down? Boyle gets benched? Guys they have been very good for the first part of the season. Boyle is getting PP and Pk time and the kid is getting PP time also. What is wrong with having Drury and Vinny earn their spots when they get healthy? They both are aging vets and both are either very hot or ice cold. Sit Boogy not in conference games. Did anyone else read Boston wants a piece of Dubi ? Flyers ,Bruins islanders , Leafs ,Senators , Pens , Caps are all dressing goons. Drury adds nothing other then PK specialist at this point. The kids are playing hard make the vets do the same.
explain how they even "earn their spots" back. Bribe the coaching staff? Do backflips in practice? Salary cap doesn't exactly give you the wiggle room to have them be healthy scratches until someone slips.
When have Drury or Prospal ever given you the impression they weren't trying?
I fail to see how Christensen has proved to be a more useful player than Drury. He's a parallel to White at this point. A warm body with experience that can be easily discarded when the real players get back from injury.
Boyle can't be taken out if he continues to play like this. Neither can Prust.
Boogard gets selectively scratched. Torts will pick his spots with him.
I don't think a 34 year old Prospal coming back from major knee surgery, and having not even skated, let alone played any hockey for many months... He's not going to or shouldn't center the top line, especially when there are guys who have been playing well all season.
IF Prospal is even a shadow of what he used to be, he shouldn't play above the third line.
And all your really doing is replacing White and Boogaard with Gaborik and Drury. I'd say that's an upgrade.
To me, Prospal has lost his spot at this point. Unless Fedotenko starts not playing well, I just can't rationalize putting in a 34 year old coming off knee surgery and no hockey for about a half year, and taking someone who's been playing well out of the lineup.
Of course it is impossible not to rule out a possible Stepan demotion if he slows down, or other injuries popping up as our other guys come back.
im not sure they really want to demote him especially with the 10 game rookie rule thing. torts is sky high on this kid and hes gonna have a del zotto type year where he quietly makes his mark. torts put all his faith in del zotto last season...and hes got more reason to with stepan.
i do feel that EC will lose his place when these guys come back, i dont see fedotenko getting scratched at all...its going to come down to prust or boyle. boogaard fits in there somewhere especially @ $1.65mil hes just gonna have a place leaving no room for prust regardless of what anyones argument is, boogaard will be in there over prust if the lineup looked like this
the way Shawn Thornton threw him around in Boston I'm beginning to think everyone just thinks Boogard is a joke and won't give him the time of day.
You mean Shawn Thornton who held on to Boogaard's arms for dear life during the entire fight, until the refs realized he wouldn't let go? Just about when Boogaard was starting to get loose.
Yeah, he totally "threw him around." That wasn't a fight, it was a hugging game, which Thornton made sure of. It was a very uninspired draw.
This is a really deep lineup with talent on all 4 lines if a player the caliber of Drury is playing on the 4th line. This can only be a good thing! In all probabilities there will be an injury here and there during the season so there will be spots available.
The key in this lineup is when Prospal and Gaborik come back. If they can click like they did last year, then this lineup has serious potential that can compete and win against any team in the NHL. With the solid, solid defenseman on this team and Hank in nets, there is no reason to believe this team can't make a legit run at the Holy Grail...
the way Shawn Thornton threw him around in Boston I'm beginning to think everyone just thinks Boogard is a joke and won't give him the time of day.
That was a fight? Like someone said above Thornton lached on to boogaard and held on for dear life because he knew hed get rocked if he let go. I remember at one point boogaard looked like he was laughing Thornton in now way threw boogaard around the only thing he controlled was boogys arm movement bc he was bear hugging him.
id say drury comes back on the 4th line, but if/when the 3rd line cools down a bit, i see him stepping up and taking the spot of avery or feds even though they seem to be getting the job done so far
my guess right now is that EC is a goner and the boggy man spends some time as a healthy scratch
im thinking it will eventually shake out as:
3rd: Drury Stepan Feds
4th: Avery Boyle Prust
but one thing we're not really taking into acount is that there is a solid chance prospal comes back and plays like garbage
He was the man last year, but he's old, coming off surgery, and on his "down" year..that could be a perfect storm there
im 100% sure he's going to walk right into the 1st line
the way Shawn Thornton threw him around in Boston I'm beginning to think everyone just thinks Boogard is a joke and won't give him the time of day.
Please tell me this is just a poor attempt at sarcasm. If not, we certainly weren't watching the same game. Here's the fight again just in case you were temporarily blind upon first viewing.
You mean Shawn Thornton who held on to Boogaard's arms for dear life during the entire fight, until the refs realized he wouldn't let go? Just about when Boogaard was starting to get loose.
Yeah, he totally "threw him around." That wasn't a fight, it was a hugging game, which Thornton made sure of. It was a very uninspired draw.
Whether or not it was a hugging match, and whether or not Thornton turned it into that, the fact remains that fight started in front of the net and ended against the boards because Thornton moved him there. I guess not having a lot of balance didn't bode well for Boogard. The shots Thornton land at 0:37 tell me he wasn't all about a hugging game...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOtLskdwhCg
A guy that big that has a hard enough time finding a fight should be able to do SOMETHING to take control there, rather than let the smaller guy just wing him around.
It's already been said but odds are Prospal's going to have to be brought along slowly. I won't be surprised if he dresses some games and only plays 8-12 minutes with most of his time being on the PP. With that, I won't be surprised if he rotates into the lineup with Boogard/Christensen
