talk of trading semin was viable as long as ovechkin and backstrom were putting up 80 goals a season with knuble and laich and fehr getting 60+ and Kuznetsov in the wings.
with semin and fehr out and ovechkin and backstrom lost, i mean....they are pretty limited.
At this point I pile as much talent on 2 lines as I can and hope for the best. Something like Ovechkin-Backstrom-Laich, switch Ovechkin to the right it you want but neither he or Laich are doing much as is so I don't care. And put Johansson on the left with Perreault and Knuble.
The bottom 6 can make any combination of checking lines you want.
talk of trading semin was viable as long as ovechkin and backstrom were putting up 80 goals a season with knuble and laich and fehr getting 60+ and Kuznetsov in the wings.
with semin and fehr out and ovechkin and backstrom lost, i mean....they are pretty limited.
Correct.
When it seemed like Semin would become an expensive luxury, it made sense to shop him around (especially before we knew what we had in Alzner and Carlson). Now no amount of goals is a luxury for this team.
At this point I pile as much talent on 2 lines as I can and hope for the best. Something like Ovechkin-Backstrom-Laich, switch Ovechkin to the right it you want but neither he or Laich are doing much as is so I don't care. And put Johansson on the left with Perreault and Knuble.
The bottom 6 can make any combination of checking lines you want.
That's what the Lightning did when they used to suck.
semin now is in an interesting box. if ovechkin and backstrom dont snap out of it and semin can initiate god mode down the stretch and in the playoffs, he establishes himself as a vital source of scoring and a must keep.
conversely if 8 and 19 continue level of production, no matter how many goals semin finishes this season with and starts next season with, you would have to think mcphee would be gunshy to put his name on another long term contract.
oh...btw...just noticed that at 12:45 on NHL Live Steve Kolbe will bring his radio voice and stats to a segment of the show. EJ Hradek is going to ask Steve why Ov and Backstrom and the team in general is having so much trouble scoring. Kolbe will reply with statistical evidence that they are in fact not scoring and then will be ready for the next question. meanwhile somewhere strung will be bashing head repeatedly against a solid object.
That's what the Lightning did when they used to suck.
...and occationally it worked! So why not.
At this point I would be on board for just about anything besides what they have been doing recently. All the talent on 2 lines, spread the talent out over all 4 lines, pick lines out of a hat, whatever, I don't care...
At this point I would be on board for just about anything besides what they have been doing recently.
Speaking of that, if we get into another gawd damm shootout, can we please decide not to shoot first?
Oh yeah, we can't tonight actually 'cuz we're the road team.
But I practically popped a vein the other night against the Habs when Bruce, once again, opts to have us go first in the shootout. We've lost like every home shootout game we've had this year, and we go first every time. Why? Our shooters have zero confidence and our goalies have been our best player for the last 6 weeks (with the possible exception of Holtby in the SO against the Rags). If we let the other guys go first and they score on shot 1, it hardly matters, because our shooters already are so uptight and doubting to begin with, there's no more pressure for them to put on themselves. On the other hand, if the other team doesn't score, our first shooter just might pop one - simply because he won't be feeling like he absolutely has to.
I know Holtby looked bad in the shootout but why in the world can't or don't we even try any of the moves that undressed him. We never even tried one of those. Sure, that move gets likely beaten with the poke check, but otherwise, its an empty net. It almost seems the shooters have to be in conjunction, or at least adjusting based on what the guy before them did.
My pet peevs, missing the net. trying no stickhandling moves, the slapper, skating as fast as possible, and only using the forehand.
My pet peevs, missing the net. trying no stickhandling moves, the slapper, skating as fast as possible, and only using the forehand.
RH - shootout rant-enabler.
My other shootout pet peeve: Ovie!!. Jee-bus, skate lazily to the left and then lazily back across the middle, and everybody watching (and not watching) knows he's gonna go high glove on the forehand side (in part because he starts so far left and then transfers everything to the right that there's no longer any physical way to get back to the left [backhand] side in a way that's a threat to score) -- and ever since Fleury stoned him on that move at the beginning of Game 7 two years ago, it hasn't worked.
Dude, go backhand -- the come-straight-down-the-middle-leg kick-to-backhand shootout move used to be money. Now he treats that move like some discarded old video game. This lazy-azz-here-comes-my-forehand-to-the-goalie's-glove-side thing is useless. If you have to go forehand, how about trying the 5 hole -- I know it's not stylish, but it might actually work since every goalie in the league is determined not to let him beat them high glove.
How is Semin not yet ready to go yet whats the DEAL?!
That's what really annoys me about Semin. It's like he needs a full day at the spa with a body massage topped off with a manicure and pedicure before he returns from any injury.
That's what really annoys me about Semin. It's like he needs a full day at the spa with a body massage topped off with a manicure and pedicure before he returns from any injury.
You want him to rush back from a serious groin injury so he can play in a regular season game? How does that work out for Tom Poti every time he tries that?
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