+ Fleury: When Sid and Geno are out, this is Fleury's team. This isn't Staal's team. This isn't even Bylsma's system taking over. Marc-andre Fleury is the leader of our club and he's doing a great job of being the best goalie he can possibly be. His new simplified game after the awful start to the season couldn't make me any happier. I love everything about it.
+ Kunitz: Chris looked back today and I'm happy he got his 20th goal today. I can't believe how many times this season people said Kunitz isn't worth his contract. He's worth every penny.
+ Conner: I love that Conner comes into games with a chip on his shoulder and the will to play bigger than his stature. He's not the strongest, but man his heart sure is. He's a great 12th/13th forward that can jump in whenever we need.
+ PK: Guys like Z and Adams can not get enough credit. They do just about anything to stop a puck from getting to Fleury. Whether it's 5 on 3 or 5 on 4, they are the heart and soul of our PK.
+ Neal/TK: Thought both guys played very well. I love the hustle and love the vision both guys showed today. I combined their game together because I thought it was almost identical.
Honorable Mention: Cooke for having a very good game.
Minus
- Brule's Hit: The NHL doesn't suspend players for real dirty plays, so fans now want to suspend players for everything. The Brule hit was 100% clean. He finished the play hard and kept his elbows and arms down. The hit was 100% clean.
- Letang: Tangers doesn't do afternoon games. He can't hit the net. His passes were awful. Letang doesn't become the dynamic player until 7:05PM.
- Errey/Steigy: Worthless. It's pathetic listening to them.
+ Fleury: When Sid and Geno are out, this is Fleury's team. This isn't Staal's team. This isn't even Bylsma's system taking over. Marc-andre Fleury is the leader of our club and he's doing a great job of being the best goalie he can possibly be. His new simplified game after the awful start to the season couldn't make me any happier. I love everything about it.
+ Kunitz: Chris looked back today and I'm happy he got his 20th goal today. I can't believe how many times this season people said Kunitz isn't worth his contract. He's worth every penny.
+ Conner: I love that Conner comes into games with a chip on his shoulder and the will to play bigger than his stature. He's not the strongest, but man his heart sure is. He's a great 12th/13th forward that can jump in whenever we need.
+ PK: Guys like Z and Adams can not get enough credit. They do just about anything to stop a puck from getting to Fleury. Whether it's 5 on 3 or 5 on 4, they are the heart and soul of our PK.
+ Neal/TK: Thought both guys played very well. I love the hustle and love the vision both guys showed today. I combined their game together because I thought it was almost identical.
Honorable Mention: Cooke for having a very good game.
Minus
- Brule's Hit: The NHL doesn't suspend players for real dirty plays, so fans now want to suspend players for everything. The Brule hit was 100% clean. He finished the play hard and kept his elbows and arms down. The hit was 100% clean.
- Letang: Tangers doesn't do afternoon games. He can't hit the net. His passes were awful. Letang doesn't become the dynamic player until 7:05PM.
- Errey/Steigy: Worthless. It's pathetic listening to them.
Agree with everything, and glad you mentioned Steigy and Errey. Steigy especially today was completely idiotic. There is no defending this incompetent doofus. He's an embarrassment. Anyone who suggests otherwise has never heard a good PBP announcer before or doesn't recognize a professional call when they hear one. I really think the Pittsburgh market has different standards for stuff like this than other big cities. FSN Pittsburgh is about as podunk as it gets in their approach. Errey occasionally redeems himself with some off the wall comment or good insight but Steigy, Potash & Co are just sad.
On the Letang hit, it definitely wasn't to the head but it definitely WAS charging. That part wasn't even close IMO. Hopefully Letang is OK. He looked pretty woozy afterward. This team has had enough of that **** this year.
+ Fleury - He didn't get a shut-out but he played great again and it's evident when he plays that he is in game mode. Without Sid and Geno, he is the number one player on our team and he's won points on his own this season. He deserved a shut-out today but I guess that's being picky.
+ Kunitz - I badly wanted to see him get a hat-trick today as it would've been the icing on the cake, he played brilliantly and his points and play today reflected that. A key player today and he created some great plays
+ Kennedy - He was on fire today with his team play, 3 assists I believe. He's been doing really well in his recent stint and has stepped up since Sid and Geno were out.
+ TK our best offensive player of late
+ MAF, solid yet again
+ Kunitz, nice to see him hit 20
+ Neal, nice pass for the final goal and he's been very visible in nearly ever game since the trade.
- Boring first period.
- the PK still looks out of sync.
Agree with everything, and glad you mentioned Steigy and Errey. Steigy especially today was completely idiotic. There is no defending this incompetent doofus. He's an embarrassment. Anyone who suggests otherwise has never heard a good PBP announcer before.
On the Letang hit, it definitely wasn't to the head but it definitely WAS charging. That part wasn't even close IMO. Hopefully Letang is OK. He looked pretty woozy afterward. This team has had enough of that **** this year.
I'm just going to copy and paste what I wrote on the other thread. The refs have completely forgotten how and when to even make that call.
It used to be two or three strides max, and that was it. It was easy to identify because the skating hadn't evolved to the ridiculous level it is now.
Skaters are so good today they can actually pick up speed while coasting, and they've completely forgotten that distance traveled is as much a part of the call as how many strides you've taken.
Traveling 30 feet to hit someone isn't "clean" by any stretch of any imagination.
Agree with everything, and glad you mentioned Steigy and Errey. Steigy especially today was completely idiotic. There is no defending this incompetent doofus. He's an embarrassment. Anyone who suggests otherwise has never heard a good PBP announcer before.
On the Letang hit, it definitely wasn't to the head but it definitely WAS charging. That part wasn't even close IMO. Hopefully Letang is OK. He looked pretty woozy afterward. This team has had enough of that **** this year.
By the way - suck it! Talbot on my fantasy team (for today only) FTW!
As for talking hits in the NHL. I'm so pissed that the NHL didn't do what they had to against real potentially dangerous hits, so now when a clean one happens we all have to question it. I love huge hits in the NHL. I love when they walk the line, too. The NHL should just focus on cleaning out the crap and leaving in the fun stuff like watching Brule absolutely truck Letang.
+Paul Martin. He was the best defenceman out there tonight.
+Neal. 'Nuff said.
+TK. The man will be getting paid.
+Staal. That was the best we can hope for from Staal without a full off season to tweak his game. Good on the fore-check, crashing the net, and solid 2 way hockey.
+Kovy. I think he's been great. He's not a liability out there and he makes 2 or 3 plays a game that no one else on the roster could dream of making.
This might sound weird and who knows if it has anything to do with anything. But at the All Star Game, I think it was the relay event thing, when Letang had to shoot at the net and there was a bar covering the lower portion. His first, like, 8 shots hit that bar at the bottom and he was having trouble lifting the puck. I wonder if that got in his head a little bit since he is constantly missing the net high. Just a weird idea I had.
I've not been a big fan of Kovalev's game at all for the last few games. Sure he makes a few brilliant plays a game but he also kills possession a lot and he hasn't been winning any battles.
As for talking hits in the NHL. I'm so pissed that the NHL didn't do what they had to against real potentially dangerous hits, so now when a clean one happens we all have to question it. I love huge hits in the NHL. I love when they walk the line, too. The NHL should just focus on cleaning out the crap and leaving in the fun stuff like watching Brule absolutely truck Letang.
Agree.
The problem with the NHL is their BS "intent" theory of officiating. The word "intent" shouldn't even be in the book; it should be as simple as high-sticking. You hit someone in the face with your stick it doesn't *matter* whether you mean to or not, you lost control of yourself and put another player in a position to be injured. Penalty.
With hits to the neck / head, and in egregious cases of charging or boarding where the player either can't defend themselves or the offending player has a reckless disregard for the other guy's safety (again intent is useless an impossible to determine except in cases like Trevor-trash Gillies), it should work the same way: penalty - every time. This stuff is not complicated, they just need to use some common sense. Don't ask the ref to determine the impossible, and don't deny them the ability to check the replay after play has already been stopped, in the case of serious hits, to determine if the penalty should be major or minor, and if major the league will also review after. Simple.
Today would have been a major penalty in the above scenario only if Letang had not been turned towards Brule, although you can argue Brule would've hit him the same way, either way.
Last edited by Chancellor Vitale: 03-13-2011 at 05:02 PM.
I've not been a big fan of Kovalev's game at all for the last few games. Sure he makes a few brilliant plays a game but he also kills possession a lot and he hasn't been winning any battles.
Yah I would add a minus for Kovy. We have seen this weekend what his major flaw is, in this system. He obviously has better puck skills than any two players on the team put together, but he's so confident that he actually lacks a certain urgency on the PP and in general. He's so sure he's going to thread the needle with every pass that he just hangs on to the puck way too long sometimes without creating movement. All this does is give the D extra seconds to adjust.
Good one. Yah, we'll see you and Team Smashmouth in the playoffs. ]
Just a weird idea I had.
