g00n
Retired Global Mod
- Nov 22, 2007
- 30,726
- 14,962
Alzner-Carlson isnt an idea so far. OK.
Interesting Beagle line. Like solid 4th line prototype. Could be a nice line maybe.
Still doubt Sanford is here for any games in RS.
Surprised they are trying Orlov-Carlson instead of Orlov-Niskanen. Guess it's worth trying everything but I want to see Alzner-Carlson and Orlov-Niskanen at some point during the preseason.
Depends - if they're not confident Orlov is strong enough yet to handle the harder D assignments, you're effectively left with:
* Proven shut down pair - Alzner-Niskanen
* Best offensive pair - Orlov-Carlson
* Defensive third pair - Orpik-Schmidt
Orpik has the hitting and net-front-clearing strengths Schmidt is weak on, while Schmidt has the speed and stronger breakout pass that Orpik doesn't excel at - in a sense this pairing might actually work well, because if Orpik is going to step up to make a hit and cause a 2-on-1 (as has often happened), you don't necessarily want one of your most offensively-minded D-men (more likely to be out of position) partnered with him. With focus and work, Orpik-Schmidt could actually make a good secondary shutdown pair to free up Orlov-Carlson for more offensive-zone starts.
That said, Orlov-Carlson makes me nervous. I don't want Carlson to be on a leash because his D partner can't be trusted to cover for him when he pinches, and there's not been much evidence yet that Orlov is a smart hockey D-man. But we'll see.
Alzner-Niskanen was so strong last season, it's not surprising they're reluctant to split them up.
Depends - if they're not confident Orlov is strong enough yet to handle the harder D assignments, you're effectively left with:
* Proven shut down pair - Alzner-Niskanen
* Best offensive pair - Orlov-Carlson
* Defensive third pair - Orpik-Schmidt
Orpik has the hitting and net-front-clearing strengths Schmidt is weak on, while Schmidt has the speed and stronger breakout pass that Orpik doesn't excel at - in a sense this pairing might actually work well, because if Orpik is going to step up to make a hit and cause a 2-on-1 (as has often happened), you don't necessarily want one of your most offensively-minded D-men (more likely to be out of position) partnered with him. With focus and work, Orpik-Schmidt could actually make a good secondary shutdown pair to free up Orlov-Carlson for more offensive-zone starts.
That said, Orlov-Carlson makes me nervous. I don't want Carlson to be on a leash because his D partner can't be trusted to cover for him when he pinches, and there's not been much evidence yet that Orlov is a smart hockey D-man. But we'll see.
Alzner-Niskanen was so strong last season, it's not surprising they're reluctant to split them up.
It's pretty surprising to me.
Alzner-Niskanen is a known quantity by now. If the team is floundering and it must be done, there's no reason they can't reunite in the second half of the season, but for now I see no reason why they wouldn't be expanding the players' comfort zones.
Surprised they are trying Orlov-Carlson instead of Orlov-Niskanen. Guess it's worth trying everything but I want to see Alzner-Carlson and Orlov-Niskanen at some point during the preseason.
At game. They took all the regular season banners down time to make a statement that only playoffs matter
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At game. They took all the regular season banners down time to make a statement that only playoffs matter
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Where was Schmidt?