News and Notes XXII: Now With More Finnish!

[Boom Boom Apathy]

And while I HOPE they become our two best centers, let's give it a few games before declaring that. Lindy has looked good for the 3 games, but it was against weaker competition, so if he keeps it up, it will be great. Aho is our leading scorer from the wing so hopefully he can keep that up at center.

If it gets Skinner going, that could be a big win.

 

[MinJaBen]

Lindy has looked good for the 3 games, but it was against weaker competition, so if he keeps it up, it will be great.

He can't keep it up if he is pushed back to the wing. Which is what happened at the end of the last game and what will happen against the Kings. Peters specifically mentioned both the Skinner/Aho combination this morning and the line of McGinn/Staal/Lindholm that he had out there in the 3rd last game. And he used the word "grinding" to refer to the latter line.

 

[Unsustainable]

So:

Skinner - Aho - Stempniak
McGinn - Staal - Turbo
Rask - Lindholm - Williams
Nordstrom - Ryan - PDG

Not sure if that was the lines I was seeing at the end or not.

 

[NotOpie]

And while I HOPE they become our two best centers, let's give it a few games before declaring that. Lindy has looked good for the 3 games, but it was against weaker competition, so if he keeps it up, it will be great. Aho is our leading scorer from the wing so hopefully he can keep that up at center.

If it gets Skinner going, that could be a big win.

...unless it is at the expense of Aho's scoring...to clarify, we need both to happen, Aho continuing to score at center as he had at wing and Jeff Skinner to get going. I'd argue we need more scoring from the back end as well.

 

[DaveG]

So:

Skinner - Aho - Stempniak
McGinn - Staal - Turbo
Rask - Lindholm - Williams
Nordstrom - Ryan - PDG

Not sure if that was the lines I was seeing at the end or not.

It was, and Rask on the wing was... interesting.

Now, the weird part to me is that IIRC in the post game Bill made the comment of moving Aho to the middle in order to free up space for him to operate due to the size of Colorado's D (giggity) and that he was likely to move him back. However appears that's not the case anymore, or at least not yet, so that begs the question, did the video coaches simply catch something they really liked and just passed it down the line?

 

[SaskCanesFan]

So Lindholm finally gets 3 games at C, puts up points and looks much better doing it, and now is back at wing anyways? I'm just a guy on a message board so my opinion doesn't mean much, but I disagree with Peters. I've been saying for 3 years that Lindholm's skill set is much more suited to C and that he's the best in house chance of a 1C that we have, but its obvious BP wants to pigeonhole him into a grinding middle 6 wing role. I don't get it, and I'm starting to think if we drafted Monahan that Lindy would be starring in Calgary right now

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Has there been any official mentioning of lines other than Aho-Skinner-Stempniak from Cory? I haven't seen anything saying what the lines would be outside of that and that Peters liked the lines from the end of the last game. He also said in a post game interview he didn't think he'd keep the lines from the end, so there's a bit of conflicting info.

 

[Unsustainable]

It was, and Rask on the wing was... interesting.

Now, the weird part to me is that IIRC in the post game Bill made the comment of moving Aho to the middle in order to free up space for him to operate due to the size of Colorado's D (giggity) and that he was likely to move him back. However appears that's not the case anymore, or at least not yet, so that begs the question, did the video coaches simply catch something they really liked and just passed it down the line?

The lines had got a little wields, and I couldn’t remember if Rask was on Staals or Lindholm wing.

Lindholm deserves the shot at Center, little worried about Aho taking center, but has to be better than Rask.

 

[JCLA]

Yeah not quite sure why move Lindholm back to the W if he is proving he can be a better C than we currently have on the roster, though I've seen nothing to solidify that Peters is planning on doing that.

 

[JCLA]

Has there been any official mentioning of lines other than Aho-Skinner-Stempniak from Cory? I haven't seen anything saying what the lines would be outside of that and that Peters liked the lines from the end of the last game. He also said in a post game interview he didn't think he'd keep the lines from the end, so there's a bit of conflicting info.

nvm, read your post wrong.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Keep hope alive

 

[MinJaBen]

Has there been any official mentioning of lines other than Aho-Skinner-Stempniak from Cory? I haven't seen anything saying what the lines would be outside of that and that Peters liked the lines from the end of the last game. He also said in a post game interview he didn't think he'd keep the lines from the end, so there's a bit of conflicting info.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Thanks @MinJaBen !

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I'm not sure I get it. I didn't see much of the Colorado game as I was sick, but thought that Lindy has looked good at center in the time I saw him. Plus, he's not a speedster to be able to score off the rush on the wing. Maybe they just want to see Aho at center, but seems like we are taking our best winger and putting him at C and taking a guy that looked good at C and moving him to wing.

I think Peters mentioned something about that Staal line being "heavy" so maybe that comes into play for a tough team like LAK. I guess it probably doesn't matter as he'll likely change things up if things don't work.

 

[Joe McGrath]

I’d like to see Lindholm remain at C, but a shutdown line of McGinn-Staal-Lindholm is goin to be hell to play against. In theory.

It also puts Rask and Williams in a position to play against garbage lines with a more talented player in TT.

 

[Ole Gil]

Yeah not quite sure why move Lindholm back to the W if he is proving he can be a better C than we currently have on the roster, though I've seen nothing to solidify that Peters is planning on doing that.

Seems like wing is a better fit for Lindholm. He has a lot of lapses defending in transition. I think focusing on his offensive game in a more 1 dimensional role fits his skill set. And the Lindholm/Staal/McGinn line in particular, seems like it has good synergy with McGinn and Staal going to places for Elias to send those silky smooth centering passes to.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I’d like to see Lindholm remain at C, but a shutdown line of McGinn-Staal-Lindholm is goin to be hell to play against. In theory.

It also puts Rask and Williams in a position to play against garbage lines with a more talented player in TT.

But wouldn't a line of McGinn-Staal-Williams also be hell to play against and still provide offense? For instance:

McGinn-Staal-Williams
Aho-Lindholm-TT
Skinner-Rask-Stempniak

I don't know. Maybe I'm just overthinking this whole thing.

 

[The Faulker 27]

Keep hope alive

I have to say, I am seriously thankful for Ward this season.

 

[Joe McGrath]

But wouldn't a line of McGinn-Staal-Williams also be hell to play against and still provide offense? For instance:

McGinn-Staal-Williams
Aho-Lindholm-TT
Skinner-Rask-Stempniak

I don't know. Maybe I'm just overthinking this whole thing.

Well no because Williams can’t skate and he turns the puck over more than anyone on the team. He also blows at face offs so when Jordan gets kicked out of a defensive zone draw against the opposing teams best line, you’re immediately at a disadvantage.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Well no because Williams can’t skate and he turns the puck over more than anyone on the team. He also blows at face offs so when Jordan gets kicked out of a defensive zone draw against the opposing teams best line, you’re immediately at a disadvantage.

Yeah...fair point. I still think of Williams from years ago.

 

[Svechhammer]

I have to say, I am seriously thankful for Ward this season.

Could you imagine how things would be if 2016 Ward showed up to play with 2017 Darling?

 

[The Stranger]

Could you imagine how things would be if 2016 Ward showed up to play with 2017 Darling?

2016 Ward was fine...pretty much same level as this season. The main issue with his game last season was that they overplayed him.

Edit: Ward had a stretch of starting 39 of 43.

 

[DaveG]

2016 Ward was fine...pretty much same level as this season. The main issue with his game last season was that they overplayed him.

Edit: Ward had a stretch of starting 39 of 43.

Bingo. Ward started last season red hot after a typical slow first few games, but then "Make a f***ing save" gets his first of multiple concussions that year and Ward has to start an ungodly amount of games and he just predictably fell apart as a result of that.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Countdown to TradeCentre: Why is Skinner Trade Bait? - Article - TSN

Well, I don’t know that they’re necessarily selling,” McKenzie told TSN Radio 1050 Toronto. “I think what it is, is Skinner’s name going up there might be a reflection that there are some teams that think they can go in and buy low.

“I’m not as convinced that [general manger] Ronnie Francis is ready to part with Jeff Skinner, although there are some financial implications down the road. I mean, he’s making $5.75 (million) now. If he’s scoring 37 he’s worth it. When he’s not scoring goals, he ain’t worth 5.75. And he’s going to be looking for a long term raise. He’s a year away from a new deal.

“So I think there will be teams that will call Carolina and try to buy low on a guy that isn’t playing as well as he can right now. It’s more from the ‘people wanting to buy’ interest than it is necessarily Carolina saying that they want to sell.”

 

[Svechhammer]

Bingo. Ward started last season red hot after a typical slow first few games, but then "Make a ****ing save" gets his first of multiple concussions that year and Ward has to start an ungodly amount of games and he just predictably fell apart as a result of that.

So Ward fell apart after we had to give him a bulk of the starts because we had absolutely zero confidence in our other goalie?

Countdown to TradeCentre: Why is Skinner Trade Bait? - Article - TSN

I get the feeling they still think we're a budget team despite having ownership who is telling anyone who listens we'll spend whatever it takes to compete.

Now if they want to have a discussion on whether Skinner is worth a big contract anymore, then maybe there is something there, but that article reeks of "budget team needs to make financial decision". If we're trading Skinner, we're not the ones getting the worse end of the deal.