Observations, Part IX

[triggrman]

I think you can motivate players in the beginning to play above their mean but eventually like water, it will return to it's natural level.

Is this the difference between this year and last? I have no idea.

I also think Lavy's teams have always been more streaky but with a more aggressive system, it's going to happen more as you're depending on forcing mistakes and capitalizing, sometimes everything goes your way and sometimes nothing does.

Trotz teams waited for the other team to make a mistake, and then pounced on that mistake. This way is far more consistent but not nearly as high paced or entertaining.

 

[Armourboy]

The "he is the only one left to blame" line of logic fails to explain why these same players in the top 6 performed well for the first half to 2/3rds of last season under Lavi but then saw a drop in performance.

In the Trotz era, the coach got blamed for "sucking the offense" out of players. This season we are watching almost the entire forward corps underperform compared to last season and historical norms for them. Is it Poile's fault that the team didn't practice 3on3 after the regular season began? Is it Poile making in game decisions concerning ice time? Is it Poile failing to keep the team accountable and playing a team game rather than going out as a series of individuals trying to do it all themselves? Is it Poile selecting the players and style of our second PP unit?

**** only rolls downhill for so long. Poile hired/drafted the players, he also hired the coach. You can only blame the coaches and players so much before you have to take a look at the man that hired them all.

Sure I put some of it on the coaching staff, I have questioned some of his personnel moves all season long. His decision making hasn't been the best and I've yet to understand things like the 4th line getting ice time when you are down by a goal.

I don't understand the thought that Poile should have this super slick armour where all the **** never sticks.

 

[101st_fan]

**** only rolls downhill for so long. Poile hired/drafted the players, he also hired the coach. You can only blame the coaches and players so much before you have to take a look at the man that hired them all.

Sure I put some of it on the coaching staff, I have questioned some of his personnel moves all season long. His decision making hasn't been the best and I've yet to understand things like the 4th line getting ice time when you are down by a goal.

I don't understand the thought that Poile should have this super slick armour where all the **** never sticks.

Nobody is saying Poile is faultless ... no matter what this latest hyperbole filled post of yours infers. Nor is he the only one to blame as you claimed earlier. All or nothing positions, especially when vacillating between the extremes, makes rational discourse an impossibility.

 

[Pred303]

I know this, if poile doesn't pull off some type of centerman deal sometime during this year, when it has now become so obviously desperately needed with fisher and ribs age and struggles, i'll be on the it's time for a GM change wagon

 

[NSH615]

I know this, if poile doesn't pull off some type of centerman deal sometime during this year, when it has now become so obviously desperately needed with fisher and ribs age and struggles, i'll be on the it's time for a GM change wagon

IMO if nothing is done prior to the All-Star break, it has hit that point. We are almost there now, I'm just giving him a little slack given the few hockey trades to date this year. I know he doesn't want to make a reactionary trade, but we are way past that.

 

[Pred303]

Fisher activated, Sissons sent down. will get interesting when Bourque is activated to see who is sent down.

 

[NSH615]

Fisher activated, Sissons sent down. will get interesting when Bourque is activated to see who is sent down.

Salomaki. I wish not though. Salomaki on that third line with Jarnkrok was a good combination. Created space.

 

[101st_fan]

I know this, if poile doesn't pull off some type of centerman deal sometime during this year, when it has now become so obviously desperately needed with fisher and ribs age and struggles, i'll be on the it's time for a GM change wagon

It takes two to tango and if I have one of those rare "#1" centers that is for some reason expendable, I'm asking for a ton in return ... Ellis + won't do it, Jones would be a fall back position, I'd be after Josi ... especially if I were running a defensively challenged organization such as Edmonton. Make Poile counter with Jones as part of a package for RNH, or RyJo, or (insert center d'jour here).

 

[Top 6 Spaling]

I am really curious to see who our four opening nights centers are in three or four years. Gaustad, Ribiero, and Fisher will probably all be retired by then (or close to it). That leaves only Jarnkrok from our current top four, and I don't see him being any more than a 3C long term.

Prospect-wise, Kamenev looks promising. Sissons is probably a good bet for an NHLer, though it might be as a 4th liner. Trenin, Reinhart, Novak, Richard, Girard, etc... how knows if any of them will pan out at all.

Forsberg, Wilson, and Smith have all played center before. Do you see Lavi moving any of them back?

Obviously we may need to acquire one or two guys from the outside, but it's safe to say we will have at least three new centers in 3-4 years. Exciting to think about. Lots of options.

 

[101st_fan]

I am really curious to see who our four opening nights centers are in three or four years. Gaustad, Ribiero, and Fisher will probably all be retired by then (or close to it). That leaves only Jarnkrok from our current top four, and I don't see him being any more than a 3C long term.

Prospect-wise, Kamenev looks promising. Sissons is probably a good bet for an NHLer, though it might be as a 4th liner. Trenin, Reinhart, Novak, Richard, Girard, etc... how knows if any of them will pan out at all.

Forsberg, Wilson, and Smith have all played center before. Do you see Lavi moving any of them back?

Obviously we may need to acquire one or two guys from the outside, but it's safe to say we will have at least three new centers in 3-4 years. Exciting to think about. Lots of options.

If you go back four years, Fisher was in his first full season as a Pred ... Gaustad was a deadline pickup ... Ribs was still in Dallas ... Jarnkrok wasn't a thought at the pro level. Four years before that and our centers included Nichol, Smithson, Arnott ... seeing new centers in 3-4 years isn't uncommon with the Preds.

 

[Pred303]

well. that was fun again. the way home games are supposed to be. lots of positive things to take from this one. Forsberg getting hot, rinne making tough saves, Wilson skating hard and actually contributing, forwards scoring, Neal with two nice ones, Ribeiro adding points by the handful off some really crisp passing, the second PP unit actually scoring a goal, the first PP unit actually working the puck down low and a forward scoring a PP goal, the mental toughness to fight right thru the goal Forsberg got screwed out of, Jones breaking an 18 game point scoreless streak, the pp going 2 for 2 and us only taking one penalty

Yes, lots of things to like. Always things you would like to do better in any game of course. Always will be. the rinne goal giveaway, our 4th line being an awful -3, the failed empty netter... but for now it's time to just focus on the positives, because there were far more of them.

My favorite thing was knocking Lundqvist out of the game after his crying about the Forsberg goal (which Toronto screwed him out of). Now that was poetic justice.

 

[sparkle twin]

Some people don't believe in superstition in sports, but I do. A guy standing next to me in the first period said to his friends, "man, pekka really needs himself a shutout tonight." I just looked at him.

To be fair to him, it was 0-0 at the time and literally within 5 seconds Forsberg scored. But, I knew it wouldn't last.





Also....heard quite a few people say this was their first hockey game. I'm guessing tickets were Christmas presents, but this was a great game for their first live game!

 

[Pred303]

still feels good this morning. no matter if NY is struggling, that was a good win. might not feel like it, but we are 3-1 these last 4.

 

[MrJoshua]

On the first NYR goal I couldn't help but notice that once again it was Nystrom who let his man walk straight in for a wide-open shot. His defensive awareness has never been great but lately it has been awful. Just awful. He gets caught watching the puck and lets his guy get open for easy shots. To borrow a line from Crispy, "head on a swivel"! Yeah I got tired of hearing him say that too, but Nystrom is a great example of a guy who gets tunnel vision out there and loses track of his defensive responsibility. It's not that he doesn't want to work hard and try. It's that he gets so focused on watching the puck that the player he's supposed to be covering could dance a jig while whistling a jaunty tune as he waltzes right down the slot and Nystrom would never notice. If I was Rinne I'd be having a quiet word with him about it.

 

[glenngineer]

On the first NYR goal I couldn't help but notice that once again it was Nystrom who let his man walk straight in for a wide-open shot. His defensive awareness has never been great but lately it has been awful. Just awful. He gets caught watching the puck and lets his guy get open for easy shots. To borrow a line from Crispy, "head on a swivel"! Yeah I got tired of hearing him say that too, but Nystrom is a great example of a guy who gets tunnel vision out there and loses track of his defensive responsibility. It's not that he doesn't want to work hard and try. It's that he gets so focused on watching the puck that the player he's supposed to be covering could dance a jig while whistling a jaunty tune as he waltzes right down the slot and Nystrom would never notice. If I was Rinne I'd be having a quiet word with him about it.

On top of that he's slower than I ever remember him being as well. Does not bode well for his future.

And here's one thing I don't understand, if that line of grinders is supposed to be tough and has the willingness to go to the net, why do they always end up behind the net fighting for the puck and have no net presence? If you're a grinder, send two guys to the boards, have one planted in front of the net, win a battle now and again and throw the puck at the net for dirty rebounds and goals. Not a hard philosophy to follow.

The other thing that cracks me up about Nystrom is I've never seen a guy throw so many checks and he's the one that ends up falling down after the hit.

 

[Pred303]

I agree about Nystrom chasing the puck, the guy is like a peewee player in that, always gets caught down too low watching and is too slow to get back on his man at the point both even strength and on the pk.

I cringe everytime the 4th line goes over the boards. you know there is virtually no chance they ever score a goal and they're playing 12 plus minutes most nights (when you are all but giving up any chance of scoring for fully 20% of the game, no wonder we have trouble scoring enough). their best offensive strategy should be to get the puck in deep, kick it back out to the points and all crash the net, but instead, it's usually just pining the puck in deep until it's turned over because no one has any offensive awareness of where to be or go.

 

[Scoresberg]

Yep agreed with what everyone has said about the 4th line here. And it's not like we'd have the pieces to put together a decent 4th line. Obviously, Goose would be there 'cause the faceoffs, and right now he's not even winning key faceoffs. We have Sissons and Jarnkrok who are good at faceoffs (Sissons was 60% if my memory serves me correctly?). But no way Lavy scratches both 24 and 28. Lavy's mind should go like this 57-28-51/22. I'd try to go 57-84-51/22 (remember the Ottawa game?).

 

[drwpreds]

still feels good this morning. no matter if NY is struggling, that was a good win. might not feel like it, but we are 3-1 these last 4.

Yep- and looking back, it hurts a little to know that we were THIS close to going 4-0 against Minnesota, Montreal, Detroit, and NYR. But 3-1 not bad at all....

 

[Pred303]

we have the 6th most wins at home in the league with our 12.... unfortunately three of those teams that are better at home than we are, are ahead of us in the Central division. man I hate this division.

 

[Pred303]

you know, we all get tunnel vision over our struggles the past month and only think of our problems. but when you look around the division, CHI, STL, MIN have really failed to gain much over us despite us going only 9-9-3 in our last 21. They all are having goal scoring and defensive problems as well. We're still right there just below the chasing pack, a very encouraging thing.

 

[triggrman]

Let's be honest how many people cringed yesterday when they saw the line listing of Salomki-Jarnkrok-Neal. I know I was like wtf!@#@!$$##@@! But man did they click.

 

[NSH615]

Let's be honest how many people cringed yesterday when they saw the line listing of Salomki-Jarnkrok-Neal. I know I was like wtf!@#@!$$##@@! But man did they click.

I didn't. I was excited. Salomaki and Jarnkrok clicked earlier this year. Salomaki creates space for Jarnkrok. Look back at that last Ducks game. Salomaki was such a pest to Perry that Perry forgot to play hockey and only wanted revenge.

 

[David Singleton]

we have the 6th most wins at home in the league with our 12.... unfortunately three of those teams that are better at home than we are, are ahead of us in the Central division. man I hate this division.

I like the division and the constant pressure it provides. Great games too.

 

[Top 6 Spaling]

If Salomaki goes down when Bourque is back, I'll be very disappointed. He's earned a spot.

 

[glenngineer]

If Salomaki goes down when Bourque is back, I'll be very disappointed. He's earned a spot.

I don't think he's going anywhere. He's solidified himself in the top 9. He's a good PK'er. He fit well on the line with Neal and Jarnkrok last night. With him in the lineup it allows Laviolette the opportunity to have some size on all three of his top lines which he hasn't been able to do with Fisher out. Bourque takes Watson's spot on the fourth line when he returns. I wish he were taking Nystrom's spot instead but he's got the pictures of the goats and the coaches so he stays for now.