Observations, Part VI

[Viqsi]

Well, I'm happy, at least.

Would have preferred a result in which both teams looked good, but...

 

[Pred303]

i hate Columbus more than any team in the league. Wish them nothing but failure.

 

[Viqsi]

i hate Columbus more than any team in the league. Wish them nothing but failure.

Hopefully Lavi uses this as a teaching moment for the squad. Didn't get to see the game, but based on commentary and statwatching it sounded like folks were just kind of discombobulated. Then again, I start to presume that any time I see multiple Too Many Men penalties.

Well, okay, that and I'm also hoping that having Josi out doesn't make that much of a difference. I mean, yeah, he's a badass and wonderful and all that, but that's kind of extreme.

 

[Roman Yoshi]

There were only two highlights from that game

1. Watching my fiancee get drunk on one beer from not eating enough food throughout the day and her freaking out when Bass fought. Worth the $15 beer.

2. The bizarre dance competition on the jumbo that had everyone laughing and forgetting about how pathetic the team looked.

Everything else sucked.

1. Seth Jones was garbage. On fire.

2. Ryan Ellis not shooting the puck from the face-off circle and throwing a stupid pass to Wilson which lead to zero shots on goal.

3. Forsberg getting unnecessarily physical with everyone. Literally everyone. I get the kid is a fierce competitor, but holy hell kid learn where to pick your battles. It's the preseason, no reason to push things and potentially hurt yourself.

4. Saad makes me Saad. Starting to wish I'd drafted him on my fantasy team.

5. The flower play. I don't know what else to say about this. It's something I've constantly had complaints about since the team came here. So many perimeter passes so little scoring opportunities.

6. Out muscled, out hustled. My biggest concern with our forwards isn't necessarily the talent, but our size. Columbus beat the crap out of our guys all night (unless your name is Forsberg) and won a lot of 1v1 battles. Why? Because we don't just play small, we are small in comparison. Besides an Ekholm tackle and FF9 throwing his weight around, we looked really weak. That's what happens when you add Hodgson, Moses and Arvidsson into the line up. They are talented, but soft. They were also slow last night. Unless they had cement in their skates, there is no reason we shouldn't be out skated by Columbus.

7. The wooping. I hope this stops soon. It's annoying. My fiancee isn't going to be allowed to drink if it continues for fear of her going outright ham on the closest perp (all 120 pounds of her).

8. Center envy. Rojo proved why he is a star. He was a beast last night. Paging Dr. Staal, Dr. Staal.

Just eight things that really bothered me.

EDIT: I thought of another

9. Pregame. All of it. I don't like this introducing the singing of the anthem thing. Feels forced and dumb. Just have Paul say 'please rise and join us in the singing of the national anthem.' Brevity is the soul of Witt... I mean Wit. Same thing with the pump up video. Needs to be more upbeat and shorter. Current one puts me to sleep.

 

[jwhouk]

Maybe if we have them do nothing but practice the power play until we actually, y'know, like, score?

 

[66Falconboy]

Sure wish Hartnell was still with us.

 

[NSH615]

7. The wooping. I hope this stops soon. It's annoying. My fiancee isn't going to be allowed to drink if it continues for fear of her going outright ham on the closest perp (all 120 pounds of her).

This!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is the stupidest thing ever.

 

[triggrman]

Looks like Hodgson was really good on the dots, that's a plus.

I won't read too much in to the preseason. Coaches put players in bad spots intentionally to see what they can do and can't do. It's not always just about the talent.

 

[Adz]

This!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is the stupidest thing ever.

It is. I missed last Wednesday's game but read about it here. When it started up last night I was dismayed. Hoped it was just a one time goober thing someone did. It's worse than the wave, worse than YMCA...and I think you all know how I feel about both of those.

 

[NSH615]

It is. I missed last Wednesday's game but read about it here. When it started up last night I was dismayed. Hoped it was just a one time goober thing someone did. It's worse than the wave, worse than YMCA...and I think you all know how I feel about both of those.

Last night was more disorganized than last week's. Last week's was an entire section or two going at it for about 10 minutes. Last night it was just random.

 

[Drake744]

Looks like Hodgson was really good on the dots, that's a plus.

I won't read too much in to the preseason. Coaches put players in bad spots intentionally to see what they can do and can't do. It's not always just about the talent.

 

[handtrick]

Tried to listen on the radio, but Peterson, as much as I love the guy is getting very hard to listen to.
I hope Chris Mason does as good a job on radio color as I think he will do.

 

[NSH615]

Today we are down to 25. Moses, Sissons, and Saros cut.

This settles it. Bass and Bittetto will be next and we have our 23.

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

Moses sent to Milwaukee along with Sissons and Saros.

 

[NSH615]

Is there a reason that Moses doesn't have to be waived? I know it is his first contract, but I thought alot of that was based on age as well. At 26 years old does that rule not apply? What is the cut off?

 

[Jonesey]

Tried to listen on the radio, but Peterson, as much as I love the guy is getting very hard to listen to.
I hope Chris Mason does as good a job on radio color as I think he will do.

I love Brent, but I agree. He tries to rush through everything and it seems like a few times his words do not match his brain.

I understand his illness did him no favors but there's gotta be something else the organization can have him do.

On another note, I am dreading Willy on PbP for all 82 games this year. I may just have to watch all the games on mute. He may be the worst PbP guy in hockey, at any level.

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

Is there a reason that Moses doesn't have to be waived? I know it is his first contract, but I thought alot of that was based on age as well. At 26 years old does that rule not apply? What is the cut off?

Adam Vingan ‏@AdamVingan

Re: Moses, a one-way contract doesn't necessarily require waivers. He just has to be paid as much in AHL as NHL.

 

[NSH615]

Adam Vingan ‏@AdamVingan

Re: Moses, a one-way contract doesn't necessarily require waivers. He just has to be paid as much in AHL as NHL.

I knew the one way deal had nothing to do with it, but I thought waivers had to do with 2 things. 1) age of player when contract was signed, and 2) games played. My thought was that at age 25/26 he had surpassed the age requirement. I guess I was wrong on that.

 

[Paranoid Android]

Is there a reason that Moses doesn't have to be waived? I know it is his first contract, but I thought alot of that was based on age as well. At 26 years old does that rule not apply? What is the cut off?

For players 25 and up, they are waiver exempt until 1 game played or 1 year after signing their first contract, whichever comes first.

Kind of makes sense they would send him down now, because he'll have to pass through waivers once he plays an NHL game

 

[NSH615]

For players 25 and up, they are waiver exempt until 1 game played or 1 year after signing their first contract, whichever comes first.

That sucks for Moses. Misses it by 1 game.

 

[Pred303]

well, the two new guys that most counted on to make a difference this year, fiala and moses, both start in MIL. disappointed. not with the decision, but that they didn't make it impossible to send either down. was really counting on at least one of them making our 3rd line better. now it's arvidsson's job.

so it's final;
arvidsson-hodgson-jarnkrok. we now really need hodgson to produce.

 

[Pred303]

my bet now on opening night lineup;

forsberg-ribs-neal
wilson-fish-jarnkrok
arvidsson-hodgson-smith
bourque-gaustad-nystrom
watson

 

[Soundgarden]

well, the two new guys that most counted on to make a difference this year, fiala and moses, both start in MIL. disappointed. not with the decision, but that they didn't make it impossible to send either down. was really counting on at least one of them making our 3rd line better. now it's arvidsson's job.

so it's final;
arvidsson-hodgson-jarnkrok. we now really need hodgson to produce.

The good new is that we finally seem to have options this year. I certainly wish Fiala would have proven himself after hearing him talk about training hard in Nashville, but atleast we have other young guys to try out while he and Moses get more playing time in Milwaukee. I couldn't say that in years past.

 

[mikemcburn]

Looks like Hodgson was really good on the dots, that's a plus.

I won't read too much in to the preseason. Coaches put players in bad spots intentionally to see what they can do and can't do. It's not always just about the talent.

As a Hodgson follower, I feel somewhat competent to comment on his dot performance...

I thought last night was interesting insofar as he took a team leading 20 faceoffs, but only interesting if it was by design rather than happenstance?

Anyway, his 60% last night was cool, and I think notable for any center who played in his first rust shake-off preseason game. In Hodgson's case, it's possibly even more cool - seeing how his coach last year tried to take the kid out of his natural center spot in an offensive role and turn him into a grinder 4th/5th winger. Meaning, the kid didn't exactly get a lot of dot time last year either.

Still, his dot career is not so cool. As a rookie and sophomore he wasn't he the best, more like in the mid 40s (51.3% rookie, 46.8% shortened season, 46.7% full sophomore). That's perhaps average or at least respectable for a rookie/sophomore?

Last year, his first non sophomore year, he was the only Sabre above 50% in the dot before the coach tried turning him into a winger so that by the end of the season he'd had enough sporadic face-offs over the totality of the season to again finish the year in that 40% range (45.9% precisely). But what to expect of a guy who is only taking sporadic faceoffs?

All in, I don't think anyone should look for Hodgson to be a dot master, but if he's below 50% this season I'd be surprised. He's no longer a rookie/sophomore and he's back to his natural center spot so should get into a young vet groove.

That 2nd goal last night sucked though - if Hodgson had won a timely face-off, it doesn't happen, and it's a totally different game...

 

[Drake744]

The good new is that we finally seem to have options this year. I certainly wish Fiala would have proven himself after hearing him talk about training hard in Nashville, but atleast we have other young guys to try out while he and Moses get more playing time in Milwaukee. I couldn't say that in years past.

Fiala needs to just trust the system and try not to do everything himself. I'm sure there's quite a bit of that going on with him. He's our team's top prospect so if he goes out and plays his game to the best of his abilities, he'll get the attention of the team and coaches. He doesn't need to be a superstar in every game to get to the NHL.