Observations

[triggrman]

Awesome post.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

......Our strengths overcome our weaknesses on most nights, and we win.....

Yep, great post. This, to me, is us (at this point) in a nutshell.

 

[FossilFndr]

Short thread hijack ***

RIP Pat Quinn.

My intro to in person NHL was in 1972 Atlanta, Pat Quinn & Randy Manery were a defense pair for 5 years. I think Quinn played his last game there.

Now back to wondering if Preds should take minor penalty as soon as they get PP.

Might be more productive 4 on 4 than 5 on 4 right now.

 

[jstreet]

Short thread hijack ***

Now back to wondering if Preds should take minor penalty as soon as they get PP.

Might be more productive 4 on 4 than 5 on 4 right now.

That is either crazy or genius.

 

[Pred303]

that was another insirational post ilikeit, like i find most of yours are.

we must have an environment on here though where we can talk what's going well and what's not going well in a fair and balanced mix for a board like this to be worthwhile. the things that aren't going well, like the pp and the pk deserved to be talked thru, especially when we're winning in spite of them. i, and many others try to be middle of the road type guys, guys who recognize and want to discuss both the good and the bad. that's what makes more educated, intelligent hockey fans.

generally speaking, when things are going well we need to talk about the weaknesses, because you're never as good as you look when you're winning and some people require that dose of reality to prevent expectations from jumping totally out of control. conversely, we will have losing streaks. they are going to come. when they do, we need to hand hold those wanting to blow up the team, because that too will happen. this is a good team, but a team with flaws. both need to be pointed out.

i admit, i'm enjoying our style of hockey and the game the most since 06-07. i'm very optomistic about the possibilites of this team. i want to be analytical and realistic, all the while maintaining a real sense of hope and optomisim about our chances.

 

[I Will Son]

That is either crazy or genius.

No need to take the penalty lol. Just send 4 skaters out

 

[Pred303]

tough game tonight, but aren't they all?

 

[sighthndlady]

TSN power rankings for this week have the Blues #1, Preds #3, Blackhawks #4. The Central is insane.

 

[Pred303]

TSN power rankings for this week have the Blues #1, Preds #3, Blackhawks #4. The Central is insane.

lol it is that.

 

[ILikeItILoveIt]

that was another insirational post ilikeit, like i find most of yours are.

we must have an environment on here though where we can talk what's going well and what's not going well in a fair and balanced mix for a board like this to be worthwhile. the things that aren't going well, like the pp and the pk deserved to be talked thru, especially when we're winning in spite of them. i, and many others try to be middle of the road type guys, guys who recognize and want to discuss both the good and the bad. that's what makes more educated, intelligent hockey fans.

generally speaking, when things are going well we need to talk about the weaknesses, because you're never as good as you look when you're winning and some people require that dose of reality to prevent expectations from jumping totally out of control. conversely, we will have losing streaks. they are going to come. when they do, we need to hand hold those wanting to blow up the team, because that too will happen. this is a good team, but a team with flaws. both need to be pointed out.

i admit, i'm enjoying our style of hockey and the game the most since 06-07. i'm very optomistic about the possibilites of this team. i want to be analytical and realistic, all the while maintaining a real sense of hope and optomisim about our chances.

You had me at "Hello", 303. Totally agree that debating our flaws along with our accomplishments, makes for a healthy thread. You are the master of insightful analysis. I'm old enough to remember how great it was to read good sportswriters in the paper everyday about your fav team. We don't have that anymore (never really had it in TN) but we have something better: YOU.

I'm sure I'm not alone in my zeal to hit this thread the day after a game, win or lose. Your bulletized list of observations always have me nodding my head in approval. Your breakdown of the x's and o's is also refreshing and informative. But most of all, it promotes the rest of us to "shoot-the-*****" about a team we love and the daily passion that adds joy to our lives.

Non-sports fans sometimes attend games, like people attend a meeting or a show. Sports fans "follow" sports like a reality show or a binge-watching marathon. We love the game, but the banter is what we live for. Sometimes it feels like it fulfills the "budsmenship" we all had when we played sports and bonded. It's a feeling of community that is fleeting in our world of techno isolationism. We no longer watch the same shows and talk about them the next day. We all do what we like best because technology has allowed that freedom. Why watch TV together if each person can watch what they really want alone, or hit the Net, or do Twitter or Facebook. Threads like this, with the backdrop of a cliquish sport like hockey, and the uniqueness of participating in the childhood-to-adulthood of a new pro team in our own city, are infectious.

So, 303, thanks for "Observations". Pred Fandom is better because the peeps in this thread passionately share. Yeah, sometimes 101st ticks me off with the half-empty approach to our recent success, but ya know, that's part of the ying-and-yang of it all. Lets hope we're pissin' on the PK all the way to the Cup Finals!!!!

 

[Based Anime Fan]

Hey guys

How is Volch looking on the PK, cuase we're really missing him up in Jersey.

 

[tampa pred]

Hey guys

How is Volch looking on the PK, cuase we're really missing him up in Jersey.

Well our PK has been garbage this year, but I love his overall play. Volchenkov brings much needed toughness to our d-corp. Weber was the only "tough" defensman that we had.

 

[preds1]

Hey guys

How is Volch looking on the PK, cuase we're really missing him up in Jersey.

Agree with what Tampa Pred said above.
Our PK isn't great, but overall love the signing.
Hope we can keep Volch around next year too.

 

[Preds101]

Agree with what Tampa Pred said above.
Our PK isn't great, but overall love the signing.
Hope we can keep Volch around next year too.

If he plays as well as he has been I would be willing to sign him to a 2 year deal if it is right around the money he is making now. NJ is still paying his BO money for another couple years so maybe he'll sign cheap to play here. He is only 32 and is a nice complement to the other players that we have. We don't have really have any NHL ready D in Milwaukee for a couple years so him playing a sheltered role as a physical Dman would be nice.

 

[CMDEADLY]

Well we got secondary scoring and PK down now let's work on PP.

 

[drwpreds]

Well we got secondary scoring and PK down now let's work on PP.

Yep- and although its not yet producing results, the PP is looking a whole lot better lately- its just a matter of time.......

 

[CMDEADLY]

Yep- and although its not yet producing results, the PP is looking a whole lot better lately- its just a matter of time.......

I agree man.

 

[predfan24]

Iron Hook's play since being moved to the kid line solidifies his spot with Fisher's return. It's going to be a tough decision on who sits. As crazy as it sounds I'm thinking possibly Cullen? My initial thought was one of OJ,Roy,Cullen. OJ and Roy play special teams. Cullen isn't playing PK or PP. Considering Cullen's ice time and lack of PP time he has provided quality depth production to this point. I just can't see who else could come out of the lineup?

 

[drwpreds]

Iron Hook's play since being moved to the kid line solidifies his spot with Fisher's return. It's going to be a tough decision on who sits. As crazy as it sounds I'm thinking possibly Cullen? My initial thought was one of OJ,Roy,Cullen. OJ and Roy play special teams. Cullen isn't playing PK or PP. Considering Cullen's ice time and lack of PP time he has provided quality depth production to this point. I just can't see who else could come out of the lineup?

Yep- its going to be a very tough call- I too once thought that Jarnkrok would be the odd man out but I totally agree that he has to stay in- is playing great....

Don't know who it will be, but its a great problem to have.......

 

[CMDEADLY]

Iron Hook's play since being moved to the kid line solidifies his spot with Fisher's return. It's going to be a tough decision on who sits. As crazy as it sounds I'm thinking possibly Cullen? My initial thought was one of OJ,Roy,Cullen. OJ and Roy play special teams. Cullen isn't playing PK or PP. Considering Cullen's ice time and lack of PP time he has provided quality depth production to this point. I just can't see who else could come out of the lineup?

You gotta sit Jokinen over Cullen.

 

[triggrman]

Jarnkrok, Fisher, Gaustad would be our top 3 penalty killers when Fisher returns, then you have Nystrom/OJ/Roy to pick from, which ever one is not sitting. I actually think Beck does a decent job on the pk too so there's that as well.

 

[Pred303]

and that, my friends, is why I love this game. a game of give and take, swiftly changing emotions and momentum, the unpredictability of unexpectedly taking a lead and just as unexpectedly giving them right back up. it's a game that plays with your emotions, swiftly changing from joy to anger and back again. a few thoughts;

...I always feel sort of dirty after a shootout win. and cheated after a shootout loss. the novelty of the shootout has worn off. I think we should have 5 minutes of 4 on 4, followed by 5 minutes of 3 on 3 and if no one wins, let it end in a tie. i'm a big boy, I can live with hard fought ties.
...Wilson was a man on fire. as was smith.
...thought the size and strength of LA really is what shut down Forsberg-neal.
...two pk's in the last 5 minutes of a tie hockey game is not good for my heart.
...as we have in every game this year, we gave a great effort.
...rinne sort of fought the puck all night. when rinne gets beat glove side even once and doesn't make clean catches glove side hardly all game, well you know he's not as sharp as usual. but he's a warrior, and he fought thru it to stand tall.
...if I were beck, i'd still be sorta pissed down deep about Nystrom stealing my goal, lol. that puck was going in cleanly. Nystrom simply grazed it and almost slowed it down enough where it could be stopped
...but what huge goals those two were.
...what a buzz kill the two early period goals from the kings were.
...you still can't get in a race with gaborik and win. what a play and shot that was.
...it appears our pp has become more of a momentum builder than a scorer. shame last night, thought we did all the right things.
...the pp looked so much stronger because we could keep the puck in the zone from the opening faceoff. was really strange, Ribeiro lost every frigging pp faceoff, but every time we still managed to hold the puck in our zone. I counted that happening at least 5 times.
...Forsberg, weber, neal all with unbelievably close chances of winning this game outright. normally you don't win after that many just miss chances.
...hand it to the PK. they played like men last night in crucial kills.

...now if we could just get scoring from the top line....

 

[bdub24]

and that, my friends, is why I love this game. a game of give and take, swiftly changing emotions and momentum, the unpredictability of unexpectedly taking a lead and just as unexpectedly giving them right back up. it's a game that plays with your emotions, swiftly changing from joy to anger and back again. a few thoughts;

...I always feel sort of dirty after a shootout win. and cheated after a shootout loss. the novelty of the shootout has worn off. I think we should have 5 minutes of 4 on 4, followed by 5 minutes of 3 on 3 and if no one wins, let it end in a tie. i'm a big boy, I can live with hard fought ties.
...Wilson was a man on fire. as was smith.
...thought the size and strength of LA really is what shut down Forsberg-neal.
...two pk's in the last 5 minutes of a tie hockey game is not good for my heart.
...as we have in every game this year, we gave a great effort.
...rinne sort of fought the puck all night. when rinne gets beat glove side even once and doesn't make clean catches glove side hardly all game, well you know he's not as sharp as usual. but he's a warrior, and he fought thru it to stand tall.
...if I were beck, i'd still be sorta pissed down deep about Nystrom stealing my goal, lol. that puck was going in cleanly. Nystrom simply grazed it and almost slowed it down enough where it could be stopped
...but what huge goals those two were.
...what a buzz kill the two early period goals from the kings were.
...you still can't get in a race with gaborik and win. what a play and shot that was.
...it appears our pp has become more of a momentum builder than a scorer. shame last night, thought we did all the right things.
...the pp looked so much stronger because we could keep the puck in the zone from the opening faceoff. was really strange, Ribeiro lost every frigging pp faceoff, but every time we still managed to hold the puck in our zone. I counted that happening at least 5 times.
...Forsberg, weber, neal all with unbelievably close chances of winning this game outright. normally you don't win after that many just miss chances.
...hand it to the PK. they played like men last night in crucial kills.

...now if we could just get scoring from the top line....

Spot freakin on, as per usual. The PP being the momentum builder...had never thought of it like that, but 100% right!

And I think it's either Jokinen or Roy who sits when Fish is ready to go. But I won't be surprised if we slow roll his return because of how this team is gelling at the moment.

 

[tampa pred]

Another great game last night. This team is fun to watch.

Wilson has really ramped his game up since the kids line has been put together. He was a man possessed last night.

Both the last ST. Lois game and last nights LA game felt like playoff games. Both teams left it all on the ice. Tells me that this team is for real when we can go toe-to-toe with the best teams in the West and come out on top. Sure this team has some weaknesses (special teams), but we aren't winning with smoke and mirrors either. Even when we lose, it usually feels like we outplayed our opponent.

 

[drwpreds]

A few notes on shots on goal:

In the last 3 games, we have a +50 shot differential (118 SF/ 68 SA)

Preds have outshot the opposition in 5 straight games and 7 of the last 8.

Last 13 games, we are averaging 33.5 shots per game

We are now #8 in the league in shots per game (31.0) and #5 in shots allowed (27.4)

Good stuff............