Injury Report: TDA

[bleedgreen]

idk man we had guys like that in Smith, Cole, Edmundson, pretty much all of them to me were ultimately liabilities in the playoffs. I think when it comes to those bottom pair D where they have sizeable weaknesses, it's really on coaching to mitigate the effects of those weaknesses. Whether it's the 3 I mentioned or Coghlan or whoever else. I really wanted McCabe last year but I didn't see any options this year that stood out as being great choices to try to shore up the D. Certainly none better than TDA as the 7 and having 2 D get hurt just was never very likely or something we needed a better contingency plan for than Coghlan/Morrow.

Well fans might feel those guys were liabilities but do you think Rod does? I don’t think he sees them that way. I agree in the surface there werent many good options out there but this is one position where there’s usually people available that we aren’t thinking of. I think our remaining choices will have to be sheltered maybe even more than Tony is which puts more miles on the others, which could lead to them getting hurt. A Smith would hardly go amiss right now.

It’s too late now so no point hand wringing about it. It was just a random thought.

 

[ElmCityGuy]

Just curious.. could you use a forward to play a defenceman spot say 5-8 minutes to give a rest to the remaining 5 or is that silly and better off with Morrow even though he is a rookie.

 

[UNCCHcane]

Just curious.. could you use a forward to play a defenceman spot say 5-8 minutes to give a rest to the remaining 5 or is that silly and better off with Morrow even though he is a rookie.

What's Sami Kapanen doing these days

 

[Unsustainable]

Just curious.. could you use a forward to play a defenceman spot say 5-8 minutes to give a rest to the remaining 5 or is that silly and better off with Morrow even though he is a rookie.

Who you trusting for that, Pepe?

 

[MinJaBen]

What's Sami Kapanen doing these days

And can he play defense?

 

[ElmCityGuy]

Who you trusting for that, Pepe?

Well first thought would be Staal because I think he would be the least likely to make a huge mistake. I realize he is slow but plays smart for the most part. Basically just looking someone to ugly up the game for 5-8 minutes to steal some rest for the others. Of course Aho would be good but need him attacking every shift.

 

[UNCCHcane]

And can he play defense?

Just in case I'm missing the sarcasm:

If Johnsson doesn't play, Hitchcock said he'll move Sami Kapanen
from forward to play defense. Kapanen played defense twice during
the regular season, and welcomes the switch.

"It's a totally different game," Kapanen said. "In order to
play defense in the playoffs, you have to go out and compete and
make those simple plays, stay out of the trouble."

Hitchcock said Kapanen has bugged the coaches about playing
defense since getting a taste of it earlier in the season.

"Sami loves it back there," Hitchcock said. "He feels he
creates more on the rush. He feels he's more of an impact on the
offense from back there."

Flyers' Johnsson (broken hand) hopes to play

Philadelphia defenseman Kim Johnsson has a broken bone in his right hand but plans to play in the Flyers' second-round playoff series.

www.espn.com

 

[Discipline Daddy]

I disagree about 6d across the league being Coglan. You could have slower, less effective offensively guys who play solid defense that are more valuable in this situation. I agree we don’t know that some time off won’t bring back one of the regulars.

Morrow is a worse choice imo, this isn’t where you want the kid to have to learn how to play defense.

Agreed. I was going to bring up Brendan Smith as an example. He's a vanilla #6, not a guy you want to sign in the offseason. Debatably a liability on the ice. But he's also a playoff warrior. He's physical. He doesn't give you any offense, but he's good positionally and can make smart plays in the D zone, especially if paired with a puck mover.

Even Luke Hughes, who was a #4 overall pick and a college phenom, had trouble transitioning. He had 2 games before playoffs where he faced the Canes in the 2nd round. He had some offensive mojo, but was a huge liability. He's part of the reason we torched them defensively and bounced them in 5 games. Morrow, by all likelihood, will be a bigger liability than that.

There's also the factor that Morrow doesn't know our system well, and TDA does. I might dress Coughlan simply for the fact that he knows the system better than Scott Morrow.

 

[Chrispy]

I wouldn't mind giving Morrow a game on home ice where Rod can shelter him and play the other 5 more heavily. But certainly not on the road when the Rangers have last change and can take advantage of putting Morrow out there.

That said, Coghlan has never struck me as the "stable, low event" player either.

 

[AD Skinner]

Boy I loved kapanen

 

[chaz4hockey]

Seeley an option?

 

[DaveG]

Seeley an option?

Anyone is an option as long as they're under contract for this year. Hell, Heimosalmi is an option if they could get him over.

 

[bleedgreen]

Agreed. I was going to bring up Brendan Smith as an example. He's a vanilla #6, not a guy you want to sign in the offseason. Debatably a liability on the ice. But he's also a playoff warrior. He's physical. He doesn't give you any offense, but he's good positionally and can make smart plays in the D zone, especially if paired with a puck mover.

Even Luke Hughes, who was a #4 overall pick and a college phenom, had trouble transitioning. He had 2 games before playoffs where he faced the Canes in the 2nd round. He had some offensive mojo, but was a huge liability. He's part of the reason we torched them defensively and bounced them in 5 games. Morrow, by all likelihood, will be a bigger liability than that.

There's also the factor that Morrow doesn't know our system well, and TDA does. I might dress Coughlan simply for the fact that he knows the system better than Scott Morrow.

It would be a dream come true for Morrow to be where Hughes was at last playoff.

 

[Unsustainable]

 

[ElmCityGuy]

Good to hear.

Sounds like it was just an extra large ouchie.

 

[Stickpucker]

 

[A Star is Burns]

Good stuff. Guess it's worth waiting to see what's actually going on sometimes.

 

[cptjeff]

but if he's even replacement level in the defensive zone,

Oh, don't do worry, he's far, far from replacement level.

 

[Discipline Daddy]

Great news. Again, Scott Morrow is probably a standard deviation worse than Tony at this stage for defensive oopses. Our D is good enough that we miss one top 6 guy and we're still one of the best defensive units in the league. We lose two top 6 guys and we're in trouble.

 

[Brock Anton]

Still manifesting a TDA OT winner in MSG for maximum chaos.

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

Still manifesting a TDA OT winner in MSG for maximum chaos.

How about 2 of them?

 

[WreckingCrew]

Still manifesting a TDA OT winner in MSG for maximum chaos.

Assists to Skjei and Pepe?

 

[Incubajerks]

My guess is a heavily sheltered Coghlan.

Let’s hope one of the two heals quickly. They really did need to add one more d vet.

Very hard to shelter (hide) Coghlan at MSG.

 

[MisterDobz]

I used this last night for the bruins choking a close-out game 5 at home after winning 2 on the road to go up 3-1 like last year, but applies here as well. and it's just a great song featured in an incredible movie

Something about Mary?

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

Very hard to shelter (hide) Coghlan at MSG.

Due to Hakanpaa's injury, Stars are playing Heiskanen 28 minutes a night to hide Nils Lundkvist, who's only playing 5 minutes a night. I'm not saying that's an advisable thing to do, but Brind'Amour certainly could do something similar with Slavin if push came to shove, because he has incredibly played under 21 minutes per game this regular season.