I hated it, but I've not been a fan of Scuderi's, ever. Even during the 2009 Cup run I thought he was adequate at best and if it hadn't been for that one blocked shot, he'd be playing in Japan right now.
Yup. I was mad at the time, too. Scuderi was always badly overrated and achieved his hero status for that block and his adequate work with Gill on that shutdown pairing. Good for him. But it shouldn't have merited another long term contract YEARS later.
Some might call this premature, but it's comforting for me to see that Hornqvist and Malkin looked as uncomfortable together as ever this year, and that its now reflected in their production.
We all saw it last year too, but some bought in to the stats that suggested they were better together than Sid and Hornqvist. Good to know the eye test still has some merit.
Yup. It really only takes watching these guys together out on the ice for a few games to get a feel for if they will or won't naturally get along as linemates. It isn't that complicated. I'm always a little taken aback when people TRY to make it complicated.
I agree with you on the Toews thing, too. And was never satisfied with that pick. Or another made in the top ten more recently. Though that deserves a bit more time.
As for me... I've gotten lots of stuff right. But soooooo much stuff wrong. I thought Koltsov was going to be a team savior, at one point (though I always hated Fata), I thought Tarnstrom was the real deal (at least within a second pairing offensive guy), I thought Ramzi Abid had powerforward potential, I thought Fleury was a big problem (after years of defending him), I thought Goligoski was this team's future powerplay QB (I'd still prefer him over the current one), I thought Johnston sounded very promising.
So much wrong. But to my credit... the stuff I nail I TYPICALLY don't rub in. And indeed usually even forget about.