Recalled/Assigned: The Goat assigned to the Marlies

Eb

Registered User
Feb 27, 2011
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Toronto
Yes, he puts up points. Yes, he's our best face-off man. No, he's dreadful defensively.

Believing that Bozak is competent defensively is one of the main reasons the Wilson and Carlyle ships sunk so badly.

Babcock realized very quickly that Bozak is a weak defensive player and sheltered him accordingly.

What do you mean sheltered him accordingly?

I thought Bozak had the highest dzone start % out of the team.
 

saltming

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Oct 6, 2015
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Give coach babs sometime on that front

Agreed though I don't think he will make him a wrecking ball.
Babs said Freddie has to know when to go on offense and when to go on defense and I think that's where Babs will be huge in helping the Goat put the pieces of the puzzle together.
 

Faltorvo

Registered User
Feb 18, 2008
21,067
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Agreed though I don't think he will make him a wrecking ball.
Babs said Freddie has to know when to go on offense and when to go on defense and I think that's where Babs will be huge in helping the Goat put the pieces of the puzzle together.

You see how the Red wings play?

He is going to turn him into a red wing , heavy on the puck , not afraid of high traffic areas, will use his big body as a tool

Mark my words, we will see the goat on the PP as the face off man or back up FO man and the park your butt in front of the net guy.
 

thewave

Registered User
Jun 17, 2011
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You see how the Red wings play?

He is going to turn him into a red wing , heavy on the puck , not afraid of high traffic areas, will use his big body as a tool

Mark my words, we will see the goat on the PP as the face off man or back up FO man and the park your butt in front of the net guy.

Goat meets Mule. Works for me.
 

BertCorbeau

F*ck cancer - RIP Fugu and Buffaloed
Jan 6, 2012
55,037
35,304
Simcoe County
You see how the Red wings play?

He is going to turn him into a red wing , heavy on the puck , not afraid of high traffic areas, will use his big body as a tool

Mark my words, we will see the goat on the PP as the face off man or back up FO man and the park your butt in front of the net guy.

Pretty much all of this.

My hope is that Freddy is able to improve his puck skills, especially in tight areas, so that he can create more offense. The rest of his game is fine including his skating. He has the potential to be a good third line centre if he can be more dangerous around the net and provide some offense
 

Finnish your Czech

J'aime Les offres hostiles
Nov 25, 2009
64,457
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Toronto
What do you mean sheltered him accordingly?

I thought Bozak had the highest dzone start % out of the team.

Nope. Bozak had 57% OZS vs Kadri's 51% (it was lower before bozak got injured)

Kadri's line was the shutdown line, and Bozak + JVR was the scoring line
 

saltming

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Oct 6, 2015
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You see how the Red wings play?

He is going to turn him into a red wing , heavy on the puck , not afraid of high traffic areas, will use his big body as a tool

Mark my words, we will see the goat on the PP as the face off man or back up FO man and the park your butt in front of the net guy.

I still agree. I just don't see Freddie being mean out there. Agressive strong and heavy yes, mean no.
 

Pyromaniac3

Registered User
Dec 19, 2011
4,944
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Toronto
You're right, let's do what the oilers did and have our 18 year olds play against top lines. Who needs veterans anyway.

You don't want keep veterans for the sake of keeping veterans. The main problem with Oilers is that they have nothing beyond the 1st round picks. No good defensive prospects or anyone good for 2nd and 3rd lines. They had plenty of veterans but they weren't any good.

You trade Bozak as soon as you can, otherwise we will face what Washington faced with Laich. Relegated to 4th line or healthy scratch but paid too much.
 

Gallagbi

Formerly Eazy_B97
Jul 5, 2005
48,490
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Nope. Bozak had 57% OZS vs Kadri's 51% (it was lower before bozak got injured)

Kadri's line was the shutdown line, and Bozak + JVR was the scoring line

Skewed a bit with Bozak taking some additional d-zone face-offs then changing ASAP as well.
 

Pyromaniac3

Registered User
Dec 19, 2011
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Toronto
Btw, I wouldn't rely on ZS as a stat. They don't count on-the-fly changes which accounts for large number of line changes.

It also counts ZS when you haven't changed yet. Eg: Kadri line on the ice and opposing goalie freezes. Kadri line changes with Bozak. Bozak loses draw, opposing team counter-attacks and our goalie freezes the puck. Bozak takes defensive zone draws. That counts as another ZS. So in this total play, Bozak ends with 1 OFZS and 1 DFZS. This isn't the coach making a decision but it's the play of Bozak line that results in defensive zone draws.
 

Trapper

Registered User
Nov 21, 2013
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Insufficient veterans is about #183 on the list of reasons why the Oilers suck.

People use insufficient vets a lot but when the Oilers started this they had such players as Horcoff,Smyth,Nick Shultz,Potter,Whitney,Sutton,Gilbert,Jones etc.
Certainly nothing less than Parenteau,Hunwick,Boyes,Greening and so forth.

The fact of the matter is on the other side of the puck, the Oilers picks suck. IQ is questionable. As well as compete. They are happy to skate down the ice and either try to pass through 3 guys or rip a shot going anywhere. They are skilled but so is a player like Kessel. It's like putting a team of Connolly/Kessel/Lombardi/Kostka/Lupul/Raymond together.
Again, the Oilers as individuals have a certain skill set, put them all together and your team plays like the above.
They need to send individuals to different teams and build around McDavid. As a unit, they are done.
 

thewave

Registered User
Jun 17, 2011
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People use insufficient vets a lot but when the Oilers started this they had such players as Horcoff,Smyth,Nick Shultz,Potter,Whitney,Sutton,Gilbert,Jones etc.
Certainly nothing less than Parenteau,Hunwick,Boyes,Greening and so forth.

The fact of the matter is on the other side of the puck, the Oilers picks suck. IQ is questionable. As well as compete. They are happy to skate down the ice and either try to pass through 3 guys or rip a shot going anywhere. They are skilled but so is a player like Kessel. It's like putting a team of Connolly/Kessel/Lombardi/Kostka/Lupul/Raymond together.
Again, the Oilers as individuals have a certain skill set, put them all together and your team plays like the above.
They need to send individuals to different teams and build around McDavid. As a unit, they are done.

Bravo, you nailed it.
 

LoneWolf

Registered User
Dec 11, 2015
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0
I think Bozak will be needed to fulfill the 25% of cap exposed rule when the expansion draft happens, I doubt they move him in the offseason. As far as Gauthier goes, he will be a Maple Leaf, Babcock will make a great NHLer out of him. I fully admit to being wrong in my initial impressions of him.
 

LeafalCrusader

Registered User
Oct 3, 2013
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Winnipeg
I think Bozak will be needed to fulfill the 25% of cap exposed rule when the expansion draft happens, I doubt they move him in the offseason. As far as Gauthier goes, he will be a Maple Leaf, Babcock will make a great NHLer out of him. I fully admit to being wrong in my initial impressions of him.

I believe pending UFA's would be included in an expansion draft to hit that 25%. Bernier, Robidas, Lupul, Laich, Michalek, Greening could be thrown in to hit 25% easily. No need to keep Bozak just to hit the 25% rule.
 

BlueBaron

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May 29, 2006
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Sarnia, On
You don't want keep veterans for the sake of keeping veterans. The main problem with Oilers is that they have nothing beyond the 1st round picks. No good defensive prospects or anyone good for 2nd and 3rd lines. They had plenty of veterans but they weren't any good.

You trade Bozak as soon as you can, otherwise we will face what Washington faced with Laich. Relegated to 4th line or healthy scratch but paid too much.

Actually you kind of do. Did you miss all that talk about protecting our young guys ? That being said I am not sure Bozak is one we will keep. I think we'll keep Naz-Nylander as our 1-2 punch unless a Matthews/Stamkos happens. Bozak will probably start next season with us and if Willie out right has stolen his job by the deadline we trade him.

Another option could be keeping him , giving him a 1 or 2 year extension so we have some Centre depth and then exposing him . If I am Vegas I would be eyeing him as a potential number one C until they developed their own.
 

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