Post-Game Talk: Too Much Poutine: Jets look flat in 4-3 loss to Habs

[Gnova]

Ladd is hardly a 3rd line player. His numbers are in line with a solid second liner. Unfortunately he hasn't had a great start to the season.

Wow, I didn't realize two years of scoring 30 - 28 was only enough to earn a second line roster spot.

 

[Guerzy]

I completely disagree about Ladd. I thought the guy was in the scrums and in the dirty areas getting the puck. So while he didn't get on the score board I thought he did alot of good things last night.

That's fair. I saw him skating at points, but I didn't see him applying himself, finishing checks, etc. To me he was just a passenger last night, which I found disappointing. I won't hound or harp on him and make it a habit, but I hope to see him do better things headed forward especially in games where we could use that physical spark or more jump. If our Captain is out there doing it, chances are others will follow suit.

 

[YWGinYYZ]

I've liked the development of Postma so far. He looks better and more confident with each passing game.

When Bogo's back, I'd be happy to see the bottom two pairing as:

Hainsey - Bogo
Stuart - Postma

Shelter Postma a bit, put him with a vet, and let him grow. That will give us some offensive capability on all three pairings. He's still making some mistakes, but (from my vantage point) less than the more veteran Clitnone. His game appears to be progressing. Some nice rushes in the last couple of games..

 

[Howard Chuck]

He's often out on the PK, 8th on the team for TOI when down a man. The problem last night, was that one of the PP goals they got, he was in the box for. He's used on the PK, there's really no other guy on the team that does what he does, and that's a problem. Our PK forwards appear to be Antropov and Burmi, and Slater and Thorburn. Burmi and Antropov have been on the ice together for 3 of the 5 PP goals against.

The PK is tied for 27th at 68.8%. That's not a playoff team number. We have been lucky enough to not be penalized that much, because if you look at the bottom of the PK % list, all of those teams have had poor starts, but two (Ducks and Jets). It needs to change.

I think you misunderstood me, I was saying that I think Burmi should be on our PP because he can skate and create room against the other team's agressive PK's.

 

[Sweech]

Wow, I didn't realize two years of scoring 30 - 28 was only enough to earn a second line roster spot.

15th and 29th in the league in scoring for a LW. I don't think many teams put that type of player on the 3rd line.

As far as goal scoring is concerned he was 11th and 15th the last two years. I think you have unrealistic expectations.

 

[Joe Hallenback]

I think there must be some kind of script people look at after loses


Jets lose ---------> Was Ladd playing?------Yes----It was his fault he is a 4th liner |
No---->Blame it on Buff being to fat

 

[Grind]

I think there must be some kind of script people look at after loses


Jets lose ---------> Was Ladd playing?------Yes----It was his fault he is a 4th liner |
No---->Blame it on Buff being to fat

pretty accurate.

as said, if a 28 -30 goal scorer isn't cracking your top six, your bringing a stanley cup home or you have the most inept coach in the history of sports.

 

[SCP Guy]

When Bogo's back, I'd be happy to see the bottom two pairing as:

Hainsey - Bogo
Stuart - Postma

Shelter Postma a bit, put him with a vet, and let him grow. That will give us some offensive capability on all three pairings. He's still making some mistakes, but (from my vantage point) less than the more veteran Clitnone. His game appears to be progressing. Some nice rushes in the last couple of games..

Agree 110%!

We need Bogo back sooooo bad

 

[sully1410]

That's fair. I saw him skating at points, but I didn't see him applying himself, finishing checks, etc. To me he was just a passenger last night, which I found disappointing. I won't hound or harp on him and make it a habit, but I hope to see him do better things headed forward especially in games where we could use that physical spark or more jump. If our Captain is out there doing it, chances are others will follow suit.

To that point, we can agree. The whole team looked blah out there. And I agree it's the captains job to get the boys fired up and maybe be the guy that goes above and beyond to get the job done. I would agree that he did not do that for the whole game. He had moments where he looked good and delivered good hits, scrummed with the other team and got into the dirty areas...but I agree it needed to be over sixty minutes.

 

[Flair Hay]

Wow, I didn't realize two years of scoring 30 - 28 was only enough to earn a second line roster spot.

He was on the first line, first PP last year that's bound to increase numbers a little bit. I don't think Ladd is a first liner on a Cup winner but he's still a super good piece to have. Great complimentary top six player.

 

[peg]

One of my favourite players on the team is Blake Wheeler. After a slow start last year something magical happened. Everything clicked. He was playing with extreme confidence and was just dominant out on the ice.

Through 6 games he is just not quite there yet. I watched him carry the puck into the Montreal zone late in the third and dump the puck in the corner. Last year he would have made a Burmi type moved, turned the defenceman inside out and taken a hard shot or made a soft pass to Ladd or Little. Wheeler is doing a lot of things well, shooting hard and rushing the net, but he just doesn't seem to have that same dominance in traffic that we loved watching last year. Hope it comes soon because that would make our first line truly spectacular!

 

[JetsHomer]

Giroux looked like **** last night and he's Phillys captain. He's also undeniably a more skilled hockey player than Ladd. People have bad games. Its going to happen. As long as Ladd doesn't look awful and lazy for several games in a row I'm fine with it. If you expect everyone to have a good/great game every night you will be disappointed. Not even Gretzky played good every night.

 

[Hobble]

Emelin did a pretty good job on Kane throughout the game.

 

[Huffer]

Late to the party obviously, but by all accounts (players, coaches, HF posters) that wasn't a very good game last night by the Jets.

The key will be to:

A) Limit the number of bad games
b) Reduce the level of badness in those bad games

Every team in every sport has bad nights. You can't expect humans to be 100%, 100% of the time. The key is to reduce the amount of off nights you have, and also to reduce how badly you play as a team on those bad nights.

If the Jets can come out and play well against both Florida and Tampa, that can go a long way towards point #1.

The fact that their off night last night resulted in a 1 goal loss where the Jets had the lead in the 3rd, may speak to point number 2. Can't be sure though this early in the season. It is a better sign than getting beaten handily though. Once you have a team that can win a few games, even on off nights, then you know you are on to something.


As for players, I think most everything has been said already. Couple of randoms:

I think Kane has been working harder this year than I've ever seen him. Him and Jokinen are beginning to click.

Hopefully Wheeler can turn into December 2011 Wheeler soon.

I think Postma has gotten better and better each game. Not saying he's going to be great, just that I've noticed him get a little better each game. He's certainly got the offensive abilities, and can really skate himself out of trouble in our zone. The only thing I could point to that I think is behind, is just the speed of his decision making at this point. Something I seemed to notice in Oduya last year as well. Would like to see him with a better partner. Would have really liked to have seen him with Kulda.

Hainsey's been pretty solid so far, and would only look better with Bogo as his partner (no disrespect to Stuart).

Thorburn I thought had a rough night. Caused Enstrom to take the penalty that won the game by not clearing the zone. But I also watched him exclusively on a PK and was not impressed. He's a hard worker no doubt, but he's not fast, and does not have a quick first few steps. Where I really noticed it was once the Habs got set up and the Jets were in the box formation. Once Thorburn is stationary (or relatively stationary), he just didn't seem mobile enough to impact what Montreal wanted to do. He wasn't quick enough to force anyone to do anything. Don't know if that was just me though.

Oh well. The team got to sleep in a bit (as they stayed overnight in Montreal), and then did some light exercise and travel today. All they can do now is forget that last game and try to get the 2 points against the Panthers.

 

[Hank Chinaski]

Great post Huffer, all good points.

I think it might be time to give Peluso a look in Thorburn's place. As much as Thorburn is a fan favourite and all round good guy, he's someone that the Jets should really look at upgrading.

 

[David_99]

Shots were 26-21 Montreal...

It's harder to outshoot Montreal at the Bell Centre when they count the opposing shots in the negative LOL

 

[Huffer]

Great post Huffer, all good points.

I think it might be time to give Peluso a look in Thorburn's place. As much as Thorburn is a fan favourite and all round good guy, he's someone that the Jets should really look at upgrading.

Possibly. I wonder once Mittens comes back if they would try Mittens in place of Wright, and Peluso in place of Thor?

Peluso could handle some of the toughness lost with Thor, but Mittens might be able to improve on Thors work on the PK?

Really depends if Peluso can handle Thors role though. For my comment about not being impressed with him, at this stage at least he is an NHL'r, where Peluso hasn't played a game yet.

Maybe replace Wright with Mittens, and let Mittens play with Slater and Thor and also take Thor's role on the PK?

 

[truck]

This thread title made me want poutine.

 

[Hank Chinaski]

This thread title made me want poutine.

Had one for lunch, this thread may or may not have influenced that decision.

Possibly. I wonder once Mittens comes back if they would try Mittens in place of Wright, and Peluso in place of Thor?

Peluso could handle some of the toughness lost with Thor, but Mittens might be able to improve on Thors work on the PK?

Really depends if Peluso can handle Thors role though. For my comment about not being impressed with him, at this stage at least he is an NHL'r, where Peluso hasn't played a game yet.

Maybe replace Wright with Mittens, and let Mittens play with Slater and Thor and also take Thor's role on the PK?

My feeling is that you're going to see more of Ladd and Little on the PK. They've hardly been used in that role this year, but I think that's probably the best solution for the time being. Real noticeable improvements on the PK probably won't be seen until Bogo is back healthy (so we won't have Clitsome killing penalties any longer ).

While I agree that Peluso may not be able to handle Thorburn's role, the Jets are going to need to find out sooner or later. And really, the role consists of getting the puck deep, hitting, getting the puck chipped out of your end, and fighting if need be. If Peluso can't handle that role in the short term, then it's clear he has no business being on an NHL roster. Also, I'd much rather have Peluso coming in for Thorburn than for Wright, who has impressed me in his limited ice-time.

 

[garret9]

He was on the first line, first PP last year that's bound to increase numbers a little bit. I don't think Ladd is a first liner on a Cup winner but he's still a super good piece to have. Great complimentary top six player.

That's why I use 5v5 points per minute and 5v5 goals per minute... Ladd's not AS good there as the total boxcar numbers but still very good...

1st/2nd line players to me more has to do how a coach donates his preference in minutes which differs on the coach's preference. Usually one top6 line faces tough minutes and the other faces sheltered scoring minutes...

He's a top 10 tough minutes goal scoring winger. Which is great because we also have a top 10 sheltered scoring minutes winger (Kane).