GDT: 10/12/17 - 7:30PM EDT - Pittsburgh vs Tampa Bay

[DFC]

Maybe. He was also facing his strongest opponent so far. He was up and down, and I saw a lot of stuff I was really impressed by. Besides, I didn't think any of our defensemen had great games, relatively speaking. Even Hedman made some uncharacteristic mistakes. Considering that at 19 and in his fourth (?) NHL game Sergachev was arguably playing hockey as fast as it will be played at any point in the regular season, I thought he held his own. Still think it makes more sense to go with him over KK, but I would give KK a few games to prove that last night wasn't a fluke.

I think Koekkoek has at least pulled even. I can't think of a mistake he made, while this was the first game where Sergachev consistently stood out in a bad way. I mean, some guys made mistakes, but Sergachev had a rough game overall. It was bound to happen. Not the end of the world, nor the end of his opportunity.

Koekkoek finally took some initiative though and looked pretty good, even when he wasn't scoring goals. Maybe he just clicks against the Penguins.

 

[These Are The Days]

I think it should be Sustr as the odd man out, he doesn't look like an nhl dman. From rumors Lightning are trying to trade him, but wouldn't be surprised seeing him waived and not claimed and put in the A.

Surge has glimpses of brilliance and occasionally a bone headed rook mistake. He will learn from them and he needs to be developed in the nhl this year. Look at Point for example last year he was up all year and had some major growing pains but he turned out great.

Dotchin has looked a shadow of his former self but still not as bad as Sustr.

Kooekooek is still the ? but still has potential unlike Sustr.

Forgive me for sounding dense but what rumors and where?

 

[Bolt 45]

I think Koekkoek has at least pulled even. I can't think of a mistake he made, while this was the first game where Sergachev consistently stood out in a bad way. I mean, some guys made mistakes, but Sergachev had a rough game overall. It was bound to happen. Not the end of the world, nor the end of his opportunity.

Koekkoek finally took some initiative though and looked pretty good, even when he wasn't scoring goals. Maybe he just clicks against the Penguins.

Fair enough. To my eye, Pittsburgh simply exacerbated pretty common rookie-type mistakes from Sergachev. And I thought all of our defensemen looked human against Pittsburgh... sort of comes with the territory.

Goals aside, for me KK's night was more about him simply not looking as lost as he usually does. His game wasn't perfect by any means. To be honest, Dotchin's been catching my eye more than either of them. He's obviously battling a little more rust than anyone else, and he's not necessarily playing poorly, per se, it's just that the chinks in his armor that were always there seem like they could become a little more pronounced as the season wears on.

 

[DFC]

I thought this was the first game where Dotchin looked like he was starting to get comfortable.

 

[geoo9]

Looks like My man becoming 1 st star of the team. What do think about it guys? (am about Kuch)

 

[Bolt 45]

I thought this was the first game where Dotchin looked like he was starting to get comfortable.

We're watching for different things, apparently. To me, the pace of the game last night looked a tad fast for him. Maybe it's just rust, we'll see. And while not every team plays as fast as Pittsburgh, the league does seem to have taken a slight tick in that direction overall.

 

[These Are The Days]

I for one am not trying to read too much into Sergachev and Koekkoek's individual performances. It was Serg's first bad game but then again the Penguins will make anyone look bad. I don't know if I necessarily advocate Hedman playing damn near 30 minutes a night every night but I think it speaks greatly both to Cooper's confidence in Hedman but as well as the degree in which he wants to shelter the rookies.

It's hard to say but I don't know if Sustr continuing to be scratched will mean anything either because Sergachev is still within the grace period of being evaluated

 

[These Are The Days]

I'm also hoping we can attack with the same speed tomorrow night as we did last night but I'm a little bit wary of whether it'll actually happen due to the fact we are playing the Blues. A win would not exactly surprise me. It's our performance against teams like the Devils and Wings after tomorrow that's going to determine if we have actually turned the corner. Our problem has always been that we can win against the big guys but not the little ones

 

[HoseEmDown]

Can someone explain to me how Dotchin has rust? He didn't miss the preseason at all, he just played 1 game. Stralman actually missed parts of the preseason with his injury and played only 2 games yet he doesn't look like he has any rust.

 

[JFleegs]

Forgive me for sounding dense but what rumors and where?

No worries, I believe it was Bryan Burns on twitter back in the beginning of the season mentioning Sustr being in the lineup could be showcase for a trade. Could be more speculation than rumor I suppose.

 

[These Are The Days]

No worries, I believe it was Bryan Burns on twitter back in the beginning of the season mentioning Sustr being in the lineup could be showcase for a trade. Could be more speculation than rumor I suppose.

Oh yeah I remember that. I tried to not read too much into that. However I must say some kind of move feels likely. I just can't see us going long term with 8 defensemen on the roster like we have been

 

[Bolt 45]

Can someone explain to me how Dotchin has rust? He didn't miss the preseason at all, he just played 1 game. Stralman actually missed parts of the preseason with his injury and played only 2 games yet he doesn't look like he has any rust.

If you're referencing my posts, I'm merely speculating about rust. He's looked a tad slower to me than he did last year, and, as the season's just gotten underway, maybe it's rust? And he did miss most of the preseason games.

 

[Bolt 45]

I'm also hoping we can attack with the same speed tomorrow night as we did last night but I'm a little bit wary of whether it'll actually happen due to the fact we are playing the Blues. A win would not exactly surprise me. It's our performance against teams like the Devils and Wings after tomorrow that's going to determine if we have actually turned the corner. Our problem has always been that we can win against the big guys but not the little ones

When we play like we have so far, the bigger western teams don't worry me. But you're right about guaging our effort against the other two. If we mail it in for those games, I'll be a little concerned. That being said, this team looks hungrier than it has in a while. TJ and Killer are playing pretty well, and Palat's been an outright beast.

 

[Shoresy Snipes]

Palat's been an outright beast.

Palat IS an outright beast.
One tough SOB. I don't think he feels pain like a regular man.

When he injured his ankle a year or two ago, I was sure he broke it; the second I saw it happen (same thing happened to me when I played). He didn't lay on the ice or squirm around. He got up and skated (kinda) to the bench and walked (hobbled) to the locker room. Now that's a hockey player. Glad he's on our team.

 

[HoseEmDown]

If you're referencing my posts, I'm merely speculating about rust. He's looked a tad slower to me than he did last year, and, as the season's just gotten underway, maybe it's rust? And he did miss most of the preseason games.

He looks slow because he is slow. His skating isn't anything special, doesn't have top end speed, lateral mobility is below average, his skating is not good enough against the faster teams in the league. Playing just 1 game isn't an excuse, he was there the whole preseason practicing with everyone he just wasn't playing the games. I don't think playing 1 or 2 less games than the other defenders is the reason he's looking bad.

 

[TampaJay]

I for one am not trying to read too much into Sergachev and Koekkoek's individual performances. It was Serg's first bad game but then again the Penguins will make anyone look bad. I don't know if I necessarily advocate Hedman playing damn near 30 minutes a night every night but I think it speaks greatly both to Cooper's confidence in Hedman but as well as the degree in which he wants to shelter the rookies.

It's hard to say but I don't know if Sustr continuing to be scratched will mean anything either because Sergachev is still within the grace period of being evaluated

For depth reasons this shouldn’t be a Serg v KK debate. If one of the 8 Dmen gets moved it should be a RHD. You have to think about the effect of an injury. If we went down to 3 RHD and one of them got injured, we would have two lefties (Coburn and Serg) who could play the right side or Cernak and Thomas to come up. If we went down to 3 LHD… Hedman-Coburn-KK, for example, and a LHD got injured, we have no RHD who play the left side and no one really NHL ready on the left side in Syracuse.
This debate should be between Sustr/Dotchin/Girardi (who we know is not going anywhere) and not KK v Serg.

 

[Bolt 45]

He looks slow because he is slow. His skating isn't anything special, doesn't have top end speed, lateral mobility is below average, his skating is not good enough against the faster teams in the league. Playing just 1 game isn't an excuse, he was there the whole preseason practicing with everyone he just wasn't playing the games. I don't think playing 1 or 2 less games than the other defenders is the reason he's looking bad.

Lol... that's a fair assessment. I didn't think he looked bad last year, and I wouldn't say he looked bad last night, but, like I said in an earlier post, I do have concerns about his ability to keep up over the course of the season, especially since the pace of the game league-wide feels a little quicker this year.

 

[Stammertime91]

He looks slow because he is slow. His skating isn't anything special, doesn't have top end speed, lateral mobility is below average, his skating is not good enough against the faster teams in the league. Playing just 1 game isn't an excuse, he was there the whole preseason practicing with everyone he just wasn't playing the games. I don't think playing 1 or 2 less games than the other defenders is the reason he's looking bad.

He could be on one leg and he'd still be better than Sustr.

Glad to see Coop is sitting the worst defenseman on the team lately.

Four games in and Sergachev, KK and Dotchin have surpassed that minor league quality giant. What a time to be alive.

 

[HoseEmDown]

He could be on one leg and he'd still be better than Sustr.

Glad to see Coop is sitting the worst defenseman on the team lately.

Four games in and Sergachev, KK and Dotchin have surpassed that minor league quality giant. What a time to be alive.

Yes Dotchin has passed him, in the +/- category, giveaways and penalty minutes. All things to be proud of.

 

[Stammertime91]

Yes Dotchin has passed him

There. That was easy.