15 games in, your view on the Canes

[bleedgreen]

I'm getting tired of seeing Gerbe and guys like Terry on the second line with skinner and tonight Versteeg on the third. I get the concept of a "defensive" second line.....no I actually don't but I accept that's the way it works for us. I get that Gerbe is better defensively than skinner but I don't see chemistry really between Gerbe and Jstaal. I know it was briefly tried without success but I would put skinner and Versteeg with Jstaal and basically force them to figure it out. We need skinner too badly to be a third liner and we need a more dangerous second line imo. I know technically there probably isn't a large ice time drop in the second to third but I'd like to see a clear cut top 6 instead of a spread too thin top 9. I just get so annoyed looking at our lineup and seeing Gerbe and Terry on Jstaal's flanks.

I also think Gerbe - Nash - Terry/Nesty/ whoever really isn't a bad third line for what this team is.
15 games in, that's what I've got.

 

[Joe McGrath]

^ I'd just like to see set lines for like 2 weeks instead of 2 periods. I mean there's zero evidence the constant line juggling is helping since they suck, so.....

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Yeah, that's probably my biggest complaint with Peters. Give some lines a chance for at least a couple of games.

 

[Francis10]

^ I'd just like to see set lines for like 2 weeks instead of 2 periods. I mean there's zero evidence the constant line juggling is helping since they suck, so.....

I was just going post this exact same thing. This line shuffling every period has got to stop. I can guarantee you the players hate it too.

Is he doing it cause Scotty Bowman did it in the past with Pens and Red Wings? With the teams he had he could afford to do that. Not with our forwards.

Keep it simple Peters and stick with some lines for a few weeks so guys can develop chemistry.

 

[The Faulker 27]

I would take Anze Kopitar, who was picked at 11 and led his team to two Stanley Cups, over Nail Yakupov, who was drafted 1st -- if I could surround him with guys who fit the system.



It's never time to tank, now the least of all with the changes to the draft that are upcoming. Because tanking never gives you guaranteed results, not ever. Sure, Eichel is a great player. So was Alexandre Daigle, until he hit NHL ice.

When a team shows effort and improvement, they have some hope of keeping fans interested, and more importantly, they build the right culture, shift by shift, no matter who comes on to the ice. That's what the Canes need to do now.



The real question is: are they changing the culture? Too early to tell. I think they're doing the right things, but we won't know until we know.

To you're point, I think RF will do a better job of scouting, and picking his players than JR. I wouldn't lose sleep if they started to suck even worse and had at least better odds (minute as they may be) to getting a higher draft pick. It's the emotional rollercoaster that wears on you.... That 3 game win streak set everybodies hopes (maybe not around here) higher than it should have and it's looking like a fluke at this point. If I'm going to endure losses with intermittent wins like the past 6 seasons, what's a few more, with the small chance that it pans out in a big way. They've probably lost most of the bandwagon fans as it is, so trying hard this season just to miss the playoffs again isn't really "netting" them anything.

I agree that there has to be a culture change. Absolutely. But how? There's more than one way to skin a cat.

 

[Joe McGrath]

Yeah, that's probably my biggest complaint with Peters. Give some lines a chance for at least a couple of games.

I will say that it may be a collective thing with he and Francis. I remember him saying they wanted to have guys in pairs as opposed to lines and keep those guys together. Not that I've seen any evidence of even that either. It just looks like, anytime they are losing (every night) the lines are different in the 3rd period.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

It's the chicken/egg scenario. Are they not scoring because the line changes have them playing with a new person every game, or are they playing with a new person every game because they're not scoring?

Either way, its baffling how this team can posses the puck so much, generate all these shots and still wind up with zilch (or close to it) on the scoreboard. By all accounts, the offensive numbers should be there (outside of the PP)

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Either way, its baffling how this team can posses the puck so much, generate all these shots and still wind up with zilch (or close to it) on the scoreboard. By all accounts, the offensive numbers should be there (outside of the PP)

It's really not that baffling to me. They aren't a very skilled bunch, so they can throw pucks at the net from everywhere, but (a) aren't getting enough dangerous chances and (b) aren't skilled enough to turn a shot into a goal.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

But even by pure volume of shots, you'd think they'd get more than 0-1 goal a game. Odd bounces or deflections, what have you.

I mean, Hainsey has proven over and over again this year that it is possible to score off opposing defensemen

 

[Finnish Jerk Train]

Same ****, different day.

 

[Joe McGrath]

But even by pure volume of shots, you'd think they'd get more than 0-1 goal a game. Odd bounces or deflections, what have you.

I mean, Hainsey has proven over and over again this year that it is possible to score off opposing defensemen

Their PDO is the worst in the league again, which is generally accepted as "unlucky".

I view it as, they have forwards who aren't finishers and below average goaltending. The Canes may wind up being the case study of why PDO can't just be chalked up to luck no matter how much someone wants you to believe that's the case.

Edit: I think SG did something on this in the offseason and he projected the Canes PDO to be historically terrible. He was right on the money.

 

[Bub]

It's really not that baffling to me. They aren't a very skilled bunch, so they can throw pucks at the net from everywhere, but (a) aren't getting enough dangerous chances and (b) aren't skilled enough to turn a shot into a goal.

Agree with this. Plus, from having seen a number of non-Canes games this year, their decision-making with the puck just looks...slow. Everything they do in the attacking zone seems slower and more deliberate than other team's I've seen this year. I dunno if that's coaching, lack of talent, or Dagon's curse, but that's what I've noticed. (Yeah, I know: small sample size, and the "eye test" can be deceiving too. I'm just sayin'...)

 

[The Faulker 27]

It's Dagon annoying I can tell you that

 

[Francis10]

E Staal, J Staal, Skinner, Lindholm, Versteeg, and Rask are your top 6 forwards. Put together 2 lines however you see fit for a few weeks and see what happens. Would venture to guess scoring goes up for us.

 

[caniac247]

Not any different than year's past. The only 2 differences I see is that as young as the defense is, I like this defense better than years past. And they don't seem to quit, the effort is there. The only game I saw no effort was vs Florida. Every game they put the effort there, they just aren't skilled enough to win. Oh and we can actually score when we pull the goalie. Half the time it means nothing b/c we are down by 2, but last year we couldn't do anything with the goalie pulled.

Like someone else said, I'm sick of seeing Terry in the Top 6. That guy is worthless and doesn't even belong in the NHL. He sucks. He's slow and brings nothing to the table except maybe scoring in the shootout, but with less shootouts and this team so far going 3-0 in OT, he's no longer needed. Get him off the ice.

As for the constant line changes, Forslund mentioned this during the aftermath one night. He did say, Peters goes more at it by pairs rather than 3s. Which in a way he's done that, but I actually really like EStaal/Versteeg as a pair, yet I find them on different lines all the times.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

But even by pure volume of shots, you'd think they'd get more than 0-1 goal a game. Odd bounces or deflections, what have you.

I mean, Hainsey has proven over and over again this year that it is possible to score off opposing defensemen

Not really. You have to make your own luck. You get odd bounces and deflections when you create traffic in front of the net and the Canes don't really do that. Other than really Skinner, I can't recall many real dangerous shots from the Canes.

Throwing a lot of pucks right into the goalies chest really isn't going to result in much success.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Their PDO is the worst in the league again, which is generally accepted as "unlucky".

I'm hoping that in the future, we can point to this team as proof that PDO is not really as luck-based as it's purported to be.

It is, in fact, entirely possible to have a low save% and a low shooting% because you just suck at hockey.

 

[Joe McGrath]

I'm hoping that in the future, we can point to this team as proof that PDO is not really as luck-based as it's purported to be.

It is, in fact, entirely possible to have a low save% and a low shooting% because you just suck at hockey.

That's basically what the rest of my post said. I don't know why you only quoted the first half

 

[tarheelhockey]

I was just agreeing. PDO is right there with +/- as a stat that, in my opinion, is obviously flawed and should be either improved or done away with.

 

[MMC]

How has Hanifin been?

 

[tarheelhockey]

How has Hanifin been?

Solid for a rookie IMO.

 

[GoCanes2013]

Canes seem to be awful as a 'team' in stick-handling and passing. A couple guys are good or very good, but the team as a whole seems to lag every team we play in accuracy, sharpness, velocity, etc. of their passing. In a sport where fractions of seconds count so much for speed, momentum, etc. this seem to me to be our achilles heel.

 

[RodTheBawd]

So a guy I work with has recently tried to start getting into hockey (what horrible timing). The questions he asks me are pretty telling:

"Why do they never have someone in the middle of the ice or in front of the net? It seems like they just have it along the sides for a while and take bad shots."
"When they take shots, shouldn't someone be in front of the net for rebounds? Other teams always have a guy or two ready for a rebound."
"Why does it seem like other teams come down the ice and skate and pass and make good looking moves and get good shots?"
"Why is that when the Hurricanes pass, it's always bouncing and rolling around and they end up missing the puck? Other teams have nice solid passes that are right on the stick, so it's not like the ice is bad."

 

[bleedgreen]

I've been slowly introducing my girlfriend to the Canes to much the same reaction.

Doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the issues here.

 

[Borsig]

I've been slowly introducing my girlfriend to the Canes to much the same reaction.

Doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the issues here.

Took my wife to the sens game last week. She knows squat about hockey other than its 'fun'

"Why does 12 stand around on the ice so much? Is he waiting for something?"

I kid you not.

As to this year? Defense slightly better - Ward looks better for it. Everything else still sucks, and we STILL cant score. We regularly take 40 shots a night, but those 40 shots are just throwing crap at the net. Not good chances. We still suck. Shocker.