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League News: 2016-17 General NHL Fan Talk - Free Agency Fallout (News n' Scores n' Stuff)

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racingmoose

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Apr 11, 2016
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Revelation said:
Beagle is definitely fast. Not a burner but he gets to pucks before anybody because of his motor/anticipation and his skating ability is above average.

Burakovsky is pretty fast, Kuzy is our fastest guy with the puck. He's like Scott Gomez... breezes through the neutral zone with it then does Scott Gomez stuff in the offensive zone :facepalm: Winnik scores most of his goals off of odd man rushes. Eller has good top speed

If they wanted to exploit the speed for this roster

Ovechkin Backstrom Williams
Johansson Kuznetsov Oshie
Burakovsky Eller Connolly
Winnik Beagle Vrana

Oshie is slow but crafty enough to be in the right place at the right time, and every player in the bottom 6 can skate well.
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The team definitely has some strong skaters, but what's still missing are the quick passes and guys moving without the puck finding open lanes.

I'm fortunate enough to see and attend many different hockey games at different venues. The Caps have also become soft. The intensity and hitting has to be the lowest I'm seeing almost anywhere. It's very discouraging to see.
 
Hivemind

Hivemind

We're Touched
Oct 8, 2010
37,049
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Philadelphia
racingmoose said:
The team definitely has some strong skaters, but what's still missing are the quick passes and guys moving without the puck finding open lanes.
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Bingo. Team speed is as much about hockey sense and systems as it is about actual footspeed. It's why a guy like Jason Chimera can be a fast skater but struggle at playing fast hockey.
 
Sam Spade

Sam Spade

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May 4, 2009
27,484
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racingmoose said:
I'm fortunate enough to see and attend many different hockey games at different venues. The Caps have also become soft. The intensity and hitting has to be the lowest I'm seeing almost anywhere. It's very discouraging to see.
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This is most definitely by design. Other than the D the forwards have been instructed that if a hit isn't there don't lose positioning (or speed) to throw one.

And if you think the Caps are one of the softest teams in the league I think you should watch some other teams play. NO TEAM is physical in the NHL anymore.

I watched the entire Pens/Habs game the other day and I don't remember a single hit being thrown, not one.
 
Corby78

Corby78

65 - 10 - 20
Jan 14, 2014
11,762
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Sam Spade said:
This is most definitely by design. Other than the D the forwards have been instructed that if a hit isn't there don't lose positioning (or speed) to throw one.

And if you think the Caps are one of the softest teams in the league I think you should watch some other teams play. NO TEAM is physical in the NHL anymore.

I watched the entire Pens/Habs game the other day and I don't remember a single hit being thrown, not one.
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This is true, we had a big change a number of years ago when teams dropped guys like tony twist completely from the roster, now I think we're seeing another shift. I've watched many games where nobody was hit in open ice and outside of bumping and pushing the corners were fairly clean. I would be completely fine with this if we saw more flow up and down the ice, but with many teams I'm not seeing it. It's still advantageous to play defense and wait for a breakdown from the other side. Makes for boring hockey
 
g00n

g00n

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Nov 22, 2007
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Whether or not overall hitting is down in the league Caps still rank low. Ovie and Wilson account for a huge chunk at that. Team is soft for sure but not playing the speed game enough to make up for it.
 

racingmoose

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Apr 11, 2016
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g00n said:
Whether or not overall hitting is down in the league Caps still rank low. Ovie and Wilson account for a huge chunk at that. Team is soft for sure but not playing the speed game enough to make up for it.
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Exactly. Last year the Caps were 11th in the league in hits and they've dropped to 24th this year while not improving the speed game. Great teams (especially in the playoffs) can bring intensity and physical play to throw the other team off their game and also pump up their own team and fans. That seems to be missing this year.
 
4thTierSport

4thTierSport

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Feb 15, 2009
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Caps would be leading all other divisions on points %. Tied with Hawks in actual points, but Caps have three games in hand. One point behind Habs with a game in hand.

Nothing about the Blue Jackets makes sense. Take Atkinson for example. On his career he is a .6 PPG player and 11.4% shooter. This season he is 1.05 PPG and 17.3%. Maintaining some % of those gains is reasonable but not all of that. That is their top scorer and their second, Wennberg, is "worse". This is the way all of their stats/players look. It's just nuts.

Speaking of unsustainable…
When will the media finally mention Crosby's current 23.2 S% and stop the "elevation of his game" crap? That % is 8.4% higher than his career average of 14.8%, 6.1% higher then his career best of 17.1% in 09/10 and 10.6% higher then his previous 5 year average of 12.6%.

Even if he manages to match his career best for the rest of the season he is only at 52 goal season. You might have to consider some more missed games considering his dumb luck in that department.
 
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RandyHolt

RandyHolt

Keep truckin'
Nov 3, 2006
34,739
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They believe. They are in the zone.

They peaked too soon!

I know, that jinx will be the key to their cup.
 
36kap36

36kap36

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LetsGoBears said:
Caps would be leading all other divisions on points %. Tied with Hawks in actual points, but Caps have three games in hand. One point behind Habs with a game in hand.

Nothing about the Blue Jackets makes sense. Take Atkinson for example. On his career he is a .6 PPG player and 11.4% shooter. This season he is 1.05 PPG and 17.3%. Maintaining some % of those gains is reasonable but not all of that. That is their top scorer and their second, Wennberg, is "worse". This is the way all of their stats/players look. It's just nuts.

Speaking of unsustainable…
When will the media finally mention Crosby's current 23.2 S% and stop the "elevation of his game" crap? That % is 8.4% higher than his career average of 14.8%, 6.1% higher then his career best of 17.1% in 09/10 and 10.6% higher then his previous 5 year average of 12.6%.

Even if he manages to match his career best for the rest of the season he is only at 52 goal season. You might have to consider some more missed games considering his dumb luck in that department.
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Crazy thing about Atkinson is that he isn't taller than 5'6 (I looked him in the eye when I met him a couple times, and I'm not a tall guy)...I saw someone compare what he's doing to Torts with Marty St. Louis, which seemed absurd to me.

The thing about the Blue Jackets is that they're so healthy this year. Growing up in Columbus with season tickets to them, I've seen all that they have been through. Every year, they have had what seems like ridiculous injury issues. This year? Not so much. It's ridiculous what all they're doing, and how they're doing it--THEIR POWER PLAY IS AT 28.3% LIKE SERIOUSLY NOW. Whatever it is, good for them and good for their fans. I know that they're enjoying it (the bandwagon is, especially ;)).
 
Jags

Jags

Mildly Disturbed
May 5, 2016
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Working on your shot is more about placement and repetition -- building muscle memory -- than it is beating a keeper. Getting shots by your goalie is beating their rhythms and tendencies and won't necessarily help you beat the next guy.

As long as your practice goalie is in shape, knows the position, can move, and doesn't flinch, your guys are getting what they need from him. Sounds like Alvez can play. It's not like they're strapping pads to the zamboni guy, y'know? ;)
 
RandyHolt

RandyHolt

Keep truckin'
Nov 3, 2006
34,739
7,052
Jags said:
Working on your shot is more about placement and repetition -- building muscle memory -- than it is beating a keeper. Getting shots by your goalie is beating their rhythms and tendencies and won't necessarily help you beat the next guy.

As long as your practice goalie is in shape, knows the position, can move, and doesn't flinch, your guys are getting what they need from him. Sounds like Alvez can play. It's not like they're strapping pads to the zamboni guy, y'know? ;)
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I should have said.... working on scoring. The purpose of shooting. So many players struggle to score I figure Carolina offering up a G is a good idea. They can practice beating goalies upstairs.

I just think there is a demand for a G to pummel in practice without fear of injury, or getting attacked. Riggin vs Christian.

Hitting is also absent from practice. It's no wonder its almost completely gone from games. I say offer up a super dave osborne to prepare for the playoffs, when we will flip the hit switch, yet will not have practiced it once all year.
 
ovikovy817

ovikovy817

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May 23, 2015
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Ovechkin and Holbty to the ASG

I'm sure Torts will put Ovi and Crosby together. He will not be able to resist at this.

And I hope the time will be equally distributed between his goalie and ours.
 
twabby

twabby

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Mar 9, 2010
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Cappy76 said:
No Backstrom really? Towes goes but no backstrom? I get different divisions but come on and how does chi send 4 players
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I think they got the Metro right aside from Seth Jones over Zach Werenski. Every team has to send at least one player so given that constraint it's hard to put Backstrom over Crosby, Malkin, or Ovechkin by sheer merit. And Hall, Simmonds, and Tavares are clearly the most deserving players from their respective teams so you can't really put him over any of those players.

But I agree about Toews being a joke. I'd have given Scheifele the nod over Toews and even if they HAD to take another Blackhawk, it should have been Panarin.
 
trick9

trick9

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Jun 2, 2013
12,188
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Metro division should have sent atleast 2 of the 4 teams in the ASG alone. Maybe even 3.
 
895

895

Registered User
Jun 15, 2007
8,397
7,069
It's amazing to me how much hate one playoff series can engender.

Before I always considered the NYI a loveable underdog.

Now I'm rubbing my hands in glee at their ineptitude and the massive massive contract they gave Ladd who's looking like a third liner at this point.
 
billcook

billcook

Registered User
Apr 17, 2012
1,829
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Rivalry with Isles is the only silver lining from current playoff format.




... I wanted to say, but Caps would play them under 1-8 too, so no ****ing silver lining.
 
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