Adam Michaels
Registered User
Seth Griggith: Save
Audette: Goal
Logan Shaw: Miss
Belzile: Save
Jansen Harkins: Save
Laval wins it 6-5 in the SO.
Audette: Goal
Logan Shaw: Miss
Belzile: Save
Jansen Harkins: Save
Laval wins it 6-5 in the SO.
Nice to see Laval with a gutsy win.
Evans with 2 assists. The youngster has a very respectable 23 points in 39 games in his rookie season
With the AHL Freeview tonight, I decided to give Scherbak a watch. Ontario is losing 4-3 against Stockton Heat (Calgary's AHL affiliate). It's a game with a few former Habs playing (Scherbak and Budaj for Ontario vs. Rychel and Valiev for Stockton). Fun little fact: Valiev and Rychel were the two prospects that came to Habs in the Plekanec trade. The two have been playing together for a few seasons together, but on three separate organizations (Toronto, Montreal, and Calgary).
And how was Sherby playing?
Sounds like Audette had a good game. How is he doing? Who are the best prospects on Laval?
I liked Vejdemo's speed in pre-season - does he still have a good pace to his game?Fleury and Lindgren probably have the most NHL upside with Evans maybe sneaking in closely behind. Vejdemo, McCarron, and Sklenicka probably round out the list of guys who might become regular NHL depth.
I liked Vejdemo's speed in pre-season - does he still have a good pace to his game?
Sounds like Audette had a good game. How is he doing? Who are the best prospects on Laval?
Does Audette has the same skating speed as his dad Donald ?
I just came back from Place Bell, here are my thoughts from tonight's win against the Senators:
Audette is back to playing hockey. Bouchard completely turned his game around. I was harsh on Audette earlier this season and I didn't understand at all why Bouchard kept him in the line-up. Patience paid off. Tonight, everything looked easy offensively for him. He looked very skilled and smart. But most of all : he talks a lot to his teammate. Quite a few times, I saw him and Belzile exchanging words about the previous play. They have developped great chemistry together. At one point, Audette made a defensive mistake that was saved by his goalie. He went to Lacouvee to thank him. Gave him a little pat on the back. Huge change of attitude. Also, he was used late in the game to protect the lead.
Evans had a big game too. He's very smart on the power play. Surprisingly, he spends a lot of minute on the PK as well. Bouchard wants to develop him and he's managing his role very well. I like it! I'm still not really sure what are Evans best assets. He controls the puck well, but is it well enough? Not sure. His shot isn't that great. He has a pretty good hockey IQ. He skates well. But nothing really stands out yet. Yet, he's still early in his professional career so he has plenty of time to develop. He's not used to the heavy schedule of the AHL and still, he looks good in January. That's positive.
Alzner is another positive for me. Not a great game for him tonight. He was beaten on the 2nd goal and didn't look good. But his attitude is a great thing for the Rocket. He's a good leader in the locker room and it shows. He's constantly talking to his teammate. He looks happy even if the situation isn't easy. His salary is not ideal but he can still play a role in this organisation.
Another standout tonight was Phelix Martineau. He's on the shorter side but he's large and he's hard to play against. Him and Waked were really annoying tonight. He's really starting to grow on me.
It wasn't Lacouvee's best game but his story is very inspiring. The guys are playing solid defensive hockey and he's bailing them out when necessary. He has a very calming presence and he keeps things simple. He also looks pretty big in front of his net.
Other good performances tonight:
-Belzile (he's always good)
-Froese : solid two way game, dangerous in the offensive zone
-Grenier : a bit slow but he uses his frame well to control the puck
-Alexandre Alain : Holy **** what a snipe on the PP. I had no idea he could shoot like that.
-Ouellet : smooth skating, great shot, smart defensive plays. He looks too good for the league.
Meh:
-Fleury, didn't really stand out
-Vejdemo : he's my guy in Laval but not his best game
-Jevpalovs : homer alert, I really love this guy. Not a great game tonight but showed some flashes
Bad / disappointing :
-Shinkaruk : his performances are so uneven
-Lernout : I really want him to succeed but he still makes too many boneheaded plays
-
I just came back from Place Bell, here are my thoughts from tonight's win against the Senators:
Audette is back to playing hockey. Bouchard completely turned his game around. I was harsh on Audette earlier this season and I didn't understand at all why Bouchard kept him in the line-up. Patience paid off. Tonight, everything looked easy offensively for him. He looked very skilled and smart. But most of all : he talks a lot to his teammate. Quite a few times, I saw him and Belzile exchanging words about the previous play. They have developped great chemistry together. At one point, Audette made a defensive mistake that was saved by his goalie. He went to Lacouvee to thank him. Gave him a little pat on the back. Huge change of attitude. Also, he was used late in the game to protect the lead.
Evans had a big game too. He's very smart on the power play. Surprisingly, he spends a lot of minute on the PK as well. Bouchard wants to develop him and he's managing his role very well. I like it! I'm still not really sure what are Evans best assets. He controls the puck well, but is it well enough? Not sure. His shot isn't that great. He has a pretty good hockey IQ. He skates well. But nothing really stands out yet. Yet, he's still early in his professional career so he has plenty of time to develop. He's not used to the heavy schedule of the AHL and still, he looks good in January. That's positive.
Alzner is another positive for me. Not a great game for him tonight. He was beaten on the 2nd goal and didn't look good. But his attitude is a great thing for the Rocket. He's a good leader in the locker room and it shows. He's constantly talking to his teammate. He looks happy even if the situation isn't easy. His salary is not ideal but he can still play a role in this organisation.
Another standout tonight was Phelix Martineau. He's on the shorter side but he's large and he's hard to play against. Him and Waked were really annoying tonight. He's really starting to grow on me.
It wasn't Lacouvee's best game but his story is very inspiring. The guys are playing solid defensive hockey and he's bailing them out when necessary. He has a very calming presence and he keeps things simple. He also looks pretty big in front of his net.
Other good performances tonight:
-Belzile (he's always good)
-Froese : solid two way game, dangerous in the offensive zone
-Grenier : a bit slow but he uses his frame well to control the puck
-Alexandre Alain : Holy **** what a snipe on the PP. I had no idea he could shoot like that.
-Ouellet : smooth skating, great shot, smart defensive plays. He looks too good for the league.
Meh:
-Fleury, didn't really stand out
-Vejdemo : he's my guy in Laval but not his best game
-Jevpalovs : homer alert, I really love this guy. Not a great game tonight but showed some flashes
Bad / disappointing :
-Shinkaruk : his performances are so uneven
-Lernout : I really want him to succeed but he still makes too many boneheaded plays
-
Is Juulsen out again?! Is Olofsson out again too?
Earlier in the season, the more serious watchers here were saying that the Rocket were losing in spite of playing well, due to bad luck. It's ok to say that, and it's kind of a scientific statement, as the statement implicitly predicts that the losing eventually stops.
As far as I can tell, the losing has stopped. The team is playing a lot better. But I don't know how much of that is due to less bad luck, and how much of that is due to the additions of Alzner, Schlemko, Ouellet, LeCouvee, etc.