2019-2020 Laval Rocket & ECHL Thread

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ahmedou

DOU
Oct 7, 2017
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#12/10/19(Game3:Rocket2-4Admiral)

Hudon(-2)/Evans(-2)/Belzile(-2)
Varone(-1)/Poehling/Barber(-1)
Peca(-2)/Vejdemo(-1)/Jevpalovs(1G)
Alain(1A+1)/Lynch(1A+1)/Weise(+2)

Ouellet(-3)/Leskinen(2A)
Alzner(-1)/Brook(1G+1)
Olofsson/Lamarche(-1)

Lindgren(19/22)
 

Adam Michaels

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Jun 12, 2016
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Changes to the line-up today at practice.

Hudon - Poehling - Belzile
Varone - Evans - Barber
Cox - Lynch - Weise

4th line alternating.

Peca left practice early. Maybe an injury.
 
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montreal

Go Habs Go
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Whens the last time we iced a good farm team...0-3 pffft

I would think they will be this year, I'm sure they will figure things out as right now the offense is dead and that was the problem last year but it shouldn't be anywhere near this bad as Belzile is the only forward with more then 1 pt. Plus Lindgren's numbers are a good bit worse then last years so once they give Primeau the nod and he hopefully takes it and runs with it.

It's not how you want to start but in the coming weeks if they aren't much better then I will worry as it's the one thing Bouchard needs to show he can do, and that's get the offense going as last year far too often they would outplay the other team but couldn't score into a barn door and often struggled to get more then 2 goals There was a good excuse for last year, but this year there's no excuse, his team must be a top 10 or so team with the talent he has.
 

BaseballCoach

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I would think they will be this year, I'm sure they will figure things out as right now the offense is dead and that was the problem last year but it shouldn't be anywhere near this bad as Belzile is the only forward with more then 1 pt. Plus Lindgren's numbers are a good bit worse then last years so once they give Primeau the nod and he hopefully takes it and runs with it.

It's not how you want to start but in the coming weeks if they aren't much better then I will worry as it's the one thing Bouchard needs to show he can do, and that's get the offense going as last year far too often they would outplay the other team but couldn't score into a barn door and often struggled to get more then 2 goals There was a good excuse for last year, but this year there's no excuse, his team must be a top 10 or so team with the talent he has.
For one example, Peca was a very good AHL player for Tampa Bay.
 

WinterLion

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Oct 1, 2017
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I would think they will be this year, I'm sure they will figure things out as right now the offense is dead and that was the problem last year but it shouldn't be anywhere near this bad as Belzile is the only forward with more then 1 pt. Plus Lindgren's numbers are a good bit worse then last years so once they give Primeau the nod and he hopefully takes it and runs with it.

It's not how you want to start but in the coming weeks if they aren't much better then I will worry as it's the one thing Bouchard needs to show he can do, and that's get the offense going as last year far too often they would outplay the other team but couldn't score into a barn door and often struggled to get more then 2 goals There was a good excuse for last year, but this year there's no excuse, his team must be a top 10 or so team with the talent he has.


Yeah totally. This team is stacked, I'm sure they will turn it around.
 

LaP

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I hope Poehling will adjust soon cause a future elite player should not struggle like that in the AHL 3 months prior to turning 21 years old. It will be concerning if he keeps not producing offensively.
 
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Hannibal

Fear the Weber
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Pezzetta is a nice player to have on your fourth line. Gives eneegy to your team and stand up for teammates.

shouldnt be a scratch.
 
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Dagistitsyn

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I hope Poehling will adjust soon cause a future elite player should not struggle like that in the AHL 3 months prior to turning 21 years old. It will be concerning if he keeps not producing offensively.

I think the “elite” potential has been blown way out proportion because his 4 goal game against the Leafs. Poehling might end up being a good second line C for us, but before that game literally no one viewed him as elite potential.
 

Adam Michaels

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Jun 12, 2016
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Pezzetta is a nice player to have on your fourth line. Gives eneegy to your team and stand up for teammates.

shouldnt be a scratch.

He definitely brings a lot of energy. I've been a fan of his since he started his pro career. In fact, I became a fan in the 2018 rookie tournament when he went after Toronto Marlies' biggest player and almost knocked him out. He went to one of his teammate's defense.

His line with Lynch and Weise tonight, particularly Pezzetta and Lynch, was very effective tonight. Pezzetta threw a few solid hits, as well.
 
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Adam Michaels

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I hope Poehling will adjust soon cause a future elite player should not struggle like that in the AHL 3 months prior to turning 21 years old. It will be concerning if he keeps not producing offensively.

He's still a rookie. An adjustment period is normal. He played his best game today. The goal is for him to build off of that.
 
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LaP

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I think the “elite” potential has been blown way out proportion because his 4 goal game against the Leafs. Poehling might end up being a good second line C for us, but before that game literally no one viewed him as elite potential.

We needs some kids to be more than that though ... we don't really need depth. Domi, Danault and JK is perfectly fine as far as depth goes in the center. Same for the wings. Outside of the left side of the defense where we need any kind of top 4 NHL players at the other positions we pretty much need elite skills the depth is already covered. By elite skills i mean like Patch or Subban were in their prime i'm not a guy considering anything under Crosby or Lidstrom as non elite like some. I mean any players getting close to 40 goals and/or 80 points is close to be elite in my book. Same for Dmen getting over 50 points.
 
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Adam Michaels

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Nice slapper by Hugh Dawn -- how come we weren't seeing this when he was at the NHL level?

His confidence getting a full-out rebuild, I'm guessing. Or is that a reset? There is no rebuilding in the Montreal org.

:laugh: at the reset/rebuild.

I think Mete's little time in the AHL convinced Montreal that sending a player down temporarily could prove to be a positive. Mete was sent to Laval last year so he can play more meaningful minutes and in all situations. When he was called back up to Montreal, you saw a difference in his game. This probably opened management's eyes and made them more comfortable that if a player is sent to the AHL, they could come back better.

This may be the case with Hudon. It's not like the guy's been lighting it up. He's had his struggles, as did the team as a whole. But a bit more time in Laval may be what he needs to get his game back and return to the NHL and be closer to the Hudon they had two seasons ago.
 
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montreal

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Pezzetta is a nice player to have on your fourth line. Gives eneegy to your team and stand up for teammates.

shouldnt be a scratch.

it will be interesting to see what they do when Peca and McCarron are back in the lineup. I'd send Alain to the ECHL, try something like,

Hudon Evans Barber
Varone Poehling Belzile
Vejdemo McCarron Peca
Pezzetta Lynch Weise

Leskinen Ouellet
Olofsson Brook
Alzner Juulsen (since he's likely going to be rusty)

Primeau
Lindgren
 
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Dagistitsyn

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We needs some kids to be more than that though ... we don't really need depth. Domi, Danault and JK is perfectly fine as far as depth goes in the center. Same for the wings. Outside of the left side of the defense where we need any kind of top 4 NHL players at the other positions we pretty much need elite skills the depth is already covered. By elite skills i mean like Patch or Subban were in their prime i'm not a guy considering anything under Crosby or Lidstrom as non elite like some. I mean any players getting close to 40 goals and/or 80 points is close to be elite in my book. Same for Dmen getting over 50 points.

Yeah I personally never believed Poehling would be anything close to an 80 point player. I’d be happy if he can be a 50-60 point guy. You gotta draft higher or find some real hidden gems to get 80 point guys.
I’m skeptical that KK could even be an 80 point guy and we got him third overall.
 
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montreal

Go Habs Go
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Yeah I personally never believed Poehling would be anything close to an 80 point player. I’d be happy if he can be a 50-60 point guy. You gotta draft higher or find some real hidden gems to get 80 point guys.
I’m skeptical that KK could even be an 80 point guy and we got him third overall.

agreed, I hope Kotka is a 70-80 pt player some day, I think he does have the skill to do so. Poehling I never saw as an 80 pt player, I didn't see him as a 60 pt player but one that would most likely be at least a 30-40 pt player that 50 wouldn't be too far off if put with the right linemates. I just don't think he has the shot to score that many goals so unless he's with a sniper that can pot a shit ton of goals, it will be very hard for him to hit 60 pts imo. Granted with prospects the main thing is seeing how they progress each year so opinions can change from the start of the year to the end of the year. Moving up to the pro level is a big step so we'll see how it goes.
 
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LaP

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Quebec City, Canada
:laugh: at the reset/rebuild.

I think Mete's little time in the AHL convinced Montreal that sending a player down temporarily could prove to be a positive. Mete was sent to Laval last year so he can play more meaningful minutes and in all situations. When he was called back up to Montreal, you saw a difference in his game. This probably opened management's eyes and made them more comfortable that if a player is sent to the AHL, they could come back better.

This may be the case with Hudon. It's not like the guy's been lighting it up. He's had his struggles, as did the team as a whole. But a bit more time in Laval may be what he needs to get his game back and return to the NHL and be closer to the Hudon they had two seasons ago.

Of course sending a player down can be positive. Who the hell think it's not? I think what is important is to properly evaluate kids (worthy of such evaluation) at the NHL level every years.

For one it gives the kid a chance to see where he is at. Dominating the AHL is fine but you don't know where you are at as far as the NHL level goes. For two it gives the chance for the GM and coaches to evaluate the kids at the relevant level. To know what the coaches need to work on with the players in the AHL. Personally i don't think anyone can fully and properly evaluate a kid based on his play in the AHL only. You got to see him against the best at least 10 games a year (outside the camp where most vets don't even try).

People like to talk about the Wings. How the Wings know how to develop. How they keep their players in the AHL until they turn 50 years old. But nobody is saying how the wings give between 10 to 20 games to pretty much all their good young players every years and this no later than their 2nd AHL season. They evaluate them and they use injuries to give their kids some NHL games.

What we must avoid is what happened in the 90ies and early 2k where we let kids like Conroy (2nd line center) and Beauchemin (2nd pairing dman) slip between our hands without even giving them 20 games at the NHL level. This is unacceptable. So far i will say MB's regime did well. Got to give credits where it is due. All the kids they drafted had their chances to prove their worth at the NHL level every year outside of maybe Hudon early in his career (where MT somehow preferred to overuse Flynn when there was injuries instead of calling up a kid for whatever reason). They kids just did not have what it takes. I think enough time passed since they traded those players away (Tinordi, Beaulieu, Ghetto, ...) to firmly say that now at the end of 2019. The problem is more drafting than anything else even I must admit (i defended drafting and crapped on Sly a lot).

This said i still don't agree with using rejects from other teams instead of our young players. I don't think in the long run it's detrimental to the development as long as our kids get enough games of experience to progress but it's still dumb. I've been calling this the musical chair since the 90ies and we have been doing this for too long. Getting desperate players in the middle of their 20ies having their back against the wall and giving them a final glimpse of hope of making it and using this extra motivation to press all the remaining juice from said players until there's nothing left. It's a strategy that failed for many years and it's not a good one. It leads to a perpetual bubble team drafting low.
 
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