GDT: 2023-24 season game 22 LA Kings vs Columbus Blue Jackets @4:00pm 12/5/23

[mysterman2]

Mikey Anderson is a stud defenseman. Unbeatable most nights. That play he made tonight that somehow only Evans noticed despite 3 replays was remarkable.

Jim and Daryl breakdown of the game for key plays is top level. Watching the YouTube highlights had the BJs crew.....well this clip speaks for itself.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Seriously a new phenomenon this year.

We look ahead to what needs to be improved and do not care what just has happened.

Some act here like we are Tampa Bay and have played in the (Conference) Finals for five straight years.

Welcome to the weight of expectations. Several years of saying 'yeah we're a contender,' first round exits, and multiple 1st round picks traded means the bar has been raised higher.

If you want "well I'm just glad both teams had fun," you might want to find a non-playoff/lottery team to watch for the year.

As usual--it needs to be explained to you that we can be surprised, excited, and stoked by a comeback win (even over a lottery team) and yet thoughtful about what the future holds.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Welcome to the weight of expectations. Several years of saying 'yeah we're a contender,' first round exits, and multiple 1st round picks traded means the bar has been raised higher.

If you want "well I'm just glad both teams had fun," you might want to find a non-playoff/lottery team to watch for the year.

As usual--it needs to be explained to you that we can be surprised, excited, and stoked by a comeback win (even over a lottery team) and yet thoughtful about what the future holds.

LOL the funny thing about this is RJ doesn't even recognize WHAT he is responding to, lately I've found that to be par for the course....

 

[Frolov 6'3]

Welcome to the weight of expectations. Several years of saying 'yeah we're a contender,' first round exits, and multiple 1st round picks traded means the bar has been raised higher.

If you want "well I'm just glad both teams had fun," you might want to find a non-playoff/lottery team to watch for the year.

As usual--it needs to be explained to you that we can be surprised, excited, and stoked by a comeback win (even over a lottery team) and yet thoughtful about what the future holds.

I must have missed the several years of saying “yeah we’re a contender”.

About 90% thought we were not.

First round exits also happened between 2010 & 2012. Nothing of this, back than.

After watching LA the last few years, yes we should be glad we have fun and we go from there…..of course together with just some thoughts about the upcoming playoffs. Just a little and not what we are witnessing now.

 

[Master Yoda]

I may be alone in this, but I think PLD has been fine and mostly pretty good as of late.
Not fine for a $8.5M center in terms of production but he's obviously carrying his line to be at least competent 5v5.
His numbers look bad because he only has 1 PP point.

 

[Nasti]

Can people stop bitching about other people’s bitching?

 

[Fishhead]

Can people stop bitching about other people’s bitching?

Who do I complain to about this post?

 

[Nasti]

Who do I complain to about this post?

The manager.

 

[Kingfan1967]

This year is starting to feel special.

Starting to feel like 2012 after the Carter trade, but from the start of the season.

 

[bmr]

Starting to feel like 2012 after the Carter trade, but from the start of the season.

Everything has to line up properly in the playoffs. That and we need some solid goaltending. Definitely been a fun ride so far.

 

[Rick Knickleback]

Way too soon to talk about Stanley Cup vibes. Injuries will come, a slump or two will happen, trades or call-ups will be made. How the team responds to the ebbs and flows of the midseason weirdness will go a long way towards determining if they can make a run. I will say that in the back of my mind last night during the second period intermission, I was thinking, "they could totally still win this." It's great that they're at least that kind of team this year.

 

[bland]

I may be alone in this, but I think PLD has been fine and mostly pretty good as of late.
Not fine for a $8.5M center in terms of production but he's obviously carrying his line to be at least competent 5v5.
His numbers look bad because he only has 1 PP point.

His numbers look bad because he sucks.

Dubois has far and away been the teams lest effective player. He has the same amount of points as JAD since he became a regular.

 

[Nasti]

Dubois’s first year in Winnipeg wasn’t great either. 20 points in 41 games. It was the 20-21 shortened season.

 

[bmr]

His numbers look bad because he sucks.

Dubois has far and away been the teams lest effective player. He has the same amount of points as JAD since he became a regular.

He could be such a beast too. I keep watching him during celebrations and interactions with other teammates and he just seems like a much more subdued guy. With him I think it's just a case of finding a way to tote the line. Curious if the coaches have talked to him already or just want to see how it plays out over the season. With the team clicking as well as it has, I think it's probably the latter.

Dubois’s first year in Winnipeg wasn’t great either. 20 points in 41 games. It was the 20-21 shortened season.

I noticed this also. Hopefully when Arvy comes back it will give the team a different look.

 

[Schrute farms]

The best thing PLD has done is poison pill Todd McClellan to run 3 even lines instead of riding Kopitar for 30 min

Your comment probably was a combo of tongue-in-cheekiness and seriousness. But i do think you hit the nail on the head here. He's been a disappointment. But what he has done is allowed a more evenly distributed three lines. while at the same time, Liz to anchor the 4th line with Lewis added. It's given the team a 4 line balance that teams have a hard time matching over 60 minutes. PLD should be better and producign more. But his presence alone has helped.

More so though, it's the emergence of QB and Spence (for Durzi) with a very solid (above average) 4th line and unexpectedly very good Talbot goalie-ing.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

I may be alone in this, but I think PLD has been fine and mostly pretty good as of late.
Not fine for a $8.5M center in terms of production but he's obviously carrying his line to be at least competent 5v5.
His numbers look bad because he only has 1 PP point.

Not alone, but talking to the naysayers is about as adept as pissing in the wind.....

 

[chris kontos]

delete

 

[chris kontos]

i'd be happy to bet that what we are seeing performance wise consistently from pld is what were going to get over the life of his contract.

 

[YP44]

i'm still hard from that third period.

 

[Axl Rhoadz]

Unlike many here, I actually understand that a small sample size of games doesn't necessarily dictate a player's entire career -- we've seen examples of that time and time again. With that said, I'm not loving what I've seen from PLD - I'm not hating it either. I'm willing to give him the entire season before I pass judgement on what I expect to see from him for the next several years.

If anything, what I question the most is the term of the contract and why management was so quick to hand that out. What is it they envision from this player that made them give up their top emerging player at the time (Vilardi)?

I do believe that PLD has been instrumental in leveling out the ice time for guys like Kopitar, something this group has been screaming about for years -- you would think that alone would bring some satisfaction at this point.

 

[kingsholygrail]

PLD is playing the Stoll role well enough.

 

[kilowatt]

Literally everybody other than PLD not only fit in but surpassed expectations.

Lewis, Talbot, Englund, Laferriere to some degree, Spence as a regular have all been important parts to the team.

And then there's that dude getting $8.5 million.

That is so much money for so little impact.

None of those guys are centers, and I’m not excusing his play, but I’m seeing the exact same things from Dubois this year as I did Byfield last year and look at that played out. Perhaps there’s more to it we don’t see. I’m eating a lot of crow this year on Byfield, and I’m glad of it. Just trying to hate a little less.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

None of those guys are centers, and I’m not excusing his play, but I’m seeing the exact same things from Dubois this year as I did Byfield last year and look at that played out. Perhaps there’s more to it we don’t see. I’m eating a lot of crow this year on Byfield, and I’m glad of it. Just trying to hate a little less.

Unfortunately some people just can't

 

[King'sPawn]

None of those guys are centers, and I’m not excusing his play, but I’m seeing the exact same things from Dubois this year as I did Byfield last year and look at that played out. Perhaps there’s more to it we don’t see. I’m eating a lot of crow this year on Byfield, and I’m glad of it. Just trying to hate a little less.

Just out of curiosity, what are you seeing in PLD that you saw in Byfield last year?

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

None of those guys are centers, and I’m not excusing his play, but I’m seeing the exact same things from Dubois this year as I did Byfield last year and look at that played out. Perhaps there’s more to it we don’t see. I’m eating a lot of crow this year on Byfield, and I’m glad of it. Just trying to hate a little less.

I'm just hoping it's part of the stupid TM "we use our own language and the system is complicated" thing