Post-Game Talk: 3/6/13 Avs Lose 3-2 l We Actually Need More Hunwick, Not Less! l Part II

[bohlmeister]

I don't think it takes a great hockey mind to run a successful junior program in London, Ontario. There's a reason why he wasn't brought back after less than a season on the job. And just because the team's rough start lowered expectations doesn't mean Hunter deserves praise for getting the team past the first round.

This is completely incorrect. I guess you are entitled to your opinion though.

London is a very respectable franchise because of what happens on the ice. And he is the biggest reason for this. Hunter also turned down the coaching job, and wanted to go back to London. I'm sure McPhee wishes he would have come back.

 

[Freudian]

Hunter chose to go back to London where he feels comfortable. I'm pretty sure the Caps wanted him to stay and he told them no.

There were rumors (that should be taken with a healthy dose of skepticism) that Hunter wasn't happy with how entitled the players were and that's why he didn't want to stay.

 

[ChibiPooky]

Yeah, I wouldn't believe anything I've read wrt why Hunter left. I guess only he and McPhee will ever really know. I also wonder how much of the success in London is due to his coaching and how much is due to his brother's GMing. Juniors are a different animal. Still, point remains: trap sucks balls to watch when properly executed.

 

[Pokecheque]

This is completely incorrect. I guess you are entitled to your opinion though.

London is a very respectable franchise because of what happens on the ice. And he is the biggest reason for this. Hunter also turned down the coaching job, and wanted to go back to London. I'm sure McPhee wishes he would have come back.

Fair enough, I should retract my statement regarding the running of a successful junior program--if you succeed at ANY level of hockey you have to know the game to some extent--but junior success to me doesn't necessarily denote a hockey genius at the NHL level. Some of the moves he made with the Caps just baffled me to be honest.

Of course HE never iced a power play with 5 forwards, so...

 

[ChibiPooky]

Fair enough, I should retract my statement regarding the running of a successful junior program--if you succeed at ANY level of hockey you have to know the game to some extent--but junior success to me doesn't necessarily denote a hockey genius at the NHL level. Some of the moves he made with the Caps just baffled me to be honest.

Of course HE never iced a power play with 5 forwards, so...

Most of them looked like he iced 5 defensemen

 

[Pokecheque]

On another subject, was it just me or did O'Byrne look a LOT better than he has all season? He finally laid down some big hits...unfortunately one of them ended up injuring Patrick Sharp, but still, I didn't notice the kind of positional mistakes or lame attempts to block shots that he'd been pulling since the start of the season.

 

[bohlmeister]

On another subject, was it just me or did O'Byrne look a LOT better than he has all season? He finally laid down some big hits...unfortunately one of them ended up injuring Patrick Sharp, but still, I didn't notice the kind of positional mistakes or lame attempts to block shots that he'd been pulling since the start of the season.

Chicago didn't really have much sustained pressure in our zone. For some reason O'Byrne is quite good off the rush. He forces players to the boards well, uses his stick well, and eliminates players. It is when the play is stuck in our zone that he starts to look like a park bench.

 

[Freudian]

On another subject, was it just me or did O'Byrne look a LOT better than he has all season? He finally laid down some big hits...unfortunately one of them ended up injuring Patrick Sharp, but still, I didn't notice the kind of positional mistakes or lame attempts to block shots that he'd been pulling since the start of the season.

I think he's been much better with the puck the last three-four games. I still think he's slower than he used to be and that leads to him being too passive and having poor gap control. He still does a decent job along the boards and blocking shots.

Still, it's hard seeing a future for him here with all the meatbags on multi-year deals.

 

[Pokecheque]

Chicago didn't really have much sustained pressure in our zone. For some reason O'Byrne is quite good off the rush. He forces players to the boards well, uses his stick well, and eliminates players. It is when the play is stuck in our zone that he starts to look like a park bench.

That's a good observation. I think you're right--he just has good timing and instincts when it comes to closing in on players on the rush.

I think he's been much better with the puck the last three-four games. I still think he's slower than he used to be and that leads to him being too passive and having poor gap control. He still does a decent job along the boards and blocking shots.

Still, it's hard seeing a future for him here with all the meatbags on multi-year deals.

It's possible he has lost a step (I swear he's dealing with some sort of injury that's limiting his physicality and what little mobility he has) and that might be why he's not charging into corners and knocking the slobber out of guys like he used to.

And yeah, I agree, he'll probably walk (slowly) at season's end or be dealt, but if it were up to me I'd keep O'Byrne and get rid of O'Brien and Zanon.

 

[Avs]

Does anyone know the Avs/Hawks all time head-to-head record? I saw it somewhere last night but can't find it anywhere.

 

[AslanRH]

No GDT yet, but Melrose gave the Avs the kiss of death on Sports Center. Said he thinks we'll win Friday.

 

[avs1dacup]

That's a good observation. I think you're right--he just has good timing and instincts when it comes to closing in on players on the rush.



It's possible he has lost a step (I swear he's dealing with some sort of injury that's limiting his physicality and what little mobility he has) and that might be why he's not charging into corners and knocking the slobber out of guys like he used to.

And yeah, I agree, he'll probably walk (slowly) at season's end or be dealt, but if it were up to me I'd keep O'Byrne and get rid of O'Brien and Zanon.

IDK about O'Brien. He's looked good these past couple games. He still makes gaffs that all bottom pairing guys make but he's been physical and has some puck skill.

 

[cgf]

Honestly. SOB hasn't even made many mistakes this year. When he's pinched or rushed the puck he's done a much better job of not leaving the team out to hang if it doesn't work, plus he's been better about at least getting the puck deep before the other team gets it back. I've really liked what I've seen and would love to keep this SOB on our third pairing behind Hejda/Barrie and anybody-legit/EJ

 

[avalanchuck]

No GDT yet, but Melrose gave the Avs the kiss of death on Sports Center. Said he thinks we'll win Friday.

Damn MULLET strikes again!

 

[Over the Pants Landy]

Honestly. SOB hasn't even made many mistakes this year. When he's pinched or rushed the puck he's done a much better job of not leaving the team out to hang if it doesn't work, plus he's been better about at least getting the puck deep before the other team gets it back. I've really liked what I've seen and would love to keep this SOB on our third pairing behind Hejda/Barrie and anybody-legit/EJ

I've been pleasantly surprised with SOB's play as of late.

 

[KraftD]

We need power play goals or shorthanded goals...

8 -Power-play goals by the Colorado Avalanche, the fewest in the NHL. Colorado has scored as many power-play goals as Pittsburgh's James Neal, who's tops among all players with eight.

What a joke

 

[Chileiceman]

Damn MULLET strikes again!

He was so clueless when he was talking about the Avs. Talking about our speedsters like Stastny

 

[benzino]

We need power play goals or shorthanded goals...

8 -Power-play goals by the Colorado Avalanche, the fewest in the NHL. Colorado has scored as many power-play goals as Pittsburgh's James Neal, who's tops among all players with eight.

What a joke

Our powerplay setup is brutal. Only one player at the point that always fails to keep the puck in the zone since the opponent PK players get a ocean of space to put the puck once they got it because there is only one player "guarding" the blue line.

Then no players are setup for one timers at all, Stastny that is a left shooter is on the left side and Hejduk that is rightie is on the right side which gives the opponents all the time in the world to shut down the shooting lane and the goalie can pretty much take a nap in net.

Then for some reason they never ever try to shoot the puck it's just pass pass pass until they lose it. When they do try to shoot it it's almost always the lone point man which every NHL team and amateur hockey fan has picked up on now. A guy like Jay McClement could alone in his sleep shut down our PP it's that predictable.

Our second PP unit also badly needs more skill players but it is what it is I guess.

 

[Lonewolfe2015]

We need power play goals or shorthanded goals...

8 -Power-play goals by the Colorado Avalanche, the fewest in the NHL. Colorado has scored as many power-play goals as Pittsburgh's James Neal, who's tops among all players with eight.

What a joke

We've had an average of 5.5 penalties called against us per game, but only 2.85 called for us per game.

So not only do we have the worst powerplay percentage, we have the second worst number of opportunities per game. So we are getting no chance to improve it.

 

[Foppa2118]

Does anyone know the Avs/Hawks all time head-to-head record? I saw it somewhere last night but can't find it anywhere.

It's probably not what you're looking for, but this has the franchise head to head record, with Quebec included.

http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/COL/head2head.html

 

[bohlmeister]

We've had an average of 5.5 penalties called against us per game, but only 2.85 called for us per game.

So not only do we have the worst powerplay percentage, we have the second worst number of opportunities per game. So we are getting no chance to improve it.

And the reason for that is that we do not possess the puck. Possession is key to drawing penalties. Avs spend too much time defending.

Why is there no time of possession stat in hockey?

 

[Pokecheque]

And the reason for that is that we do not possess the puck. Possession is key to drawing penalties. Avs spend too much time defending.

Why is there no time of possession stat in hockey?

Because it'd probably be measured even more poorly than stuff like hits.

I think Fenwick/Corsi isn't a bad metric to get an idea of possession #s, since of course you gotta have the puck in order to shoot the thing AND prevent shots against.

And you're absolutely right--the Avs are even less of a possession team than they were last season, and that's just plain pathetic.

 

[Avs]

It's probably not what you're looking for, but this has the franchise head to head record, with Quebec included.

http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/COL/head2head.html

That'll do! Thanks, I appreciate it.