GDT: #69 - Stars vs. Sabres at 7 PM ET on MSG-B and WGR

littletonhockeycoach

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This overblown. Erod is a very good skater, both top speed and agility wise.
He survives because he has the hungriest engine on the team and plays a tough game, willing to take hits to make plays.

He is a smart player, but it’s hardly his defining trait as a player.

Every team wants and needs an Erod on their team. He's a solid complementary player. Problem is, he doesn't complement that many players on our roster because our roster is composed of has beens and wanna be's vs a cadre of elite 1st tier and near elite 2nd tier players.

We got Jack. And that's pretty much it!
 

GellMann

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Dec 16, 2014
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This overblown. Erod is a very good skater, both top speed and agility wise.
He survives because he has the hungriest engine on the team and plays a tough game, willing to take hits to make plays.

He is a smart player, but it’s hardly his defining trait as a player.
The dude is skinnier than me. He'd be dead without his vision and instincts, which I count as hockey IQ. It's strong.

Edited for explanation: I am way too skinny
 

GellMann

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Watching Sam today versus the last few games has shown me two things.

1.) Sam's only weakness is being too deferential to our best center, who he should only play with when the goalie is pulled or we have a PP

2.) Phil is alarmingly blind to pretty much any observable hockey characteristic of every single hockey player on his team. And this comes from someone who thinks a lot of the Phil talk on this site becomes overblown.
 

sabrebuild

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Every team wants and needs an Erod on their team. He's a solid complementary player. Problem is, he doesn't complement that many players on our roster because our roster is composed of has beens and wanna be's vs a cadre of elite 1st tier and near elite 2nd tier players.

We got Jack. And that's pretty much it!
The dude is skinnier than me. He'd be dead without his vision and instincts, which I count as hockey IQ. It's strong.

Edited for explanation: I am way too skinny

First I agree with Colorado, I think he is a very useful player and should never not play in our top nine. I also hate you for being skinny.

I don’t find him to have great instincts or vision. These are not bad qualities, he is solid. But he doesn’t out think opponents, well except on the occasional 2v1.

He out hustles them, out skates them. And he really isn’t that skinny. 175 at 5’10” is better than Ennis or Marner.

I say we call Erod the Terminator, Shredded Steel.
 

sabrebuild

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Even on the power play?

To be honest, I think the powerplay is one of his weaknesses. I find him very effective in transition. His skating helps him get space and his hands are good enough to make a play from time to time. Kind of like a more rounded Skinner lite.

But when things get stationary, he gets a little locked up.
 

GellMann

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First I agree with Colorado, I think he is a very useful player and should never not play in our top nine. I also hate you for being skinny.

I don’t find him to have great instincts or vision. These are not bad qualities, he is solid. But he doesn’t out think opponents, well except on the occasional 2v1.

He out hustles them, out skates them. And he really isn’t that skinny. 175 at 5’10” is better than Ennis or Marner.

I say we call Erod the Terminator, Shredded Steel.
I've seen Erod in real life, and those numbers are as fake as any other NHLers. (Which is quite a fun topic actually, it's funny how much they jack that stuff up)

Not meant as a counter. Just a funny thought.

And I see average skating, bad hands, and a quick-twitch brain when I see Evan play. Happy to agree to disagree.
 

Fezzy126

Rebuilding...
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Watching Sam today versus the last few games has shown me two things.

1.) Sam's only weakness is being too deferential to our best center, who he should only play with when the goalie is pulled or we have a PP

2.) Phil is alarmingly blind to pretty much any observable hockey characteristic of every single hockey player on his team. And this comes from someone who thinks a lot of the Phil talk on this site becomes overblown.

I have been patient for a looooong time, but I'm pretty much done. Tactically, I've been good with the team's transition game, but his lack of creativity in creating quality scoring chances with offensive zone possession has been abysmal. Defensively we still have way too many breakdowns, and far too often we're chasing the play. I've seen enough roster turnover to determine that it's not entirely based on personnel.

His deployments seem to be getting worse by the week (I assume as we get more desperate for different results).

Oh, and someone please fire Andrew Allen into the sun as well.

Edit: and to your original point, Sam has been f***ing awesome this year
 
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sabrebuild

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I've seen Erod in real life, and those numbers are as fake as any other NHLers. (Which is quite a fun topic actually, it's funny how much they jack that stuff up)

Not meant as a counter. Just a funny thought.

And I see average skating, bad hands, and a quick-twitch brain when I see Evan play. Happy to agree to disagree.

Oh sure, no number can be trusted. He just looks thicker to me than many other little guys in the league.

Bad hands and average skating ehh??? Ya we will have to disagree.
 

GellMann

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Oh sure, no number can be trusted. He just looks thicker to me than many other little guys in the league.

Bad hands and average skating ehh??? Ya we will have to disagree.
Sure, he flies by Sobotka, but I firmly believe our plodders make him and others look faster than they are :P
 

Paxon

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I've seen Erod in real life, and those numbers are as fake as any other NHLers. (Which is quite a fun topic actually, it's funny how much they jack that stuff up)

Not meant as a counter. Just a funny thought.

And I see average skating, bad hands, and a quick-twitch brain when I see Evan play. Happy to agree to disagree.
He is for sure an above-average skater .
 

GellMann

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He is for sure an above-average skater .
I think this used to be true - that his current speed was above average fairly recently.

I watch fourth line plugs on mediocre teams like New Jersey and Arizona skate faster than any non-Eichel Sabre with regularity though. Watching Montreal before they got decent this year was always alarming for the same reason. Some guy named Roope Hintz tonight.

NHLers are f***ing fast nowadays, and we are incredibly slow. I think Rodrigues fits right in around average.
 

Paxon

202* Stanley Cup Champions
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I think this used to be true - that his current speed was above average fairly recently.

I watch fourth line plugs on mediocre teams like New Jersey and Arizona skate faster than any non-Eichel Sabre with regularity though. Watching Montreal before they got decent this year was always alarming for the same reason. Some guy named Roope Hintz tonight.

NHLers are ****ing fast nowadays, and we are incredibly slow. I think Rodrigues fits right in around average.
It's not just speed, as he has above-average agility. Skating is not one of his problems. I agree that he has bad hands, particularly for the game he could otherwise bring. He has not much of a shot as well. You mentioned his physique, which is obviously not a strength. Dude has smarts and an engine like you say, but his skating is an important part to his being a positive on the team. It's the other areas that hold him back from being a considerably better player.
 

GellMann

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It's not just speed, as he has above-average agility. Skating is not one of his problems. I agree that he has bad hands, particularly for the game he could otherwise bring. He has not much of a shot as well. You mentioned his physique, which is obviously not a strength. Dude has smarts and an engine like you say, but his skating is an important part to his being a positive on the team. It's the other areas that hold him back from being a considerably better player.
I don't think it's a problem either. I just don't think he's fast.

He's definitely one of my favorites.
 

Howie Hodge

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I've seen Erod in real life, and those numbers are as fake as any other NHLers. (Which is quite a fun topic actually, it's funny how much they jack that stuff up)

Not meant as a counter. Just a funny thought.

And I see average skating, bad hands, and a quick-twitch brain when I see Evan play. Happy to agree to disagree.

Good and great players come in smaller sizes often, understood.

What would you put ERod at?

Just curious, as I've met a few guys who laughed about their generous listings. I was partticularly amazed at Doug Flutie being well under his listed height of 5'10"

Mind you, a couple guys over the years looked bigger than listed to me too. But they're the exception...
 
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MayDayMayDay

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Feb 22, 2012
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Single player straight line acceleration and quickness is one kind of speed.

But a team can also generate speed through precise and purposeful passing. This is the kind of speed I think we can generate to be successful. Jack, Sam, Dahlin, Mitts, ERod, Monty - all of them are good to great passers. Same can be said for Nylander, Olofsson, Asplund and Borgen who are on their way. But to do that, we need a coach whose system implements and reinforces it successfully.
 

Royal Thunder

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Feb 21, 2012
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Single player straight line acceleration and quickness is one kind of speed.

But a team can also generate speed through precise and purposeful passing. This is the kind of speed I think we can generate to be successful. Jack, Sam, Dahlin, Mitts, ERod, Monty - all of them are good to great passers. Same can be said for Nylander, Olofsson, Asplund and Borgen who are on their way. But to do that, we need a coach whose system implements and reinforces it successfully.
Great post. Guys aren't in sync whatsoever, they have no idea what to do when they have the puck, nor where their teammates will be. Almost every breakout that isn't Dahlin is like a new adventure for this team. There's no foundation for players to fall back on when under pressure, and that's the story in all 3 zones. At this point in the season it's inexcusable. Coaching is our biggest disadvantage right now, every night.

I don't dismiss that some of it is that the team is defeated and has essentially quit, but even when the games were important 2 months ago it was largely a disorganized mess. When they did have stretches of NHL caliber play, it wasn't sustained.
 

ek93

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Dec 28, 2014
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We're back to the days where my Labatt at the game cost more than my ticket itself tonight.

We're still a long ways off. :(
 

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