Barracuda News & Discussion - Part 6

[The Nemesis]

Barracuda News & Discussion - Part 5

Carry on.

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[Hobocop]

@Dicdonya I can't figure out how to quote your post into this one (and I don't care enough to continue trying), so I'm just going to snip the end of it and comment on it.

Looks like his offense is abysmal if you ask me, especially considering the sort of offensive gifts Merkley has. However if the coaching staff really is looking at clips like the one above and forcing Merkley to focus on that nonsense instead of getting his offensive production fixed first, I can now see why Merkley is doing jack shit in the AHL.

His offense is abysmal based on what, his stat line? I've had an issue with some of what Merkley does in the zone. Too much floating, not enough urgency. He's very talented with the puck on his stick, but tends to slow play it a little too much, I suspect that's what Chiasson means by the pace comment. But he's very good at holding onto the puck. Dekes forwards in the zone pretty well, the way you'd typically see Karlsson do it. It's taken him most of the season, but he's looked better in that regard. He's finally shooting, though his refusal to shoot early on may have been related to that wrist injury he sat for for a bit. Early season, he was just showing nothing. Feels more like he needs to get up to speed than anything that has to do with his actual skill. The big concern in my eyes is that part still hasn't happened.

Might as well tell Burns, and Karlsson to stop playing offense and being aggressive, and focus on playing defense like Pronger. Not only will they not be able to, they will being doing nothing that makes them special offensively too, and thus be complete wastes of space.

lol. Jesus Christ. Yeah, that's exactly what I said. Stop playing offense, Merkley.

Fine, here's more about Merkley, from someone who has watched him the entire season. I haven't really written much on him because he's a project and he's still in the early stages. I don't like to start spouting off negativity that early. But, season's ending now, so here we are.

Ryan Merkley barely seems to have interest in playing defense at times. He doesn't do simple things in front of the net often, like tying up sticks, or attempting to box people out of there. He's small, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't try. Sometimes I think about Thomas Gregoire, who was on this team last season, and who I thought Merkley would basically just serve as a major upgrade to this season. Gregoire was small and awful at playing defense, but at least he made an effort at it.

Merkley will often go into the defensive zone, and sort of stand there. Semi-zones out if the puck isn't immediately near him. He'll push up the rink without giving any sort of regard whether he should be concerned about being the last man back. My least favorite move of his would be his attempts to jam forwards entering the zone at the blue line, because he straight up can't do it properly. They go right around him and it typically becomes a brief 2 on 1. He'll have his games where he looks fine, but he's the only defenseman on the team that genuinely makes me nervous when we're in the D zone.

Chiasson's comment, read it again. Merkley needs to learn that playing defense is important. That doesn't seem like a weird thing for a defenseman to have to learn to you? Do me a favor, take a look at his pre-draft scouting if you think I'm off my rocker here. Go ahead and check how many of them say that Merkley's defensive skills are non-existent, or in some cases, like I'm saying, that he has no interest in playing it altogether. Effort issues. Bad habits. That was the book on him before we drafted him, and shock and awe, that's exactly where his issues are.

So, we should just ignore that? Are we hoping for this guy to play in the top 4? I don't know about you, but I'm not real keen on having a top 4 defenseman who isn't going to defend. That's not turning a guy into a total waste, that's attempting to correct a guy who can be a liability.

 

[Jargon]

Let’s just make Merkley a forward and be done with it.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Let’s just make Merkley a forward and be done with it.

How would that help at all?

 

[Jargon]

How would that help at all?

I’m joking.

But can he play goalie?

 

[Dicdonya]

lol. Jesus Christ. Yeah, that's exactly what I said. Stop playing offense, Merkley.

Let me start with this. Just like you were having trouble quoting me, I was having major issues trying to respond on my phone, this site hates my phone for some reason and kept refreshing the site and thus killing my reply a million times, so by the time I finally got to computer my response was truncated and terse.

I did not mean to imply that you ever said that, and should have clarified that better, it was more a general statement about comments I have seen about Merkley, as well as other offensive defenseman, mixed with the quote. So sorry that it came off as a directed at you, I know you did not say that.

His offense is abysmal based on what, his stat line? I've had an issue with some of what Merkley does in the zone. Too much floating, not enough urgency. He's very talented with the puck on his stick, but tends to slow play it a little too much, I suspect that's what Chiasson means by the pace comment. But he's very good at holding onto the puck. Dekes forwards in the zone pretty well, the way you'd typically see Karlsson do it. It's taken him most of the season, but he's looked better in that regard. He's finally shooting, though his refusal to shoot early on may have been related to that wrist injury he sat for for a bit. Early season, he was just showing nothing. Feels more like he needs to get up to speed than anything that has to do with his actual skill. The big concern in my eyes is that part still hasn't happened.

Yes based on the stats, and from the little I have got to watch him. Based on his gifts offensively, 10 pts, barely 1 shot per game, and a -14 in 29 games is abysmal across the board. There are plenty of reasons that could be true, including his actual play, a couple injuries this year, covid screwing the season up immensely etc, but none the less his offensive production is not even remotely close to what I would want and expect from a player of Merkley's caliber in that area. Thus my concern about Merkley is centered squarely on that fact. We did not draft Merkley to play defense well, we did not draft Merkley for his motor and feistiness around his own net, we drafted Merkley because he is one of the most gifted, but flawed, offensive defenseman to play in the OHL ever, and he is not bringing that in the AHL right now.

Thus instead of all the focus on the parts of his game that are not his strengths, I think the absolute most important thing to focus on with Merkley is getting his offensive game going against AHL comp. Once that part of his game is fixed, and humming along, that is when you start turning the focus onto rounding out his abilities defensively.

To be clear, I am NOT saying they cannot be working on both at once, I am only saying that the focus should be on his lack of offense right now, not his troubling defense.

Fine, here's more about Merkley, from someone who has watched him the entire season. I haven't really written much on him because he's a project and he's still in the early stages. I don't like to start spouting off negativity that early. But, season's ending now, so here we are.

Ryan Merkley barely seems to have interest in playing defense at times. He doesn't do simple things in front of the net often, like tying up sticks, or attempting to box people out of there. He's small, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't try. Sometimes I think about Thomas Gregoire, who was on this team last season, and who I thought Merkley would basically just serve as a major upgrade to this season. Gregoire was small and awful at playing defense, but at least he made an effort at it.

Merkley will often go into the defensive zone, and sort of stand there. Semi-zones out if the puck isn't immediately near him. He'll push up the rink without giving any sort of regard whether he should be concerned about being the last man back. My least favorite move of his would be his attempts to jam forwards entering the zone at the blue line, because he straight up can't do it properly. They go right around him and it typically becomes a brief 2 on 1. He'll have his games where he looks fine, but he's the only defenseman on the team that genuinely makes me nervous when we're in the D zone.

Sounds like Burns or Karlsson, no? Literally every flaw you just pointed out is exactly what I expect to see from Burns or Karlsson on a nightly basis, or really any super offense minded Dman in the NHL.

However you can look past those things, and more importantly game plan/adjust for those things, if you know that when those two do have the puck on their stick, magic happens and points get scored. However just like with Burns and Karlsson on the Sharks now, and Merkley in the AHL, when they are doing those things, plus being varying levels of useless offensively they are pretty terrible and the team suffers for it.

So just like with Burns or Karlsson, when they are not going offensively, and their defensive lapses start to stand out more because of it, that is not a time to focus on defense and effort, its a time to focus on getting them going offensively in what ever way is necessary, because for their good and the teams good that is in the best interest of everyone, because they are not expected to be defensive stalwarts, but instead offensive juggernauts.

Chiasson's comment, read it again. Merkley needs to learn that playing defense is important. That doesn't seem like a weird thing for a defenseman to have to learn to you? Do me a favor, take a look at his pre-draft scouting if you think I'm off my rocker here. Go ahead and check how many of them say that Merkley's defensive skills are non-existent, or in some cases, like I'm saying, that he has no interest in playing it altogether. Effort issues. Bad habits. That was the book on him before we drafted him, and shock and awe, that's exactly where his issues are.

So, we should just ignore that? Are we hoping for this guy to play in the top 4? I don't know about you, but I'm not real keen on having a top 4 defenseman who isn't going to defend. That's not turning a guy into a total waste, that's attempting to correct a guy who can be a liability.

No its not a weird thing to say, but it is a weird thing to focus on when he is struggling to make an impact doing what he is supposedly good at, offense. That is the main point I am trying to get across.

I understood when he was in the OHL that the focus was on his defense, and effort in that zone, because he was absolutely dominant in the offensive zone, thus for him to improve as a player he needed to focus on his short comings with defense/effort in the dzone.

However in the pros so far he is not dominating offensively at all, and thus I see no reason to focus on his defensive game until his offense is going. Obviously you still coach him overall, as you do with anyone, but the focus IMO should be on getting him going offensively against pro level players, because if he never gets to that point, he is a bust, because I do not care how much you try to focus on his defense, the chances that he ever makes the NHL because of his defense is probably zero or very near zero.

However all this said, if the plays you highlighted are really the kinds of plays he is making defensively, then I do not even know why I would care at all. None of those plays were egregiously bad defensively, and he showed plenty of effort on at least two of them, especially the one where he busted his ass back into the Dzone when he noticed the odd man situation. So if you really think he shows a complete disregard for defense, those clips certainly do not show it, but instead put some of his teammates in a much worse light than him IMO. However you chose to completely disregard my interpretation of those plays in the last post, so have no idea what you actually think about it.

 

[Hobocop]

However in the pros so far he is not dominating offensively at all, and thus I see no reason to focus on his defensive game until his offense is going. Obviously you still coach him overall, as you do with anyone, but the focus IMO should be on getting him going offensively against pro level players, because if he never gets to that point, he is a bust, because I do not care how much you try to focus on his defense, the chances that he ever makes the NHL because of his defense is probably zero or very near zero.

However all this said, if the plays you highlighted are really the kinds of plays he is making defensively, then I do not even know why I would care at all. None of those plays were egregiously bad defensively, and he showed plenty of effort on at least two of them, especially the one where he busted his ass back into the Dzone when he noticed the odd man situation. So if you really think he shows a complete disregard for defense, those clips certainly do not show it, but instead put some of his teammates in a much worse light than him IMO. However you chose to completely disregard my interpretation of those plays in the last post, so have no idea what you actually think about it.

We have the dumbest series of quote attempts ever Amazing.

It's so hard to show what exactly the main issues are with Merkley via video clips, because who on earth clips him just being in the defensive zone? I have to go with goals, because that's the only thing anyone uploads. I didn't say anything on your responses to the plays because the message was already long (I wasn't trying to just ignore those, honest), but sure, let's go back to those.

Clip 1, the one against SD, what I'd like him to do? Cover the guy going to the net, because that's his man. The forwards enter the zone, Merkley responds by seemingly zoning out for a moment and letting the forward just walk by him and set up. That right there was my main issue with the play: there's nothing Merkley does to try to stop that forward from getting behind him. He's just standing in the middle of the D zone. He didn't take the guy that went to the net, but he's also not covering anyone else, either, so what is he doing?

Clip 2, maybe he makes some effort to tie the stick or maybe not, but there's no way I can even charitably call what he's doing defending Marody well on that play. You've got Marody just posting up in front of your goalie's eyes, and Merkley mostly just stands behind him. It's not so much the technique that he's using there, it's the effort shown. Get the guy out of your goalie's eyes, or at least try to. That should be your priority. And this goal didn't stick in my craw as much as the others, but Merkley's hands-off demeanor was reflected there.

As far he one where he busted back into the D zone, the point there was why was he up pressuring a forward, when all the Condors were doing was just cycling back into their zone? This is actually the one that stuck with me, because yes, he does skate hard back into the zone on defense, but why in the world did he take himself so far out of position in the first place? It wasn't a situation in which he needed to go pressure a guy, the Condors were just setting up in their own zone and Merkley vacating his spot to go chase left a big hole back there, because why would the forwards be expecting him to be up there? And that is playing your position. You are a defenseman. You are not a forechecking winger.

I could probably dig up others (posts limit you to three media pieces) but I don't really see a ton of point in that.

I don't need him to be a shutdown defender, I just need to know that he's going to be passable in the defensive zone, because otherwise we will be talking about a guy whose risks outweigh his rewards. It seems like a lot of it is mental.

But moving away from the defense, since I've gone on about that enough. If you would like to be concerned about his offensive production, which is fair, then your concern is of a similar nature. He makes some good moves in the offensive zone, and makes some very nice breakout passes, but he doesn't play there with a lot of urgency, at times. And he also doesn't do much of anything when he doesn't have the puck. Mostly just stands at the blue line. I really have liked what I've seen from him lately on offense (when he has the puck, anyway), compared to early season, but those knocks are still there. And also the pucks just aren't going in.

Here's what I'll say, though. If he comes out next season and largely looks the same on offense, then I'm going to join you in being concerned about that as well. He's got skills that he just needs to use better but it's been a full season, now, and that still hasn't happened. It really does just all come back around to the work ethic, but the difference is that when he's got his work boots on on offense, he's the best offensive defenseman this team has. When he shows up making an effort to play defense, he's... okay at it. But that's fine. We need him to be okay at it.

 

[hohosaregood]

As a third party, it always bothers me to see Merkley kinda just standing there or skating around upright once he doesn't have the puck in any highlight with him in it.

 

[Hobocop]

As a third party, it always bothers me to see Merkley kinda just standing there or skating around upright once he doesn't have the puck in any highlight with him in it.

Unfortunately, it's like the guy's natural state.

 

[Dicdonya]

We have the dumbest series of quote attempts ever Amazing.

Haha no doubt, hopefully we will get it going in the right direction now

It's so hard to show what exactly the main issues are with Merkley via video clips, because who on earth clips him just being in the defensive zone? I have to go with goals, because that's the only thing anyone uploads. I didn't say anything on your responses to the plays because the message was already long (I wasn't trying to just ignore those, honest), but sure, let's go back to those.

Fair enough that is why I asked, and assumed that they were readily available moreso then hand picked examples.

Clip 1, the one against SD, what I'd like him to do? Cover the guy going to the net, because that's his man. The forwards enter the zone, Merkley responds by seemingly zoning out for a moment and letting the forward just walk by him and set up. That right there was my main issue with the play: there's nothing Merkley does to try to stop that forward from getting behind him. He's just standing in the middle of the D zone. He didn't take the guy that went to the net, but he's also not covering anyone else, either, so what is he doing?

Is it his man though? 99 is skating back covering that guy and then follows him for a second in the Ozone, only to peel off and defend no one. Why didn't he stay with that man, and then Merkley could/should step up and pressure the shooter? Or if it wasn't his man, why didn't he stop up immediately and pressure the puck carrier who I assume would be his man if the shooter was not, and then Merkley would have the guy crashing the net.

Like watching that play without knowing what exact system they are running, I literally have no idea who is supposed to defend who, because not a single player was being defended on that play which is why I lean towards Merkley probably having the same confusion, as opposed to him just zoning out or being lazy. He definitely could have done something more assertive, I do not argue that, but at the very very least, unlike the other two Sharks, he was at least posing a defense against the puck carrier making a direct pass the shooter, or having a clear shot from the middle of the ice. It is not much but it is more than the others were doing.

Clip 2, maybe he makes some effort to tie the stick or maybe not, but there's no way I can even charitably call what he's doing defending Marody well on that play. You've got Marody just posting up in front of your goalie's eyes, and Merkley mostly just stands behind him. It's not so much the technique that he's using there, it's the effort shown. Get the guy out of your goalie's eyes, or at least try to. That should be your priority. And this goal didn't stick in my craw as much as the others, but Merkley's hands-off demeanor was reflected there.

I wonder if you and I are differing a bit in our expectations of Merkley and is why we are seeing these plays a bit differently. To me, given what I expect of Merkley defensively, just being on his man in the defensive zone is a win to me. Exactly like how I feel watching Karlsson in the Dzone, I never expect Karlsson to be jousting in front of the net, laying the body along the walls to get the puck, or anything of the sort. I just expect him to shadow his man, attempt to stick check/poke check the guy and try to separate the puck with as little physicality as possible. Now would I like and notice when Karlsson does more then that, yeah definitely, but I do not expect it.

I feel the same with Merkley based on his scouting reports, his play that I have actually been able to witness and what I sort of expect generally from small offensive defenseman.

As far he one where he busted back into the D zone, the point there was why was he up pressuring a forward, when all the Condors were doing was just cycling back into their zone? This is actually the one that stuck with me, because yes, he does skate hard back into the zone on defense, but why in the world did he take himself so far out of position in the first place? It wasn't a situation in which he needed to go pressure a guy, the Condors were just setting up in their own zone and Merkley vacating his spot to go chase left a big hole back there, because why would the forwards be expecting him to be up there? And that is playing your position. You are a defenseman. You are not a forechecking winger.

You watch the Barracuda more than me, so let me know, but is it really that ridiculous for a defenseman to skate up the ice a bit during a line change while the puck is being cycled back out of the defensive zone?

However I think for me on that play, its his willingness to bust his ass back that allows me to forgive him for drifting. When he supposedly has an effort issue, I personally would use that moment to reinforce the good behavior, while also then pointing out where I would expect him to be instead next time. Everyone messes up, but mess up at full speed, and he did that on that play. I feel like, and this is 100% pure speculation, that he would be harpooned for drifting, and not praised for busting his ass back, and I just do not feel like that is how to bring about change in a player/person a lot of the time.

However I guess this begs the question of whether his effort, or his actual defense when he is engaged, is the bigger issue.

I don't need him to be a shutdown defender, I just need to know that he's going to be passable in the defensive zone, because otherwise we will be talking about a guy whose risks outweigh his rewards. It seems like a lot of it is mental.

Yeah that's totally fair, I think I might just have lower expectations then you do with him defensively, and maybe higher ones offensively and that is where we have not been seeing eye to eye as of yet.

But moving away from the defense, since I've gone on about that enough. If you would like to be concerned about his offensive production, which is fair, then your concern is of a similar nature. He makes some good moves in the offensive zone, and makes some very nice breakout passes, but he doesn't play there with a lot of urgency, at times. And he also doesn't do much of anything when he doesn't have the puck. Mostly just stands at the blue line. I really have liked what I've seen from him lately on offense (when he has the puck, anyway), compared to early season, but those knocks are still there. And also the pucks just aren't going in.

Here's what I'll say, though. If he comes out next season and largely looks the same on offense, then I'm going to join you in being concerned about that as well. He's got skills that he just needs to use better but it's been a full season, now, and that still hasn't happened. It really does just all come back around to the work ethic, but the difference is that when he's got his work boots on on offense, he's the best offensive defenseman this team has. When he shows up making an effort to play defense, he's... okay at it. But that's fine. We need him to be okay at it.

Haha well I do not have anything to quibble with here. I do hope that he can get his effort raised all over the ice, because I really think this kid is special offensively, so hopefully this wonky ass year, and starting the season off with an injury and then having another during the year is affecting him more than we know and he can come back after a mostly normal off season ready to go and have a career.

 

[Hobocop]

Haha no doubt, hopefully we will get it going in the right direction now



Fair enough that is why I asked, and assumed that they were readily available moreso then hand picked examples.



Is it his man though? 99 is skating back covering that guy and then follows him for a second in the Ozone, only to peel off and defend no one. Why didn't he stay with that man, and then Merkley could/should step up and pressure the shooter? Or if it wasn't his man, why didn't he stop up immediately and pressure the puck carrier who I assume would be his man if the shooter was not, and then Merkley would have the guy crashing the net.

Like watching that play without knowing what exact system they are running, I literally have no idea who is supposed to defend who, because not a single player was being defended on that play which is why I lean towards Merkley probably having the same confusion, as opposed to him just zoning out or being lazy. He definitely could have done something more assertive, I do not argue that, but at the very very least, unlike the other two Sharks, he was at least posing a defense against the puck carrier making a direct pass the shooter, or having a clear shot from the middle of the ice. It is not much but it is more than the others were doing.



I wonder if you and I are differing a bit in our expectations of Merkley and is why we are seeing these plays a bit differently. To me, given what I expect of Merkley defensively, just being on his man in the defensive zone is a win to me. Exactly like how I feel watching Karlsson in the Dzone, I never expect Karlsson to be jousting in front of the net, laying the body along the walls to get the puck, or anything of the sort. I just expect him to shadow his man, attempt to stick check/poke check the guy and try to separate the puck with as little physicality as possible. Now would I like and notice when Karlsson does more then that, yeah definitely, but I do not expect it.

I feel the same with Merkley based on his scouting reports, his play that I have actually been able to witness and what I sort of expect generally from small offensive defenseman.

I think on both these, we're just going to disagree a bit. And maybe it's just a matter of me being worn down and going "Why is Merkley not doing anything, again?" on these plays. It's his tendency to just stand, and not engage himself in the play that is an annoyance. So that was my read on it, and I'll totally respect yours.

The first one, though, it really does underscore what I think sometimes in the defensive zone, namely "Come on, Merkley. Cover somebody."

You watch the Barracuda more than me, so let me know, but is it really that ridiculous for a defenseman to skate up the ice a bit during a line change while the puck is being cycled back out of the defensive zone?

Especially during a line change, because there's nobody else to cover back there! I mean not even just the Barracuda, it's a very weird thing to do in general, just taking yourself out of position while there's no pressure being applied at all.

However I think for me on that play, its his willingness to bust his ass back that allows me to forgive him for drifting. When he supposedly has an effort issue, I personally would use that moment to reinforce the good behavior, while also then pointing out where I would expect him to be instead next time. Everyone messes up, but mess up at full speed, and he did that on that play. I feel like, and this is 100% pure speculation, that he would be harpooned for drifting, and not praised for busting his ass back, and I just do not feel like that is how to bring about change in a player/person a lot of the time.

However I guess this begs the question of whether his effort, or his actual defense when he is engaged, is the bigger issue.

I do think it's both. The fact that he doesn't seem like he's applying himself, and the fact that he's just not that good at it, anyway. Maybe sometime I'll try capping some defensive zone shifts, but right now it's just not something I have a ton of time or patience for.

I would appreciate the hustle he had to get back there, but were I coaching him I'd just tell him not to put himself in that position again. This was from last month, 4/10 against Bakersfield, and it was part of a -3 performance from him in which he was on for all three of Bakersfield's non-empty net goals. I'm not sure where his head was at for that entire game.

Yeah that's totally fair, I think I might just have lower expectations then you do with him defensively, and maybe higher ones offensively and that is where we have not been seeing eye to eye as of yet.

Maybe so. I do think he's got the skill to be a difference maker, and in the offensive zone, he's looked dangerous at times. We're running out of season, but I wouldn't be shocked if he put in a couple points with the games remaining. But seriously, as much as I'm saying I've liked his O-zone play, his actual numbers are just not as good as I was hoping they'd be. They don't worry me, but I think that's what you're going off of, and I'm in agreement that I wish the goal-assist numbers were higher.

You know, one thing I thought of afterwards that I didn't mention is that the Barracuda don't make it a habit of kicking it back to the point frequently the way the Sharks do. They use a lot of wing play and like to set up behind the net. So while Merkley's hanging out idly at the blue line, the forwards don't give it to him a whole lot. Well, that and he's easy to cover since he doesn't move around much. I don't know where else to insert this thought, so here it is.

Haha well I do not have anything to quibble with here. I do hope that he can get his effort raised all over the ice, because I really think this kid is special offensively, so hopefully this wonky ass year, and starting the season off with an injury and then having another during the year is affecting him more than we know and he can come back after a mostly normal off season ready to go and have a career.

Man, you and me both. I know I just spent like several pages of text borderline trashing this guy, but he has the skill to be an impact player, there's plenty there that's worth being excited about.

But my god, he is the most baffling player I think I've ever watched on a regular basis.

 

[LadyStanley]

Pacific Division playoffs to begin May 18

Playoff deets.

Play in round robin games for lower seeds. Then division semi finals - best of three. And division final - best of three. FInishing by the end of May.

 

[Hobocop]

Bit of a forgotten name to me, but Vladislav Kotkov has been assigned to the Barracuda.

 

[hohosaregood]

Bit of a forgotten name to me, but Vladislav Kotkov has been assigned to the Barracuda.

The whole QMJHL crew just flies under the radar. I would assume Knyazev should be joining up soon too.

 

[one2gamble]

The whole QMJHL crew just flies under the radar. I would assume Knyazev should be joining up soon too.

Is this because they are not good or because nobody here follows the qmjhl

 

[Hobocop]

Kyle Topping is the only new name in the lineup for this one. Lines reshuffle a bit again.

Game will be at the T-Mobile Arena today in Vegas.

Also no mention of it on the transactions page yet, but Barracuda gameday post says Emond is assigned to the Cuda as well. There's only one remaining regular season game after this, on Tuesday, also vs. HSK.

 

[Hobocop]

Wiesblatt with a nice feed to Reedy on the rush to open scoring. HSK just tied it up, though.

 

[LadyStanley]

And HSK took lead

 

[Hobocop]

And now Wiesblatt with a goal on a 5 on 3:

 

[Jargon]

How does Ozzy look?

 

[hohosaregood]

Can we call up Wiesblatt for the last game?

 

[hohosaregood]

Gushchin's season is over now as well. Wonder if they bring him in as well.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Gushchin's season is over now as well. Wonder if they bring him in as well.

Typically the path after ushl is college so if he does, I don't think he can.

 

[hohosaregood]

Typically the path after ushl is college so if he does, I don't think he can.

He was supposed to play in the OHL this year so I don't think that's an issue.

 

[Hobocop]

I guess Robins won't be playing tonight either, as he's been moved to the taxi squad to cover the minimum requirements.