Sure, lots of excuses you COULD make for an underperformer....
Play well, get ice time. Simple formula.
Not making excuses. Saying there are many possible reasons for his PT including the coach trying to solve his "underperformance".
Sure, lots of excuses you COULD make for an underperformer....
Play well, get ice time. Simple formula.
2019 playoffs vrana not scoring was a pretty big factor but 2020 nobody showed up outside of very few players. There was no depth scoring and outside of Ovi, Carlson, Kuznetsov, and to an extent Oshie there wasnt much from the big boys either. To put lots of the blame on Vrana is unfair imo although I do agree his unability to score in the playoffs 2 playoffs in a row is somewhat concerning
OK. I'm going with the guy who's been to 3(?) cup finals over number-crunchers on the interwebs, at least until I have good reason to do otherwise.Excellent!
I have repeatedly criticized Laviolette's player usage this year, and given that Washington has blown lead after lead this year I don't think player usage and ice-time allocation has been a strength of his so far. To wit, he plays John Carlson, perhaps their worst defensive defenseman, way too much.
In terms of who is delivering in real terms, it's Kuznetsov and Vrana, who both enjoy the best 5v5 goal differential on the team among forwards. If your argument is they aren't delivering then I don't know what to say other than you're wrong unless you don't really care about goal differential and winning?
I mean if we're going by TOI allocation then we are to conclude that Carlson has been their best defenseman this year which uhhhh.
Not making excuses. Saying there are many possible reasons for his PT including the coach trying to solve his "underperformance".
apologies then if you’re not....because when there has been no mention of an injury, throwing out the injury card kinda seems like looking for an excuse, to me, especially when you’re chiding other posters for not valuing him properly, but that the “coaches” do...(to the tune of 3 mins in crunch time).....
just sayin....
Ahh yes.....”message board warriors”......fans can’t possibly intelligently dissect the game and understand things.....it must be something behind the scenes, that we have no view of....
...silly mortals we are.
Kuzy isn’t playing to his ability....that’s the issue.
Carlson eats minutes and even playing poorly does it better than or at least arguably as well as anyone on the right side IMO. That’s not rocket science.
I laughed at the highlighted section, well done. It sums up Kuzy nicely.Kuznetsov knows how to be an effective player when time and space come at a premium. He doesn't practice those concepts very often because... well, he is a very special boy but at least I know that he is capable.
Now I'm confused (honestly) which side of this you're arguing. IMO and I think @twabby's too if I'm following, the fancies disagree with Lavi's decisions. I am arguing that Lavi's choices seem to align more with the eye test and that the fancies are silly/wrong/think they know more (as you say). Is that also your position or am I misunderstanding?Don't be offended. We're all mortals. Some of us just understand that the coaches see and know more than we do. Others think they know more.
Its definitely as simple as "playing to one's ability", that explains everything.
Now I'm confused (honestly) which side of this you're arguing. IMO and I think @twabby's too if I'm following, the fancies disagree with Lavi's decisions. I am arguing that Lavi's choices seem to align more with the eye test and that the fancies are silly/wrong/think they know more (as you say). Is that also your position or am I misunderstanding?
Now I'm confused (honestly) which side of this you're arguing. IMO and I think @twabby's too if I'm following, the fancies disagree with Lavi's decisions. I am arguing that Lavi's choices seem to align more with the eye test and that the fancies are silly/wrong/think they know more (as you say). Is that also your position or am I misunderstanding?
My intention wasn't to say the stats indicate Laviolette isn't making good decisions in general, but rather that criticism of Kuznetsov and Vrana is unearned at this time.
I think it's too early to say on Laviolette, good or bad. Ultimately I think an NHL coach earns his stripes in the playoffs where gameplanning and matchups take a frontseat compared to the regular season which is often just a grind where talent wins out. It's why despite having pretty good regular season results Rierden was a failure IMO: his teams were clearly outcoached in the playoffs. It's also why I have some optimism about Laviolette despite the team having an uneven start to the season.
My intention wasn't to say the stats indicate Laviolette isn't making good decisions in general, but rather that criticism of Kuznetsov and Vrana is unearned at this time.
I think it's too early to say on Laviolette, good or bad. Ultimately I think an NHL coach earns his stripes in the playoffs where gameplanning and matchups take a frontseat compared to the regular season which is often just a grind where talent wins out. It's why despite having pretty good regular season results Rierden was a failure IMO: his teams were clearly outcoached in the playoffs. It's also why I have some optimism about Laviolette despite the team having an uneven start to the season.
but rather that criticism of Kuznetsov and Vrana is unearned at this time.
They may not settle much at all though. Some fans of previous teams said Lavi is a line juggler, who will switch things up regularly.
I'm good with that, especially after Todd "maybe it will work next time?" Rierden.
I am actually ok with this. At least if you do do juggle, juggle early and often. It's a nightmare if you stick with the lines pretty much for a full season and then you start juggling last minute.
That's one circus trick I don't want to see
9 games. 2 evp.
It’s not Orlov ....he only has one point. LOL17 games. 2 eve. Guess who?