Pre-Game Talk: Cats vs Bolts, Tuesday, Oct 18th @ 7:30pm

[Werewolf]

The Panthers are coming to town. They beat up the same two teams we beat up ... and dare I say it: they are young and they are good. Also, they are playing one of our rejects on the top line (Marchessault) and he is performing well with Barkov and Jagr. The kid has 4 points in 2 games and is a +4. The two new kids: Malgin and Matheson are both for real ... saw them both at rookie tournament and both were impressive. Malgin outperformed Point in the tournament and was the best player in the tournament. Matheson was the best defender in the tournament.

The Cats are coming to town ... and I want to leave some rat poison outside the arena they can choke on. Good test for the Lightning hope they come to play on time Tuesday.

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[2020 Cup Champions]

Uh, Conacher?

 

[DFC]

First real test of the season. Team better be ready for it.

We still have the better team on paper. ...On paper. They remind me of what we were three years ago. Maybe two.

 

[The Gongshow]

First real test of the season. Team better be ready for it.

We still have the better team on paper. ...On paper. They remind me of what we were three years ago. Maybe two.

Came to basically say this.

Gotta play a full 60 minute game here, not a "go down by 2 and look bad in the 1st period and rally for a possible come back" style of game

As always, GO BOLTS! Show Florida that we're the better Hockey team and market

 

[DFC]

Whenever Kucherov goes beast mode (it's a matter of time; always happens), we're gonna have a 1-2 punch that can compete with anyone. Let's hope it's this game.

 

[Steazy Doo]

Patners r better then the thunder bolts this seeson. git gud

 

[Lord Stan 2020]

good day miss me?

anywho wat who

ya we got this

anything else to discuss

unfinished business you sit on the tracks you get ran over by the train

woot woot

LIGHTNING

 

[dbieon12]

Can't believe we got rid of Marchessault. At some point Yzerman is going to realize he was just as good if not better than Namestinikov.

 

[CupsOverCash]

Honestly i never fully saw it with March. Thought he had hustle and a bit of skill but didnt see anything special. Im happy to see him produce on another team even though its on the stinkin panthers.

 

[Redskev]

This is going to be a great game. First real challenge of the season so hopefully we don't hand them a 2-0 lead like we have been doing so far.

I enjoy that the panthers are a real threat, makes for great rivalry games throughout the season. Hopefully we can actually take it to em this time though. Anyways, go Bolts.

 

[Volodya Krutov]

Losing Marchessault might be a blessing in disguise. He and Point are skilled players but Cooper seems to like BP more, so we've got a decent chance to consistently inject that scoring depth on the 3rd line over the season.

 

[These Are The Days]

I seldom expect a win but I don't see any reason why we shouldn't. Save for two bad periods this team is playing with the poise we all wished they would have had all last season and have done it against two teams we rarely played with poise against.

There's a feeling of focus that I didn't feel at all last year. With a healthy Ryan Callahan and a full time Drouin I think we will be hard to beat.

 

[Werewolf]

Uh, Conacher?

Oops good catch...fixed.

 

[Hoek]

Last year's season series was painful with the last second losses. I got the sense we weren't taking them seriously enough. Hopefully losing the series last season wakes them up. The division could come down to this.

 

[Werewolf]

I expect the Bolts totally fired up. When they have something to prove we play our best hockey. As evidenced by the rotund spanking we have the Habs after getting swept in the playoffs. I hope they come in with a chip on their shoulder after Panthers swept the season series last year. On paper we should be able to spank them.

Hope Koekkoek draws in...we need him to step up and take that step forward. Having him realize his top 4D potential as a 6th would go a long way to securing a cup run this year.

 

[Werewolf]

Can't believe we got rid of Marchessault. At some point Yzerman is going to realize he was just as good if not better than Namestinikov.

What kind of crazy talk is this? March isn't on Vladdy's level. Marchessault and Conacher are interchangeable from a skill level and we have another one just like them in the pipeline (albeit younger) in Yanni Gourde.

If anything one thing we could do is put Vladdy's on Johnson's line...and drop Killorn with Filp and Point.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Honestly i never fully saw it with March. Thought he had hustle and a bit of skill but didnt see anything special. Im happy to see him produce on another team even though its on the stinkin panthers.

I never understood why Coop opted to play him on lines he obviously didn't click with. So much offensive talent. Same thing as with Drouin really. With some players you cannot go the old "go on the 4th line and fight your way up" routine.

 

[CupsOverCash]

I never understood why Coop opted to play him on lines he obviously didn't click with. So much offensive talent. Same thing as with Drouin really. With some players you cannot go the old "go on the 4th line and fight your way up" routine.

Could have been. Im happy to see him get an opportunity. He always hustled. I think Coop has his guys and thats who he trusts. Even though it drives people crazy on here (rightfully so at times) I cant argue with it too much. Our team has been far the last few years. With March ive heard that people in the organization say they didnt think he was a full time nhler. He deserves his opportunity. I just think he didnt get it here because of depth and Coop has his guys.

 

[DFC]

I never understood why Coop opted to play him on lines he obviously didn't click with. So much offensive talent. Same thing as with Drouin really. With some players you cannot go the old "go on the 4th line and fight your way up" routine.

I keep wondering if maybe, deep deep behind the scenes, a lot of this craziness is what led to Steve Thomas being let go. I know two games is a small sample size, but going two game where everything made logical sense was very rare last year.

JAM always looked like a good complementary player to me. Lots of hustle, good shot, good hockey sense. Namestnikov, to me, looks a lot more like a centerpiece without the actual tools needed to be a centerpiece. I think he can be an okay 3C, but I've never seen the 2C ceiling with him that a lot of you have.

 

[CupsOverCash]

Well they keep Namestnikov over March because of the investment made in him. Also the same thing could be said about him as March. He has only played in a bottom six role so far. I think they see a bigger potential in the guy they drafted than the guy they picked up undrafted. People have made this mistake many times before. But Im not ready to say Names isnt more than what hes shown so far.

 

[DFC]

Well they keep Namestnikov over March because of the investment made in him. Also the same thing could be said about him as March. He has only played in a bottom six role so far. I think they see a bigger potential in the guy they drafted than the guy they picked up undrafted. People have made this mistake many times before. But Im not ready to say Names isnt more than what hes shown so far.

I just don't see the skillet. I mean, we've had two games with Point, and you can already see a tenacity that Vlad has never shown. He could go 20 games without a point, but I'd still feel like his ceiling is higher just based on the skills we're seeing. The only thing we've really seen from Vlad is good north-south speed. His hands, passing, etc etc etc, are pretty average. I'd argue his vision and creativity are below average. And he doesn't look like he's adding strength. Doesn't feel like a question of opportunity with him. He just doesn't show all that many more flashes of skill than the average player.

 

[CupsOverCash]

I just don't see the skillet. I mean, we've had two games with Point, and you can already see a tenacity that Vlad has never shown. He could go 20 games without a point, but I'd still feel like his ceiling is higher just based on the skills we're seeing. The only thing we've really seen from Vlad is good north-south speed. His hands, passing, etc etc etc, are pretty average. I'd argue his vision and creativity are below average. And he doesn't look like he's adding strength. Doesn't feel like a question of opportunity with him. He just doesn't show all that many more flashes of skill than the average player.

Hes probably not a 2C. I think defensively hes good. I do like his speed. Either way i agree Point looks like the guy with the higher ceiling. If it came down to choosing the two of them id choose Point over Names and i think the organization would too. If we let Boyle walk next year, Names goes to Vegas and if Filppula gets traded at least we have Point and Paquette to take over for the center roles.

 

[Werewolf]

I just don't see the skillet. I mean, we've had two games with Point, and you can already see a tenacity that Vlad has never shown. He could go 20 games without a point, but I'd still feel like his ceiling is higher just based on the skills we're seeing. The only thing we've really seen from Vlad is good north-south speed. His hands, passing, etc etc etc, are pretty average. I'd argue his vision and creativity are below average. And he doesn't look like he's adding strength. Doesn't feel like a question of opportunity with him. He just doesn't show all that many more flashes of skill than the average player.

There are plenty of highlights of Vlad making things happen and they are usually when you put him with other skilled players. When you talk about tenacity ... Vlad fights just as hard for pucks everywhere in all three zones. He'll beat the snot out of people in his weight class as well. Vlad has played in his non-natural role pretty much 80%+ of the time he has been here. And out of that 80% ... 90% of that time has been in a bottom forward role. Should one of our top three Centers get injured ... I don't doubt for a second that Vlad would be ready to deliver.

 

[Hoek]

I guess we've already forgotten that little hot streak Namesy had with Palat and Stamkos. I do agree he's gone invisible in the postseason, though.

 

[CupsOverCash]

I guess we've already forgotten that little hot streak Namesy had with Palat and Stamkos. I do agree he's gone invisible in the postseason, though.

Well who did he play with? Brown who isn't much of an offensive guy and Callahan who had a messed up shoulder. Boyle? Paquette?