Checkers V: Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy Edition

[NotOpie]

Saarela w/the hattie...

 

[tarheelhockey]

God damn, Checkers. Y'all go on now.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I just want to know if Kev got selfies.


Not of the Caps AHL players sitting next to him, but the hot chicks they were with them.

 

[CandyCanes]

Going to be a tough matchup against the Marlies. Marlies are undefeated throughout the playoffs so far.

 

[A Star is Burns]

The Marlies got a very favorable second round matchup against an 84 point team that pulled an upset in the first round. Checkers got this.

 

[Cardiac Jerks]

I accidentally clicked on a checkers tweet at work recently and that started playing. Unfortunately my speakers were at about 50%.

Unfortunate that they weren’t at 100%. That’s a damn good song.

 

[The Faulker 27]

The Marlies got a very favorable second round matchup against an 84 point team that pulled an upset in the first round. Checkers got this.

They goat this for sure.

 

[Unsustainable]

Wow.

 

[vorbis]

I am so going to see the Checkers play the Marlies for one of the games here

 

[HisIceness]

Sweep sweep sweep the Bears, sweep them out the door...
Merrily merrily merrily merrily Chex have won in 4!

 

[Cardiac Jerks]

Checkers and the Everblades are playing Toronto’s affiliates.

Too bad the leafs suck.

 

[NotOpie]

Saarela with 5 goals in the last 2 games...Kev said he looked like shit last night. Kinda hard to believe he looked like shit tonight. But if he did, then I'd hate to see how he plays when he looks good.

 

[vorbis]

fwiw highlights from the other side's perspective for last night's game

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

@My Special Purpose Kev, were you able to catch game 4 as well?

 

[My Special Purpose]

I just want to know if Kev got selfies.


Not of the Caps AHL players sitting next to him, but the hot chicks they were with them.

Generic Russian hottie. Google "Russian platinum blonde fake tits" and they'll be among the first 20 results.

I did not make it last night. Semi-hot girlfriend flaked out on me and made other plans, thinking I wouldn't go two nights in a row.

 

[My Special Purpose]

Saarela with 5 goals in the last 2 games...Kev said he looked like **** last night. Kinda hard to believe he looked like **** tonight. But if he did, then I'd hate to see how he plays when he looks good.

Think of Saarela as a shorter version of Drayson Bowman. His skating is meh. His work along the boards/defensively is meh. His ability to create offense is probably meh-minus. But if you get him the puck in a scoring area, his shot is lethal in every way. He's got an NHL release, NHL power, unreal accuracy, and the ability to anticipate a goalie's movements. He doesn't get many chances, but he simply finishes everything.

And just to be clear, two of those five were empty netters, where he was cherry-picking.

I'm not down on the kid. Not at all. He's just very one-dimensional, it's just that that dimension is NHL elite.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I'm a bit confused by this. He's had 25G last year and 30 this year. Bowman never exceeded 14 goals. Bowman, contrary to scouting reports, never displayed a lethal shot in the AHL or NHL and was never a finisher in either league.

If what you are saying is that Bowman struggled to create space and thus any tools he had didn't translate (to the AHL or NHL) and Saarela lacks the ability to create space/offense similarly, and thus it may limit his chances in the NHL, then I get it.

EDIT: Bowman did have 17G one year.

 

[tarheelhockey]

EDIT: Bowman did have 17G one year.

Ah... Peak Bowman.

 

[To Be Determined]

Unfortunate that they weren’t at 100%. That’s a damn good song.

i can never decide if the songwriter of it's raining men is super surprising or super obvious. it both makes sense and blows my mind.

 

[NotOpie]

Think of Saarela as a shorter version of Drayson Bowman. His skating is meh. His work along the boards/defensively is meh. His ability to create offense is probably meh-minus. But if you get him the puck in a scoring area, his shot is lethal in every way. He's got an NHL release, NHL power, unreal accuracy, and the ability to anticipate a goalie's movements. He doesn't get many chances, but he simply finishes everything.

And just to be clear, two of those five were empty netters, where he was cherry-picking.

I'm not down on the kid. Not at all. He's just very one-dimensional, it's just that that dimension is NHL elite.

Hmmm....thanks for this. In the games I've seen him, he's been pretty engaged, not afraid to do the board work, and was noticeably fast-ish. He was "okay" agility-wise, but his skating was all about straight line speed. One other thing I noticed was that he was pretty hard to knock off the puck/get the puck away from.

Granted, I've not seen him live but have watched a few Checkers games this season. Frankly, I loved when he and Kuokkanen were on the ice together. Still, he may be a "sell high" candidate, even if I do like him a bit.

 

[emptyNedder]

n the games I've seen him, he's been pretty engaged, not afraid to do the board work, and was noticeably fast-ish. He was "okay" agility-wise, but his skating was all about straight line speed. One other thing I noticed was that he was pretty hard to knock off the puck/get the puck away from.

I have been at 4 Checkers games and probably watched another 40. I think your analysis is accurate. Saarela does two things at an NHL-level: shoot, skate with the puck--he is both fast and often cannot be stripped of the puck. Even though he has scored 5 goals in the past two games, it was his goal in game 1 that best displayed his talents. Geekie made a great pass from behind the goal line (Geekie is playing some stellar hockey) and Saarela ripped a wrister before the defender or goalie could react. Watching it live I didn't even think the puck got to Saarela because the D-man's stick was within inches of Saarela's stick. It was definitely an NHL goal-scorer's play.

 

[My Special Purpose]

I'm a bit confused by this. He's had 25G last year and 30 this year. Bowman never exceeded 14 goals. Bowman, contrary to scouting reports, never displayed a lethal shot in the AHL or NHL and was never a finisher in either league.

If what you are saying is that Bowman struggled to create space and thus any tools he had didn't translate (to the AHL or NHL) and Saarela lacks the ability to create space/offense similarly, and thus it may limit his chances in the NHL, then I get it.

EDIT: Bowman did have 17G one year.

Just the fact that you don't notice him at all during the flow of play. I guess Bowman's shot was overrated coming out of juniors. There's nothing overrated about Saarela's shot.

 

[DaveG]

i can never decide if the songwriter of it's raining men is super surprising or super obvious. it both makes sense and blows my mind.

When you think about it "let the bodies hit the floor" is just "it's raining men" told from another perspective.

 

[Unsustainable]

When you think about it "let the bodies hit the floor" is just "it's raining men" told from another perspective.

Woah

 

[Stickpucker]