GDT: COL @ PIT | Oct-16-2019 | 5 PM MDT

[henchman21]

Please, everyone, just calm down and hold all of your opinions until the end of the season.

Yeah lets get this thread back on track!

I had some amazing licorice today... Kookaburra Black. It is making me re-think my hate.

 

[Bubba Thudd]

Please, everyone, just calm down and hold all of your opinions until the end of the season.

 

[avs1dacup]

I don't understand this logic, we have a record of 5-01, if we were playing fantastic... I would be even less worried.

Very few teams that come out of the gate playing fantastic are able to sustain that play. Some adversity and challenges are good for team bonding, especially before the playoffs. Teams that consistently do well in the playoffs hit their stride in February, or later. Getting some hiccups out of the way now is better than in May when it matters most

 

[SaltySkywalker]

Yeah lets get this thread back on track!

I had some amazing licorice today... Kookaburra Black. It is making me re-think my hate.

Dammit, Hench. Why would you do this...

Does this mean we stop the PGT?

 

[Foppa2118]

I will say this--I'm not really concerned about the overall play of the team. I'm also not concerned about the play of the top line.

I am, however, concerned about the play of Erik Johnson. I am not sure why Bednar insists on pairing him and Girard when that duo was a complete disaster last season. EJ was terrible and Sammy got way burned out and beat up. I think EJ should, at the very least, be on the 2nd pairing, not the first one. He can't handle that workload any longer. I would've thought Bednar knew that after the playoffs.

That said, he's also still not using EJ enough in the one area he should be using him, and that's in OT.

EJ's been one of their best players so far this season. Easily their second best defenseman after Girard, who has struggled himself the last couple games. EJ's made a lot of great defensive plays and is even carrying the puck well when he's not deferring to Girard.

If you move EJ to a second pairing role who replaces him? It shouldn't be Makar. He's had trouble pretty much every game with his defensive coverage below the goal line, and in retrieving pucks after dump ins. He'll get better at it eventually, but he's not ready for a #1 role yet.

The only thing Bednar learned about EJ last year was his willingness to play the whole season with a shoulder that needed surgery.

 

[henchman21]

Dammit, Hench. Why would you do this...

Does this mean we stop the PGT?

That is for ketchup talk now. Gotta keep our Finnish friends happy.

 

[Babel Salamander]

Because the macro perspective:

"Win or lose, playing well is an excellent predictor of future success."

Is far more logical than:

"I think that playing like **** will somehow psycologically benefit the team. Here are a few examples of upsets to back up my point."

I'm not talking about what will psychologically benefit the team. I'm talking about reality. Again, name that last team that played excellent 100% of the time. What the hell is the point of being reactionary over being denied something that is literally impossible?

Adversity is not what we're facing when we play poorly and have a good record. Adversity would be if we were playing well and had a poor record.

You're splitting hairs. Adversity is making mistakes and losing. It's lots of things.

Please, everyone, just calm down and hold all of your opinions until the end of the season.

Because there's no middle ground between commenting on what happens and being reactionary...

 

[Steerpike]

Yeah lets get this thread back on track!

I had some amazing licorice today... Kookaburra Black. It is making me re-think my hate.

Last night's game was the first time my girlfriend (who I met on tinder) watched hockey in a long time. She's excited to try and go to a game soon. None of my other Tinder girlfriends liked sports.

In other Tinder related news, my little sister is a 19 year old model and is frequently matching with NBA players and (fringe) NHL players in New York. (Not on tinder but one of those related tinder for wealthy attractive people apps.)

 

[henchman21]

Last night's game was the first time my girlfriend (who I met on tinder) watched hockey in a long time. She's excited to try and go to a game soon. None of my other Tinder girlfriends liked sports.

In other Tinder related news, my little sister is a 19 year old model and is frequently matching with NBA players and (fringe) NHL players in New York. (Not on tinder but one of those related tinder for wealthy attractive people apps.)

Pics or it didn't happen.

 

[UncleRisto]

That is for ketchup talk now. Gotta keep our Finnish friends happy.

Will there be one for neutral spirits?

 

[henchman21]

Will there be one for neutral spirits?

Naturally the next pre game thread.

 

[Bubba Thudd]

Will there be one for neutral spirits?

**** NO!!!

 

[wayninja]

Because there's no middle ground between commenting on what happens and being reactionary...

Commenting on what happens is reactionary... by definition.

Unless you want to comment on stuff that hasn't happened yet. That's cool, I guess.

 

[Babel Salamander]

Commenting on what happens is reactionary... by definition.

I was pretty sure you are not defining it correctly, but then I looked it up, and I guess we are both using it incorrectly, so we'll call it a wash. Let me re-phrase it as "overreaction", and hopefully we won't have to pull out the dictionary.

 

[wayninja]

I was pretty sure you are not defining it correctly, but then I looked it up, and I guess we are both using it incorrectly, so we'll call it a wash. Let me re-phrase it as "overreaction", and hopefully we won't have to pull out the dictionary.

Yeah, let's not go there. Anyway, I wasn't really even trying to start a fight, just thought the general vibe of the thread could use some sarcasm and hyperbole.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

I'm not talking about what will psychologically benefit the team. I'm talking about reality. Again, name that last team that played excellent 100% of the time. What the hell is the point of being reactionary over being denied something that is literally impossible?



You're splitting hairs. Adversity is making mistakes and losing. It's lots of things.




Because there's no middle ground between commenting on what happens and being reactionary...

No.. adversity is misfortune (bad puck luck, bad injuries), its things outside of our control. We have a great record while playing okay. Thats not adversity.

I don't think anyone has ever said they want/expect the team to play excellent 100% of the time, but playing with poor effort or just being dumb is not acceptable even when we win.

 

[Foppa2118]

Yeah, let's not go there. Anyway, I wasn't really even trying to start a fight, just thought the general vibe of the thread could use some sarcasm and hyperbole.

Sarcasm perhaps, but this place never has a shortage of hyperbole.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Speaking of the Post-Game Talk.... Is it too early to get the one for Florida started?


Now hear me out for a second.... Maybe the reason we lost to Pittsburgh yesterday was because the Post-Game Talk thread wasn't started early enough. Maybe by starting that thread now we'll actually beat Florida 7-1 tomorrow and discover the true secret behind the PGTs.

 

[Babel Salamander]

No.. adversity is misfortune (bad puck luck, bad injuries), its things outside of our control. We have a great record while playing okay. Thats not adversity.

I don't think anyone has ever said they want/expect the team to play excellent 100% of the time, but playing with poor effort or just being dumb is not acceptable even when we win.

Outside "our" control? Let's be clear here, we fans have no control over this stuff. In general it's good to have perspective about things we don't have control over.

The players do and coaches do have control, and they can grow and get smarter when they make mistakes and when they do dumb things. What else are they going to do with it? Poor effort may be do to injury or a particular temporary psychological state at any given time, things we are fans are not privy to. The idea that there's only certain kinds of things that players and coaches can learn and grow from is pretty crazy to be honest. Is the idea here that these are not human beings just like us? What do you do when you have a bad moment and screw up? Ideally, you own up, grow and learn. When it comes to sports we are watching other people's lives and actions and all we can do is watch how they own up, grow and learn. Maybe this delusion that it's "us" is what drives fans to crazy overreaction....

 

[Avsboy]

Speaking of the Post-Game Talk.... Is it too early to get the one for Florida started?


Now hear me out for a second.... Maybe the reason we lost to Pittsburgh yesterday was because the Post-Game Talk thread wasn't started early enough. Maybe by starting that thread now we'll actually beat Florida 7-1 tomorrow and discover the true secret behind the PGTs.

The PGT idea only works if Zadorov is playing. Zadorov must play.

 

[Pokecheque]

EJ's been one of their best players so far this season. Easily their second best defenseman after Girard, who has struggled himself the last couple games. EJ's made a lot of great defensive plays and is even carrying the puck well when he's not deferring to Girard.

If you move EJ to a second pairing role who replaces him? It shouldn't be Makar. He's had trouble pretty much every game with his defensive coverage below the goal line, and in retrieving pucks after dump ins. He'll get better at it eventually, but he's not ready for a #1 role yet.

The only thing Bednar learned about EJ last year was his willingness to play the whole season with a shoulder that needed surgery.

I really don't think that's the case at all. EJ's had some terrible miscues to start the season. Not horrible, but not top-pairing either.

And that's the other side of the coin--I think Makar and Z have been even worse together than Sammy and EJ, those two aren't on the same page at all. Makar plays a much cleaner game alongside Girard. And yes, I know that pairing isn't exactly perfect, but it more than makes up for its shortcomings in terms of pure puck dominance. Conversely, Z and EJ have always been good together. I get it makes for two wildly different pairings, but I think those would work a hell of a lot better than what they're trying now. And it shoves Cole onto the bottom pairing where he really belongs.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Thankfully since our streak ended we can finally end the pre game post game threads

 

[henchman21]

Thankfully since our streak ended we can finally end the pre game post game threads

You're not getting off that easily.

 

[UncleRisto]

Thankfully since our streak ended we can finally end the pre game post game threads

Agreed. What's the point if we aren't going to go 82-0.

 

[Foppa2118]

I really don't think that's the case at all. EJ's had some terrible miscues to start the season. Not horrible, but not top-pairing either.

And that's the other side of the coin--I think Makar and Z have been even worse together than Sammy and EJ, those two aren't on the same page at all. Makar plays a much cleaner game alongside Girard. And yes, I know that pairing isn't exactly perfect, but it more than makes up for its shortcomings in terms of pure puck dominance. Conversely, Z and EJ have always been good together. I get it makes for two wildly different pairings, but I think those would work a hell of a lot better than what they're trying now. And it shoves Cole onto the bottom pairing where he really belongs.

I don't think EJ's been perfect, he's had a few miscues, but I think the positives far outweigh the negatives so far this season.

I've always liked the Girard-Makar pairing. Even before they were paired together the first time. They're both so cerebral, it makes up for some of the risks that go with pairings like that. So I don't have a problem with those two playing together.

I actually like the way Bednar and Pratt rotate the D pairings within games though. I think they have a good handle on when they need a more physical defensive pairings like Z-EJ, and when they need a more more mobile and creative pairing like G-Makar to create offense.

The main concern with that approach is that guys will be too unfamiliar with the new partners, and make mistakes, but I think they have the D practice with everyone often enough, where they look comfortable with multiple pairings.

I'm not sure if they kind of pioneered it like Roy did with pulling the goalie early, but I hadn't seen it utilized to the extent they do in the NHL before they started doing it. I notice other teams doing it now though. Maybe everyone started doing it around the same time.