Post-Game Talk: Cole's Plus/Minus: "Deja Vu All Over Again"

[Peat]

I liked POJ's game and I like most of what I've seen from him but going slow about piling on his responsibilities is usually the wise course.

Yeah, I'd target a top six rental RW for Sid's line and buoy our 3rd line with Kapanen and Bleuger.

The fact PIT has been this bad and hasn't really been killed outside of their own mistakes is really good news for me if they can get their heads straight.

Spoiler: They won't get them on straight.

Bleuger is proving he should be the 3rd C and what he can do when put with talent.

I certainly didn't expect to think he'd been about our best player five games in, that's for sure.

 

[ChaosAgent]

People are going to throw up in their mouth when I say this...

People should go back into this game and watch gap control. So our overall team gap is pretty piss poor because our forwards f***ing SUCK at backchecking (L1/2 mostly). But I was encouraged by POJ. I was expecting him to be REALLY far back. I can't stress it enough. TEN MONTHS OFF from playing legit games. TEN. Marino was one of my favorites with gap last year. He has so much swagger in his skating ability. Although he's struggling with his pivots this year. He's been turning and almost falling.

Back to gap. Letang/Dumo are like top of the circles at times. POJ was sorta owning it. I seriously expected him to be sitting deeper being first NHL game. VERY impressed.

L1 is a walking 3-on-2 against. They give away possession so cheaply in the offensive zone with all 3 of them below the dots. Sid's risk/reward internal calculator has been very off since he came back from the hernia last year in my opinion. The upside of a blind pass into the slot when it'll be an easy breakout for the other guys? No bueno. Especially when your chance of capitalizing is tied to ERod.

 

[Harvey Birdman]

I liked POJ's game and I like most of what I've seen from him but going slow about piling on his responsibilities is usually the wise course.



Spoiler: They won't get them on straight.



I certainly didn't expect to think he'd been about our best player five games in, that's for sure.

Except for that one puck move he did with the puck almost landing on the door step in front of the Jarry during pressure where I literally yelled WTF! He had what I felt was a great game.

 

[ColePens]

L1 is a walking 3-on-2 against. They give away possession so cheaply in the offensive zone with all 3 of them below the dots. Sid's risk/reward internal calculator has been very off since he came back from the hernia last year in my opinion. The upside of a blind pass into the slot when it'll be an easy breakout for the other guys? No bueno. Especially when your chance of capitalizing is tied to ERod.

f***ing Amen. @KIRK is going to like your post x100. I have no clue why Sid is refusing to play high. He refuses. The guy is one of the most intelligent hockey players i've ever seen. He knows he has to be the high guy. Hell in OT.. I swear to God he was TRYING to lose the game for us. It was so weird. He is so freaking intelligent. There is no way he's not doing this on purpose.

That's one knock on Jake's game I don't get. He is always the last one out of the zone from the o-zone coming back to the d-zone. I would like the see the maturation of Jake's game go next level with a little Hossa-style where he becomes this neutral zone killer.

 

[Andy99]

Don’t want to rush him.

He’s a really poised guy, but getting big minutes after playing pretty much no real hockey games since April, then jumping into the NHL for the first time...

Probably would mess with his confidence.

I don’t like the current second pairing and he’d improve it...I think he showed he was ready...he played 13 min tonight and Ceci played 18 with Marino...POJ doesn’t have to play special teams

 

[ColePens]

I liked POJ's game and I like most of what I've seen from him but going slow about piling on his responsibilities is usually the wise course.



Spoiler: They won't get them on straight.



I certainly didn't expect to think he'd been about our best player five games in, that's for sure.

When TB pointed at Kap... I was like "Oh.. we got something here." I think that could be a legit L3.

 

[dogthateats]

I wish we got Devon Toews. I bet the Islanders would never have traded him in division

 

[Dennis Reynolds]

POJ is a player, was REALLY impressed with this kid.

I can't watch him objectively.

It's the number.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Except for that one puck move he did with the puck almost landing on the door step in front of the Jarry during pressure where I literally yelled WTF! He had what I felt was a great game.

That was almost a great play. Stripped the puck off a Ranger on the boards and banged out a couple crossovers and took off beautifully.

He was going to be gone, but the puck slid off his stick as he was coming out of his turn.

 

[Harvey Birdman]

That was almost a great play. Stripped the puck off a Ranger on the boards and banged out a couple crossovers and took off beautifully.

He was going to be gone, but the puck slid off his stick as he was coming out of his turn.

Oh I know. I was just making light jokes of a play. It was almost something awesome. Not at all joking about attempt. Just the happening. I was in the heat of the moment yelling at my tv.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

I don’t like the current second pairing and he’d improve it...I think he showed he was ready...he played 13 min tonight and Ceci played 18 with Marino...POJ doesn’t have to play special teams

I don’t either, but at least CC didn’t do anything dumb tonight.

Wish I could say that would last, but I know better.

 

[ColePens]

I thought Ceci was good to be fair. I thought he was good. But i've seen JJ give like 5-10 games of good hockey. So this is like trying to trust an ex-gf/bf situation. FOOL ME ONCE... SHAME ON YOU. FOOL ME TWICE.... f***ing JR.

 

[ZorkEnchanter]

Don’t want to rush him.

He’s a really poised guy, but getting big minutes after playing pretty much no real hockey games since April, then jumping into the NHL for the first time...

Probably would mess with his confidence.

Yup. Give him good minutes on the 3rd line. No need to rush.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Oh I know. I was just making light jokes of a play. It was almost something awesome. Not at all joking about attempt. Just the happening. I was in the heat of the moment yelling at my tv.

I wasn’t mad when he did that because I know exactly how it feels.

I just bought a new Trigger with a 5 lie and I’m used to a 5.5... and I had that exact same thing happen to me the other day. I wasn’t low enough coming out of my turn with that kind of lie and the puck slipped right off my backhand.

Kind of would feel like an asshole being mad at him for something I just did you know?

 

[aufheben]

In the much awaited battle of the titans

Ceci > Johnson

I’m f***ing better than Jack Johnson. He is literally the worst hockey player in the NHL.

Thankfully we’re playing him 14:00 a night instead of 19:30.

 

[Extra Texture]

Stuff like this (and Sully's quote), it warms the heart. To see a highly touted youngster actually not become trade bait, get the call up in a moment of need, and leave everyone impressed is just great.....you love to see it.

No I don't know in an alternate universe what would have been accepted. But if my only options were Matheson or keeping Horny, I'd keep Horny.

Alternatively, we could have just paid some mid-picks to rid ourselves of the Hornqvist contract, if he truly was of negative value.

Yeah, that's the part that's hard to take. I get adding that Kapanen made Horny an expensive piece with no good place in the lineup. But I still find it hard to swallow that that was the BEST deal out there. And of course, Horny immediately hits the ground running in Florida, looking like a man reborn. The idea that he was some broken down, unmovable boat anchor with negative value just seems absurd to me.

 

[Tacitus Kilgore]

I’m f***ing better than Jack Johnson.

Lol probably. Also saw your user name pop up in my notifs and saw that it was refernced to the pens +/- thread and thought oh no wtf did i do

 

[ncm7772]

+ 3 wins in a row
- We gave points to division rivals in all of those wins
- We mostly look like shit

Perfect post.

Worst 3 game winning streak ever.

I know . But it's 2 points, at least.

I'm gonna show some love to Ceci too, who I thought played pretty well. Good separation speed all over the ice and helped get us a goal.

I couldn't watch, but from what I caught in the radio broadcast it sounded like he played well.

 

[ncm7772]

-Dumo is off to a brutal start! Just awful

+POJ WITH A NICE SHOWING AND FIRST POINT IN HIS DEBUT, GOOD ON YA!

Yeah, dude. That giveaway he had that lead to that goal was horrendous.

 

[cygnus47]

Watching this one now, will update.

So far, breakouts look a liiittttle better, but yeah Marino on his offside not looking so crash hot. Letang with the weak clear indicative of everything that's wrong - he had loads of options but instead of trying something soft into space he just made the dumb dumb 4th line play up the boards on his backhand and it came back to bite immediately. Our whole team is doing that too much again this season. POJ looking solid but unspectacular? Looks like a bottom pairing D already so far but hasn't done anything that's stuck out. Malkin's line looking waaay better. Multiple scoring chances stopped only by really good plays by Ranger D. Kapanen made his first tunnel vision play I've seen, went to help Sid on the boards instead of getting his stick down in front and Sid made a pass to the crease and Kap wasn't ready for it. Dumo looking far more active this game too.

 

[ChaosAgent]

Yeah, that's the part that's hard to take. I get adding that Kapanen made Horny an expensive piece with no good place in the lineup. But I still find it hard to swallow that that was the BEST deal out there. And of course, Horny immediately hits the ground running in Florida, looking like a man reborn. The idea that he was some broken down, unmovable boat anchor with negative value just seems absurd to me.

Even from Florida with Horny & Math as the base, I think we could have extracted way more value. Like at least a 2nd & 3rd or so.

A warrior power-forward winger with aging considerations signed for 3 years isn't a great asset. But a healthy scratch Dman signed for 6 years has very negative value. We see he's physically talented and there's a chance we could rehab him. That's great! But you should still negotiate to get as much as you can. And that's way more than just Sceviour.

The Kahun/Sheary trade was another one where I felt like we wasted the chance to get more value in the form of picks. Just much lower stakes. Because we aren't on the hook for $29M of Sheary.

 

[Gurglesons]

I liked POJ's game and I like most of what I've seen from him but going slow about piling on his responsibilities is usually the wise course.



Spoiler: They won't get them on straight.



I certainly didn't expect to think he'd been about our best player five games in, that's for sure.

They’ve played complete periods. I dunno. All hockey is pretty up and down right now.

 

[Doogle]

I actually see a lot of untapped potential on this team. We've had a lot of turnover, and Matheson aside it seems like they're fitting in well so far. I just think there's something wrong with Sullivan's system, that it requires too much effort so our goals take too much work and then teams exploit us when we get gassed or out of position. As others have commented, the lineup decisions are persistently annoying as well. I just think Sullivan's time has run out here and we're not maximizing our roster. Despite the win streak, we need a change before too long

 

[Tom Hanks]

Watching this one now, will update.

So far, breakouts look a liiittttle better, but yeah Marino on his offside not looking so crash hot. Letang with the weak clear indicative of everything that's wrong - he had loads of options but instead of trying something soft into space he just made the dumb dumb 4th line play up the boards on his backhand and it came back to bite immediately. Our whole team is doing that too much again this season. POJ looking solid but unspectacular? Looks like a bottom pairing D already so far but hasn't done anything that's stuck out. Malkin's line looking waaay better. Multiple scoring chances stopped only by really good plays by Ranger D. Kapanen made his first tunnel vision play I've seen, went to help Sid on the boards instead of getting his stick down in front and Sid made a pass to the crease and Kap wasn't ready for it. Dumo looking far more active this game too.

We win

 

[Vegeta]

This team is weird. Like they were legitimately great in the 1st and 3rd. But they were just so, so bad in the 2nd. What is this team in actuality? I can see this team being anything from a top tier contender to a mediocre team that may miss the playoffs. I just don't know with them.

One really encouraging thing IMO is that Kapanen is looking like the guy JR thought he was getting. If Kapanen keeps playing like this and ends up meshing with Crosby or Malkin, I don't think anyone will complain about the price they paid for him.

I liked the trade when the moment we did it.

Dude was hard blocked in Toronto and played with a mediocre bottom six. Despite that, he would still stand out almost every night.

Most Leafs fans I know would mention him alongside Matthews, Marner and Nylander as the team's young core.

Obviously he isn't on those guys level, but it speaks volumes about how consistently good he was up here.

You pray your 15th overall pick turns into a player like him.