Post-Game Talk: Devils and caps 7:00

[hockeykicker]

Vrana scratched

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[bur and 666 others]

Vrana scratched

ah, you beat me lol

 

[peterthegreat12]

Jersey starting Kinkaid tonight.

 

[twabby]

Also Taylor Hall is injured and the Devils stink.

This is about as close to a "should win" game as possible.

 

[hockeykicker]

 

[AtNightWeFly]

Trotz is getting on my nerves.

 

[Barry Amsterdam]

And that's why trotz is **** with rookies

 

[Ajax1995]

So just to be clear everyone would prioritize Vrana's development over winning tonight? Or is this yet another example of the masses around here wanting their cake and to eat it to...?

 

[AtNightWeFly]

So just to be clear everyone would prioritize Vrana's development over winning tonight? Or is this yet another example of the masses around here wanting their cake and to eat it to...?

Caps are a better team with Vrana in the lineup but ole no neck has to teach a rookie life lessons first.

 

[hockeykicker]

Caps are a better team with Vrana in the lineup but ole no neck has to teach a rookie life lessons first.

What has he done lately? You have people complaining that trotz doesn't do anything so when he does something and takes out the guy not scoring people are still mad.

 

[Ovie's Neighbor]

What has he done lately? You have people complaining that trotz doesn't do anything so when he does something and takes out the guy not scoring people are still mad.

Yeah Vrana has been invisible for a couple weeks now. Winnik deserves to be in the lineup and Vrana needs more ice time in the AHL to continue developing.

 

[linusandvarlamov]

Avs fan (skipping the Dallas game tonight) I'll be watching you guys instead ! Hoping you get the victory. But with Hall out and Kinkaid in, it should be doable.

 

[AtNightWeFly]

What has he done lately? You have people complaining that trotz doesn't do anything so when he does something and takes out the guy not scoring people are still mad.

The entire team is playing like garbage and his best idea is to take the rookie out of the lineup? The rookie that most nights is the only one flying out there! What is this going to accomplish?

 

[twabby]

I'm okay with sitting him for a game or two but if the plan is to send him back to Hershey I just don't understand it. He's been a key part of revitalizing the third line that had a slow start to the season and while he hasn't scored a lot, he's had lots of good looks personally. Also he is rocking some of the best defensive numbers on the team (best shot attempt percentage, second best goals against/60 rate, etc.). It would be weird if good defense suddenly didn't matter to Trotz.

 

[peterthegreat12]

The entire team is playing like garbage and his best idea is to take the rookie out of the lineup? The rookie that most nights is the only one flying out there! What is this going to accomplish?

Agreed.

By Trotz's logic, a lot of the veterans should be benched. Kuzy has been getting some assists but his overall game has been awful. Orlov is a turn over machine. But yeah....pick on the rookie.

Also, for a team that wants to "play fast"...they sure like dressing a SLOW line-up.

 

[RandyHolt]

Vrana in tonight would not cost us the game. Whatevs. Trotz seems to be fishing for an excuse to get Winnik back in. Winnie has 7 goals... Sell high for once.

 

[Ajax1995]

Caps are a better team with Vrana in the lineup but ole no neck has to teach a rookie life lessons first.

I'm assuming there is something Vrana isn't doing that the coaches want him doing and just working on it in practice isn't getting through to him. I have to believe they are trying to hold him accountable.

Most around here at least say they want players held accountable. Is that not something you believe in? Do you feel they are benching him for absolutely no reason? I mean, seriously WTF do you want here?

 

[hockeyfan88]

Barry Trotz is so conservative. He pisses me off, for real.

GMBM should trade every single skill player on this team and get another 6 elite grinders.

At least they would be defensively responsible, right? Goal scorers and creative players be damned. All we need is Holtby stopping 45 shots every night, score a garbage deflection goal and turtle for the last 40 minutes of the game.

Because that's the ideal formula to beat our biggest rivals in the East. Oh yeah! That will work, Trotz.

 

[Caps8112]

rather watch vrana try and develop with good players then Connolly, Sanford, Winnik, Eller, Wilson suck every night. Its like the team keeps saying the window is closiing and just watching it happen. The division is tough but if they do not do something significant at the deadline it will be the same old story.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

What does Wilson do to stay in the lineup?

 

[peterthegreat12]

I'm assuming there is something Vrana isn't doing that the coaches want him doing and just working on it in practice isn't getting through to him. I have to believe they are trying to hold him accountable.

Most around here at least say they want players held accountable. Is that not something you believe in? Do you feel they are benching him for absolutely no reason? I mean, seriously WTF do you want here?

By that logic, why has Orlov not been benched? Why has Kuzy not been benched? Caps only seem to hold young players "accountable".

If they want to spout the "we hold our players accountable"...then practice what you preach.

 

[HTFN]

What does Wilson do to stay in the lineup?

This is exactly where my bull**** meter landed, or maybe an alarm sounded. Of all of the people to sound so harsh on, too... Vrana? I don't get it.

Either Trotz, or the Organization as a whole, sees Wilson as a finished product. While that may be true, the idea that they've largely given up on expecting more bothers me.

More than that, this is only a winning league for teams that develop winning talent. If Vrana has things to fix then that's one thing, but he's mostly been a positive influence, so it had better be about him, specifically.

If the team is just looking uninspired to you, adding a mostly uninspiring player isn't going to change that, and shame would be on Trotz for swapping a growing talent for a known quantity against one of the NHL's lower-talent teams, where Vrana might be able to do even more than usual.

 

[Ajax1995]

By that logic, why has Orlov not been benched? Why has Kuzy not been benched? Caps only seem to hold young players "accountable".

If they want to spout the "we hold our players accountable"...then practice what you preach.

IMO there is a big difference between not playing particularly well and not doing what the coaches are instructing you to do. And Orlov sat for a decent amount of time in games last season when he was serving up those pizzas and Kuznetsov sat a couple years ago some also.

Some of it is your role also. It is much easier to sit a bottom 6 winger for a game than a scoring line centerman or top 4 blueliner as you have reasonable replacements for the former.

I just don't get the assumption that they are picking Vrana to sit for no reason, other than him being a rookie of course, and that taking someone out of the lineup to begin with is some kind of coaching master plan. The most likely scenario is they are simply not happy about something specific in his play, which is pretty much what was said. Is that really that far fetched?

 

[peterthegreat12]

IMO there is a big difference between not playing particularly well and not doing what the coaches are instructing you to do. And Orlov sat for a decent amount of time in games last season when he was serving up those pizzas and Kuznetsov sat a couple years ago some also.

Some of it is your role also. It is much easier to sit a bottom 6 winger for a game than a scoring line centerman or top 4 blueliner as you have reasonable replacements for the former.

I just don't get the assumption that they are picking Vrana to sit for no reason, other than him being a rookie of course, and that taking someone out of the lineup to begin with is some kind of coaching master plan. The most likely scenario is they are simply not happy about something specific in his play, which is pretty much what was said. Is that really that far fetched?

I'm not arguing necc. that Vrana should be in the line-up. I'm simply saying I don't think that accountability is demanded equally throughout the team. There are quite a few players of late who have not been producing and they aren't being "held accountable", AKA seeing reduced minutes or being scratched.

 

[Bladerunner]

Barry Trotz is so conservative. He pisses me off, for real.

GMBM should trade every single skill player on this team and get another 6 elite grinders.

At least they would be defensively responsible, right? Goal scorers and creative players be damned. All we need is Holtby stopping 45 shots every night, score a garbage deflection goal and turtle for the last 40 minutes of the game.

Because that's the ideal formula to beat our biggest rivals in the East. Oh yeah! That will work, Trotz.

Also keeps the phone booth packed most nights