GDT: Game 16: Wild vs Senators - 10AM CT

[Spurgeon]

If you have ever met him in public, all 3 of those are not true. Never seen a grown man bark demands at a Qdoba worker before like him.

He’s been cordial every time I’ve met him. Sometimes ya catch a guy on a bad day, although I can’t say I’ve ever lambasted a Qdoba employee.

 

[NHL1674]

So, have we broken Kaprizov?

BTW, there was a moment where he set up Zucc in front of the net with about 2 minutes left and Zucc refused to shoot.... maddening.

One of Kap/Zucc need to go down a line....actually they both do, but that would mean keeping them together.

 

[keppel146]

Kap’s shift(s) in OT made it look like he’s obviously playing through an injury. Dude could barely skate.

 

[NHL1674]

Kap’s shift(s) in OT made it look like he’s obviously playing through an injury. Dude could barely skate.

And if he is injured, it's maddening how Evason's response as to how to get him going is, "I don't know."

Is he hurt or not, coach?

 

[Digitalbooya]

One of Kap/Zucc need to go down a line....actually they both do, but that would mean keeping them together.

Zucc was fine. He and Rossi actually looked good today. Kaprizov did a lot of skating with the puck and nothing else.

Is he hurt or not, coach?

Here's the problem with this: Kap has said that something is nagging him. From what Russo said on Worst Seats in the House, the team can't seem to find a medical problem with him.

 

[NHL1674]

Zucc was fine. He and Rossi actually looked good today. Kaprizov did a lot of skating with the puck and nothing else.

Here's the problem with this: Kap has said that something is nagging him. From what Russo said on Worst Seats in the House, the team can't seem to find a medical problem with him.

Then maybe Kap should move down. If the medical team can't find the problem, but something is nagging him.....good grief.

 

[BagHead]

Then maybe Kap should move down. If the medical team can't find the problem, but something is nagging him.....good grief.

Agreed, this is why second opinions and specialists exist.

 

[Obvious Fabertism]

The edgework Kap uses to pull off most of his skating relies on him having extreme trust in his leg strength, he very obviously does not trust his legs right now. If it were me, the fastest way to get him back to playing how he needs to without forming the terrible habits that he has been, is to shut him down and get him dryland strength training on it until he is comfortable. A month (or whatever timeline) of dedicated work there would do wonders where he doesn't have to worry about the game and solely getting his comfort back in his skating.

They of course would never do this while he is being paid tons of money and the team slumping, but it is probably in everyone's best interest long term. This is of course just my view from here, with no immediate knowledge of his current medical condition, but it looks awfully familiar to some things I have seen in the past. I don't think it fixes itself on its own.

 

[NHL1674]

Agreed, this is why second opinions and specialists exist.

I haven't trusted our medical staffs for well over a decade. You're right. He needs a second opinion.

 

[57special]

If you have ever met him in public, all 3 of those are not true. Never seen a grown man bark demands at a Qdoba worker before like him.

I have met, and spent a few hours with him.

 

[jbeck5]

The gophers played on a larger surface up until this year as well as several of the top high school teams in the state choosing Olympic rinks for their home games. It’s interesting to see how Europeans went down a very different playstyle path with it. Here the top teams seem to thrive on the big ice using their speed and passing skills. I don’t think many would be complaining about the gophers being boring or low scoring over the years.

Amateur is different though. I played high level hockey and soccer, so I can see the comparison throughout the levels as you age.

So, similar in soccer, the bigger the field (as you age from 11 to 15 or so) the fields get bigger and you see a decrease in scoring.

The other place you see a decrease in scoring is as the level grows and the games become more structured.

So my 15-16 year provincial level soccer games often had scores like 4-2 or something, but then when I quit and my friends went on to the next level, it became lower scoring. There's less crappy players to take advantage of.

So you also see higher scoring games in low European levels too.

It's partially due to the level of play regardless of rink size.

But the rink size does have an affect. A smaller ice surface allows for more chaos.

Having all the extra space on the Olympic ice allows for way more structure, similar to how a bigger soccer field also allows for more structure.

It's a lot easier to stay goal side as a defender with lots of space. You can kind of sit back and allow the other teams offense to use all that space on the perimeters which doesn't create offense but is easy for the other team to maintain possession so they'll almost choose to just keep the play on the outside waiting for the perfect chance.

In North America, you don't have all that extra space on the outside to maintain puck possession, so it almost forces the attacking team to try to create a chance right away while they're in the offensive zone (because they don't have the luxury of cycling it around in all that extra space to wait for that chance)

So this almost acts similar to a shot clock in basketball, forcing the offensive team to try to get something going right away before they lose possession.

So the smaller ice ends up creating a faster paced game with more offense and more chaos.

Big ice makes the game go a bit more of the soccer way where it's more patient and it's more or a chess game of waiting for that particular chance where you can get in tight for a chance for a goal. It's more about patience.