GDT: Game 17: Columbus CannonBallers vs Coyotes - 7:00pm - BSAZ, 620AM

[Coyotedroppings]

Hayton with the hustle. Won't get an assist but he helped with that.

Wouldn't have happened w/o him.

 

[UK Yote]

Good game to watch and the Yotes finally looked like they believe in themselves. Hayton is really beginning to live up to expectations and goodbye Hutton hello our new #1 Wedgewood, despite the score he was awesome.
Only 7856 in attendance.... that's disappointing. I suspect a bigger crowd on Saturday with the Wings in town. (unfortunately I live in England and as the borders have only just opened I haven't made it this year)

 

[PainForShane]

So last night’s game was fun! Apologies for the delay but better late than never, and like most of you I do have a day job.

Summary is based on notes I wrote yesterday after the game -- keep in mind I’m not really watching the away games so much (though I am following the GTDs after the game), maybe some of you are doing this too which is part of why I’m writing these as often as I can. Also like most of you I believe seeing the games in person lets you pay attention to different things so am doing that in a way that isn't really possible watching these on TV.

Long way of saying prior to the game I really wanted to watch Hayton, to me he had previously looked physically weak but I saw that turnover goal he scored against STL which was impressive and the opposite of weak. So, wanted to take a close look and see what is really going on with him. Anyway!

Top level game summary:
Really evenly matched, neither team was ever ahead by two goals even though the final was a 5-4 SO loss. Score was 1-1 until the last 5 mins or so of the second, up to that point it was pretty low event (read: boring) hockey but both Elvis and Wedgewood made a few 10-bell saves -- if you’re watching on replay Wedgewood made an absolutely ludicrous save at ~7 min of the first period e.g., 13 min left. Anyway with ~5 mins left in the 2nd the teams scored 4 goals total, into the 2nd intermission tied 3-3 (Crouse scored an amazing goal shooting a bouncing puck, more on that below).

Last 10 mins of the 3rd we got a PP and that’s when the ice really tilted… in CBJ’s favor actually . Our PP was inept so they got (and maintained) all the momentum that last 10 mins or so of regulation. CBJ’s 4th goal I’m sure looked worse on replay, but then Chychrun (!!!!) scored on a perfectly placed shot from the faceoff circle. Overtime pretty back and forth, shootout went 7 rounds. Very evenly matched game, glad we got a point because we deserved it.

Stadium was empty though. For Alex Meruelo's sake I hope people continue to attend games on the weekend (Detroit up tomorrow).

Players:
1) Boone Jenner had a hat trick and had maybe 3 or 4 really good chances in OT to get his fourth. Wait… actually he didn’t have a hat trick, they changed that last goal to Werenski. Oh well, either way Jenner still had a great game. But we are Yotes fans so nobody cares about Boone Jenner (except for maybe @RABBIT who has him on his league-leading fantasy team what a turnaround from last year!) so let’s move on.

2) Wedgewood was amazing again, consistently read the play well, perfect positionally, made smart reads re: when to cover / play the puck etc. To me he looks like a better than average NHL goaltender and by far our best option in net, just name him the starter already.

3) Crouse was great again imo. One of the posters (I think @RemoAZ?) mentioned he thought Nick Schmaltz plays best when he skates in straight lines and doesn’t try to be too creative – well, Lawson Crouse is playing this way and he’s so physical that no team has been able to shut him down for a whole game. His shot seems much better this year and he’s also showing some skill – if you haven’t seen it yet, very much worth watching our third goal, he shoots a bouncing puck top corner, was equally as good as what Fiala did a couple nights ago. Anyway if Crouse keeps playing like this he should absolutely be part of our core and might actually be a perennial 30-40 goal scorer if we can get him a decent center with one of our 8 (8!!!!) early round picks next year.

4) Tucson boys -- Mayo is still Mayoing, really like his game. Simple, effective, good positioning, no mistakes. Capo looked really confident out there too and comfortable slowing the play down as needed. Cam Dineen on the other hand was terrible. His gap was badly off all game, he kept looking over at his D partner (Capo) to try to figure out where to be, also the 3rd goal against was basically his fault because he didn’t tie up his guy at all (?). He plays the same side as Soderstrom, if we need Soderstrom to cook in the AHL a bit longer that’s fine, but based on last game Dineen was not even close to an NHL level defender.

5) And now Hayton. What I see is that the guy keeps getting bodied around but he’s smart and crafty enough to make a positive impact in spite of it. It’s actually kind of fun to see how effective the adjustments he's making are.

Two examples (of many) that show this:

5a) Early in the first period, he was battling Boone Jenner in Wedgewood's crease where Jenner established net front presence, once Boone Jenner got set Hayton couldn’t move him even an inch. He tried for like 5 seconds and then gave up, literally turned around (to face the play rather than Jenner), and just picked off the shot / pass toward Jenner and started immediately skating it up ice. ****ing smart play.

5b) On the Kessel goal (our 2nd) – Hayton created a turnover by winning a puck battle, but if you look closely he doesn’t do it with strength – prior to the puck battle he hacks the CBJ player's leg in a weird spot causing him to fall, the CBJ player is thus completely taken out of the play which gives Kessel tons of time to pick his spot. Imo Kessel doesn’t score that goal without Hayton (second time this has happened imo, Kessel also scored a PPG a few games ago after Hayton set a perfect screen). Re: faceoffs, I stared at Hayton all game and he doesn’t win with strength, he uses weird stick angles and his feet while also having great timing.

Summarized view of Hayton:
To be clear Hayton has absolutely put on size since he first came into the league butI don’t think he has NHL level strength yet… BUT I don’t know that it matters because he’s smart enough to get around that.

I mean, not every good player is big or strong (Gretz, Johnny Gaudreau etc) so imo who cares about whether he plays physically or not. Most importantly Hayton is absolutely helping our team win right now which is honestly more than I had hoped for at this stage of his development.

And that is the game (or at least how I saw it). Apologies for the lateness but better late than never. Go Yotes!

 

[TheLegend]

^^^^ Boone Jenner didn’t get the hat trick. One of the goals was given to a teammate.

 

[rt]

So last night’s game was fun! Apologies for the delay but better late than never, and like most of you I do have a day job.

Summary is based on notes I wrote yesterday after the game -- keep in mind I’m not really watching the away games so much (though I am following the GTDs after the game), maybe some of you are doing this too which is part of why I’m writing these as often as I can. Also like most of you I believe seeing the games in person lets you pay attention to different things so am doing that in a way that isn't really possible watching these on TV.

Long way of saying prior to the game I really wanted to watch Hayton, to me he had previously looked physically weak but I saw that turnover goal he scored against STL which was impressive and the opposite of weak. So, wanted to take a close look and see what is really going on with him. Anyway!

Top level game summary:
Really evenly matched, neither team was ever ahead by two goals even though the final was a 5-4 SO loss. Score was 1-1 until the last 5 mins or so of the second, up to that point it was pretty low event (read: boring) hockey but both Elvis and Wedgewood made a few 10-bell saves -- if you’re watching on replay Wedgewood made an absolutely ludicrous save at ~7 min of the first period e.g., 13 min left. Anyway with ~5 mins left in the 2nd the teams scored 4 goals total, into the 2nd intermission tied 3-3 (Crouse scored an amazing goal shooting a bouncing puck, more on that below).

Last 10 mins of the 3rd we got a PP and that’s when the ice really tilted… in CBJ’s favor actually . Our PP was inept so they got (and maintained) all the momentum that last 10 mins or so of regulation. CBJ’s 4th goal I’m sure looked worse on replay, but then Chychrun (!!!!) scored on a perfectly placed shot from the faceoff circle. Overtime pretty back and forth, shootout went 7 rounds. Very evenly matched game, glad we got a point because we deserved it.

Stadium was empty though. For Alex Meruelo's sake I hope people continue to attend games on the weekend (Detroit up tomorrow).

Players:
1) Boone Jenner had a hat trick and had maybe 3 or 4 really good chances in OT to get his fourth. Wait… actually he didn’t have a hat trick, they changed that last goal to Werenski. Oh well, either way Jenner still had a great game. But we are Yotes fans so nobody cares about Boone Jenner (except for maybe @RABBIT who has him on his league-leading fantasy team what a turnaround from last year!) so let’s move on.

2) Wedgewood was amazing again, consistently read the play well, perfect positionally, made smart reads re: when to cover / play the puck etc. To me he looks like a better than average NHL goaltender and by far our best option in net, just name him the starter already.

3) Crouse was great again imo. One of the posters (I think @RemoAZ?) mentioned he thought Nick Schmaltz plays best when he skates in straight lines and doesn’t try to be too creative – well, Lawson Crouse is playing this way and he’s so physical that no team has been able to shut him down for a whole game. His shot seems much better this year and he’s also showing some skill – if you haven’t seen it yet, very much worth watching our third goal, he shoots a bouncing puck top corner, was equally as good as what Fiala did a couple nights ago. Anyway if Crouse keeps playing like this he should absolutely be part of our core and might actually be a perennial 30-40 goal scorer if we can get him a decent center with one of our 8 (8!!!!) early round picks next year.

4) Tucson boys -- Mayo is still Mayoing, really like his game. Simple, effective, good positioning, no mistakes. Capo looked really confident out there too and comfortable slowing the play down as needed. Cam Dineen on the other hand was terrible. His gap was badly off all game, he kept looking over at his D partner (Capo) to try to figure out where to be, also the 3rd goal against was basically his fault because he didn’t tie up his guy at all (?). He plays the same side as Soderstrom, if we need Soderstrom to cook in the AHL a bit longer that’s fine, but based on last game Dineen was not even close to an NHL level defender.

5) And now Hayton. What I see is that the guy keeps getting bodied around but he’s smart and crafty enough to make a positive impact in spite of it. It’s actually kind of fun to see how effective the adjustments he's making are.

Two examples (of many) that show this:

5a) Early in the first period, he was battling Boone Jenner in Wedgewood's crease where Jenner established net front presence, once Boone Jenner got set Hayton couldn’t move him even an inch. He tried for like 5 seconds and then gave up, literally turned around (to face the play rather than Jenner), and just picked off the shot / pass toward Jenner and started immediately skating it up ice. ****ing smart play.

5b) On the Kessel goal (our 2nd) – Hayton created a turnover by winning a puck battle, but if you look closely he doesn’t do it with strength – prior to the puck battle he hacks the CBJ player's leg in a weird spot causing him to fall, the CBJ player is thus completely taken out of the play which gives Kessel tons of time to pick his spot. Imo Kessel doesn’t score that goal without Hayton (second time this has happened imo, Kessel also scored a PPG a few games ago after Hayton set a perfect screen). Re: faceoffs, I stared at Hayton all game and he doesn’t win with strength, he uses weird stick angles and his feet while also having great timing.

Summarized view of Hayton:
To be clear Hayton has absolutely put on size since he first came into the league butI don’t think he has NHL level strength yet… BUT I don’t know that it matters because he’s smart enough to get around that.

I mean, not every good player is big or strong (Gretz, Johnny Gaudreau etc) so imo who cares about whether he plays physically or not. Most importantly Hayton is absolutely helping our team win right now which is honestly more than I had hoped for at this stage of his development.

And that is the game (or at least how I saw it). Apologies for the lateness but better late than never. Go Yotes!

Please watch Hayton’s goals against STL and then say he doesn’t have NHL strength. This opinion is a wild one, my friend.

 

[aonb]

Guys, any thoughts on Galchenyuk?

 

[PainForShane]

Please watch Hayton’s goals against STL and then say he doesn’t have NHL strength. This opinion is a wild one, my friend.

I did! And I just did again to make sure.

You're missing my point. I am saying Hayton is physically weak but crafty, which is more than good enough. The 3rd goal against STL makes my point pretty well actually. Here's a deep dive:

Link of the goal:


Full context -- we're on the PP, Phil has the puck at the bottom of the screen, Hayton initially has position on Faulk, but when Phil passes to GhostBear on the right point for a one-timer Faulk literally just leans on Hayton and sends him to the other side of the crease without any resistance really. However, as he's sliding over, Hayton spins around and gets a stick on the shot for an amazing deflection even while Faulk is literally pushing him out of the way. To me, that makes Hayton's play even more impressive, not less. Also note that Faulk is listed at 5'11" 216 lbs, so a big defenseman but someone not especially huge.

With screenshots:

Kessel at the bottom of the screen with the puck, Hayton in front of the net in good position

Then:

Kessel has just passed back to Ghost on the right point who is about to take the one timer, you can see the puck just below Ghost's right skate if you squint hard enough. At the moment Hayton's in decent position for a tip in front of the net but is getting leaned on (not hit) by Faulk as you can see.

As the shot is taken, Faulk has easily moved Hayton out of the crease but Hayton gets a stick on the shot for a ridiculous deflection anyway.


From another angle as Hayton makes the tip (blurry):

Look at where Hayton is standing when he makes that play, he's on the other side of the play (shot is near post) and has been moved completely out of the crease. Put another way, in the half-second-ish it took for Ghost to take a one-timer, Faulk has moved Hayton a foot and a half without even really hitting him. Which to me makes Hayton's deflection even more impressive because it takes a lot more athleticism to do what Hayton did there because it's from a worse body position.

Anyway if you see him live, Hayton gets pushed around like this all game, it's actually hard to not see it happens so often. But more importantly, Hayton compensates by making freakishly good plays either through timing or balance or whatever.

So, who cares if he's able to establish position in the crease or not? I don't. Sure it's a tougher deflection, but he's able to make the play regardless and a goal is a goal.

Anyway that's where I'm coming from, I literally see him being pushed around like this all game but he's still able to make plays. And as long as he continues to make plays who really cares anyway? I'm very glad he's on our team, assuming he keeps developing I hope we keep him

**edited spelling

 

[Coyotedroppings]

Good game to watch and the Yotes finally looked like they believe in themselves. Hayton is really beginning to live up to expectations and goodbye Hutton hello our new #1 Wedgewood, despite the score he was awesome.
Only 7856 in attendance.... that's disappointing. I suspect a bigger crowd on Saturday with the Wings in town. (unfortunately I live in England and as the borders have only just opened I haven't made it this year)

Quite the raucous 7856 though. Could not believe the fun folks were having - was great to see!

 

[PainForShane]

Guys, any thoughts on Galchenyuk?

He was ok, wasn't necessarily the focus of our offense but didn't look out of place either. Showed up on the scoresheet assisting Dzingel's goal, but Dzingel was the one who really made that play

 

[rt]

I did! And I just did again to make sure.

You're missing my point. I am saying Hayton is physically weak but crafty, which is more than good enough. The 3rd goal against STL makes my point pretty well actually. Here's a deep dive:

Link of the goal:


Full context -- we're on the PP, Phil has the puck at the bottom of the screen, Hayton initially has position on Faulk, but when Phil passes to GhostBear on the right point for a one-timer Faulk literally just leans on Hayton and sends him to the other side of the crease without any resistance really. However, as he's sliding over, Hayton spins around and gets a stick on the shot for an amazing deflection even while Faulk is literally pushing him out of the way. To me, that makes Hayton's play even more impressive, not less. Also note that Faulk is listed at 5'11" 216 lbs, so a big defenseman but someone not especially huge.

With screenshots:

View attachment 482128
Kessel at the bottom of the screen with the puck, Hayton in front of the net in good position

Then:View attachment 482129

Kessel has just passed back to Ghost on the right point who is about to take the one timer, you can see the puck just below Ghost's right skate if you squint hard enough. At the moment Hayton's in decent position for a tip in front of the net but is getting leaned on (not hit) by Faulk as you can see.



View attachment 482131

As the shot is taken, Faulk has easily moved Hayton out of the crease but Hayton gets a stick on the shot for a ridiculous deflection anyway.


From another angle as Hayton makes the tip (blurry):View attachment 482133

Look at where Hayton is standing when he makes that play, he's on the other side of the play (shot is near post) and has been moved completely out of the crease. Put another way, in the half-second-ish it took for Ghost to take a one-timer, Faulk has moved Hayton a foot and a half without even really hitting him. Which to me makes Hayton's deflection even more impressive because it takes a lot more athleticism to do what Hayton did there because it's from a worse body position.

Anyway if you see him live, Hayton gets pushed around like this all game, it's actually hard to not see it happens so often. But more importantly, Hayton compensates by making freakishly good plays either through timing or balance or whatever.

So, who cares if he's able to establish position in the crease or not? I don't. Sure it's a tougher deflection, but he's able to make the play regardless and a goal is a goal.

Anyway that's where I'm coming from, I literally see him being pushed around like this all game but he's still able to make plays. And as long as he continues to make plays who really cares anyway? I'm very glad he's on our team, assuming he keeps developing I hope we keep him

**edited spelling

I appreciate all of this effort but you could highlight the same for nearly anyone. This is true for 85% of the forwards in the league. I notice Hayton’s above average physical strength every single game. He looks stronger than half the forwards on the teams this year.

 

[XX]

Guys, any thoughts on Galchenyuk?

Stepped right in and brought some much needed skill. His brand of chaos is vibing right now with Kessel. Amazing player for the money.

 

[PainForShane]

I appreciate all of this effort but you could highlight the same for nearly anyone. This is true for 85% of the forwards in the league. I notice Hayton’s above average physical strength every single game. He looks stronger than half the forwards on the teams this year.

Not really -- I'm not sure most forwards would be moved straight out of the crease in half a second just by being leaned on, usually it takes at least a few cross checks or something. Put another way I WISH our D could clear the crease just by leaning on opposition forwards, would've been nice those last few games of that Colorado series.

Anyway, you're noticing above average physical strength, I'm noticing well below average physical strength but exceptional craftiness to make up for it. To me, losing a physical battle doesn't matter as long as you end up with the puck, get the deflection, cause the turnover etc -- and Hayton is doing those things.

Either way we can agree to disagree, I'm not sure it matters either way. The kid is playing well, I think it's because he's smart, you think it's because he's strong who really cares why you know? At least that's my view anyway *shrug*

 

[rt]

Not really -- I'm not sure most forwards would be moved straight out of the crease in half a second just by being leaned on, usually it takes at least a few cross checks or something.

I’ve seen this happen numerous times in every hockey game I’ve ever watched.

Anyway, you're noticing above average physical strength, I'm noticing well below average physical strength but exceptional craftiness to make up for it.

Either way we can agree to disagree, I'm not sure it matters either way.

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