GDT: Game 29: Avs @ Panthers | 5 PM MT | December 6, 2018 | Suomi Finland Perkele

[5280]

I actually don't mind Calvert. He is making way too much money for what he does, but at least he is consistent.

 

[McMetal]

Also, my general thought on this game is it's nice to have a team good enough where we can play a kind of mediocre game all around and still walk away with a 5-2 win on the road.

 

[hooverdam]

I'm just mad that I believed CBJ fans who said Calvert was better than Comeau. Like, they saw both Calvert and Comeau play so I trusted their eyes. I was a fool. Never again.

I don't care to argue who is worse out of Calvert and Bourque. They are both bad. If they quit hockey tomorrow and started an artisanal honey business together, the team would be better.

 

[Pokecheque]

I'm just mad that I believed CBJ fans who said Calvert was better than Comeau. Like, they saw both Calvert and Comeau play so I trusted their eyes. I was a fool. Never again.

I don't care to argue who is worse out of Calvert and Bourque. They are both bad. If they quit hockey tomorrow and started an artisanal honey business together, the team would be better.

Well right now he IS better than Comeau, just saying.

 

[Avs_19]

Comeau sucks this season so I don't know why he gets brought up every time someone gripes about Calvert. Maybe he wouldn't be terrible if he was still on Soderberg's wing but who knows with him being almost 33. You don't give multi-year deals to 30+ bottom six players so the Avs still made the right decision there. I would've preferred neither one of them on the Avs though.

 

[Avsboy]

It just amazes me how a team with players like LBN, Gork, Calvert can be one of the best in the league. The top end talent is in fact top end in the league.

 

[hooverdam]

Well right now he IS better than Comeau, just saying.

Comeau sucks now but I think he'd be better with Soda. He can at least sometimes finish plays and has a decent enough shot. @Avs_19 is right that in an ideal world, neither player has a spot on this lineup, but if it's one or the other I prefer the player who can get dragged into decent play by good players as opposed to dragging good players down, which IMO is what Calvert does.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

Comeau sucks now but I think he'd be better with Soda. He can at least sometimes finish plays and has a decent enough shot. @Avs_19 is right that in an ideal world, neither player has a spot on this lineup, but if it's one or the other I prefer the player who can get dragged into decent play by good players as opposed to dragging good players down, which IMO is what Calvert does.

Which is why I still wish Joe had found a way to get a bonafide 2nd liner this past off-season. It would've pushed Wilson down to the 3rd with Soda which would've pushed Calvert to the 4th and Borque to the press-box.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

Calvert is fine, he just needs to be pushed to the 4th line like in the beginning of the year.

 

[Bubba Thudd]

I don't get the Calvert hate at all. Great PKer, solid pest, good speed and tenacious on the forecheck.

Not enough offense to be a 3rd liner like he's paid to be but he's a great 4th liner. He's just ~1.2M overpaid.

So, his contract is only $1.3M?

 

[Tommy Shelby]

Calvert is fine. He kills penalties, has speed to burn and doesn't really ever hurt the team except when he's placed too far up the lineup and squanders offensive zone chances.

An underrated part of his game is that he has no problems getting chippy and drawing penalties, something we'll love come playoff time.

 

[Pokecheque]

Comeau sucks now but I think he'd be better with Soda. He can at least sometimes finish plays and has a decent enough shot. @Avs_19 is right that in an ideal world, neither player has a spot on this lineup, but if it's one or the other I prefer the player who can get dragged into decent play by good players as opposed to dragging good players down, which IMO is what Calvert does.

Eh, I still think the Avs made the right decision to move on from Comeau, who will be 33 in February and that is, more or less, around the age where a guy at his level starts to decline. In fact I think we're seeing it now. I agree that he and Soda had mad chemistry, which is why I want to see Wilson put on his RW. Look what happened last night when the two of them were FINALLY paired together.

The difference in "drag" coefficient you mention I think is largely the difference between the two players that we knew about going in. Calvert is better defensively, he can cause turnovers in the attacking and neutral zones, but just doesn't have the hands to do anything with the puck once it lands on his stick. Comeau was better offensively and could actually finish stuff that Soda set up for him--especially that play where he would crash the net and tip in a cross-ice feed right in the low slot.

Put Wilson on Soda's wing in the "Comeau spot" and Calvert on the 4th line where he belongs and I think a lot of complaints about both players would go way, way down.

 

[hooverdam]

Eh, I still think the Avs made the right decision to move on from Comeau, who will be 33 in February and that is, more or less, around the age where a guy at his level starts to decline. In fact I think we're seeing it now. I agree that he and Soda had mad chemistry, which is why I want to see Wilson put on his RW. Look what happened last night when the two of them were FINALLY paired together.

The difference in "drag" coefficient you mention I think is largely the difference between the two players that we knew about going in. Calvert is better defensively, he can cause turnovers in the attacking and neutral zones, but just doesn't have the hands to do anything with the puck once it lands on his stick. Comeau was better offensively and could actually finish stuff that Soda set up for him--especially that play where he would crash the net and tip in a cross-ice feed right in the low slot.

Put Wilson on Soda's wing in the "Comeau spot" and Calvert on the 4th line where he belongs and I think a lot of complaints about both players would go way, way down.

Yeah I'm really not pining for Comeau and didn't particularly want to re-sign him. I just want someone with even the barest, pea-sized hint of offensive competence to play with Soda. That's not Calvert or Bourque (and playing both of them with Soda has to violate the Geneva Convention somehow). Wilson hasn't impressed me outside of a few games but 3RW is probably his natural spot in the lineup so I'd like to see him there for a while too.

But you're right: the main goal is making sure that no forward is playing above the line they should be on. That means Calvert on line four, Wilson on line three, etc. What makes this difficult is Bednar being stubborn about who should be at center and who should be at wing. He needs to not get married to any of the frat boys at center and just play them at the position they're producing in. Until or if they bring in another top six forward to push all these guys into the right spots, I think this frustration is going to continue.

 

[Foppa2118]

Well right now he IS better than Comeau, just saying.

That's the hilarious part. Calvert literally can't hit an open net, and he still has more goals and points than Comeau.

 

[AvsFan29]

Well the Avs have scored 4.27 goals on average in those first eight games when Grubs has started and tonight they scored five goals.

10-6-3 .923 2.43
7-1-2 .909 2.96

Those are the stat lines for Avs goalies. One of those win-loss records is unsustainable with those SVS% and GAA numbers.

I believe if you remove the 7 goals grubauer let in against Vancouver, his stats look much better. That game affected his stats quite a bit, and it was a bit of a fluke game.

That being said I think Varlamov is better and I'm not convinced grubauer is our future #1. We score 4+ goals a game in front of grubauer.

Varlamov lost 2 games in a row where he only let in 4 goals total and we only scored 2 goals total. 1-0 loss to Tampa and 3-2 loss to minny.

 

[AnimalMother73]

Sorry if this was brought up earlier but man do I feel bad for the Panthers. There fan support in Miami is awful. I've seen more fans at minor and junior hockey games. I don't know how they are financially viable if the showing last night is common for their home games.

 

[NOTENOUGHJTCGOALS]

Soda Wilson Ghetto would be ok as a line.

Kamenev with LBN and Calvert. If down a goal MacK and Rants can take turns double shifting with Kamenev while Calvert rides the pine.

 

[Foppa2118]

Calvert helped renew my hatred in the Red Wings, so I like him for that alone.

That spear to a guy named Bertuzzi wearing a Red Wings jersey was equivalent to a 50 goal season in my books.

 

[Pokecheque]

Sorry if this was brought up earlier but man do I feel bad for the Panthers. There fan support in Miami is awful. I've seen more fans at minor and junior hockey games. I don't know how they are financially viable if the showing last night is common for their home games.

Actually, that's the problem--they're not in Miami, they're in Sunrise, which is and hour-and-fifteen-minute drive north from Miami, and that's just according to Google, if you factor in traffic it could be a whole lot more.

Just like the Coyotes either gotta move to Phoenix/Scottsdale or move, the Panthros have to move from Sunrise to Miami or just give it up already. They're just never gonna get the support they need in a far-off suburb. Same goes with the Sens in Kanata, but I think eventually (with a new owner) they'll get a new rink built in Ottawa.

Frankly I could see the Coyotes moving to Houston and the Panthers moving to Quebec City. I mean, that would probably be ideal from a league standpoint since divisional alignments post-2021 wouldn't have to change at all.

 

[Foppberg]

Actually, that's the problem--they're not in Miami, they're in Sunrise, which is and hour-and-fifteen-minute drive north from Miami, and that's just according to Google, if you factor in traffic it could be a whole lot more.

Just like the Coyotes either gotta move to Phoenix/Scottsdale or move, the Panthros have to move from Sunrise to Miami or just give it up already. They're just never gonna get the support they need in a far-off suburb. Same goes with the Sens in Kanata, but I think eventually (with a new owner) they'll get a new rink built in Ottawa.

Frankly I could see the Coyotes moving to Houston and the Panthers moving to Quebec City. I mean, that would probably be ideal from a league standpoint since divisional alignments post-2021 wouldn't have to change at all.

I thought I remember reading that the Panthers have a sweet-heart of a arena deal, so the likelihood of a move is unlikely.

 

[AnimalMother73]

I thought I remember reading that the Panthers have a sweet-heart of a arena deal, so the likelihood of a move is unlikely.

Wow did not know they were so far away from the city. That makes it even worse IMO. Place an arena for a sport that plays second fiddle to football, basketball and baseball (and probably their college equivalents) far away from the nucleus of possible fans. No wonder that place is a mausoleum. Rent is probably damn near free else I don't see how they make it work.

 

[member 116861]

Soda Wilson Ghetto would be ok as a line.

Kamenev with LBN and Calvert. If down a goal MacK and Rants can take turns double shifting with Kamenev while Calvert rides the pine.

Nieto is better than Ghetto and should be with Soda so the line can still match up against opposing team's offensive units.

 

[Metallo]

Actually, that's the problem--they're not in Miami, they're in Sunrise, which is and hour-and-fifteen-minute drive north from Miami, and that's just according to Google, if you factor in traffic it could be a whole lot more.

Just like the Coyotes either gotta move to Phoenix/Scottsdale or move, the Panthros have to move from Sunrise to Miami or just give it up already. They're just never gonna get the support they need in a far-off suburb. Same goes with the Sens in Kanata, but I think eventually (with a new owner) they'll get a new rink built in Ottawa.

Frankly I could see the Coyotes moving to Houston and the Panthers moving to Quebec City. I mean, that would probably be ideal from a league standpoint since divisional alignments post-2021 wouldn't have to change at all.

Google tells me 39 min from downtown Miami to the arena.

 

[Pokecheque]

Google tells me 39 min from downtown Miami to the arena.

Could be, but again, I don't know if that is accounting for traffic at all. In any case it appears to be too far for most Miami folks to make the trek.

 

[Pokecheque]

I thought I remember reading that the Panthers have a sweet-heart of a arena deal, so the likelihood of a move is unlikely.

No lease is unbreakable--just ask the Brooklyn Islanders.

And it can't be that sweet a deal if it's in a Florida suburb no one wants to go to, at least for hockey games.

Attendance the other night was barely a tick above 10,000, and that's the official count. I really don't think there were 10,000 people actually there.