GDT: Game 3 - CBJ (0-2-0) vs BUF (2-0-0) - October 7, 7pm

blahblah

Registered User
Nov 24, 2005
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Totally agree with you, but Jarmo has been in a tough spot considering we made it to the second round last year for the first time ever. I would contend that for the second year straight, we get up early with a series lead, the other coach makes adjustments to counter how we are playing, and Torts couldnt adjust for the second year in a row.

Yeah, we also invested heavily at the trade deadline. I was just as excited as everyone else, however I also thought it was a rather dumb gamble. I still wonder if the FO thought that was going to change the minds of any of the UFA's.

We probably should just have went hard after Stone, after all he was the guy that seemed ok with signing a long term extension, even his position is our area of strength. We would have had two very good RW's and could have looked at moving OB. Stone isn't Panarin, but he's quite good.

The clock has started, we have two seasons to persuade Jones to re-sign with us.
 
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MAHJ71

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Dec 6, 2014
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With the turnover we had, it was probably time to move on. From my observation he's probably too close to the situation and the players. Coaches tend to form opinions on players and not move from them easily. We probably need a fresh look from someone new at this point. Someone that is going to evaluate from a fresh prescriptive and not react so much based on past performance.

Our on ice product feels stale. We probably need a fresh perspective to breath some new life in to this team.
However this isn't how sports franchises work generally. Especially when you have existing contracts in place and/or if you didn't do your homework and don't know who the replacement will be. All GM's should have their list of preferred head coaches ready at all times. That research is almost as important as player evaluation, after all you have scouts for that.

10000000%

And Torts is on record many times about not teaching offense .. he "doesn't wanna get in their way" ... yet here we are again fielding a team that looks completely lost on offense ... and on a related note, somewhat lost on defense despite having great depth and skill on that side as well.

It's all old, and isn't working.

Anaheim looks like a completely different team this season (yes its early) with new systems by Dallas Eakins .. compared to the dinosaur hockey they were playing under Carlyle.
 

squarelaces

Registered User
Aug 6, 2005
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Wennberg has 1 shot on goal in 2 games played. Torts needs to have a 0 tolerance policy with Alex this year. Make him earn every game he plays.

Wennberg had more ice time than any other forward in the Pit game. Seems like Torts has made his position pretty clear
 

elmariachi227

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Aug 27, 2012
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I haven't watched a lot of the two previous games but in both games I saw a lot of bad decision making on zone entry, mainly passes that should not have been attempted.
 

blahblah

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Nov 24, 2005
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Wennberg had more ice time than any other forward in the Pit game. Seems like Torts has made his position pretty clear

Not a lot of options here. Either Wennberg improves or we're leaning on Jenner or, lord forbid, Foligno. I did notice that he has done quite well on faceoffs so far, so maybe he's been putting in some work. If he starts winning 60% of his faceoffs we can use him in the defensive zone a lot more in key situations.

I doubt shots on goal are ever going to be a positive stat for him. Looking at his game, I'm not sure I really want it to be. I'd like it to be enough of a threat, however, where people have to defend against him taking the shot.
 

squarelaces

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Aug 6, 2005
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Stop being reasonable. On HF the only categories used to judge Wennberg are shots and total points.
 

KJ Dangler

Registered User
Oct 21, 2006
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PLD has 1 SOG too, and about half of Wennberg's FO%... should he sit too?
I dont think Pld has had a coach for 2 years straight, to shoot the puck. Any other player, Milano, Bjorkstrand, probably Bemstrom, Lilja, Texier, doesnt listen to Torts, or for that matter make 1 lazy play away from the puck, they are benched. So, in case your new, there is a long backstory there with Wennberg.
 

Cyclones Rock

Registered User
Jun 12, 2008
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Anyone who has a high degree of confidence in this team to make the playoffs would have put Norman Vincent Peale to shame.

I just decided not to go up for the game and won't see a live one until next week. Probably should have gone to see a Norris Trophy candidate. Dahlin is the real deal.
 

EDM

Registered User
Mar 8, 2008
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The lack of staff adjustments concerning the power play is Torts' most damning deficiency.
 

thebus88

19/20 Columbus Blue Jackets: "It Is What It Is"
Sep 27, 2017
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Took only 2 games for enough copy n paste material to last me the entire year....

4-2 CBJ

Bjorkstrand x2/ Jenner/ Jones

Eichel / Holzinger
 

Columbus Jack

He's from Columbus
Nov 25, 2009
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I think this team needs confidence before we can say what they truly are. Give them 5 more games, see what shows up. Also, Jenner Foligno and Andy need to be dished out on each of the first three lines. All of those guys are leaders and bring confidence where I believe a lot of these other new guys/young guys are looking for someone else for a reason to be confident. They should be spread out until this team finds some footing. It is extremely unlikely and foolish to believe that a team made up of unproven goal scorers and proven low goal scorers will score goals right away. It may not happen at all but it probably wasn't going to happen right away either. Hopefully we get some goaltending tonight.
 
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stevo61

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Jul 5, 2011
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I agree with Bus about Jones and Jenner scoring tonight. Time for Jones to start leading the way with his play
 
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majormajor

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Jun 23, 2018
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I think this team needs confidence before we can say what they truly are. Give them 5 more games, see what shows up. Also, Jenner Foligno and Andy need to be dished out on each of the first three lines. All of those guys are leaders and bring confidence where I believe a lot of these other new guys/young guys are looking for someone else for a reason to be confident. They should be spread out until this team finds some footing.

Yes, I've been thinking that we need their presence spread out. We need to be that heavy forecheck team that forces turnovers, and that's hard to do when all the best forecheckers are on one unit.
 

majormajor

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Jun 23, 2018
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It's only two games so far but the signs on offense are worrying. The players look like they have no idea where their teammates are -- everyone's got their head down, so even though they're making plays individually, nothing links up and builds to anything bigger. I don't know and I'm not going to speculate on to what extent that's the players and to what extent it's coaching, but it's not a recipe for success.

I think you are describing the Pittsburgh game, where they were wiped and out of sync. The Toronto game was not like that at all. They used each other well. If you don't believe me, there's more than a game's worth of good plays in the game highlights.

 
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blahblah

Registered User
Nov 24, 2005
21,327
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Took only 2 games for enough copy n paste material to last me the entire year....

And you've reached your hyperbole quota for the entire season. Only took 2 games. :p

Honestly, for us this has been pretty calm from what I've seen.
 

majormajor

Registered User
Jun 23, 2018
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We probably should just have went hard after Stone, after all he was the guy that seemed ok with signing a long term extension,

Stone is incredible. I think we might have won the cup with him, he's that much better than Duchene. But it's hard to know if he was willing to sign an extension here or not. His signing in Vegas doesn't tell us anything about his thoughts on signing in Columbus. We don't have the info to judge the FO on this one.
 
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majormajor

Registered User
Jun 23, 2018
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10000000%

And Torts is on record many times about not teaching offense .. he "doesn't wanna get in their way" ... yet here we are again fielding a team that looks completely lost on offense ... and on a related note, somewhat lost on defense despite having great depth and skill on that side as well.
.

The Jackets were a top ten offense over the last three years. I don't think it's fair to Torts to go after him on that, especially with what looks like an out of context quote. I think his point was that he doesn't micro-manage skill plays, which seems reasonable.

Not a lot of options here. Either Wennberg improves or we're leaning on Jenner or, lord forbid, Foligno. I did notice that he has done quite well on faceoffs so far, so maybe he's been putting in some work. If he starts winning 60% of his faceoffs we can use him in the defensive zone a lot more in key situations.

I doubt shots on goal are ever going to be a positive stat for him. Looking at his game, I'm not sure I really want it to be. I'd like it to be enough of a threat, however, where people have to defend against him taking the shot.

Grooming Wennberg as a shutdown center is what I've wanted for a while now (that or make him a D-man, but that ain't happening). Attitude change or not, he doesn't have the instincts for offense. The best thing you can say about Wennberg's effect on the game is that no one scores when he is on the ice, for either team, so let him handle heavier defensive loads.

I'll disagree with the pessimism about "leaning on Jenner or, lord forbid, Foligno." Those guys have been leaned on a lot more than Wennberg, despite the fact that Wennberg, who plays a lot fewer minutes, gets labeled as 2C. And Jenner is a decent 2C in my opinion. Most 2Cs aren't racking up 50+ points, our standards are out of whack on this. And Foligno is terribly inconsistent in terms of point production, but I tend to think he's a fine 3C if called upon.
 
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