GDT: Game 36: Columbus Blue Jackets @ Detroit Red Wings - 3/28/2021 - 3 PM ET

[Reddwit]

He tried that once, but he missed the net with his head. (The puck went in though)

Darren Helm flips over Poulin and scores - YouTube

Wow. I had forgotten there was a time when you could surprise a defenseman with speed.

 

[Gniwder]

Wow. I had forgotten there was a time when you could surprise a defenseman with speed.

It's the pornstache that really caught him by surprise.

He should grow it back, it's working for Merrill.

 

[Run the Jewels]

I don’t feel bad at them at all. They look like a team that’s given up.

It's awesome because Tortorella is such a d-bag. So it's great when teams quit on him.

 

[Gniwder]

Helm is 0/9000 in career breakaways.

I posted this in the Zadina thread, but it's worth a watch. Helm was quite the player before his back injury.

 

[JoesuffP]

I kind of like what Blashill has done for the month of March. Wings are capable of playing a grind it out game to get wins when they get the goaltending. That is probably what we’ll see the next couple of seasons until Yzermans draft picks start to establish themselves. Tyler Wright’s drafts and Holland tip toeing through a rebuild is why this team had to bottom out like this. I don’t see a roster that is worse than the wings in the NHL. Blashill isn’t the problem but he could improve of course. The power play has to get better and his weird treatment of certain players is not working and he’s stubborn trying to prove himself right

They really miss Bertuzzi he’s the wings Kyle Lowry. Always underrated game changer

 

[SoupGuru]

I posted this in the Zadina thread, but it's worth a watch. Helm was quite the player before his back injury.

Good Lord, those were some memories. I miss the energy of those games.

And wow, Helm has quite the snapshot at times.

 

[deca guard]

I kind of like what Blashill has done for the month of March. Wings are capable of playing a grind it out game to get wins when they get the goaltending. That is probably what we’ll see the next couple of seasons until Yzermans draft picks start to establish themselves. Tyler Wright’s drafts and Holland tip toeing through a rebuild is why this team had to bottom out like this. I don’t see a roster that is worse than the wings in the NHL. Blashill isn’t the problem but he could improve of course. The power play has to get better and his weird treatment of certain players is not working and he’s stubborn trying to prove himself right

They really miss Bertuzzi he’s the wings Kyle Lowry. Always underrated game changer

so true about tuzzi . hes always making smart plays

 

[Gniwder]

And wow, Helm had quite the snapshot at times.

FTFY

I know his back injury took away all of his physicality and some of his speed, but I never really understood how his shooting ability regressed so bad. It was inconsistent in his younger days, now it's just consistently bad. You'd think he'd work on it to prolong his career, but it just keeps getting worse every season. Now it's just a bad joke any time he gets a breakaway.

 

[14ari13]

I don’t mind going on little winning streaks and the team playing hard and dedicated, the loses will come

Winning is very important for the development of the players, but if we can get a top 3 pick, we do it.

 

[14ari13]

History has shown this type of thinking is 100% useless.

That is a quite bold and wrong statement.

History from 2005 to 2007? History from 2011 to 2017? Or 1910 to 2020?

 

[Gniwder]

That is a quite bold and wrong statement.

History from 2005 to 2007? History from 2011 to 2017? Or 1910 to 2020?

1941 - 1945

It's the reason why Japan lost WWII.

 

[14ari13]

Outplayed isn't even right way to put it, because that implies some kind of competition. It's like Columbus wasn't ready to play at all.

They completely gave up on their coach. In the pre game I said they would come out fired up, I think they had only 2 shots 18 min of period 1.

Weird that any team in the NHL gets so few shots against us in a full game.

I think had 2 after 18 min and under 5 after 1st.

I am not one for tanking but I do understand your thought process

How do you build a winner without top picks?

Obviously he's never witnessed my bubble hockey skills. I shoot with the left defenseman all the time.

Yeah, it was odd how excited he got, but then again there hasn't been much to get excited about this season.

It seemed like daniels tried to hold back a bit his joy and excitement, but I believe he was happy cause it was his 1st goal of the season. It is great for Hronek to get the monkey off his back even with an EN.

Do you guys see like Picard starting again tuesday against the florida panthers no?

Like he's been getting important wins here now and playing all the time. That's amazing. Congratulations.

I definitely believe he will start the next one unless Bernier is ready to go. But I wouldn't be surprised if he gets the start even Bernier is ready.
Picard was a bit lucky, the jackets looked completely anaemic in these 2 games.

 

[Nut Upstrom]

Just finished watching. Happy to say that number 39 in red is really reminding me of Anthony Martha. That was his best game of the season.
Erne had a strong game as did the Svech/Rass line. Pickard was a boss. CBJ should be embarrassed by their effort the last two games, guess they have decided they'd rather not do that playoff thing.

Entertaining for a late night watch.

 

[wings95]

They completely gave up on their coach. In the pre game I said they would come out fired up, I think they had only 2 shots 18 min of period 1.


I think had 2 after 18 min and under 5 after 1st.


How do you build a winner without top picks?



It seemed like daniels tried to hold back a bit his joy and excitement, but I believe he was happy cause it was his 1st goal of the season. It is great for Hronek to get the monkey off his back even with an EN.


I definitely believe he will start the next one unless Bernier is ready to go. But I wouldn't be surprised if he gets the start even Bernier is ready.
Picard was a bit lucky, the jackets looked completely anaemic in these 2 games.

You can't do a great job at it

 

[datsyukfan]

The most noticeable thing about the weekend games was just the forecheck pressure we had. Shift after shift the team forechecked their butts off and it gave Columbus fits. If the team could consistently FC like they did this past weekend they would have a way better record even with the somewhat lack of talent.

Svechnikov was great all weekend as well. Guys skating looks a lot better IMO and he is very hard on the puck. Very useful player who deserves a real chance

 

[raymond23]

I was lucky enough to go to the game on Sunday, here are some takeaways.

- Larkin was by far and away the best player on the ice. His skating ability is incredible to watch live.
- Hronek is playing much better. I was impressed by him yesterday.
- Mantha was good... still feel like he can be so much more impactful tho.
- We really need some good LD. The amount of times the puck died on the stick of DK or Nemeth was hard to watch. Especially considering how often they end up with the puck. Two good LD's will change the entire complexion of this team.
- Columbus looked terrible. Laine looks slow and stiff, I wonder if he's injured?

All in all, the team continues to play really impressive hockey... they had that bad stretch recently and will have more bad stretches but we are building a great foundation. Insert better talent and the sky is the limit.

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

 

[14ari13]

The most noticeable thing about the weekend games was just the forecheck pressure we had. Shift after shift the team forechecked their butts off and it gave Columbus fits. If the team could consistently FC like they did this past weekend they would have a way better record even with the somewhat lack of talent.

Svechnikov was great all weekend as well. Guys skating looks a lot better IMO and he is very hard on the puck. Very useful player who deserves a real chance

I don't think we were so great as they gave up on their coach. They lost 2 games to us and they probably were counting on at least 3. We dominated them at times as one would wonder if they were buffalo. It was embarrassing for them.

I was lucky enough to go to the game on Sunday, here are some takeaways.

- Larkin was by far and away the best player on the ice. His skating ability is incredible to watch live.
- Hronek is playing much better. I was impressed by him yesterday.
- Mantha was good... still feel like he can be so much more impactful tho.
- We really need some good LD. The amount of times the puck died on the stick of DK or Nemeth was hard to watch. Especially considering how often they end up with the puck. Two good LD's will change the entire complexion of this team.
- Columbus looked terrible. Laine looks slow and stiff, I wonder if he's injured?

All in all, the team continues to play really impressive hockey... they had that bad stretch recently and will have more bad stretches but we are building a great foundation. Insert better talent and the sky is the limit.

Larkin or a good centre is exactly what they miss. But Tortorella has lost that team. They really look discombobulated

View attachment 414207

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Lol. Congratulations though I am not sure he deserved it.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

I just realized Fabbri is tied with Larkin for 2nd in points on the team, though he's played 5 fewer games. And 9 fewer games than team points leader Hronek.

He's also a +6, which is highest on the team, and only 2 of his 18 points came on the PP. The rest were even strength.

 

[jaster]

I just realized Fabbri is tied with Larkin for 2nd in points on the team, though he's played 5 fewer games. And 9 fewer games than team points leader Hronek.

He's also a +6, which is highest on the team, and only 2 of his 18 points came on the PP. The rest were even strength.

Just kidding. Just a big Fabbri fan over here waiting for everyone to catch up to the fact that he's our second best forward

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

View attachment 414271

Just kidding. Just a big Fabbri fan over here waiting for everyone to catch up to the fact that he's our second best forward

I too share that perspective on Fabbri, much respect for his battle back & seizing the opportunity. Been toutin' the kid since day 1 as potential 2way, 2C. & Boom, he's 2C/2W/1W, small sample size. 5GWG is nothing to scoff at. When some/many jumped on the Mantha-hype train (some of it justified) over Larkin as our best player...No, Mantha may be the most talented, but not the best player. Kovalev was one of the games most talented players earlier in his career, but not necessarily the best even on his team. Same for Mantha, but a much lesser degree. iirc it was Gretzky or Mario that said that about Kovy (the original).


Larkin, Fabbri, Bert, impact order, but F & B could flip-flop, even Larks to some extent on some games. Mantha may be 4th?

 

[jaster]

I too share that perspective on Fabbri, much respect for his battle back & seizing the opportunity. Been toutin' the kid since day 1 as potential 2way, 2C. & Boom, he's 2C/2W/1W, small sample size. 5GWG is nothing to scoff at. When some/many jumped on the Mantha-hype train (some of it justified) over Larkin as our best player...No, Mantha may be the most talented, but not the best player. Kovalev was one of the games most talented players earlier in his career, but not necessarily the best even on his team. Same for Mantha, but a much lesser degree. iirc it was Gretzky or Mario that said that about Kovy (the original).


Larkin, Fabbri, Bert, impact order, but F & B could flip-flop, even Larks to some extent on some games. Mantha may be 4th?

'Most talented but not the best' is definitely right. Whatever Larkin lacks in offensive talent relative to Mantha, he makes up for ten-fold in just about every other facet of the game.

I'd give a slight nod to Fabbri over Bert, yeah, but it's close and could go either way on a given night, or in a given week, or month. With Bert injured, it was easy for me to give Fabbri the #2 spot currently. Mantha is 4th, which is just so sad given his talent. Hopefully Zadina passes him soon

 

[14ari13]

'Most talented but not the best' is definitely right. Whatever Larkin lacks in offensive talent relative to Mantha, he makes up for ten-fold in just about every other facet of the game.

I'd give a slight nod to Fabbri over Bert, yeah, but it's close and could go either way on a given night, or in a given week, or month. With Bert injured, it was easy for me to give Fabbri the #2 spot currently. Mantha is 4th, which is just so sad given his talent. Hopefully Zadina passes him soon

His stats are starting to look great.
He leads the team in goals, gwg, plus minus.
When we see that he has 5 gwg and nobody else more than one it really looks amazing.
Yet I think our MVP is Bernier. Then Larkin and Hronek.
Fabbri is behind them.

Another player who has quietly done a great job is Merrill. He is +4 and makes a lot of good effective plays.

 

[jaster]

His stats are starting to look great.
He leads the team in goals, gwg, plus minus.
When we see that he has 5 gwg and nobody else more than one it really looks amazing.
Yet I think our MVP is Bernier. Then Larkin and Hronek.
Fabbri is behind them.

Another player who has quietly done a great job is Merrill. He is +4 and makes a lot of good effective plays.

Agree on all accounts, though I might put Fabbri ahead of Hronek on the MVP list. Not a knock on Hronek, but I think he's been asked to do too much and has at times been swamped by it. Fabbri meanwhile has been a killer. Either way though.

I didn't have high expectations when we signed Merrill. I was pretty familiar with his game (loved him at Michigan), he had consistency issues earlier in his NHL career, but man, this may be some of the best hockey in his career. I was impressed from the get-go. Consistency is not an issue, and his high panic threshold gets two thumbs up from me. You're right, he makes quiet, subtle plays to get us out of trouble pretty regularly.

 

[14ari13]

Agree on all accounts, though I might put Fabbri ahead of Hronek on the MVP list. Not a knock on Hronek, but I think he's been asked to do too much and has at times been swamped by it. Fabbri meanwhile has been a killer. Either way though.

I didn't have high expectations when we signed Merrill. I was pretty familiar with his game (loved him at Michigan), he had consistency issues earlier in his NHL career, but man, this may be some of the best hockey in his career. I was impressed from the get-go. Consistency is not an issue, and his high panic threshold gets two thumbs up from me. You're right, he makes quiet, subtle plays to get us out of trouble pretty regularly.

I basically have no problem how people rank those 4, Bernier, Larkin, Fabbri and Hronek. They are very close and if someone place Febbri in 1st place I would be fine with it too.
I usually use a very little time compared to other posters to check the stats and advanced stats.

I watch games and then I compare what I see to the stats. Sometimes I have no enough time to dig in and check the stats and watch the games several times. I used to do so before.

Anyway, Merrill has quietly impressed. He has been a very good defensive defender.
Djoos is probably our best PP player, but I believe if blashill plays him 20 min he would cost us at least 5 good scoring chances. Merrill is the opposite. He won't provide offense, but he is very reliable in our zone. He is effective.
I have focused on Zedina and Rasmussen, a bit on Hronek and Larkin. I will try to follow Fabbri and Merrill more closely.
I tried to follow Svechnikov, but I did not see enough. His stats say he makes most out of his ice time.