GDT: Game #4 - 10.16.14 - at Pittsburgh - 6:00 PM - FS Southwest - 1310 AM - 96.7 FM

[Stars99Lobo37]

 

[Stars99Lobo37]

 

[Starsfan24]

Awesome ending!

Good god that damn song is stuck in my head. The sun comes up...the sun goes down......... please make it stop

You and me both. I love how you can hear Benn and the boys hollering after the winner. Good stuff.

 

[BigG44]

RE Sceviour .... Eaves only had 2 shifts and Horcoff 3 shifts in the 3rd period.

Agree or disagree if I was trying to rank Ruff's Top 9 go-to players, those three would be on the outside looking in. My Top 9 for a shortened bench would include him though. I don't think he dislikes Sceviour ... I'd say he's a pretty damn good Ruff type player. I just think he really, really likes Fiddler and Garbutt. I'd put Sceviour over Garbutt without blinking.

That's nitpicking though, and I don't have a problem at the end of the day with Sceviour sitting in the 3rd. It'd be nice though to see him in the mix.

 

[Stars99Lobo37]

It just makes no sense though. He had done nothing wrong up until that point to deserve to be seated.

 

[BigG44]

It just makes no sense though. He had done nothing wrong up until that point to deserve to be seated.

Shortening the bench has zero to do with doing something wrong. Thankfully .... Ruff very rarely pulls this move. Seriously ... he has to be at the bottom of the league in shortening the bench.

They were down and he went with his perceived 9 best players and rode them. I don't agree that Sceviour's outside of that group like I said, but I don't think he was robbed or anything and was sat for guys that are duds or anythings.

I mean are you going to argue against Spezza playing RW like he did tonight ... hopefully a rare occurrence? I'm not. If you go with three lines and Seguin, Eakin, and Fiddler are locked in at center ... Benn, Seguin and Hemsky on the wing ... there aren't many more spots. I wouldn't give one to Cole or Garbutt over Sceviour .... but it's obvious that Ruff likes those guys.

 

[Bkennedy*]

I need a heroooooooooooooooooooo

 

[Stars99Lobo37]

Shortening the bench has zero to do with doing something wrong.

It goes against everything he has done (for the most part) thus far as coach. That's why I was convinced he was hurt (and maybe he is).

Cole had been relegated to the 4th line in the 2nd period and continued to look awful in the 3rd.

I mean it's whatever, I just don't get it. I'm over Cole so I'm complaining just to complain about him for the most part.

 

[BigG44]

It goes against everything he has done (for the most part) thus far as coach. That's why I was convinced he was hurt (and maybe he is).

Cole had been relegated to the 4th line in the 2nd period and continued to look awful in the 3rd.

I mean it's whatever, I just don't get it. I'm over Cole so I'm complaining just to complain about him for the most part.

You could be right, but most injured players don't sit on the bench. This doesn't go against everything he's done as a coach though ... yikes hyperbole. He's gone with three lines late before and he'll do it again at some point. We all just know it's not common. He also changed line combos 3 or 4 times which is rare from him but worked tonight.

Usually it's the easiest explanation. Injury is decent but doesn't explain him sitting on the bench ... like I said that's very uncommon for an injured player. The significant and frequent changing of lines and the fact two other players also barely touch the ice is a much smaller leap and simpler explanation. Like you said earlier ... not a single person has even mentioned an injury or asked about one. It's not something that Ralph, Razor, or Heika overlooked IMO.

 

[glovesave_35]

Just finished watching the game. What a game all around. Early on it was not looking good and for most of the game the difference was the respective PP's and then the winner at the end on the PP. I liked Ruff mixing the lines up after he realized we were getting eaten alive by their top guys. Putting a defensive presence on each line and then loading up the top line on occasion was huge.

I've seen about all I need to of Erik Cole on this team, but especially on one of the scoring lines. Coasting when the puck is right there for the taking late in the game. He is a black hole right now.

Patrick Nemeth is quickly becoming my new favorite Stars defenseman. I love his game. He seemed to be labeled a shutdown type of stay at home D-man but he is much more than that. His forays midway and deep into the offensive zone to keep the forecheck going have been great to see. I have yet to see him give up even one legit scoring chance the other way by doing this as well. When he goes deep the forwards are aware and someone always seems to cover the blue line. Just loving his game right now and looking forward to what he can do when he refines things even more.

lol @ Pens fans booing the penalty call on Crosby at the end of the game. He not only got his stick on/under Benn's skate but he had it proper hooked and tugged toward him.

 

[Stars99Lobo37]

You could be right, but most injured players don't sit on the bench. This doesn't go against everything he's done as a coach though ... yikes hyperbole. He's gone with three lines late before and he'll do it again at some point. We all just know it's not common. He also changed line combos 3 or 4 times which is rare from him but worked tonight.

Not talking about shortening the bench.

Talking about switching Colton and Cole for nothing that we could see (it sure as heck wasn't their level of play that caused the decision).

 

[glovesave_35]

Not talking about shortening the bench.

Talking about switching Colton and Cole for nothing that we could see (it sure as heck was their level of play that caused the decision).

I didn't understand swapping Cole for Sceviour either. Sometimes it feels like he has this player he feels like he has to use but doesn't really have a spot for him. As a result he has no "home" line and bounces all around. He should just be banished to the press box. He had that one nice pass to Benn that was broken up by Sutter but other than that I saw lackadaisical play after another. Looked like he either didn't have any energy, was injured, or just didn't care. You know you aren't going to see that crap from McKenzie if he gets into the lineup.

 

[Stars99Lobo37]

You know you aren't going to see that crap from McKenzie if he gets into the lineup.

Agreed.

I would say Cole is just playing through the emotions right now, but I really think this is all he has left.

 

[BigG44]

Not talking about shortening the bench.

Talking about switching Colton and Cole for nothing that we could see (it sure as heck was their level of play that caused the decision).

Well you can't exactly juggle lines if everyone stays in the same place. The Cole experiment was pretty short. It's not that surprising he went back to something he's tired before.

Not much IMO to nitpick when he's doing something out of desperation. Hell ... several shifts Roussel and Hemsky both played on the same line, both on their off-wing. That's significantly more of a head scratcher ... but really 4 games in he's just experimenting. Who would have though Fids and Hemsky would have clicked so well like that in the 2nd.

It's part of the feeling out process, and I'm not going to get too worried when he correctly recognized it didn't work and moved away. It's not like the original line was working well in the 1st either. Nothing was.

 

[glovesave_35]

With the line juggling, I really feel like this was more of a response to the team they were playing rather than a harbinger of things to come. When Ruff decided to mix "scorers" and "defensive forwards" things started to turn around for the Stars and we weren't giving up a ton of opportunities against every time Crosby or Malkin stepped on the ice.

The biggest head scratcher I saw was when we were on a 4 vs 4 and he put Cole and Hemsky out there together...and they had to take the faceoff.

 

[Stars99Lobo37]

Not much IMO to nitpick

It's not, that's why I said I was just complaining for the most part because it's Cole.

I thought his line juggling from the first to second was excellent really. Let's not forget Cole started this game in the 1st period on the 2nd line before being pushed down to the 4th (which is why I'm struggling to understand it really).

I'm just ready, as I think we all are, for Cole to be shot off into space.

 

[BigG44]

It's not, that's why I said I was just complaining for the most part because it's Cole.

I thought his line juggling from the first to second was excellent really. Let's not forget Cole started this game in the 1st period on the 2nd line before being pushed down to the 4th (which is why I'm struggling to understand it really).

I'm just ready, as I think we all are, for Cole to be shot off into space.

I can sympathize with that.

 

[Stars99Lobo37]

Just a reminder that trolling is not allowed by fans of other teams, and please don't feed the trolls if they come in.

 

[Bkennedy*]

I kill trolls

 

[SonicSpeedDash]

I kill trolls

And eat em?

 

[oconnor9sean]

Just a reminder that trolling is not allowed by fans of other teams, and please don't feed the trolls if they come in.

Ok Mr Serious

 

[Stars99Lobo37]

Ok Mr Serious

 

[oconnor9sean]

Attention Satan and BKennedy, the time is now for the uprising.

 

[beepeearr]

Apparently there's a Penguin reporter absolutely hammering Goligoski about the Dupuis situation in the post game interviews...

Apparently that was this guy @Dejan_Kovacevic in his post he reiterates how he felt it was Goligoski dirty hit from behind that was the turning point of the game and that because of it Dupuis hit his head on the ice and that was the possible cause of his injury. I didn't link to the post because I don't want to contribute to him getting any further page hits but he even mentions him questioning goose about the hit after the game.

The problem with guys like him, is he has no accountability, the Penns give him a press pass and let him in, but there is no editor to keep him in check, or hold him accountable for his questions last night. How does someone with apparently zero understanding of how the game is played allowed a press pass. Its not like that was the only cross check all game, or even the dirtiest.

 

[Stars99Lobo37]

Apparently that was this guy @Dejan_Kovacevic in his post he reiterates how he felt it was Goligoski dirty hit from behind that was the turning point of the game and that because of it Dupuis hit his head on the ice and that was the possible cause of his injury. I didn't link to the post because I don't want to contribute to him getting any further page hits but he even mentions him questioning goose about the hit after the game.

The problem with guys like him, is he has no accountability, the Penns give him a press pass and let him in, but there is no editor to keep him in check, or hold him accountable for his questions last night. How does someone with apparently zero understanding of how the game is played allowed a press pass. Its not like that was the only cross check all game, or even the dirtiest.

BigG posted it in the General Stars thread. BigG said on FSSW that the Stars press guy stepped in after the second question, thankfully.

Dude is a schmuck for sure.