GDT: Game 8: Carolina @ Toronto - The Laughing Dead

[the halleJOKEL]

who wants to point out that ruutu was worthless all night?

i'll do it

ruutu was worthless all night

 

[rocky7]

got a bounce and some luck for a change. Ward played well. I'm happy for Hainsey.

any time you beat the leafs it's good, no matter how.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

I must admit, I was too down on Cam tonight after yet another short-side, glove-high goal against. It's getting frustrating that he can't get his glove into position on those shots. But he was very good and kept us in until we could get lucky.

And I can't believe that *nobody* has yet given credit to Radek Dvorak for winning the race to the dots to prevent icing on the winning goal. He's a full two strides behind Morgan Reilly at the blue line, yet kicks it into high gear and clearly wins the race.

And I'm still impressed with Murphy. His skills are so similar to Paul Coffey, it's scary. Obviously, he's a long way from having that type of career, but the skills are there and starting to translate.

I agree with every bit of this and am glad you're feeling sunnier!

--hank

 

[Finnish Jerk Train]

I know of at least one pre-game post on the Leaves board that deserves a "tee-hee." Something about the Canes being a very very bad team with maybe the worst defense in the NHL and how it was going to be a runaway victory.

Stray thoughts as I warm my feet by the DVR: Dvorak is awesome, Ruutu belongs nowhere near the first line, holy crap a non-shootout game, why did Westgarth even dress, and for a team with a good record, Toronto was a hot mess tonight.

Beats me. I forgot he played, what with his 4 shifts for a total of 1:57.

 

[TheBigKahuna]

who wants to point out that ruutu was worthless all night?

i'll do it

ruutu was worthless all night

No argument here. He and Jordan are making $11M this season! Think of the talent you could sign with that much dough!

 

[the halleJOKEL]

you could sign like... andrew ladd and jordan staal with that much dough

 

[bluedevil58*]

Jordan is snake bit. It is only a matter of time. Many here have to realize he is an elite defensive center and has never been a scorer. R I think is just rusty but man he looked bad last night. He didn't even finish his checks last night which is concerned.

Ruutu-Jordan-Gerbe is the line I would roll with...

 

[geehaad]

who wants to point out that ruutu was worthless all night?

i'll do it

ruutu was worthless all night

Perusing the thread for the first time since watching the game, and I'm SHOCKED that this is the first mention of this.

He was horrible. Credit to Muller for (finally) taking him off of the top line.

 

[What the Faulk]

who wants to point out that ruutu was worthless all night?

i'll do it

ruutu was worthless all night

He played just 2:18 in the second half of the game. Combine that with Westgarth's 1:57 total, and they were playing with 10 forwards for most of the 2nd and 3rd period. That's a good way to tire your team out over the course of the season.

 

[geehaad]

I should probably point out Bellascore played well tonight since I pissed all over him in the Blackhawks GDT.

And I think an up-and-down season is what we should expect out of a rookie defenseman. I'm not sure that it's reasonable to make cut/keep decisions after every single game a rookie defenseman plays.

 

[DaveG]

who wants to point out that ruutu was worthless all night?

i'll do it

ruutu was worthless all night

Guy still needs to be eased back into the lineup IMO. Putting him right in with the top line was a dumb idea, play him on the 4th for a bit with PP time to let him get his legs under him. Pretty bad when Drayson Bowman is an exceptionally better offensive threat in a game then Tuomo Ruutu.


That's the one trade I'd still really like to have back. I mean, a Ladd-Staal-Semin line?

 

[golfpro827]

That's the one trade I'd still really like to have back. I mean, a Ladd-Staal-Semin line?

Agreed.

For the most part for a career, JR has won trades in the long run. But not that one....

 

[RodTheBawd]

As a newbie here, I think I learned my lesson with these GDTs: Don't read any posts before 9:30PM.

Kudos to Bellemore, after me screaming to bench him last game, he played really well. Harrison had a decent bounceback game too.
I thought Faulk had a shaky first couple of games (shaky for him) and has looked like an absolute stud the last few (particularly this one).
Ruutu is clearly not ready for anything more than 3rd (or in our case, 2nd) line checking duty, he looks lost out there.
Why they dressed Westgarth is beyond me. If you just need a warm body, throw Sutter back out there, at least he hits people. I think he's 2nd on the team in hits (14 in 16 shifts).
I think the biggest issue with Semin, along with the impact it has on the 1st line, is missing nearly all of the preseason. Muller kept saying he's the type of guy that doesn't need practice and can just hop right in, I'd say his play proves otherwise. There's been a few times that we're lucky other teams don't take advantage of his lazy play in our own end. He's just floating out there, not moving his feet.
And I think LaRose is the only guy on this planet that could have missed an open net worse than Bowman did.

I thought we got slightly outplayed in the first, controlled the 2nd but couldn't put anything away, and dominated the 3rd. Seems to be our new MO

 

[the halleJOKEL]

As a newbie here, I think I learned my lesson with these GDTs: Don't read any posts before 9:30PM.

Kudos to Bellemore, after me screaming to bench him last game, he played really well. Harrison had a decent bounceback game too.
I thought Faulk had a shaky first couple of games (shaky for him) and has looked like an absolute stud the last few (particularly this one).
Ruutu is clearly not ready for anything more than 3rd (or in our case, 2nd) line checking duty, he looks lost out there.
Why they dressed Westgarth is beyond me. If you just need a warm body, throw Sutter back out there, at least he hits people. I think he's 2nd on the team in hits (14 in 16 shifts).
I think the biggest issue with Semin, along with the impact it has on the 1st line, is missing nearly all of the preseason. Muller kept saying he's the type of guy that doesn't need practice and can just hop right in, I'd say his play proves otherwise. There's been a few times that we're lucky other teams don't take advantage of his lazy play in our own end. He's just floating out there, not moving his feet.
And I think LaRose is the only guy on this planet that could have missed the net worse than Bowman did.

I thought we got slightly outplayed in the first, controlled the 2nd but couldn't put anything away, and dominated the 3rd. Seems to be our new MO

Faulk was an absolute stud in the first two games.

 

[geehaad]

I learned my lesson with these GDTs: Don't read any posts before 9:30PM.

You're a quick study. That's my method...click on the Last Page link, go backward until I get to the time of day when the game ended. I started doing this about 4 years ago when I thought it was bad, and someone mentioned it has gotten worse in the past 2 years...I can't even imagine how bad it is, then.

 

[the halleJOKEL]

You're a quick study. That's my method...click on the Last Page link, go backward until I get to the time of day when the game ended. I started doing this about 4 years ago when I thought it was bad, and someone mentioned it has gotten worse in the past 2 years...I can't even imagine how bad it is, then.

you should really try reading a recent one sometime for #research

 

[Lazyking]

This forum goes all the way back to like 2006, its sad to look and see names that no longer post here even though I'm a board pup.

Edit: 2003! wow..

 

[RodTheBawd]

Faulk was an absolute stud in the first two games.

May not have been the DET game, but 2 of PHI/PIT/PHX he had some turnovers, missed assignments, and struggles with getting the puck out of our end that I haven't seen from him. Even with that, he was still our #1. Similar to Sekera last night: made a couple of costly mistakes, but played very solid outside of them.

 

[the halleJOKEL]

May not have been the DET game, but 2 of PHI/PIT/PHX he had some turnovers, missed assignments, and struggles with getting the puck out of our end that I haven't seen from him. Even with that, he was still our #1. Similar to Sekera last night: made a couple of costly mistakes, but played very solid outside of them.

He was a bit shaky after leaving the ice for that injury he had in one of the games after the PHI game. He was also kind of rough in the two games after that one.

 

[Lazyking]

Sekera has been a great addition. If we had a healthy Joni with Haneisy, Murphy, Faulk and Bellemore/Gleason/Harrison I'd be pretty happy with our D.

 

[Sens1Canes2]

Faulk was an absolute stud in the first two games.

I was a little upset when he waved at the Leafs guy who scored the first goal, a few times. But otherwise yeah, he's been a beast.

 

[geehaad]

I do think our D has issues with the breakout. Too many times with the puck behind the net, they're firing it up to a covered winger just short of the offensive blueline and it's a quick turnover.

 

[the halleJOKEL]

I do think our D has issues with the breakout. Too many times with the puck behind the net, they're firing it up to a covered winger just short of the offensive blueline and it's a quick turnover.

aka what my beer league team does to similarly awful effect

 

[Ole Gil]

Pretty bad when Drayson Bowman is an exceptionally better offensive threat in a game then Tuomo Ruutu.

Can you be an offensive threat when you miss uncontested empty nets from 5 feet away by about 5 feet?

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Can you be an offensive threat when you miss uncontested empty nets from 5 feet away by about 5 feet?

I certainly find it offensive.

Har har har.

--hank