GDT: Game Number Seventy: The Jerks Come to Town

Iceberg

Registered User
May 4, 2002
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It is sad to see what has become of EJ’s puck skills. He used to have so much confidence carrying the puck, and look like he had world class skill. Obviously the injuries have broken down his ability to skate well, but now he looks so stiff while skating. Whenever he gets the puck, especially in the offensive zone, it’s like he has no idea what to do with the puck anymore. He is basically becoming Hejda 2.0.

Barrie with another poor game too. There was one point he tried to make a cross ice pass to Jost, and he flipped it like 10’ in the air, and almost hit Jost in the chest. By the time the puck came down, all Jost could do was ice it. Final minute bobbling the puck out of the zone. These have all become standard plays for him. Outside of passing the puck to MacKinnon and Rantanen on the power play, and the occasional one timer that gets through traffic, he hasn’t had a good year. At all.

This team isn’t going to go far when its two best defencemen (who will probably combine for 14 million in cap space in a year) aren’t that good outside of one or two skills.

Hopefully the hype on Makar is real because neither EJ or Barrie should be the best defenceman on the team.

Our scouts say Barrie is an ELITE offensive defenseman.
 

The Kingslayer

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Aug 26, 2004
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Our scouts say Barrie is an ELITE offensive defenseman.
Haha our scouts. Nothing Barrie does is elite lol. Hes a good skater with a decent shot and makes the occasional nice break out pass for a scoring chance. I know I get shit for saying this often but pre Matt Cooke knee Tyson Barrie was a different player. He doesn't seem to be the same dynamic skater he once was. I don't know if its because hes bulkier now or what but if you watch Barrie that 13-14 season and Barrie today his skating is much different.
 

Metallo

NWOBHM forever \m/
Feb 14, 2010
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Haha our scouts. Nothing Barrie does is elite lol. Hes a good skater with a decent shot and makes the occasional nice break out pass for a scoring chance. I know I get **** for saying this often but pre Matt Cooke knee Tyson Barrie was a different player. He doesn't seem to be the same dynamic skater he once was. I don't know if its because hes bulkier now or what but if you watch Barrie that 13-14 season and Barrie today his skating is much different.
Yeah Barrie was like Girard today in his escapability.
 

Alex Jones

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Jun 8, 2009
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I honestly think that Ghetto has PTSD, he's fantastic until he gets tangled with somebody 1v1 and he simply gives up. I wonder if that's how he got some of those month "day-to-day" injuries. Could've been some high-ankle sprains while falling awkwardly due to being tied up with an opposing player.

But I swear one of this DTD injuries came from blocking a shot.

Ghetto looks like a guy who is more intrested in protecting himself right now than winning pucks. Not sure if he's working with an injury, or is just trying to make a business decision because he's been hurt so often.
 
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Alex Jones

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Jun 8, 2009
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It makes me sad to see Kerfoot and Ghetto trying to score. It reminds me of kids who try to shoot as hard as you can but just don't have the strenght or teknique to succeed. Ok players otherwise but that is just laughable.

I don't really even get mad about Kerfoot refusing to shoot anymore because the odds of a Kerfoot shot beating an NHL goaltender are like.... :laugh:
 

BleedWell

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Jan 6, 2018
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I don't really even get mad about Kerfoot refusing to shoot anymore because the odds of a Kerfoot shot beating an NHL goaltender are like.... :laugh:
But he has started shooting more. And watching that makes me feel really uncomfortable:help:
 
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Pokecheque

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I mean...good teams find ways to win those games. A real shame given the fact that the Avs needed help, got it, and yet still couldn't get the job done.

I get Mrazek made two pretty incredible stops on Wilson, but a better player would have gotten at least one of those in. Also, a good player wouldn't have fallen down behind the play and taken five minutes to backcheck and cover his guy (Hamilton). I give Soda credit for playing that 2-on-1 perfectly, good as Grubby was, he needed to make that stop. I don't blame him at all for the 2nd goal.
 

Raucherhusten

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Aug 24, 2017
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We played pretty well last night, Carolina is a damn good club atm and not a pushover. But we lost again. Why? Here's why!

We have exactly 3 guys who can put the puck in the net frequently, and one of them is hurt right now.

Nobody else has the poise/skill to look out a goalie, deke out a goalie or simply beat a goalie with a perfect shot. None.
This is why pretty much every goalie we faced lately looked like Hasek 2.0.

In addition to that only a few of our forwards are strong enough to get a rebound or skilled enough to deflect shots properly.

I don't see a way to fix that with the roster we have - and because of that we'll likely miss the Playoffs.
And rightfully so.
 
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Bubba Thudd

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Jul 19, 2005
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We played pretty well last night, Carolina is a damn good club atm and not a pushover. But we lost again. Why? Here's why!

We have exactly 3 guys who can put the puck in the net frequently, and one of them is hurt right now.

Nobody else has the poise/skill to look out a goalie, deke out a goalie or simply beat a goalie with a perfect shot. None.
This is why pretty much every goalie we faced lately looked like Hasek 2.0.

In addition to that only a few of our forwards are strong enough to get a rebound or skilled enough to deflect shots properly.

I don't see a way to fix that with the roster we have - and because of that we'll likely miss the Playoffs.
And rightfully so.

more like Roy 2.0
we never get them floppin and flailin like Hasek
 
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Pokecheque

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Be careful what you wish for... very strong chance his replacement is worse. “That’s just the way it is” —Tupac

Somehow I doubt it. I'm fairly confident (and I'm not exactly confident per se in Sakic) that they'll be able to find a forward who is either more defensively responsible, doesn't get hurt quite as often, able to actually bury his scoring chances more consistently, or at the VERY least, doesn't fall down every shift.
 

Spleenless Wonder21

Done like dinner
Jun 29, 2009
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Somehow I doubt it. I'm fairly confident (and I'm not exactly confident per se in Sakic) that they'll be able to find a forward who is either more defensively responsible, doesn't get hurt quite as often, able to actually bury his scoring chances more consistently, or at the VERY least, doesn't fall down every shift.

So, someone comparable to a prime caliber Ryan Kessler? :nod:

I know, I know,

2vvzrp.jpg


I’ll see myself out.
 
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Metallo

NWOBHM forever \m/
Feb 14, 2010
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It is sad to see what has become of EJ’s puck skills. He used to have so much confidence carrying the puck, and look like he had world class skill. Obviously the injuries have broken down his ability to skate well, but now he looks so stiff while skating. Whenever he gets the puck, especially in the offensive zone, it’s like he has no idea what to do with the puck anymore. He is basically becoming Hejda 2.0.

Barrie with another poor game too. There was one point he tried to make a cross ice pass to Jost, and he flipped it like 10’ in the air, and almost hit Jost in the chest. By the time the puck came down, all Jost could do was ice it. Final minute bobbling the puck out of the zone. These have all become standard plays for him. Outside of passing the puck to MacKinnon and Rantanen on the power play, and the occasional one timer that gets through traffic, he hasn’t had a good year. At all.

This team isn’t going to go far when its two best defencemen (who will probably combine for 14 million in cap space in a year) aren’t that good outside of one or two skills.

Hopefully the hype on Makar is real because neither EJ or Barrie should be the best defenceman on the team.
Yeah EJ and Tboobs both declining faster than we can improve the defense really worries me going forward. We’ve built the defense to average but we will have a tough time improving it further, unless Makar goes full Karlsson on us.
 
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Foppa2118

Registered User
Oct 3, 2003
52,134
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This team continues to have no finish outside the top line guys. When they don’t score a couple goals the Avs usually don’t win. Made Mrazek look like Patrick Roy with how often they shot into his chest and pads.

Bednar has this team playing so mechanical. All they do is try to skate the puck in, then if they don’t get a shot off the rush, they just go on the cycle, and dish it back to the D for a point shot. Rinse, wash, repeat. All game every game. When an opposing coach stacks their blueline with 3-4 guys, they refuse to dump the puck in. When another coach clogs the shooting lanes and they block all the shots from the point, they don’t adjust at all.

Brassard with an awful game in this one. So many bad passes and turnovers. Then he gave up on the EN play when he could have got back to stop it. They need him to be a leader, and to make smart offensive plays with the puck. Hopefully he makes up for it next game.

Cole continues to be bad. Someone needs to tell him he’s not Chris Pronger because his outlet passes are just atrocious. That doesn’t stop him from icing the puck and turning it over though.

Wilson and Calvert continue to work hard but miss glorious chances. They’re basically guaranteed to miss when they get a grade A chance. Wilson misses on his breakaway, then has a wide open net and manages to shoot the puck into Mrazek’s pads.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think these guys are intentionally trying to miss, their shots are so bad. I think what’s happening is they’re scared they’re gonna miss the net wide and embarrass themselves, so they just shoot into the center of the net every game. That’s unacceptable at the NHL level though.

Grubauer with a decent game again. Didn’t make the big save on Hamilton from the top of the slot but it was a good shot, and he made some good saves outside of that. Think I’d go back to Varly after this though to see how he rebounds.

Speaking of Grubauer, who the hell isn’t doing their jobs by screwing in the goalie’s skate blade? That’s two out of the last three games where the blade came loose. That never happens.

Another misread by Nemeth leads to the 1st goal. EJ's penalty was bad, but they were all in position to recover well. All Nemeth had to do is slide back into the slot, and let EJ take the puck carrier, but he aggressively steps up and leaves Soderberg all by himself to defend the 2 on 1.

Mikko couldn’t have played that 2nd Canes goal any worse. Lets his man go, then tries to play the man at the point, but he’s not anywhere close enough to do anything. Basically made himself completely useless on the play, and left Grubauer out to dry.

Best player by far was Barrie in this one. Finally he seemed to get his competitive juices going, even though that seemed to disappear in the 3rd period, and turnovers seemed to reappear. Didn’t seem to have his finishing touch in this one either.

I continue to be mystified at what Agozzino, Ghetto, and Bourque are providing to this team that Greer and Toninato aren’t.

Just like the Buffalo game, the Canes didn’t even play that well IMO. They had their opportunity to gain ground on Minny with their loss, and they completely dropped the ball. Fans should have booed them off the ice getting shut out in a huge game again. That dressing room should be embarrassed by that, and come out pissed off next game if they have any pride at all.
 
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The Kingslayer

Registered User
Aug 26, 2004
76,328
55,959
Siem Reap, Cambodia
This team continues to have no finish outside the top line guys. When they don’t score a couple goals the Avs usually don’t win. Made Mrazek look like Patrick Roy with how often they shot into his chest and pads.

Bednar has this team playing so mechanical. All they do is try to skate the puck in, then if they don’t get a shot off the rush, they just go on the cycle, and dish it back to the D for a point shot. Rinse, wash, repeat. All game every game. When an opposing coach stacks their blueline with 3-4 guys, they refuse to dump the puck in. When another coach clogs the shooting lanes and they block all the shots from the point, they don’t adjust at all.

Brassard with an awful game in this one. So many bad passes and turnovers. Then he gave up on the EN play when he could have got back to stop it. They need him to be a leader, and to make smart offensive plays with the puck. Hopefully he makes up for it next game.

Cole continues to be bad. Someone needs to tell him he’s not Chris Pronger because his outlet passes are just atrocious. That doesn’t stop him from icing the puck and turning it over though.

Wilson and Calvert continue to work hard but miss glorious chances. They’re basically guaranteed to miss when they get a grade A chance. Wilson misses on his breakaway, then has a wide open net and manages to shoot the puck into Mrazek’s pads.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think these guys are intentionally trying to miss, their shots are so bad. I think what’s happening is they’re scared they’re gonna miss the net wide and embarrass themselves, so they just shoot into the center of the net every game. That’s unacceptable at the NHL level though.

Grubauer with a decent game again. Didn’t make the big save on Hamilton from the top of the slot but it was a good shot, and he made some good saves outside of that. Think I’d go back to Varly after this though to see how he rebounds.

Speaking of Grubauer, who the hell isn’t doing their jobs by screwing in the goalie’s skate blade? That’s two out of the last three games where the blade came loose. That never happens.

Another misread by Nemeth leads to the 1st goal. EJ's penalty was bad, but they were all in position to recover well. All Nemeth had to do is slide back into the slot, and let EJ take the puck carrier, but he aggressively steps up and leaves Soderberg all by himself to defend the 2 on 1.

Mikko couldn’t have played that 2nd Canes goal any worse. Lets his man go, then tries to play the man at the point, but he’s not anywhere close enough to do anything. Basically made himself completely useless on the play, and left Grubauer out to dry.

Best player by far was Barrie in this one. Finally he seemed to get his competitive juices going, even though that seemed to disappear in the 3rd period, and turnovers seemed to reappear. Didn’t seem to have his finishing touch in this one either.

I continue to be mystified at what Agozzino, Ghetto, and Bourque are providing to this team that Greer and Toninato aren’t.

Just like the Buffalo game, the Canes didn’t even play that well IMO. They had their opportunity to gain ground on Minny with their loss, and they completely dropped the ball. Fans should have booed them off the ice getting shut out in a huge game again. That dressing room should be embarrassed by that, and come out pissed off next game if they have any pride at all.
Agreed with everything except I would go back to Grubs next game. If he loses then I would go back to Varly. Everything else is spot on especially the points on Cole and Bork/Ghetto playing over the Loveland boys.
 

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