So can we at least stop for a while with the argument that MT never gives chances to young players?
Yes quickly now! Extend him. ( ;
So can we at least stop for a while with the argument that MT never gives chances to young players?
Matteau is a poor mans Mathieu Darche.
its not as if hudon, carr, scherbak, dd, etc were working hard either...
An nhler playing at 50% should still be way better than an ahler
Nothing I witnessed tonight alters my original assessment of Lehkonen: he will never be more than fringe NHLer. He's too slow; too small; too soft.
Yes quickly now! Extend him. ( ;
The fact that he was not used in overtime would undermine your assessment since the coaching staff was not prepared to use him in circumstances where skating ability is at a premium.
So can we at least stop for a while with the argument that MT never gives chances to young players?
Agreed, the Matthews love is ridiculous and it'll be all about him every game this season whether he does anything or not.
You didn't watch the same game I did if you think Lehkonen is slow and soft.
Not impressed at all by the leafs' big name prospects: Nylander, Marner, Rielly were nothing special, Matthews was better. Zaitsev tho... what a player!!! We sucked as expected but still hung out with them. I thought Lehkonen and Condon were good. Sergachev had some nice flashes and some stupid moments.The rest were pretty meh, to put it mildly. DD as the trigger man on the 6 on 3 was vintage Therrien
So your point is that Sergachev and all the rookies was supposed to get more minutes than NHL regulars?No its preseason and we already seen he put Serge on the bench most of the game. He is following his pattern. 'This is my design"-Hannibal
Its not like he had any vets out there other than the ones that ALL got tons of icetime. Petry, Beau, DD(despite not doing much in the second with all the time we spent on the PK).
DD-18:37 with 4:26 PP and 0:46 PK
Ghetto and Carr approx 19 minutes each-who played a lot in the NHL last year. So how was he not playing his vets again??
Petry 22 minutes
Patteryn just over 24 minutes
Nate over 25 min
Redmond getting 20 minutes
Barbd playing 18:32
Serge 14:38
Top 3 were regulars last year, redmond was signed for 2 years and barbs is on the outside trying to win a spot as a vet with 133 games played. (LOL sportsnet "The veteran Patteryn" 53 games played)
Nope looks the same as always. They had to determine who stays up and who goes down with potential so they played the kids. They should do it now because they never did despite saying so last year. And yet it was almost entirely 'vets' caps with call ups from last year that just got all the ice time.
As an aside I don't like having to surf extra menus at NHL.com. Might be more mobile friendly but it sucks hard for a PC.
My guess is that they gave soon to be cut guys extra icetime. They really need to give Hudon a better look though, hes approaching decision time. My suspicion is they already made their mind.
You may be right.
Yet our genius General Manager had him as our starter last season.
So your point is that Sergachev and all the rookies was supposed to get more minutes than NHL regulars?
For the life of me I don't understand how Budaj lost his job to Tokarski, who in turn randomly was replaced by a rookie who showed what to get the job??
If these games are to properly evaluate them in different roles and circumstances. Yes.
Its not like the guys that had all the minutes had a fire under their *****. Despite carr and dd getting points with the man advantage(but not a powerplay) they looked pretty disengaged along with ghetto. Most of the other forwards looked like effort was being given-in comparisons.
By all accounts until Serge's second period mistake he was on course to have a pretty solid game-then after that benched . Maybe MT needs to make the russian a better person.
Do you think the brass making decisions saw Sergachev and all the other guys for the first time?
If these games are to properly evaluate them in different roles and circumstances. Yes.
Its not like the guys that had all the minutes had a fire under their *****. Despite carr and dd getting points with the man advantage(but not a powerplay) they looked pretty disengaged along with ghetto. Most of the other forwards looked like effort was being given-in comparisons.
By all accounts until Serge's second period mistake he was on course to have a pretty solid game-then after that benched . Maybe MT needs to make the russian a better person.
With this group its hard to tell. Must of us think he should get his 9 games at least. But I will state with 90% certainty that he will not get a single game given who we still have for D at 6-8. Every game is important and MT is always out to win(or whatever he thinks is required for that) so he won't risk it on an 18 YO rookie no matter how good he may seem. Chuck was an exception because it was a half season, he was new, lockout, new manager, a lot differences that year.
The foxhole to china is pretty deep at this point and MT feels as secure as a tick that has found a three legged dog. I sincerely doubt MT sees him playing this year with his lapses he had in this game alone. He is not nearly D responsible enough or grindy enough for MT. MT isn't sure Nate should have been playing more than 13 minutes last season. I doubt he views Serge as superior to that.