GDT: HOW MANY OF THESE DANG THINGS DO I HAVE TO MAKE? CAR @ NJ

[UNCCHcane]

Also BBA, do you think junior hockey and international play present the same level of pressure and competition as the NHL? Not being smart. Genuinely curious.

 

[JCLA]

Also BBA, do you think junior hockey and international play present the same level of pressure and competition as the NHL? Not being smart. Genuinely curious.

I think in the moment it probably is, to them. If you're playing in a big game, most people get a little jittery, no matter the stage.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Also BBA, do you think junior hockey and international play present the same level of pressure and competition as the NHL? Not being smart. Genuinely curious.

I also forgot to mention Mr. Game 7 in my list.

To answer your question, in some cases, especially given the age the player is at and the moment they are in, most certainly. In the SM-liiga championship, I think Aho was under WAY more pressure than a late season NJ Devil's NHL game when the team is already out of the playoffs. Same goes for WJC championship where all the focus was on his line to perform on the world stage, while playing for his country. Those situations are, IMO, way more pressure than he's faced at the NHL level to date. Same goes for Junior championships, again, given the age they are at, is a ton of pressure.

International competition, maybe not, but it depends. Many Europeans (fans and players) place way more importance on international play than we do, so it's a different sort of pressure trying to perform for your country. I coached a lot of travel hockey over the years, and I've seen kids at the peewee level think that a championship game of some meaningless tournament is a fight for death. Win and they are on cloud 9. Lose, and I've seen tears and had to break up fights in the locker room afterwards so it's all perspective.

At the NHL level, this team, as a whole, hasn't faced really high pressure situations very often, but many of the players have faced higher pressure situations in recent years and in many cases, performed well. I think this is a case of:

1) The team is very young and young teams need to learn how to win and hold leads.
2) In the end, this was a meaningless game in NJ with a bunch of AHL callups and the worst goalie in the NHL in net.
3) They aren't a very talented team overall.

No doubt the team, as a whole, needs to learn how to get more mentally tough and win tight games if they want to be successful, but I don't think it's because they haven't had pressure to perform in the past.

 

[UNCCHcane]

I also forgot to mention Mr. Game 7 in my list.

To answer your question, in some cases, especially given the age the player is at and the moment they are in, most certainly. In the SM-liiga championship, I think Aho was under WAY more pressure than a late season NJ Devil's NHL game when the team is already out of the playoffs. Same goes for WJC championship where all the focus was on his line to perform on the world stage, while playing for his country. Those situations are, IMO, way more pressure than he's faced at the NHL level to date. Same goes for Junior championships, again, given the age they are at, is a ton of pressure.

International competition, maybe not, but it depends. Many Europeans (fans and players) place way more importance on international play than we do, so it's a different sort of pressure trying to perform for your country. I coached a lot of travel hockey over the years, and I've seen kids at the peewee level think that a championship game of some meaningless tournament is a fight for death. Win and they are on cloud 9. Lose, and I've seen tears and had to break up fights in the locker room afterwards so it's all perspective.

At the NHL level, this team, as a whole, hasn't faced really high pressure situations very often, but many of the players have faced higher pressure situations in recent years and in many cases, performed well. I think this is a case of:

1) The team is very young and young teams need to learn how to win and hold leads.
2) In the end, this was a meaningless game in NJ with a bunch of AHL callups and the worst goalie in the NHL in net.
3) They aren't a very talented team overall.

No doubt the team, as a whole, needs to learn how to get more mentally tough and win tight games if they want to be successful, but I don't think it's because they haven't had pressure to perform in the past.

Thanks BBA. I don’t disagree with any of what you’ve written, and I don’t have the level of personal hockey experience that you do. In retrospect, my original statement probably should have been more nuanced, and been more along the lines of the core and leadership of this team hasn’t played in a big game in a decade at the NHL level.

 

[Joe McGrath]

So are we still planning the parade for next year or wondering what could have been if they’d just called up McLovin in January?

 

[vorbis]

a handful of additional goals out of that roster spot #surewouldhavebeennice

 

[Ole Gil]

a handful of additional goals out of that roster spot #surewouldhavebeennice

I know I'd have enjoyed a few more 5-2 losses.

 

[Bub]

Pizza covers every food group when done right, nobody can possibly convince me I'm wrong about this.

As long as you add a beer to cover the alcohol food group.

 

[vorbis]

I know I'd have enjoyed a few more 5-2 losses.

i have the faintest feeling that you are being facetious

 

[The Faulker 27]

So are we still planning the parade for next year or wondering what could have been if they’d just called up McLovin in January?

I think it's certainly within the realm of possibility that Zykov and McLovin would have added much needed scoring, and possibly more wins. Worrying about whether or not that would have helped us into the playoffs is a fools errand. I'm just happy they seemed to have developed well in Charlotte, and maybe the right steps were taken to insure that. I'd much rather look forward to next year, then worry about this one.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I think it's certainly within the realm of possibility that Zykov and McLovin would have added much needed scoring, and possibly more wins. Worrying about whether or not that would have helped us into the playoffs is a fools errand. I'm just happy they seemed to have developed well in Charlotte, and maybe the right steps were taken to insure that. I'd much rather look forward to next year, then worry about this one.

Exactly. If we call these guys up in November there’s a good chance we get different players than the ones we’re seeing right now. They’ve spent the past 6 months having success carrying a decent team, rather than getting their games and spirits crushed playing 4th line duty in a clown show.

 

[My Special Purpose]

So are we still planning the parade for next year or wondering what could have been if they’d just called up McLovin in January?

a handful of additional goals out of that roster spot #surewouldhavebeennice

I think it's certainly within the realm of possibility that Zykov and McLovin would have added much needed scoring, and possibly more wins. Worrying about whether or not that would have helped us into the playoffs is a fools errand. I'm just happy they seemed to have developed well in Charlotte, and maybe the right steps were taken to insure that. I'd much rather look forward to next year, then worry about this one.

Exactly. If we call these guys up in November there’s a good chance we get different players than the ones we’re seeing right now. They’ve spent the past 6 months having success carrying a decent team, rather than getting their games and spirits crushed playing 4th line duty in a clown show.

I don't blame anyone for not calling up Foegele earlier. He's a first-year pro. What he's doing now, after having been in the OHL last season, is pretty remarkable. But there's no excuse for Zykov not being up here sooner. If we had the top three lines from last night back on Jan. 1, there's no doubt in my mind we'd have won a few more games.

Having said that, in order to substantially change anything about our season, something would have had to have been done about the goaltending. We lost last night because their goaltender was better than ours. We can probably say that about more than a few of our losses this season, and no amount of Zykov or Foegele can really fix that.

Also, does anybody else get the vibe that Foegele will wear a letter someday? He's a bright kid with a really bright future. I'd like to be his agent right now.

 

[Joe McGrath]

I don't blame anyone for not calling up Foegele earlier. He's a first-year pro. What he's doing now, after having been in the OHL last season, is pretty remarkable. But there's no excuse for Zykov not being up here sooner. If we had the top three lines from last night back on Jan. 1, there's no doubt in my mind we'd have won a few more games.

Having said that, in order to substantially change anything about our season, something would have had to have been done about the goaltending. We lost last night because their goaltender was better than ours. We can probably say that about more than a few of our losses this season, and no amount of Zykov or Foegele can really fix that.

Also, does anybody else get the vibe that Foegele will wear a letter someday? He's a bright kid with a really bright future. I'd like to be his agent right now.

Darling made 40+ saves last night. They lost because they got outplayed by a better team.

 

[My Special Purpose]

Darling made 40+ saves last night. They lost because they got outplayed by a better team.

I get it. Darling played one of his better games. But the point still stands, they're goalie was still better than ours. Kincaid made several huge stops in the second to keep his team within striking distance. The problem with Darling making 41 saves is he gave up 41 rebounds, and it eventually bit us. Like I said, the bar has been lowered for us for goaltending so drastically that we're willing to defend a 41-save effort allowing four goals, two on rebounds and one because he still goes side-to-side slower than my dead grandma, as a "good" effort. If the goalies were switched, we win. The only place we got outplayed was special teams. At 5-on-5, I think we were the better team. The difference was special teams and goaltending.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I get it. Darling played one of his better games. But the point still stands, they're goalie was still better than ours. Kincaid made several huge stops in the second to keep his team within striking distance. The problem with Darling making 41 saves is he gave up 41 rebounds, and it eventually bit us. Like I said, the bar has been lowered for us for goaltending so drastically that we're willing to defend a 41-save effort allowing four goals, two on rebounds and one because he still goes side-to-side slower than my dead grandma, as a "good" effort. If the goalies were switched, we win. The only place we got outplayed was special teams. At 5-on-5, I think we were the better team. The difference was special teams and goaltending.

Pretty much this, and this will continue to be the story of our lives until we find a better tandem. Darling's .911 last night would lose most games in this league.

 

[Joe McGrath]

Pretty much this, and this will continue to be the story of our lives until we find a better tandem. Darling's .911 last night would lose most games in this league.

So would a team giving up 46 shots.

My point isnt to defend Darling but to say that the team didn’t play all that well.

I know Darling sucks balls, I’m not an idiot.

 

[Joe McGrath]

I get it. Darling played one of his better games. But the point still stands, they're goalie was still better than ours. Kincaid made several huge stops in the second to keep his team within striking distance. The problem with Darling making 41 saves is he gave up 41 rebounds, and it eventually bit us. Like I said, the bar has been lowered for us for goaltending so drastically that we're willing to defend a 41-save effort allowing four goals, two on rebounds and one because he still goes side-to-side slower than my dead grandma, as a "good" effort. If the goalies were switched, we win. The only place we got outplayed was special teams. At 5-on-5, I think we were the better team. The difference was special teams and goaltending.

What you originally commented on was me talking about how nothing has changed since the call ups to prove they would’ve changed anything significant.

Blown 3rd period lead. Check.
Poor special teams. Check.
Bad goaltending? Check.

Nothing changed, they just played 3 shitty teams in a row and the rookies looked good. Then they played a bubble team and it looked like every other game this season except they got outshot.

 

[NotOpie]

I know Darling sucks balls, I’m not an idiot.

Ima need a police report on that one...