Staples Twitter: Isles offseason plans

[A Pointed Stick]

I'd love to see him as a regular. His skating needs a ton of work, he isn't the kind of guy you want back on a 2-on-1 yet. I do like his attitude and physical play, finally we have 3 homegrown d men on the come up. Team is in great shape.

He needs to learn how to fight as well because he sucks at it.

 

[BMOK33]

Yeah unfortunately we've gotten just about the two worst matchups possible in the last two years, as far as size is concerned. If we got the Rangers or even the Pens we wouldn't be talking about players getting manhandled.

The Panthers are European big, not North American big like the Caps mostly are. The Panthers big guys as a whole play a softer game. They use their size more on offense than all over the ice in every possible scenario. As a result I think we will be much less beat up after this series. If anything, it seems we are wearing them down somewhat.

 

[PWJunior]

The Panthers are European big, not North American big like the Caps mostly are. The Panthers big guys as a whole play a softer game. They use their size more on offense than all over the ice in every possible scenario. As a result I think we will be much less beat up after this series. If anything, it seems we are wearing them down somewhat.

That's a great point and well articulated. Their size is an asset for the style they play, but they don't necessarily use it to impose their will and beat down other teams. They were trying to bang with us early, but they can't really sustain it and they really wouldn't want to anyway as it plays to our advantage. Special teams have been key this series, suckering them into playing our game against us is bad news for them..