Navin R Slavin
Fifth line center
They were upgrading the goaltending, and I still think they did. I think Darling is an improvement over Lack...
What evidence do you have at present to support this assertion?
They were upgrading the goaltending, and I still think they did. I think Darling is an improvement over Lack...
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What evidence do you have at present to support this assertion?
I watch the hockey games. Then I open up my amazing hockey brain for all of you.What evidence do you have at present to support this assertion?
For whatever reason, Goalies in Carolina get treated as though they have +.15 to their save percentage just for not being Cam Ward. It expires immediately when they are shipped out.
It was surreal with Lack. He was bad for so long, and their was still a strong "If he just gets the chance to play 5 games in a row...."
Darling is 28 years old and has 75 games on his resume playing for arguably the best team in the league during that time. How much of a financial commitment are folks willing to make?
Put aside Darling's SV% playing in a backup role for the Hawks...tell me about his puck-tracking, tell me about his movement in the crease, tell me about his skating, tell me about his puck-handing, tell me about his mental fortitude.
I mean, part of it is that Darling isn’t good, but at the same time, why does the team rarely show up for games when anyone but Ward is in net?
The GWG last night was a bad one, but Darling also made some great saves that allowed the team to tie it up/kept it tied at 2. A big issue was the first period, when it looked like they’d rather be doing anything else but playing this game.
It’s a trend that’s gone on for years. The team simply plays better in games when Ward is in net than when Darling/Lack/Khudobin/Peters/Leighton is minding the crease.
Well, they came off an emotional, hard fought win in Raleigh, then had to travel to St. Louis. Yeah, I know STL played in Dallas the night before, but I suspect it's easier coming home, staying in your own house, etc... and they lost in Dallas so likely had a bit of extra motivation. That could have had something to do with the lackluster 1st. .
I am going to go ahead and disagree with this. One is probably not better than the other, but if anything, Darling is slightly better than Ward with the puck on his stick.Darling also doesn’t play the puck nearly as well as Ward (decision making included, not just skill wise). He doesn’t colossally **** up very much if at all, but when he plays the puck he’s just firing it out of trouble, where Ward starts the breakout a few times a game.
The problem is this isn't a 1 off situation. More often than not, they don't show up when Darling is in net.
Darling hasn't really looked great either, and maybe that has a part to do with it. But it's an entirely different team out front when Ward is in net vs Darling. And I think that was quite obvious when Darling had a lower GAA than Ward but Ward was 6-2 giving up 3 goals a game
And we also should look at the competition. Cam's last 3 starts: Buffalo, Montreal, and Pittburgh. Not one of those a team currently in the playoffs and Buffalo and MTL are two of the worst teams in the NHL so much easier to "show up". Darling's last 3: Columbus, Toronto, and STL. Other than the debacle in Toronto, it's hard to say the team didn't show up for CLS and STL. Looking back, it is interesting that Ward got pulled in his only start against Toronto where the Canes were down 3-0 and 4-1 but Peters decided to leave Darling in.
I am going to go ahead and disagree with this. One is probably not better than the other, but if anything, Darling is slightly better than Ward with the puck on his stick.
That's logical, I'm just not seeing a difference in terms of successful puck movement from Darling's stick onto the skater's stick. I wouldn't think that there would be any debate that Darling is far better at hitting passes beyond his own blue line, if for no other reason than Ward never even makes the attempt. So that has to factor into the equation. Another factor is that Ward only moves the puck "east and west", never "north", and has only one response to both defensemen being covered, and that is to send it around the boards. Darling has shown on more than one occasion that he can find an outlet up-ice when his D-men aren't options. Of course, Darling had that massive blunder where he scored on himself, and that taints evaluations of him...not accusing anyone of not being able to see past that one mistake, I'm merely acknowledging it as a factor that has to be considered if we're comparing the success of either goalie in making plays with the puck on his stick.I think the forwards and defense are more accustomed to what Ward is going to do with the puck, so they have a familiarity and react better when he plays the puck. They seem unsure what Darling is going to do with it and are more tentative and unsure.
Usually I can look something up to defend my position but it’s not like I can look up highlights of breakout passes from goalies. Agree to disagree is a good way to end this one.
That's logical, I'm just not seeing a difference in terms of successful puck movement from Darling's stick onto the skater's stick. I wouldn't think that there would be any debate that Darling is far better at hitting passes beyond his own blue line, if for no other reason than Ward never even makes the attempt. So that has to factor into the equation. Another factor is that Ward only moves the puck "east and west", never "north", and has only one response to both defensemen being covered, and that is to send it around the boards. Darling has shown on more than one occasion that he can find an outlet up-ice when his D-men aren't options. Of course, Darling had that massive blunder where he scored on himself, and that taints evaluations of him...not accusing anyone of not being able to see past that one mistake, I'm merely acknowledging it as a factor that has to be considered if we're comparing the success of either goalie in making plays with the puck on his stick.
Like Joe said, though, since it's 99% eye test, it's fine to agree to disagree. I suppose we could look at a "turnover" stat, but that would seem to be about as valuable as looking at plus/minus for defensemen and if it's being kept, I couldn't readily find it. However, I will now use confirmation bias to watch this more closely in the immediate future.