GDT: Nashville Predators v. St. Louis Blues 5pm @ The Bridge

[PredsV82]

Big picture. Played two games.... looked like total crap in one and semisolid crap in another and yet we have two points.

We're ok. Not fabulous, but ok.

 

[luckofirish8]

The three new defensive pairs need more time to gel. Hopefully then the aggression level will go up on that end.

 

[ninetynine*]

We're missing someone like Smithson. Pure 4th line utility guy who is trustworthy in the d-zone and good at faceoffs. Dressing McGratton, Yip, and Clune is just silly. All three have no center experience and aren't known for their defensive prowess.

But in the end, the 4th line is the least of our problems.

Happens from time to time but I don't see the point of Clune as much. Smithson would have been nice tonight in for Clune.

 

[AEM6729]

1. McGrattan/Yip/Clune is the worst line ever conceived.

2. I know Leggy had an assist, but he looked like doodoo otherwise. Same with Fisher.

3. Wilson and Peks looked great!

4. Craig Smith hasn't been the same since he missed that damn empty netter. It's gonna be the bane of his existence!

Oh and...

5. What's SK's problem? Is he homesick? Does he miss his brother? Are the nets secretly bigger in the KHL?

 

[wadesworld]

I think if I were Trotz, I'd spend the entire practice tomorrow working on breakouts. We really, really suck at breaking the puck out.

 

[Nashvols]

One guy I forgot to mention was Nick Spaling. He played out of his mind tonight. All over the ice, our best forechecker, and was two inches from a goalie (crossbar). Not sure why Gaustad was playing on the 3rd line over him.

Clune should be wearing #22, not Hannan. Literally a carbon copy of old Toots.

Spaling did look great. Very good on both ends of the ice. Not sure about the neutral zone. Not many Preds looked good there. Best stat: 67% on faceoffs.

He's Toots without the offensive ability (as of now, at least). I don't think we're going to replace Jordin's 30 points with that guy.

We're missing someone like Smithson. Pure 4th line utility guy who is trustworthy in the d-zone and good at faceoffs. Dressing McGratton, Yip, and Clune is just silly. All three have no center experience and aren't known for their defensive prowess.

But in the end, the 4th line is the least of our problems.

I think Gaustad is more or less supposed to be that guy. I haven't seen enough of him to be able to tell. He's great on draws, but one thing you could always say about Smithson is that he was giving 100% every shift he was on the ice. The old sports cliche "intangibles" comes to mind.

 

[Top 6 Spaling]

I'm pretending we beat CBJ and lost to STL. Still two points, just makes more sense to me.

 

[Seth Lake]

I think if I were Trotz, I'd spend the entire practice tomorrow working on breakouts. We really, really suck at breaking the puck out.

We are flying to Minnesota tonight and playing tomorrow. I doubt they have even an optional skate, but instead hold detailed meetings prior to lunch to break down the first two games and then standard pre-game meetings around 5 PM.

 

[Nashvols]

1. McGrattan/Yip/Clune is the worst line ever conceived.

2. I know Leggy had an assist, but he looked like doodoo otherwise. Same with Fisher.

3. Wilson and Peks looked great!

4. Craig Smith hasn't been the same since he missed that damn empty netter. It's gonna be the bane of his existence!

Oh and...

5. What's SK's problem? Is he homesick? Does he miss his brother? Are the nets secretly bigger in the KHL?

McGrattan/Yip/Clune isn't a line. It's two guys that will never play when we're 100% healthy and a grinding 4th liner. Fisher was taking draws for that line at one point.

And disagreed about Fisher not looking good. I thought he was very good. 1G 1A, 23:29 ice time, 54% on draws. You can't ask much more than that.

Fisher, Hornqvist, Erat, Wilson, and Spaling all had solid games at forward. We needed more from Kostitsyn, Legwand, Halischuk, and Smith. I wasn't expecting crap from McGrattan, Clune, and Yip, and didn't get it.

And yes, Craig Smith needs to get a couple of goals to shake his head out of this funk.

 

[Marty Party]

Had a better time tonight than last Saturday but another SO loss sucks. I think the whole building knew what was going to happen after the OT ended. Oh well, on to the next one...

 

[AEM6729]

McGrattan/Yip/Clune isn't a line.

It was tonight. And I was scared.

7 D tomorrow please. Is it too late to call someone up?

 

[Nashvols]

It was tonight. And I was scared.

7 D tomorrow please. Is it too late to call someone up?

I forgot the second part of that...it's not a line, it's a trainwreck. There's no center, no offense, and very little defense. And yes, at this point I'd call up SOMEONE with the ability to play the game of hockey.

 

[Top 6 Spaling]

I forgot the second part of that...it's not a line, it's a trainwreck. There's no center, no offense, and very little defense. And yes, at this point I'd call up SOMEONE with the ability to play the game of hockey.

Unscratch Gaustad, call up Mueller. Problem solved.

Yip/Clune-Gaustad-Mueller

I actually liked Clune tonight.

 

[utkpred]

No Gaustad tonight really hurt us. Not having a legit scoring threat will continue to kill this team. Our forecheck sucked tonight and we gave the puck away 13 times. We hit three pipes and SK74 missed an easy goal to put us up in the 3rd period. Pekka is a ****ing manimal.

 

[Paranoid Android]

I think Gaustad is more or less supposed to be that guy. I haven't seen enough of him to be able to tell. He's great on draws, but one thing you could always say about Smithson is that he was giving 100% every shift he was on the ice. The old sports cliche "intangibles" comes to mind.

I don't think Gaustad should have ever been a replacement for Smithson. Just an addition. When everyone is healthy, move Smithson over to wing. But when one of our band-aid boy centermen inevitably goes down with an injury, we have someone reliable to fill in at center. If Yip could take faceoffs he'd be great for that role.

It's just strange going from a 4th line of Fiddler, Nichol, Smithson (all natural centers), to a "line" of all wingers. Very un-Trotzian to me

 

[Falco Lombardi]

Just came by to say how scary your PP is. Very impressive and as always Rinne is a beast.

Good luck the rest of the way.

 

[Top 6 Spaling]

When Smithson was on this team, the vast majority of the boards dogged on Trotz for playing Smithson and costing our young guys ice time. No tears were shed when we left.

Smithson wasn't ever part of the plans here. The organization owed it to him to trade him away rather than have hit rot on the bench.

 

[glenngineer]

This should sum up what Poile didn't address in the offseason. While we all worried about Josi filling Suter's skates, he should've concerned himself who was going to replace Josi on the second pairing. Josi and Weber look good together. The other two pairings worry me greatly.

I'd almost venture putting Ellis with Weber and putting Josi back with Klein. Problem is who's our third pairing. We need a PMD to pair with Klein to make that second pairing effective.

On to Minny and kicking Suter's arse.

 

[Paranoid Android]

When Smithson was on this team, the vast majority of the boards dogged on Trotz for playing Smithson and costing our young guys ice time. No tears were shed when we left.

Smithson wasn't ever part of the plans here. The organization owed it to him to trade him away rather than have hit rot on the bench.

You're dodging my main point. I'm saying we could have really used someone like Smithson tonight. A 4th line utility player who is good defensively and can take faceoffs. Dressing 3 goon wingers and expecting Fisher to fill in on the 4th line is a problem.

 

[Byrddog]

This should sum up what Poile didn't address in the offseason. While we all worried about Josi filling Suter's skates, he should've concerned himself who was going to replace Josi on the second pairing. Josi and Weber look good together. The other two pairings worry me greatly.

I'd almost venture putting Ellis with Weber and putting Josi back with Klein. Problem is who's our third pairing. We need a PMD to pair with Klein to make that second pairing effective.

On to Minny and kicking Suter's arse.

I totally agree with your thinking on D

Weber- Ellis
KK and Josi

Weber and Ellis could play the PP instead of platooning Weber with someone else. It would also place the two dmen with the heavy shots on two partings. It just makes too much sense.

 

[Paranoid Android]

This should sum up what Poile didn't address in the offseason. While we all worried about Josi filling Suter's skates, he should've concerned himself who was going to replace Josi on the second pairing. Josi and Weber look good together. The other two pairings worry me greatly.

I'd almost venture putting Ellis with Weber and putting Josi back with Klein. Problem is who's our third pairing. We need a PMD to pair with Klein to make that second pairing effective.

On to Minny and kicking Suter's arse.

I've been clamoring for a while now that we need a 2nd pairing puck moving d-man. Glad there's others who feel the same.

We could throw a hail mary and stick Blum with Klein. At this point though, I want to keep Weber and Josi together. They may as well get comfortable playing together since I see them as our future 1st pairing for a while. I don't think Weber and Ellis would complement each other very well.

 

[TootooTrain]

I've been clamoring for a while now that we need a 2nd pairing puck moving d-man. Glad there's others who feel the same.

We could throw a hail mary and stick Blum with Klein. At this point though, I want to keep Weber and Josi together. They may as well get comfortable playing together since I see them as our future 1st pairing for a while. I don't think Weber and Ellis would complement each other very well.

To add to that thought, traditionally you'd want your top pairing to be able to play in all situations, and I don't think Ellis can do that. Atleast not right now.

I'd keep the pairings the same, but maybe give the Gillis pairing a bump in icetime. This team really needs that creative first pass.

Hannan isn't bad by any means, but he shouldn't be playing 20+ minutes every night.

 

[bishop12]

1. McGrattan/Yip/Clune is the worst line ever conceived.

2. I know Leggy had an assist, but he looked like doodoo otherwise. Same with Fisher.

3. Wilson and Peks looked great!

4. Craig Smith hasn't been the same since he missed that damn empty netter. It's gonna be the bane of his existence!

Oh and...

5. What's SK's problem? Is he homesick? Does he miss his brother? Are the nets secretly bigger in the KHL?

I thought Smith was a beast in the training camp?

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

Despite the loss tonight against the Blues I just gotta say you guys have an amazing fan base.

The arena was rocking

 

[worstfaceoffmanever]

This should sum up what Poile didn't address in the offseason. While we all worried about Josi filling Suter's skates, he should've concerned himself who was going to replace Josi on the second pairing. Josi and Weber look good together. The other two pairings worry me greatly.

I'd almost venture putting Ellis with Weber and putting Josi back with Klein. Problem is who's our third pairing. We need a PMD to pair with Klein to make that second pairing effective.

On to Minny and kicking Suter's arse.

Agreed. Klein and Hannan is not going to work for the same reason Klein and Hamhuis or Klein and Bouillon didn't work: neither player can move the puck out of the back. Klein is great at carrying the puck and stick-handling, but when you force him to pass, his game goes to pieces and puts more pressure on everybody.

I'd give Blum a shot at that position alongside Klein for a couple of games, and if that doesn't fix the issue, start putting out feelers for a defenseman and see if there aren't any Grebeshkov-type adds available. Of course, on a condensed schedule like this, teams are probably less likely to give up the kind of asset we would be looking for, if for no other reason than the tightness of the playoff race...