need for speed

[Captain Dave Poulin]

I mean... Raffl is fast, is a good PKer and one of the better forecheckers on the team...

But they have a lot more speed coming up-front in the near future.

What would be interesting to see is a list of our prospects in order from fastest to Water Bear. I guess you'd have to determine the parameters for "fastest," but that would be interesting. I'd like to think the rankings would be better than in our prospect poll, which is a complete disaster this year.

 

[Magua]

What would be interesting to see is a list of our prospects in order from fastest to Water Bear. I guess you'd have to determine the parameters for "fastest," but that would be interesting. I'd like to think the rankings would be better than in our prospect poll, which is a complete disaster this year.

In terms of traditional "fastest" for speed/acceleration maybe.....

Forwards:

Frost
NAK
Lycksell
Allison/Twarynski
Ratcliffe
O'Brien
Kase
Farabee/Rubtsov/Sushko
Vorobyev/Laczynski
Cates
Bunnaman
Strome


Defense:

Myers
Friedman
Morin
Wylie
Kalynuk
Hogberg
Ginning
St. Ivany/Bernhardt

 

[Rebels57]

Wyatte Wylie is the actual worst name.

George Carlin would have a f***ing field day with that name.

 

[Magua]

Wyatte Wylie is the actual worst name.

Pffffft that's a cool name. It's got alliteration and rolls off the tongue. He sounds like a cartoon character or Wild West outlaw.

Wyatt Kalynuk is a worse use of the name Wyatt tbh, though having two Wyatts (....Wyatti?) is neat. Linus Hogberg is up there. So is Jack St. Ivany. I mean that's a cool name to one extent, but it's pretentious too. That's the most stereotypical Yale sounding name ever. But the correct answer is Olle Lycksell. Olle is a cool first name, but combined with that last name, he sounds like the second cousin of Augustus Gloop. I see that name and I think: fat boy eating ice cream in a bowl AND cone.

 

[CodyTheHuman]

Pffffft that's a cool name. It's got alliteration and rolls off the tongue. He sounds like a cartoon character or Wild West outlaw.

Wyatt Kalynuk is a worse use of the name Wyatt tbh, though having two Wyatts (....Wyatti?) is neat. Linus Hogberg is up there. So is Jack St. Ivany. I mean that's a cool name to one extent, but it's pretentious too. That's the most stereotypical Yale sounding name ever. But the correct answer is Olle Lycksell. Olle is a cool first name, but combined with that last name, he sounds like the second cousin of Augustus Gloop. I see that name and I think: fat boy eating ice cream in a bowl AND cone.

You shut your mouth. Olle Lycksell is a saint with the name of an angel.

 

[Magua]

You shut your mouth. Olle Lycksell is a saint with the name of an angel.

 

[deadhead]

In terms of traditional "fastest" for speed/acceleration maybe.....

Forwards:

Frost
NAK
Lycksell
Allison/Twarynski
Ratcliffe
O'Brien - is he really that slow?
Kase
Farabee/Rubtsov/Sushko
Vorobyev/Laczynski
Cates
Bunnaman
Strome

 

[Magua]

is he really that slow?

I think JOB might be quicker spinning in corners than a couple guys ahead of him, but strictly in terms of speed, who above him is so insulting? Those are pretty good skaters. I just listed them in the order I vaguely thought; I didn't specify the degree to which each player is separated. Some there's more, some there's less of a gap. I had this conversation in the prospects thread, but if people think he's a Konecny roadrunner, I'm not of that mind. He's a good skater, and I think where I ranked him reflects that.

 

[deadhead]

Interesting how good Ratcliffe is, especially at his size, and playing C yesterday.
Don't really think of him as a center, but with that size and speed, it's a thought!
Even if only to intimate Sidney.

 

[Magua]

Interesting how good Ratcliffe is, especially at his size, and playing C yesterday.
Don't really think of him as a center, but with that size and speed, it's a thought!
Even if only to intimate Sidney.

You can cool your unicorn jets because he didn't play center. I can't even imagine him at center because he plays nothing like a center.

 

[deadhead]

I thought I saw him at center for one shift, maybe he was just skating down the center of the ice, but he looked impressive, smooth glider for a guy that size.

 

[mdm815]

Speed isn’t just about fast players either. It’s about high skill, high IQ guys who can execute plays at a high speed. I’ll take team speed with size over fast guys any day. Though you need a good blend of both.

 

[deadhead]

Speed is more impressive at lower levels, and in the regular season v the playoffs.
The "smaller" the ice, the less speed matters.
But quickness and agility may be more important, both feet and hands, because more play is happening in a short area.
Then again, maybe not? Some surprising names on the following list, especially 400 or more minutes, which is unlikely to be a one playoff series fluke.

Top 5x5 pp/60 playoff scorers since 2008 (200+ minutes, bold is 400+, * is 800+):

Guentzel 3.40
Pastrnak 3,33
Briere 2.81
Downie 2.74
Leino 2.68
MacKinnon 2.67
Bergenheim 2.61
Benn 2.59
Umberger 2.52
Horton 2.52
Crosby 2.51*
Fabbri 2.46
T Johnson 2.45*
R Smith 2.42
R Bourque 2.40
Ryder 2.37
Jokinen 2.36
Kucherov 2.32*
Marchessault 2.28
Purcell 2.25
Point 2.24
Kane 2.23*
Savard 2.22
Prospal 2.19
Krejci 2.19*
Guerin 2.16
Larose 2.15
Franzen 2.14*
Marchand 2.13*
Doan 2.12
Satan 2.12
Malkin 2.10*
Radulov 2.10
Kessel 2.09*
Carcillo 2.08
Asham 2.07
Wolski 2.05
Landeskog 2.05
Haula 2.05
Matthews 2.04
J Williams 2.04*
Ward 2.04*
Lecavelier 2.02
Bergeron 2.02*

 

[Jray42]

I will say that Need for Speed Carbon SUCKED

 

[Bencosy]

In terms of traditional "fastest" for speed/acceleration maybe.....

Forwards:

Frost
NAK
Lycksell
Allison/Twarynski
Ratcliffe
O'Brien
Kase
Farabee/Rubtsov/Sushko
Vorobyev/Laczynski
Cates
Bunnaman
Strome

Regarding Allison ... Strictly going off his youtube highlights and a couple in-person viewings at development camp, I kind of considered Allison's skating as "good for a guy his size." Am I undervaluing his skating? That was the only one that kind of surprised me on your list (being ahead of JOB that is).

 

[Hiesenberg]

Raffls not slow

 

[Magua]

Regarding Allison ... Strictly going off his youtube highlights and a couple in-person viewings at development camp, I kind of considered Allison's skating as "good for a guy his size." Am I undervaluing his skating? That was the only one that kind of surprised me on your list (being ahead of JOB that is).

I don't think Allison is a great all-around skater, but in terms of up ice, he's pretty dang good. Deep knee bend, long stride, lots of power. He can separate off the rush in straight lines. I grouped him with Twar because I think they're similar. Like I said above though, the degree of separation between some guys I listed can be a lot or a little. I don't think there's much in that area. I'm sure I could shift a name or two if I rethought it. But, yes, Wade is a dangerous skater off the rush. Pre-ACL anyway.

Lot of rush clips in his highlight reel. There's a handful of good clips, but 3:20 especially comes to mind.

 

[deadhead]

If Twarynski is that good of a skater, and he's developed a scorer's touch, definitely someone to keep an eye on in LHV.
Maybe the scouts made a better choice than we thought, a guy with all around skills who just had to refine his shooting.

Not saying he's a top six guy, but a 4th line mucker who can give you 10-15 goals is invaluable for a long playoff run - because in the playoffs these kind of guys get the favorable matchups and often score more than the regular season.