Post-Game Talk: Nordiques @ Caps

[Devil Dancer]

Why can't we agree that they both suck (at least right now)?

 

[Raikkonen]

Why can't we agree that they both suck (at least right now)?

There is always somebody who sucks. What would we do without a scapegoat? I want somebody to suck!

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

No, it doesnt. But posters sticking up for Laich and then trash MaJo are linked, and its absurd.
.

They're really not. But you can keep assuming such things if it forwards your agenda.

 

[Ridley Simon]

You don't expect him to play like a $4.5 mil player then stop the obsessive belly-aching over his salary. On and on and on.....give it a rest, WE KNOW. Everyone knows he's overpaid in his role. Doesn't mean he isn't and can't play well in his current role. Mojo just simply isn't playing well.

The issue isnt his salary, or his play, its that he is still on the team. That needs to be remedied, and ASAP. Thats the point of all of this. We cant "wait it out" any further, as has been the design of most on here.

Caps need to move him out, within the next 20 games. Do NOT waste this season, and next, with his salary slot in the spot its in. Its not that hard to understand.

 

[Ridley Simon]

They're really not. But you can keep assuming such things if it forwards your agenda.

If you read the game day threads, all you see are people *****ing about MaJo. Its rampant. No one is complaining about Laich. If you dont see that, then I simply do not know what to tell you.

 

[Devil Dancer]

If you read the game day threads, all you see are people *****ing about MaJo. Its rampant. No one is complaining about Laich. If you dont see that, then I simply do not know what to tell you.

That's because Laich is playing an appropriate role. His offensive game is totally shot, but at least he can PK, and he's OK defensively, which is sufficient for a fourth liner.

Mojo's poor recent play is ruining rallys and chances for good, legit top-6 players players.

 

[Ridley Simon]

Why can't we agree that they both suck (at least right now)?

Yes!

 

[um]

That's because Laich is playing an appropriate role. His offensive game is totally shot, but at least he can PK, and he's OK defensively, which is sufficient for a fourth liner.

Mojo's poor recent play is ruining rallys and chances for good, legit top-6 players players.

we have 5 top 6 players, Mojo and Burakovsky are borderline and Burakovsky has fell flat so far this year.

 

[trick9]

Classy Iginla and dirty Wilson.

NHL refereeing is so terrible these days.

 

[um]

Classy Iginla and dirty Wilson.

NHL refereeing is so terrible these days.

Wilson skated toward Iginla than flopped to draw a penalty. Its not working anymore and he needs to stop before his reputation gets even worse.

 

[Corby78]

Wilson skated toward Iginla than flopped to draw a penalty. Its not working anymore and he needs to stop before his reputation gets even worse.

I had no idea Wilson was a flopper

 

[trick9]

Wilson skated toward Iginla than flopped to draw a penalty. Its not working anymore and he needs to stop before his reputation gets even worse.

Not sure if you missed the GIF you quoted on, but that's crosscheck to the face from Iginla. Hardly a dive.

Go back to 2012 playoffs, and you'll see Nick Backstrom actually got match penalty and suspension for doing the same thing to Rich Peverley.

On the second GIF you'll see Iginla taking a cheap uppercut to Wilson's jaw while he's tied by the refs.

 

[g00n]

Not sure if you missed the GIF you quoted on, but that's crosscheck to the face from Iginla. Hardly a dive.

Go back to 2012 playoffs, and you'll see Nick Backstrom actually got match penalty and suspension for doing the same thing to Rich Peverley.

On the second GIF you'll see Iginla taking a cheap uppercut to Wilson's jaw while he's tied by the refs.

Plus, as I said before when this happened, it all started because Iginla skated up to Wilson from behind and clipped him in the face as he skated by. It wasn't even part of the play, just a cheap shot. Wilson was only even skating over to Iginla because of that.

We say "reputation" but the reputation at this point is due to teams going behind the Caps back and complaining to the league, not because of anything Wilson has been doing on the ice for the PAST YEAR. This is about the time in 2014 that he started to tone down his act. Since then he's been victimized by far more cheap hits and bad calls well disproportionate to his hits and fights (also fewer).

If you read the game day threads, all you see are people *****ing about MaJo. Its rampant. No one is complaining about Laich. If you dont see that, then I simply do not know what to tell you.

BL gets 9min even strength per game with 4th line roll and PK duty, Mojo gets 15 and is always in the top 6 plus PP1. If you switched their roles and minutes then I'm sure the situation would reverse. Mojo is simply out there more, and in more situations where he can make glaring errors.

Plus, what's new this year? Mojo's pay raise, in another contract year. He has expectations that Laich doesn't. We know Laich is what he as at this point. We doubt we can move him with the contract GMBM inherited, and nobody is happy about it. What's the point of elevating concerns about his play, in his role, with his minutes, to the same level as a guy who may or may not be part of the plan and could be our biggest trade chip if we make a run? At this point it's just

 

[Roughing]

With MoJo it's different because, and I haven't the slightest idea why, there are still some that think he's good/useful/promising or whatever. The guy stinks. He's fast and makes a decent pass once in a while. That's it. Softest guy on the team. Blows glorious scoring chances regularly. Doesn't play defense. He's spent his career in the top6 and on the PP with OV, Nick, and some other skill so the numbers look a little better than he is. He needs to be gone. I mean, his best supporting stat so far is that he draws penalties at a decent clip. BFD.

 

[895]

I think the people that want to keep Mojo are hoping that he will have an Alex Steen type career trajectory. Steen was a first round pick, put up average numbers in Toronto before being traded to St. Louis. Put up the same numbers for a few years then managed to put it together and now puts up good numbers.

We don't want to be the Toronto so we will keep giving Mojo chance after chance. Who knows how it will pan out.

 

[Raikkonen]

Steen is much more physical with much better shot by my recollection.

 

[trick9]

Steen is much more physical with much better shot by my recollection.

Not to mention better defensive game.

 

[g00n]

I don't think he was comparing their games, just their development arc and expectations of improvement.

 

[HockeyTS32]

The issue isnt his salary, or his play, its that he is still on the team. That needs to be remedied, and ASAP. Thats the point of all of this. We cant "wait it out" any further, as has been the design of most on here.

Caps need to move him out, within the next 20 games. Do NOT waste this season, and next, with his salary slot in the spot its in. Its not that hard to understand.

And who do you think wants to take a 4th liner with a cap hit of 4.5M?

Highly doubt anyone is going to take that contract from the caps.

 

[Hivemind]

Base line, is BOTH players, are arguably the worst Caps ROI players on the team. Laich is worst, MaJo is probably 2nd.

The two Brookses are lapping the rest of the field, including Johansson, in this category right now. Once he's back, hopefully Orpik will look more like he did last year.

If Johansson at $3.75M is even in your conversation among worst ROI, that means you have a team with very few bad contracts.

 

[Hivemind]

Not to mention better defensive game.

Johansson is a good defensive player. He's a low mistake player, who's good positionally. He was a good PKer earlier in his career.

 

[Ajax1995]

Plus, what's new this year? Mojo's pay raise, in another contract year. He has expectations...

Just so I understand what are these expectations?

Last year he put up 20 goals and 27 assists in 82 games. He had 3 PP goals and 15 PP points. He got 138 shots on goal and shot 14.5%.

So far this year he has 3 goals and 6 assists in 19 games. He has 1 PP point. He has gotten 33 shots on goal and is shooting 9.1%.

As far as I can tell he is 2 goals/points off of last year's pace. He is actually a point above his ES pace from last season. He's getting slightly more shots on goal so far, they just aren't going in a the same rate.

He's on pace for roughly 8 fewer points over an entire season than my general expectations for him. Maybe others were expecting him to turn into Hossa in his prime or something, I'm not sure why but whatever, but at this point he is within the bell curve of my expectations so I'm not concerned.

Rich fan's problems IMO...

 

[g00n]

Just so I understand what are these expectations?

Last year he put up 20 goals and 27 assists in 82 games. He had 3 PP goals and 15 PP points. He got 138 shots on goal and shot 14.5%.

So far this year he has 3 goals and 6 assists in 19 games. He has 1 PP point. He has gotten 33 shots on goal and is shooting 9.1%.

As far as I can tell he is 2 goals/points off of last year's pace. He is actually a point above his ES pace from last season. He's getting slightly more shots on goal so far, they just aren't going in a the same rate.

He's on pace for roughly 8 fewer points over an entire season than my general expectations for him. Maybe others were expecting him to turn into Hossa in his prime or something, I'm not sure why but whatever, but at this point he is within the bell curve of my expectations so I'm not concerned.

Rich fan's problems IMO...

You clipped my quote. I said he has expectations that LAICH DOESN'T... and in the context of my paragraph, that refers to their current contract situations, not simply stats. Mojo's situation is more dynamic and at a different career stage.

The other gameplay expectations should be obvious after all these years and posts. Mostly looking for improvement in well-known areas, not just stats maybe hitting the same ballpark figures by the end of the year.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Johansson is a good defensive player. He's a low mistake player, who's good positionally. He was a good PKer earlier in his career.

I wonder why he doesn't PK now. Trotz didn't even mention him when asked how the PK was going to replace Brouwer, Ward, and Fehr.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I think the people that want to keep Mojo are hoping that he will have an Alex Steen type career trajectory. Steen was a first round pick, put up average numbers in Toronto before being traded to St. Louis. Put up the same numbers for a few years then managed to put it together and now puts up good numbers.

We don't want to be the Toronto so we will keep giving Mojo chance after chance. Who knows how it will pan out.

I don't see a lot of people clamoring to retain Mojo. I think he's got the talent to score 30 in the perfect scenario. Unfortunately it's looking like that will likely not be on a good team. Similar to Flash, he's just enough of a Tweener to price himself out of town.

Speaking of Flash, wild to see him scoring last night and getting almost 17 mins on a very good Canadians team. Semin meanwhile is back in the lineup after being scratched forever and got 11 mins last night, 9 mins Fri night.

Who had Flash having a better NHL career at this point as compared to Semin. Mind blown....