Observations, Part X

[AtlantaWhaler]

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[Armourboy]

Picking up from the other thread, my main beef with Lavi this year has been his roster moves. One of our problems has been consistency, and it sure feels like he isn't helping that any, and if anything it feels like he throws fuel on the fire.

If a line plays well it feels like it is broken up immediately. It feels like every game, heck often every shift is a new set of linemates. The one exception to that has been Ryjo/Neal and for a while the 4th line. I know you need to make moves based on injuries and such, but even when we had a full roster he was slinging guys all over the place.

I think back to last season, and during that first half he didn't move guys around much, or at least it felt that way. Sure he had to make a move or two due to injury, but things for the most part felt much more stable. I guess that is easier to do when you are winning. However, I also think back to about the time we started slumping last season, and while it did happen mostly due to Rinne being out, that was also about the time he started moving guys around. Remember, Fisher and Wilson had been on fire all season, and then just about the time the slump started he moved Wilson to try and get the 3rd going. After that it felt like he started doing a ton more moving around trying to find something, and in the process several guys went cold.

I know no one has exactly been on fire this season, but I would like to see him make some lines and then give them a few games to see what happens. Look at your stats from the past, see who has worked well together and see if you can find something again. This season has felt like he has just thrown stuff and at wall to see if it will stick, and if it doesn't stick and hold within 5 seconds he just shuffles things and throws it at the wall again.

 

[drwpreds]

Anyone have access to a time machine???

Just sitting here thinking how much I wish we could go back to last Friday- we would still have a 4 game winning streak and optimism about the second half AND we could relive the unbelievable all-star weekend.

Instead, the winning streak is over, all optimism is gone and the All star weekend is now just a memory....

sigh.....

 

[Drake744]

Center production:

Ribeiro - 52 GP, 31 points
Fisher - 41 GP, 12 points
Jarnkrok (part time center) - 51 GP, 15 points
Gaustad - 43 GP, 5 points
Johansen - 12 GP, 12 points

Keep Joey by any means necessary. He just doesn't look like a Nashville Predator......because he stands out. He's got "it". He stands out on the ice and not just in a flashy way, but rather in a way that makes his teammates better and in a way that you can see his hockey sense create scoring chances that we simply aren't used to seeing.

 

[Enoch]

1) Rinne has been the major let down for the Predators this season. Even with poor offensive results, his statistics and eye-test play have been dreadful. He isn't even producing at a top backup goaltender level. He is producing as an average to below average backup goaltender. This is horrible.

2) Offensive game flow is just off ....

I still think this comes down to center ice play. Smith is an okay winger for a 2nd or third line spot. Wilson is too. They aren't amazing pieces, but they are useful players. I say this fully acknowledging that both have been in slumps or had a down year. Even saying that, Smith will hit close to or at 20 goals, and Wilson showed signs of rebirth prior to getting hurt (7 points in 8 games with some dominating performances in that stretch).

But.

Move past them.

Ribiero, even with 31 points this year has been really really ineffectual on the ice. Mike Fisher has been really really bad. Turnovers. Poor shooting positioning. Not getting to the front of the net. Poor defensive plays. Jarnkrok is a third line or fourth line role player. He has a role, but he is NOT a scoring line winger. He is a guy you plug in on the PK and who win he scores at ES you high five each other. HE is too weak on his skates to be a top line player. Arvidsson has been a nightmare with untimely penalties costing us a minimum of two games and no production.

You can't have a line of 1 okay player who needs support and two bad players, and then call it a scoring line. The Predators have been doing that all year.

Forsberg with - A terrible Mike Fisher / struggling Ribiero - Arvidsson/Jarnkrok, etc.

Repeat but insert Craig Smith instead of Forsberg.

This is a failed line. The center play is bad. The off-winger is bad.

The Predators need Wilson back, and they desperately need one of Mike Fisher or Mike Ribiero to find consistency with either Smith/Wilson or Forsberg.

-----

If Rinne is an average goaltender, we make the playoffs.

If a center steps up and finds consistency, I think this team can make the playoffs.

There are a lot of strong pieces on this team, and it is so close. For whatever reason, the team is struggling to put it all together this year.

 

[Pred303]

I agree with every thing you say here enoch. everything, . we are close to being a really good team but just can't put it together.

 

[David Singleton]

1) Rinne has been the major let down for the Predators this season. Even with poor offensive results, his statistics and eye-test play have been dreadful. He isn't even producing at a top backup goaltender level. He is producing as an average to below average backup goaltender. This is horrible.

2) Offensive game flow is just off ....

I still think this comes down to center ice play. Smith is an okay winger for a 2nd or third line spot. Wilson is too. They aren't amazing pieces, but they are useful players. I say this fully acknowledging that both have been in slumps or had a down year. Even saying that, Smith will hit close to or at 20 goals, and Wilson showed signs of rebirth prior to getting hurt (7 points in 8 games with some dominating performances in that stretch).

But.

Move past them.

Ribiero, even with 31 points this year has been really really ineffectual on the ice. Mike Fisher has been really really bad. Turnovers. Poor shooting positioning. Not getting to the front of the net. Poor defensive plays. Jarnkrok is a third line or fourth line role player. He has a role, but he is NOT a scoring line winger. He is a guy you plug in on the PK and who win he scores at ES you high five each other. HE is too weak on his skates to be a top line player. Arvidsson has been a nightmare with untimely penalties costing us a minimum of two games and no production.

You can't have a line of 1 okay player who needs support and two bad players, and then call it a scoring line. The Predators have been doing that all year.

Forsberg with - A terrible Mike Fisher / struggling Ribiero - Arvidsson/Jarnkrok, etc.

Repeat but insert Craig Smith instead of Forsberg.

This is a failed line. The center play is bad. The off-winger is bad.

The Predators need Wilson back, and they desperately need one of Mike Fisher or Mike Ribiero to find consistency with either Smith/Wilson or Forsberg.

-----

If Rinne is an average goaltender, we make the playoffs.

If a center steps up and finds consistency, I think this team can make the playoffs.

There are a lot of strong pieces on this team, and it is so close. For whatever reason, the team is struggling to put it all together this year.

I think David Poile takes a long hard look at Eric Staal. Much more attainable than Eriksson and should be good fit.

 

[Enoch]

I mean, the Predators did exactly what they needed to.

Rinne bounced back big time and made timely saves in the first period. This 6 of the last 7 that he has played well. IF he continues that pace, we make the playoffs.

Arvidsson scored. Twice. What?!?!

Forsberg had chemistry with Ribiero finally, and (arvidsson!).

----

Johansen and Neal are dynamite together.

----

Way to go Preds. I thought the team was doomed after the first 10 minutes, but a nice bounce back and huge win.

 

[Pred303]

hockey is such a strange, unpredictable game. the gang that couldn't shoot straight goes out and scores 5 really pretty goals, skill type goals. And then you have the team actually playing good defense and getting great goaltending. Two days after looking so horrible everywhere. Anyone that thinks they know what will happen any given night is either hockey ignorant or delusional. a few quick thoughts;

..rinne was outstanding early when we had to have him be.
..how many times this year have we outshot someone 8-1 early and given up the first goal on the next scoring chance? actually felt ok when they had outshot us that bad but hadn't scored.
..can't think of anyone better than Jarnkrok, Arvidsson, and Forsberg scoing goals. they all three needed it, and the team needed it.
..Johansen. this guy is some more player.
..finally we generate some odd man rushes. and connect.
..we can't afford our 4th line taking 2 or more penalties every night.
..felt like old times with the 2 PP goals allowed.
..the first was bad luck and a great play by Thornton. the second should have been goaltender interference.
..outside of those first ten minutes we played a really strong defensive zone game.
..key goal at a critical time on the Arvidsson first. Took momentum right back away from SJ.
..then one can say the same thing about the Forsberg shorty when they had a chance to get right back in the game.
..so many guys with multipoint games, great for team morale after these last two.
..a full season with Johansen and Neal might well score 35-40 again.

a real confidence builder. for me anyway, because I certainly needed it.

 

[Nashville Transplant]

May I just say that despite having a "top 10" powerplay in the league at this point, the team is 4 for 27 in the last eight games (well below their percentage to this point.) In those eight games, Jarnkrok and Arvidsson have seen 0:00 time on the PP. In fact, essentially for the season, these guys see zero time on the ice with the man advantage. Isn't the definition of insanity to repeat one's actions OVER AND OVER expecting a different result? Now, the fact is, when the PP does click, it's pretty much a one-trick-pony, with Weber firing from the point. Rarely do we see traffic in front of the net, so most of these blasts that come from up high are either one and done, or none... With Arvidsson, you have a player that despite his size, and his propensity to get knocked down and/or off the puck, he is ALWAYS moving forward, and will put the puck towards the net whenever it's on his stick. Jarnkrok just flat out works, and though he has stretches where he seems to wear the James Neal patented cone-of-invisibility, he too is someone who never gives up on a battle. The 10 guys who you see out there on the PP OFTEN give up on the battle. OK, maybe 9... maybe 8, I'm not going to say anything disparaging about Ryan Johansen at this point, but the Preds are almost ALWAYS on the wrong side of the puck, and consistently lose battle after battle. "Tough to play against" is a term frequently heard about teams like Ana, LA, Chi... Nashville is not tough to play against. Figure out how to get in between Weber and Josi, and have the guts to either let the goaltender see their shots, or get in the way of them, and you're effective in defending against the Preds. TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT, LAVY... you have guys you need to reward. Watching Craig Smith on the power play is like someone putting t i t s on a bull. Useless!!! REWARD ARVY... REWARD JARNKROK... Give it a different look. SOON!

 

[drwpreds]

It was truly a great night for the Preds- not only did we get a great win but Minnesota and Colorado both lost in regulation.

So at least for now we are not only in the playoffs but we actually hold the #1 wildcard spot- (tied with Colorado in points but 2 games in hand).

 

[Scoresberg]

Anybody gonna give credit to Poile for drafting Arvidsson in the 4th round? He might not be a star but rarely we see a player drafted in the 4th round play in the NHL one season later. Also, he needs to be on the power play, as we saw last night dude has hell of a release.

Okay, so now we got Joey, Neal, Arvidsson, Jarnkrok and Forsberg going. We have to get Fisher, Smith and Wilson to join those guys. Then we can try to roll 3 scoring lines. I just.. I'm gonna hop on the "I hate Smith" train with Byrd. The guy is useless, he got his new contract and stopped playing. We need him to be the Smith he was before.

Rinne starting look like Rinne again, he's played great last 6 out of 7. I don't blame him on the Philly loss, either.

I'm not going to get too excited about this win. We have seen this film before, one night we look like world beaters and who knows what we'll look on Tuesday. My guess: not good. This team still has a lot of issues.

 

[David Singleton]

hockey is such a strange, unpredictable game. the gang that couldn't shoot straight goes out and scores 5 really pretty goals, skill type goals. And then you have the team actually playing good defense and getting great goaltending. Two days after looking so horrible everywhere. Anyone that thinks they know what will happen any given night is either hockey ignorant or delusional. a few quick thoughts;

..rinne was outstanding early when we had to have him be.
..how many times this year have we outshot someone 8-1 early and given up the first goal on the next scoring chance? actually felt ok when they had outshot us that bad but hadn't scored.
..can't think of anyone better than Jarnkrok, Arvidsson, and Forsberg scoing goals. they all three needed it, and the team needed it.
..Johansen. this guy is some more player.
..finally we generate some odd man rushes. and connect.
..we can't afford our 4th line taking 2 or more penalties every night.
..felt like old times with the 2 PP goals allowed.
..the first was bad luck and a great play by Thornton. the second should have been goaltender interference.
..outside of those first ten minutes we played a really strong defensive zone game.
..key goal at a critical time on the Arvidsson first. Took momentum right back away from SJ.
..then one can say the same thing about the Forsberg shorty when they had a chance to get right back in the game.
..so many guys with multipoint games, great for team morale after these last two.
..a full season with Johansen and Neal might well score 35-40 again.

a real confidence builder. for me anyway, because I certainly needed it.

Arvidsson. I quit counting at eight times hitting the ice at early in the second. Two really good goals- both the type of goals from a real goal scorer. He needs to learn to stay on his skates or he'll have more bad moments than good, particularly on missed coverages when his man has knocked him down and continued on.

I can think of another that needed a goal since the gifts kept coming- Craig Smith. Smith is not playing bad hockey. He's really fast, has great effort, and is creating a ton of pressure- pressure that's usually in the high danger areas. He's just snakebitten. But, we say this every year with Smith. At some point, the dam will burst and he'll rip off several goals.

The one PK they looked good on, they were aggressive to the puck and stood players up coming into the zone. Their normal passive PK drives me nuts and has physical defensemen like Weber going fully prone on the ice instead of clearing the crease. It's just not my cup of tea. It also results in a Minion-esque stick-slapping contest by 2-3 Predators in an attempt to clear, inevitably resulting in the puck sliding over to an open opponent for the score.

Johansen and Neal are playing at an elite level right now. It's also good to see that Johansen, even with the team being a bit inconsistent, seems to really be enjoying his time in Nashville. I agree Steve. Neal could definitely hit 35+ with a full season at Johansen's wing.

I like Jarnkrok on the Johansen/Neal line for two reasons: he's the defensive conscience for that line, and his intelligence has him in the right spots on the ice. His lack of a quick shot will be frustrating on many nights, but last night, he got it done.

Wilson needs to replace Ribs on that first PP unit when he gets back. Way too many turnovers by Ribs and the unit has no one in front of the net.

Rinne with another solid, solid game overall and was the difference in the early going.

 

[Scoresberg]

Yeah, Ribs was just horrible on the PP last night. Every time he got the puck he lost it and the Sharks were able to clear the puck.

I wouldn't read too much into our PK. It looked pretty good and the Thornton goal was pure bad luck. The Sharks' PP is the best in the league so we were fine.

 

[ThirdManIn]

It's hard for me to find reasons to nitpick after a 6-2 win, especially over a team I haven't liked, well, ever, but here goes nothing: the definition of insanity is, in fact, NOT "repeating the same action over and over again expecting a different result, and Einstein didn't say it (scientists often repeat the same actions over and over again actively hoping for a different result). The irony of that widely used cliché is that repeating it over and over again does not change the definition.

Sorry, NashvilleTransplant. Pet peeve of mine for some weird reason. Anyway, on to the game. Due to some health circumstances I have been in a living situation for the entire season which has kept me from watching almost all games. I have watched a few on television, and I have been to two. One of those was the horrible game against Buffalo, and the other was last night. My brother bought tickets as a birthday gift. Holy **** was that a fun game to attend.

At first it felt opposite from the Buffalo game. That game felt like the team came out to play hard and win, only to end up giving up pretty quickly. Last night, San Jose was doing their level best to break the guys early. It didn't work. That Neal goal from Joey was a thing of ****ing beauty, and it happened right below me. When Joey had the puck on his stick behind the net I was waiting for some magic to happen. You simply don't hang out in Gretzky's office without reading some of the memos he has lying around. Absolutely astounding pass from Johansen to Neal. I think I stood up before anyone else there

The Ellis fight was odd. I didn't see the hit that apparently set Ellis off (read about it in the Sharks GDT), but if that is what happened I would rather our #3/#4 defender not take on some scrub just because his feelings got hurt, and then lose to boot. Not a good showing. I felt like Ellis had a rather poor game all around, actually, but I was dead tired so my keeping up with the game was not up to snuff.

We were definitely cheering hard for Aardvark to get his hatty. That first goal of his was a hell of a shot, and from listening to the post game show it was more a reaction to beginning to fall down than an actual attempt. Good decision there! The patience he showed on his second goal to go forehand to backhand and around Jones was exceptional.

Forsberg's laser shorthanded was vintage Forsberg (if I may use that term for a second year player). Hell, Rinne looked like vintage Rinne, too. Unfortunately, the power play was also going vintage all night, but in the end it didn't matter. It would have been nice to get that clicking for future games. For the moment, a dominating win is plenty.

We were sooooo close to the Diabetes Hattrick. Got the free frosties. Got the Goo Goo Goal. One fluke bounce and one missed goalie interference (I don't care if he was able to get his stick back in time. He had to skate out, get the stick and try to get set again positionally before trying to get set again mentally, only to immediately have a goal scored) away from a free donut. Booooo!

 

[glenngineer]

One thing to think about concerning the lines. None of us were excited about the lines going in to last night's game, myself included. We used the same lines primarily against Philly and got trounced yet we did the same thing to SJ. Why is that? Could be the lines matched up better against SJ than they did Philly and for whatever reason they worked. We could do the same against the Caps with our lines and who knows what the results will be.

The other possibility is our forwards put a lot more effort in to playing D last night. I think that was pretty true from watching the game.

Some teams we match up better against for whatever reason. If the effort is there I'm not too upset about the results because guys were out there playing hard. If there is no effort or breakdowns it's pretty easy to point fingers and get upset.

Chemistry with our lines is important. Matchups against other teams is important. Effort is important. They are all woven together and can produce good and bad results. We've seen that in the last two games.

Fun game to watch last night.

I won't be attending for a while because the three games I have attended we've lost this year, two of those from this week. Last night I didn't attend and we won. I'm superstitious. I don't mind staying at home if we continue to win.

 

[jwhouk]

Heh, diabetes hat trick. I like that one.

 

[Drake744]

Observation. We've never had a talent like Johansen. Ever. It's sad but true. Every game I'm excited to see what he's going to bring to the table. Given his age, position, skill and all the intangibles, he's the best forward we've ever had. We've had guys on the tail end of their careers but nothing like Joey. That is all.

 

[nomorekids]

A couple of days ago much of the board was for sending Arvidsson down, waiving Jarnkrok...next game they play key roles in a huge win.

Hockey is funny.

 

[predfan98]

Observation. We've never had a talent like Johansen. Ever. It's sad but true. Every game I'm excited to see what he's going to bring to the table. Given his age, position, skill and all the intangibles, he's the best forward we've ever had. We've had guys on the tail end of their careers but nothing like Joey. That is all.

. Don't know where you want to cut off the age limit , but Kariya had some pretty amazing talent.

 

[Drake744]

. Don't know where you want to cut off the age limit , but Kariya had some pretty amazing talent.

Yeah...... Kariya is the one that throws a wrench into that statement. I think for me I draw the line at him still being an RFA when his contract is up and should be under team control for many years. If I wasn't taking that into consideration, Kariya may still come out on top for right now.

 

[101st_fan]

. Don't know where you want to cut off the age limit , but Kariya had some pretty amazing talent.

Kariya, Sullivan, the first few years of Dumont and Arnott ....

Look at the 05-06 roster where Kariya had over point per game production and Sully had 68 points in 69 games played. Dumont with three consecutive seasons with over .8 points per game. Arnott with 33 goals.

The one difference with RyJo is age.

 

[Enoch]

I would have loved to see Kariya with a talent like RyJo. Speeeed with that kind of passing and presence on the ice .... !

 

[Byrddog]

Observation. We've never had a talent like Johansen. Ever. It's sad but true. Every game I'm excited to see what he's going to bring to the table. Given his age, position, skill and all the intangibles, he's the best forward we've ever had. We've had guys on the tail end of their careers but nothing like Joey. That is all.

What I think you refer to is the level of talent Johanson has and that we could enjoy that offensive skill for years. Karyia had a couple gret years here but he was a shell of the guy that was in Anaheim.

Johanson can make everyone around him better. That does not prevent other teams from shutting that line down as there primary goal. That line got free against the Sharks and lead the team to a win. The other two scoring lines and I use that term really loose are not able to carry the offense and makes it easy for other team to shut down Johanson and Neal (Flyers).

I was hopeful that we could beat the Sharks and we did now the home games are really gonna be rough until the Devils game a little less than a month from now.

 

[drwpreds]

Observation. We've never had a talent like Johansen. Ever. It's sad but true. Every game I'm excited to see what he's going to bring to the table. Given his age, position, skill and all the intangibles, he's the best forward we've ever had. We've had guys on the tail end of their careers but nothing like Joey. That is all.

I guess time will ultimately tell, but the great thing about Johansen (in addition to how great of a players he is) is that he genuinely seems to be very happy to be here. Which is a very good thing for the organization. Need to lock him up long term as soon as possible.

I have also noticed that he is a very good interview. Always has insightful, intelligent comments. Listening to his post game comments last night it sounded like an interview with the head coach. He had some very good things to say about Jarnkrok's impact on the first line. He is obviously a very smart hockey player and really understands the game.

Bottom line- what a trade for the Preds.