Observations XXXI

[hockey diva]

Well that was embarrassing, mortifying, awful, disgusting and disappointing ...

 

[NoNecksCurse]

Not trying to single him out because there was more bad than good tonight but….

guys like jarnkrok are part of the problem. i don’t care how good of stretch he has in the regular season. the dude just folds in the playoffs. is it the physical play being cranked up or what?

 

[Predsanddead24]

I was pretty annoyed in the third but truth be told you could kind of see that coming. First home game all season with a packed crowd just isn’t a recipe for success.

Some positives would be good PK, Ekholm-Carrier pairing was solid and Haula had a great game. Biggest disappointment would be the Granlund line no show. If they can’t figure it out we’re probably doomed. Everything else was about what I expected.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Not trying to single him out because there was more bad than good tonight but….

guys like jarnkrok are part of the problem. i don’t care how good of stretch he has in the regular season. the dude just folds in the playoffs. is it the physical play being cranked up or what?

Jarnkrok settled into that spot on that line with a good regular season, and I don't begrudge him that spot. Of course, looking forward we have a couple other guys in Tolvanen and Tomasino that we need to integrate into our top-6, so I think it's safe to say that Jarnkrok isn't going to be a fixture there or anything. But he did earn the job over the course of this season.

 

[NoNecksCurse]

Jarnkrok settled into that spot on that line with a good regular season, and I don't begrudge him that spot. Of course, looking forward we have a couple other guys in Tolvanen and Tomasino that we need to integrate into our top-6, so I think it's safe to say that Jarnkrok isn't going to be a fixture there or anything. But he did earn the job over the course of this season.

Absolutely he earned it this year. He’s been bad every playoffs he’s ever been in. Just trying to figure out what is it? i mean his line was pretty terrific and then boom… tonight.

 

[GoldOnGold]

Absolutely he earned it this year. He’s been bad every playoffs he’s ever been in. Just trying to figure out what is it? i mean his line was pretty terrific and then boom… tonight.

It's honestly weird how Jarny has never had a good playoff run. 14 points in 59 playoff games.

 

[NoNecksCurse]

Positives for me would be ekholm - carrier. That should be our first pair. Carrier is really damn good. Also Jeannot and trenin i continue to enjoy watching them play hockey for us.

 

[NoNecksCurse]

It's honestly weird how Jarny has never had a good playoff run. 14 points in 59 playoff games.

and he honestly just disappears. you could have told me 4 points in 59 games and i would believe you.

 

[nine_inch_fang]

and he honestly just disappears. you could have told me 4 points in 59 games and i would believe you.

It's just that extra bit of determination. Until he proves he has that tiny bit of extra push you just have to assume it's not there.

 

[NoNecksCurse]

Ice Time tonight was interesting and in the playoffs this obviously gives a glimpse into Hynes pulse on the team.

Granlund 20:55
Sissons 18:39
Arvidsson 16:40
Forsberg 16:38
Haula 15:29
Johansen 15:02
Jarnkrok 12:53
Trenin 11:55
Kunin 11:34
Olivier 11:25
Duchene 10:38
Jeannot 9:27

bolded ones stick out to me

 

[Loyal Legion]

Ice Time tonight was interesting and in the playoffs this obviously gives a glimpse into Hynes pulse on the team.

Granlund 20:55
Sissons 18:39
Arvidsson 16:40
Forsberg 16:38
Haula 15:29
Johansen 15:02
Jarnkrok 12:53
Trenin 11:55
Kunin 11:34
Olivier 11:25
Duchene 10:38
Jeannot 9:27

bolded ones stick out to me

wow. Since our game 1 strategy was to play smash mouth hockey and bang bodies around, why play Jeannot that little? He can bang, not take stupid penalties, and has offensive upside.
This seems counterproductive.

and Jarny... I love him, I do. I don’t see make many mistakes. But playoffs he plays like a feather.

 

[nine_inch_fang]

Some 9 minutes on the PK and another what, 3 or 4 at 4v4 is going to have an effect on that game plan and the minutes certain players get.

 

[nine_inch_fang]

Just looked it up.

9:15 on PK
5:30ish on PP
4:30ish on 4v4

A whole period of special teams that f***s up everything the coach planned for TOI.

 

[PredsV82]

Saros cannot be ordinary if we are going to win this series.

Yes, he has earned his spot as the starter. Without his phenomenal run we would have been out of the race long ago.

But. Hes now played 5 playoff games and given up 4 goals in 4 of them. That's a big ticket to sweepsville against this club. We have to have one of his miraculous .950 save games... and then another... or else we are done. We arent gonna win any 5-4 games against these guys.

 

[Armourboy]

Not gonna lie Saros earned the starts but if he plays like that in game 2 you almost need to go to Rinne. I don't want that to be the case but if that is what we get for 4 games this is a sweep.

I'm not putting it all on him but a couple of those shouldn't be going in.

We gotta stop taking dumb penalties though.

 

[FossilFndr]

No other established forward is lower paid than Hook. For that matter same is said of the defense. He along with Grimaldi are twelfth on the team at $2M. Why does everyone seem to blame him for poor playoff effectiveness and not give his higher paid team mates as much grief. If you are expecting the 12th player on the team to be a dominating player against the 'Canes who had the third best record in the whole league that is a bit much. If he had some of his best games of his career we still would lose if the better players don't play like the better players.

 

[nine_inch_fang]

No other established forward is lower paid than Hook. For that matter same is said of the defense. He along with Grimaldi are twelfth on the team at $2M. Why does everyone seem to blame him for poor playoff effectiveness and not give his higher paid team mates as much grief. If you are expecting the 12th player on the team to be a dominating player against the 'Canes who had the third best record in the whole league that is a bit much. If he had some of his best games of his career we still would lose if the better players don't play like the better players.

Pretty sure everyone has been complained about don't know why we can't have a rational conversation about him too.

Regardless of what he's getting paid he is holding a spot in the top 6 and earned that spot in the regular season. We're discussing whether he can be effective in the playoffs and why he has never been effective in the playoffs.

Would you like to join in on the hockey talk or continue to just list player's salaries like happens in Every Single Discussion?

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Ice Time tonight was interesting and in the playoffs this obviously gives a glimpse into Hynes pulse on the team.

Granlund 20:55
Sissons 18:39
Arvidsson 16:40
Forsberg 16:38
Haula 15:29
Johansen 15:02
Jarnkrok 12:53
Trenin 11:55
Kunin 11:34
Olivier 11:25
Duchene 10:38
Jeannot 9:27

bolded ones stick out to me

We thought getting moved off the Herd Line was a promotion for Jeannot, but we forgot that it's actually more of a demotion. Haula and Sissons get extra time for PK, and they did very well on the PK. So does Granlund, but he also had a very rough 5-on-5 night. We're not going to win games when our #1 icetime forward and our #1 icetime D are both -3 like Granlund and Josi were.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Absolutely he earned it this year. He’s been bad every playoffs he’s ever been in. Just trying to figure out what is it? i mean his line was pretty terrific and then boom… tonight.

I think it's just his personality. You can see him being "nice" out there after the whistle, he genuinely doesn't seem to be able to get a "hate" on. Which is probably a pretty good personality trait in most walks of life. Just, indeed, when the playoff hockey intensity ramps up, he doesn't have that in him.

 

[originalpredfan]

I know this is a radical idea, but I believe we have a potential star top six forward in our lineup right now. His name is ......Roman Josi. He has speed, creativity, awareness on the ice, and competitiveness. He also seems to have the desire for offense. He still would be able to run the power play from the point. If we could somehow trade Ellis for an upcoming real defenseman, utilize our current defensive corps properly, and divest ourselves of one of our 8 million dollar centers while keeping Haula and Granlund we could see an improved lineup. OK, start ripping me apart.

 

[David Singleton]

Not trying to single him out because there was more bad than good tonight but….

guys like jarnkrok are part of the problem. i don’t care how good of stretch he has in the regular season. the dude just folds in the playoffs. is it the physical play being cranked up or what?

Saros cannot be ordinary if we are going to win this series.

Yes, he has earned his spot as the starter. Without his phenomenal run we would have been out of the race long ago.

But. Hes now played 5 playoff games and given up 4 goals in 4 of them. That's a big ticket to sweepsville against this club. We have to have one of his miraculous .950 save games... and then another... or else we are done. We arent gonna win any 5-4 games against these guys.

I can't point out the flaws in the games of players like Jarnkrok, Harpur, Gudbranson, etc. Those players are fine role players when they are asked to play within themselves. Saros generally played well last night as well. That game could have been a lot uglier if he hadn't. Maybe he shouldn't have let in the first Staal goal, but I could understand him being dumbfounded at the four Nashville players in front of him that allowed Staal to go one-on-four and ole all four of them in route to the goal.

The Nashville PK kept the Carolina PP off the board, but it wasn't from great PK work. That Carolina PP, after its first opportunity, had plenty of space, plenty of movement, and a plenty of quality shots.

The Carolina PK was more dangerous than the Nashville PP all night. With the speed and aggressiveness, it was painful watching Ellis and Ekholm receiving the puck on their off hand and having to constantly rotate back around before they could do anything only to find themselves pressured.

The skilled Nashville forwards, the ones that are supposed to be the playmakers and goal scorers, were repeatedly knocked off the puck, knocked to the ground, flubbed passes due to real pressure, and flubbed passes due to phantom pressure. As the pressure (both physical and mental) mounted, that Nashville team had no idea how to respond, or the physical ability to respond- at least on that night.

There was one point late in the game where four Nashville players were converging on a loose puck in the defensive zone only to see all four turn way at the last moment thinking one of the others were going to grab the puck, allowing a Carolina player to take it and keep their offense going. I remember that Arvidsson and Ekholm were two of those players.

Relying on the Jarnkrok's, Harpur's, etc to lead your team isn't fair. They should play their role and chip in, but not be expected to play above their role.

I hope the team can respond in the next game. If they can't, the fault shouldn't lie with the role players on the team. It shouldn't necessarily lie totally with the skill players either. The personnel on the ice is what was built and the results are what they are after being coached (whether they listen, buy-in, etc or not).

 

[nine_inch_fang]

I know this is a radical idea, but I believe we have a potential star top six forward in our lineup right now. His name is ......Roman Josi. He has speed, creativity, awareness on the ice, and competitiveness. He also seems to have the desire for offense. He still would be able to run the power play from the point. If we could somehow trade Ellis for an upcoming real defenseman, utilize our current defensive corps properly, and divest ourselves of one of our 8 million dollar centers while keeping Haula and Granlund we could see an improved lineup. OK, start ripping me apart.

I was bored the other day and went back to the oldest GDT that was still on these boards. It was from the start of the 2013 season and the talk then was about moving Ellis to forward. Kind of a fun stroll down memory lane.

As far as moving Josi, I just don't think it would work. He doesn't see the ice from a forwards perspective. If you were going to experiment with that it should have been long ago. I also still think with proper coaching and a D partner that isn't Ellis his poor D positioning because of his offensive thinking wouldn't be such an issue.

 

[Byrddog]

Not gonna lie Saros earned the starts but if he plays like that in game 2 you almost need to go to Rinne. I don't want that to be the case but if that is what we get for 4 games this is a sweep.

I'm not putting it all on him but a couple of those shouldn't be going in.

We gotta stop taking dumb penalties though.

It is not like me to defend Saro's but honestly he only let in one goal he wanted back. The Staal goal over his shoulder, he cheated off the post on that one and should have stopped it. Good teams score a couple goals just from talent and Carolina did that. They also got a couple tips where Saro's had no chance.

The flow of the game was interrupted by way too many penalties. 1/3 of the game was special teams a topic where this team has struggled for a while. As they did kill 4 on the PK the 3 PP's were pretty pitiful. They better clean up the number of penalties they take Carolina will not go 0-4 on the PP often. And any wins we could get are going to be 1 goal games just can not afford spotting this team a goal from the PP.

 

[NoNecksCurse]

No other established forward is lower paid than Hook. For that matter same is said of the defense. He along with Grimaldi are twelfth on the team at $2M. Why does everyone seem to blame him for poor playoff effectiveness and not give his higher paid team mates as much grief. If you are expecting the 12th player on the team to be a dominating player against the 'Canes who had the third best record in the whole league that is a bit much. If he had some of his best games of his career we still would lose if the better players don't play like the better players.

I brought him up because he is one of the longest tenured players from past playoffs too.

I definitely would put more emphasis on other guys before jarnkrok. It’s just now pretty apparent that jarnkrok isn’t the same guy in the playoffs. Smith had equally shitty playoff performances and he is now a Boston Bruin.

 

[Legionnaire11]

Penalties called in all Game 1's
BOS/WSH - 5
NYI/PIT - 4
MIN/VGK - 5 (4 in Reg, 1 in OT)
TBL/FLA - 17
STL/COL - 7
NSH/CAR - 12

Powerplays:
BOS/WSH - 5
NYI/PIT - 4
MIN/VGK - 5 (4 in Reg, 1 in OT)
TBL/FLA - 7
STL/COL - 5
NSH/CAR - 8

Will be interesting to see if our division continues to get more PP chances, or if it was an anomaly.