Observations XXXI

[Roman Yoshi]

Thought Joey was weak as hell on that third goal we gave up. No effort back checking. No effort covering Nino.

Terrible.

 

[Legionnaire11]

Thought Joey was weak as hell on that third goal we gave up. No effort back checking. No effort covering Nino.

Terrible.

Our $8M #1 center got 15 mins in a playoff game... And that's not all on Hynes either, great players don't give bad coaches a chance to even think about reducing their minutes, they're forcing coaches to figure out how to keep them on the ice as much as possible. And our other $8M center doesn't push Johansen to do more to hold his spot either.

But, it's game one of a series that none of us expected to win more than a game or two, so we'll just have to see how they respond in the next games.

 

[Predsanddead24]

It's a shame because that pass on Forsberg's goal was a vintage playoff Joey play where he shrugs a guy off and makes a great pass. Then it was like he decided that was enough strong play for the game.

 

[Kat Predator]

Thought Joey was weak as hell on that third goal we gave up. No effort back checking. No effort covering Nino.

Terrible.

Johansen seemed to be really laboring to me. I suspect he's trying to play through some new/lingering/aggravated injury, but it could be he was playing immediately after a competitive eating contest or all of his skill got put in the suitcase that went to Buenos Aires.

 

[Scoresberg]

Johansen seemed to be really laboring to me. I suspect he's trying to play through some new/lingering/aggravated injury, but it could be he was playing immediately after a competitive eating contest or all of his skill got put in the suitcase that went to Buenos Aires.

He’s definitely injured.. but the third goal just can’t happen. He was good until that.

 

[jumb0]

Well that sucked. The first period was good, but whatever Brindamour said at the first intermission worked.

If Carolina can out-physical us too, this is going to be a short series.

 

[FossilFndr]

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?

I don't recall ever commenting about player salaries till that post, certainly not
"Every Single Discussion" but thanks for the insult! The point is still the same, better players need to play better ... or maybe just complain about the lowest hanging fruit, the loss is always Hook's fault, right.

Do list all my salary comments please.

 

[GoldOnGold]

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'm not blaming him for anything. I was just commenting on how his production in the playoffs drops off a cliff for whatever reason.

 

[Paranoid Android]

I wouldn’t be so quick to single out Johansen on that goal. 5 guys on the ice and Gudbranson was only one challenging a Canes player. At least Joey was in a passing lane. Harpur, Forsberg, and Arvy were in no mans land. Plenty of blame to go around on that one.

 

[Loyal Legion]

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.

I don’t mind the Carolina Hurricanes ordinarily but right now I hate them. I want the players to hate them too. I want them to play with hate on their shoulders on every shift.

 

[nine_inch_fang]

I don't recall ever commenting about player salaries till that post, certainly not
"Every Single Discussion" but thanks for the insult! The point is still the same, better players need to play better ... or maybe just complain about the lowest hanging fruit, the loss is always Hook's fault, right.

Do list all my salary comments please.

I have no idea if you talk about salaries all the time so that wasn't meant personally.

 

[David Singleton]

... I want them to play with hate on their shoulders on every shift.

I want the coaches to figure out how to maximize the talent that is on the Nashville roster, while at the same time countering what Carolina brings to the table. I want the players to not get frustrated and continue to work on the ice. Being physical or trying to bully on the ice is all well and good until you get punched in the mouth harder, or you focus so much on physicality that you forget that it takes goals on the scoreboard to win.

Last night, the Predators got punched in the mouth.

At the end of the day, even if the coaches coach well and the players play well, this looks like one team is bringing a knife to a gun fight.

 

[101st_fan]

Carolina was the best team in the eastern half of the continent in the regular season. No team lost fewer games at home during regulation. Beating them in their barn requires discipline ... not just avoiding penalties but near perfect execution of a gameplan up and down the lines and parings in every zone. The one aspect that worked well was the PK at a cost ... Sissions and Granlund spending a lot of time and energy out there a man down. The PP converted at 11.1% against the Canes in the regular season and they were one of the best PK% in in the regular season.

The key to winning a gun fight when you only have a knife is getting in the right position where you can close the gap before they can bring the gun to bear. It's a challenge but doable if executed properly.

Time to see what the staff and players change before tomorrow night.

 

[NoNecksCurse]

yeah i agree with above. it should be noted that Carolina is probably the best team in the league right now. We’re huge underdogs for a reason. I still think we can win in 6.

here’s my problem with game 1. We went heavy and got out hit. That’s not even Carolinas game. That shouldn’t happen when the coaching staff went with the lineup they did. That’s where I start to search to find someone to blame. As I said in the GDT.. if they hit us, hit back harder. We did that for 20-30 minutes. Once we let off the pedal, they started to embarrass us. Can’t happen in game 1.

put in fabbro for harpur. Tolvanen goes in for olivier for hopes of a PP boost. Then pick arvidsson or jarnkrok to sit for cousins. we aren’t going to win by being prettier than them. Cousins is great at stirring things up.

 

[Flgatorguy87]

I assume Hynes is trying to figure out how to find/fashion an even taller defenseman for our bottom pair to fix things. Have Davies sitting on Harpur's shoulders maybe?

 

[nine_inch_fang]

yeah i agree with above. it should be noted that Carolina is probably the best team in the league right now. We’re huge underdogs for a reason. I still think we can win in 6.

here’s my problem with game 1. We went heavy and got out hit. That’s not even Carolinas game. That shouldn’t happen when the coaching staff went with the lineup they did. That’s where I start to search to find someone to blame. As I said in the GDT.. if they hit us, hit back harder. We did that for 20-30 minutes. Once we let off the pedal, they started to embarrass us. Can’t happen in game 1.

put in fabbro for harpur. Tolvanen goes in for olivier for hopes of a PP boost. Then pick arvidsson or jarnkrok to sit for cousins. we aren’t going to win by being prettier than them. Cousins is great at stirring things up.

I think Hynes blames the penalties for not being able to implement their plan and roll the lines like they wanted. He actually had a list of the penalties at the presser so he could list them for everyone. Even if you exclude the PP time there was 15 minutes on PK or 4v4.

I'm not saying that the there wouldn't have been the same result but that's an opportunity you can't get back.

 

[NoNecksCurse]

I think Hynes blames the penalties for not being able to implement their plan and roll the lines like they wanted. He actually had a list of the penalties at the presser so he could list them for everyone. Even if you exclude the PP time there was 15 minutes on PK or 4v4.

I'm not saying that the there wouldn't have been the same result but that's an opportunity you can't get back.

I’ll vouch for Hynes in that regard. I’m surprised at the amount of penalties called even if they were offsetting. That’s at least judging by other games across the league. Tampa/Fla game had a lot called but that game needed a lot to be called cause it was heated from the puck drop. All other games I watched had more “playoff intensity” with less called. Hopefully the refs come back game 2 with a little perspective and we can roll 4 lines at mostly 5 on 5 and see how that shakes out. I didn’t really have a problem with the officiating though. Just would rather keep special teams out of it against Carolina for obvious reason. 4 vs 4 is obviously not in our favor either.

 

[Legionnaire11]

Definitely I think our gameplan was probably thrown off by the amount of calls. Now, do we stick with it and hope that game one was just a "set expectations" and the calls diminish? Or do we adjust and try to avoid so much PK time?

I'm not sure we have time to wait out the refs with our heavy game, going in a two or three game hole waiting for calls to ease up is a losing proposition. On the other hand, this is kind of what got us here, and if we start trying to be a skilled team I doubt we have the horses to keep up with Carolina.

Overall, it's looking like the daunting task that we all thought it was going to be. As others have said, if we can just not be embarrassed, win a couple games and show well in the losses, I'd be okay with that as a building block for next season.

Still hoping to pull it out though!

 

[nine_inch_fang]

Definitely I think our gameplan was probably thrown off by the amount of calls. Now, do we stick with it and hope that game one was just a "set expectations" and the calls diminish? Or do we adjust and try to avoid so much PK time?

I'm not sure we have time to wait out the refs with our heavy game, going in a two or three game hole waiting for calls to ease up is a losing proposition. On the other hand, this is kind of what got us here, and if we start trying to be a skilled team I doubt we have the horses to keep up with Carolina.

Overall, it's looking like the daunting task that we all thought it was going to be. As others have said, if we can just not be embarrassed, win a couple games and show well in the losses, I'd be okay with that as a building block for next season.

Still hoping to pull it out though!

Didn't even take any penalties being physical did they? Bunch of stupid stick or lazy penalties, right?

 

[triggrman]

Didn't even take any penalties being physical did they? Bunch of stupid stick or lazy penalties, right?

Yeah, and the bs coincidental. 4 on 4 is a advantage for them btw.

 

[triggrman]

Carolina dives like we used too.

 

[nine_inch_fang]

Yeah, and the bs coincidental. 4 on 4 is a advantage for them btw.

Oh yeah, that one with Duchene right on the face off....

 

[Armourboy]

Didn't even take any penalties being physical did they? Bunch of stupid stick or lazy penalties, right?

Mostly. The Jarnkrok penalty was kind of laughable especially when you consider we had several guys get high sticked that went uncalled. I feel like the Refs probably went a bit overboard after the Florida/Tampa game got out of hand. I'm sure the league sent messages out about not letting that happen again.

 

[triggrman]

wth happened to Arvi and Ellis. both seem like shell of players. Are they just system guys that excel in a strict Lavy type structure?

 

[nine_inch_fang]

Mostly. The Jarnkrok penalty was kind of laughable especially when you consider we had several guys get high sticked that went uncalled. I feel like the Refs probably went a bit overboard after the Florida/Tampa game got out of hand. I'm sure the league sent messages out about not letting that happen again.

True game management there...