Post-Game Talk: Preds @ Oilers

[Predatorbill]

Another blown opportunity.

 

[AintLifeGrand]

If we fire Trotz and Poile does the franchise go away? The players are tuned out they are playing awful to get traded. The passionate players are few and soon burned out. The show is over let the curtain down.

wtf? seriously dude. Teams in non-traditional markets go through multiple losing seasons all the time and stay around- Teams worse off and with less support than the Preds (Columbus, Dallas, Carolina, Florida, Tampa).

I understand that losing is something this fan base has not consistantly experienced for a while, but there are more constructive ways of venting criticism than by being dramatic and questioning the viability of the franchise from a business perspective.

 

[worstfaceoffmanever]

What was the point of dressing Ekholm if he just plays 1 min and at the end of the game.

I had to double-check this, but you're right: 1:15 of ice time. That means we were effectively playing the entire game short a skater. I didn't think anyone could be so batty in the belfry as to deliberately shorthand his team, but Trotz probably has some demented reason for what he did.

Everyone looked a step slow tonight in what I saw of the game, and I didn't get much of a sense of urgency when the team went down 2-1. They were either tired or simply didn't want to be there.

 

[cleangene63]

So, what group feels better about their team's future tonight: Oiler fans or Preds fans??

 

[Armourboy]

Wasn't surprised by this one tbh, they are fast, and speed like that can pretty much negate dump and chase if done correctly.

I still don't understand the Ekholm thing, why not tell Ellis he is playing forward for the night? I mean heck, he's wouldn't of been any worse at it than anyone else was tonight.

I think the reason we tend to play better against the better teams in the league is because how they are built. Most are built around winning the Cup, which means much more of a grindy type game that plays right into our way of doing things. That and just about everyone plays up when going against the top guys.

 

[glenngineer]

A few comments.

1. If Stalberg and Cullen were both out with upper body injuries, wouldn't Poile and Trotz have known this after the game Friday night or by Saturday at the latest and have called someone up from Milwaukee? Also, if they know guys aren't feeling well, like Nystrom, why did we not have two spare forwards on the roster as opposed to just Beck?

2. What were those line combos? Was this really the game to try Wilson at center? He looked more comfortable out there to be honest and was playing a more physical game. While that's all fine and good, Clune was his linemate with rotating other wingers? Talk about a setup for failure. If you're going to move him to center, give him a freaking chance.

3. How do we go in to Vancouver, play a near perfect game against a good team, blow two 2 goal leads against a poor Calgary team and then get spanked by the second worst team in the league? The consistently inconsistent Nashville Predators folks.

4. We play with no edge. I'm going to harp on this one again. Why do we not let Weber play with a physical edge? His stats are pretty off the charts for a defenseman already and he actually seems to be getting a push for the Norris trophy this year. Why are we limiting him physically? Did coaches and teams tell Scott Stevens and Chris Pronger to tone it down? No. That made them all the more intimidating on the back end. Imagine Weber, playing the way he is already, adding that physical dominating style night in and night out? One, it creates fear in the opponent of getting man handled and two, it gets your team in to the game when they see your leader playing that way. He knocked down Hall a few times last night easily with one giant bear claw. I want to see bone crushing hits. It's sad that we have a guy with that skill set and don't use all of it.

This team gives you hope every now and again and then starts playing like they did last night. Here we go on another losing streak. I'm excited.

 

[Persona5]

Wasn't surprised by this one tbh, they are fast, and speed like that can pretty much negate dump and chase if done correctly.

I still don't understand the Ekholm thing, why not tell Ellis he is playing forward for the night? I mean heck, he's wouldn't of been any worse at it than anyone else was tonight.

I think the reason we tend to play better against the better teams in the league is because how they are built. Most are built around winning the Cup, which means much more of a grindy type game that plays right into our way of doing things. That and just about everyone plays up when going against the top guys.

The difference between our team and the good teams is skill. We don't have it and they do. Any cup contending team has the ability to grind it out. You have to and while our style may play well against that type of style of play, when you add skill to a team that can grind it out they will come out on top of the Predators 75% of the time. That is why we are a long ways from being a Chicago, Boston, LA, Anaheim, St. Louis, San Jose. These are the teams that are the real cup contenders. We are far from that right now.

The problem I see is this team will always be coached well enough to never get the number one pick in any draft and because of that we will more than likely end up hanging around scraping for the last couple playoffs spots on our good years and picking late top 10 in our bad years. Almost every single cup wining team has picked at least one first overall pick or very close to it before they truely contended. I will never root for the Predators to lose but it will have to happen to win a cup.

 

[Enoch]

It isn't just about being well coached.

Our team makes numerous mistakes and shows a lack of progression from those mistakes. We are consistently terrible at passing, shoot outs, and anything to do with offense.

We are more correctly classified as a strong system. We dump and chase to minimize high risk turnovers. We forecheck aggressively without the lead and switch to the 1-2-2 with ease when we have the lead. We don't cherry pick, carry the puck into the zone, or make stretch passes. We bring the entire team back when carrying out a pp breakout from our zone.

We play a safe, grinding game, that allows for many small errors, but minimizes the chance for big mistakes.

 

[101st_fan]

Beck played like a hungry player last night. Unfortunately, he didn't play smart hockey. Running over the goalie put him in the box for two minutes (the right call) ... getting between the goalie and the net while in the blue ice got another apparent goal waived off (a by the book correct call as well). The aggressive, go to the net play is to be commended ... but that needs to be tempered and controlled for it to become effective.

 

[Persona5]

Beck played like a hungry player last night. Unfortunately, he didn't play smart hockey. Running over the goalie put him in the box for two minutes (the right call) ... getting between the goalie and the net while in the blue ice got another apparent goal waived off (a by the book correct call as well). The aggressive, go to the net play is to be commended ... but that needs to be tempered and controlled for it to become effective.

If we rely on Beck in our Top 6 we will never make the playoffs again. He simply isn't good enough....

 

[Nothing Is New]

Losses like this one are frequently the decision making point for a team debating on whether or not to relieve the head coach.

 

[Cashville]

Can't believe I stayed up until midnight watching the whole game (GCL delayed).

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Yeah...this is the one where I start looking forward to reading the prospects forum and putting aside the $40 for RedLine Report.

 

[Byrddog]

Yeah...this is the one where I start looking forward to reading the prospects forum and putting aside the $40 for RedLine Report.

This is true. The short version.......... This draft is not even close to last year one prize Reinhart the next two at this point Bennett and Ekblad after that it tails off. Ekblad and Reinhart will continue to bounce around as to the top pick. And It will really be what Buffalo or Edmonton need when picking #1.

We have to assume that the Preds will pick somewhere 5-10 Theres ample prospects in that range but there going to be projects. If I were betting I would say that we select a Euro player. Our scouts over there have proved to find gems that are overlooked by most teams.

 

[NSH615]

This is true. The short version.......... This draft is not even close to last year one prize Reinhart the next two at this point Bennett and Ekblad after that it tails off. Ekblad and Reinhart will continue to bounce around as to the top pick. And It will really be what Buffalo or Edmonton need when picking #1.

We have to assume that the Preds will pick somewhere 5-10 Theres ample prospects in that range but there going to be projects. If I were betting I would say that we select a Euro player. Our scouts over there have proved to find gems that are overlooked by most teams.

In order for us to pick 5-10 they need to go ahead and make Dubnyk the starter for the rest of the year rather than Hutton. Otherwise Hutton will go continue to the win 3-4 then lose 2

 

[Persona5]

This is true. The short version.......... This draft is not even close to last year one prize Reinhart the next two at this point Bennett and Ekblad after that it tails off. Ekblad and Reinhart will continue to bounce around as to the top pick. And It will really be what Buffalo or Edmonton need when picking #1.

We have to assume that the Preds will pick somewhere 5-10 Theres ample prospects in that range but there going to be projects. If I were betting I would say that we select a Euro player. Our scouts over there have proved to find gems that are overlooked by most teams.

Would love to see us get William Nylander if we can't get one of the top 3 forwards. I think he will end up being the 4th best if not better.

 

[thecloser]

A few comments.

1. If Stalberg and Cullen were both out with upper body injuries, wouldn't Poile and Trotz have known this after the game Friday night or by Saturday at the latest and have called someone up from Milwaukee? Also, if they know guys aren't feeling well, like Nystrom, why did we not have two spare forwards on the roster as opposed to just Beck?

2. What were those line combos? Was this really the game to try Wilson at center? He looked more comfortable out there to be honest and was playing a more physical game. While that's all fine and good, Clune was his linemate with rotating other wingers? Talk about a setup for failure. If you're going to move him to center, give him a freaking chance.

3. How do we go in to Vancouver, play a near perfect game against a good team, blow two 2 goal leads against a poor Calgary team and then get spanked by the second worst team in the league? The consistently inconsistent Nashville Predators folks.

4. We play with no edge. I'm going to harp on this one again. Why do we not let Weber play with a physical edge? His stats are pretty off the charts for a defenseman already and he actually seems to be getting a push for the Norris trophy this year. Why are we limiting him physically? Did coaches and teams tell Scott Stevens and Chris Pronger to tone it down? No. That made them all the more intimidating on the back end. Imagine Weber, playing the way he is already, adding that physical dominating style night in and night out? One, it creates fear in the opponent of getting man handled and two, it gets your team in to the game when they see your leader playing that way. He knocked down Hall a few times last night easily with one giant bear claw. I want to see bone crushing hits. It's sad that we have a guy with that skill set and don't use all of it.

This team gives you hope every now and again and then starts playing like they did last night. Here we go on another losing streak. I'm excited.

i've thought the same things. I actually kind of felt like i wrote this when i read it. Weber will play a couple shifts, mad, hungry, and hard hitting and then tail off. His skill is always there, which is to be expected with someone as good as him but his physical presence goes away and its bothersome. Everyone plays better when your captain sets the standard, and not just on the offensive end.

On the other hand, cullen and stalberg could be injured, but i don't buy it 100%. I think its a way of seeing and fielding offers for them. I think management, as well as myself and the fan base, are pretty upset with the play we've seen from Stalberg, although half the time he's stuck with gaustad, nystrom, clune or when hendricks was here, hendricks. He's never going to show numbers if he's not playing with our other talented guys, i.e Smith, Wilson, anddddd.......? but nonetheless Stalberg needs to be in the top 6 no matter what. Not saying this would fix his numbers and production but still. And agreed, we should have seen other prospects and guys from milwaukee coming up because we would've known they were injured immediately or with enough time to bring them for the game.

I don't understand the Ekholm thing at all and when you're 0-2 against one of the worst teams in the NHL you've gotta take a look at coaching. If this was 20 out of the 30 teams in the NHL the coach would have been gone already. Then again, this is Nashville and I have to wonder if Trotz's tenure "scares" management away from firing him.

 

[Byrddog]

After the first three its a crap shoot, we have to hope the scouts find something. Lats years clammer give one hope. After the running couple months debate here about Barkov last year the results are comin around now.

"Barkov was selected with the No. 2 pick in the draft last summer. He entered the game with a team-leading 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists), which ranked ninth among NHL rookies"

Im not running down Barkov do not get me wrong I think he is going to be a star in Florida. I bring it up just for comparision, none of us had Hertl, on our radar screen. So hopefully the scouts can find a Hertal for us. As you look at the rookie results for the season it points to the importance of development. This is why I support leaving FF in Milwaukee no matter how much he is needed here. He will be a better player when he does stick.

 

[NSH615]

After the first three its a crap shoot, we have to hope the scouts find something. Lats years clammer give one hope. After the running couple months debate here about Barkov last year the results are comin around now.

"Barkov was selected with the No. 2 pick in the draft last summer. He entered the game with a team-leading 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists), which ranked ninth among NHL rookies"

Im not running down Barkov do not get me wrong I think he is going to be a star in Florida. I bring it up just for comparision, none of us had Hertl, on our radar screen. So hopefully the scouts can find a Hertal for us. As you look at the rookie results for the season it points to the importance of development. This is why I support leaving FF in Milwaukee no matter how much he is needed here. He will be a better player when he does stick.

I am to the point where I want him to stay in Milwaukee for the simple reason of I want him to play under Trotz as little as possible. If Trotz is relieved of his duties fine call him up otherwise I am fine with him in Milwaukee.

 

[deanwormer]

In order for us to pick 5-10 they need to go ahead and make Dubnyk the starter for the rest of the year rather than Hutton. Otherwise Hutton will go continue to the win 3-4 then lose 2

We will be hard-pressed to pick top 10, even if we don't get Peks back, and certainly no better than 8, unless we get hit with injuries like last year. In the East, we would be 2 points out of a PO spot, so it's not too much of a stretch to think we will finish in front of most, if not all, 8 of those teams. EDM and CLG and there's 10. I think you could put us at 10th in the west, and then we're picking 13th.

 

[twig]

i am to the point where i want him to stay in milwaukee for the simple reason of i want him to play under trotz as little as possible. If trotz is relieved of his duties fine call him up otherwise i am fine with him in milwaukee.

100%

 

[PFL615]

Anyone enjoy watching the Preds get pounded by a young team full of skill that can actually pass tape to tape and
produces offense with it's forwards?

 

[twig]

i am to the point where i want him to stay in milwaukee for the simple reason of i want him to play under trotz as little as possible. If trotz is relieved of his duties fine call him up otherwise i am fine with him in milwaukee.

100%