Post-Game Talk: Preds @ Tampa Bay Suckers 10/10/23 4:30PM Thanks For The Draft Class Edition

[Scoresberg]

All-in-all, quite encouraging opening night.

McDonagh looks revitalized. Solid and calm and didn't lack in footspeed tonight. Barrie also quite good.

Novak looks sharp as does Evangelista.

Pärssinen, what can I say, we have a true star in the making. If only they'd let him play more than 13 mins a night..

Get Schenn off the top pair, he can play but only in the 3rd pair.

 

[Flgatorguy87]

And where was Fabs tonight?? Really have a hard time not seeing him fit in this lineup.

Any chance they are shopping him?

 

[101st_fan]

Hynes lives (edited to present tense from past tense) rent free in so many heads here it is pathetic. This Brunette led team came out totally flat with only two shots in the first period ... it killed itself with penalties that led to three TB goals. Brunette also chose to ice Schenn over Fabbro, Smith over McCarron or Fagemo. If there were any intellectual consistency here this place would have exploded over those choices.

 

[Top 6 Spaling]

All-in-all, quite encouraging opening night.

McDonagh looks revitalized. Solid and calm and didn't lack in footspeed tonight. Barrie also quite good.

Novak looks sharp as does Evangelista.

Pärssinen, what can I say, we have a true star in the making. If only they'd let him play more than 13 mins a night..

Get Schenn off the top pair, he can play but only in the 3rd pair.

Agree with you on everything here. Was disappointed that I barely noticed Nyquist tonight.

 

[Bringer of Jollity]

bruh didnt you say that Glass should be our #1 center

Don't think I've ever said that. I see him as a Sissons replacement.

 

[BigFatCat999]

Key thing for me is that it feels like a team that could get better as the season goes on as the young guys get more used to things.

Good point but, as we all do, we hate losing.

 

[Flgatorguy87]

Glass may not be a long term top 6 guy, but he's playing solid defensively. He also thinks the game fast enough his offensive ability might still come. I'm not dismissing him.

 

[sparkle twin]

Well after the first I thought we were going to get our doors beat off, but they turned it around and played better. Still had trouble controlling the puck, but they made it a game and almost got it tied.

But damn guys, STAY OUT OF THE PENALTY BOX!!




I think this is the longest gdt we've had in a few years.

 

[You]

Is it a new thing this year where ESPN is letting a home fan announce the game between the benches? Seems odd for a national broadcast.

 

[BigFatCat999]

Is it a new thing this year where ESPN is letting a home fan announce the game between the benches? Seems odd for a national broadcast

It's ESPN throwing shit on the wall

 

[Flgatorguy87]

Agree with you on everything here. Was disappointed that I barely noticed Nyquist tonight.

Can honestly say I don't even recall anything he did tonight.

I wouldn't mind seeing Trenin get more of a scoring line chance if he's playing like he did tonight.

 

[Predsanddead24]

Only was able to see the first so glad they turned it around even with the loss. Nice to see several of the young guns on the scoresheet too.

 

[Soundgarden]

Agree with you on everything here. Was disappointed that I barely noticed Nyquist tonight.

I noticed him briefly, but I think it was negative weak shot attempt or bad shot placement when I did notice him.

 

[BigFatCat999]

OK, having a cup of decaf tea, half a package of English biscuits, and calmed down. Still sucks but the team looked competitive

1st line looks fun. VERY fun.

only 13 mins for Parsinen? Did he get hurt in the game? No PIMS to explain that.

 

[adsfan]

Missed the game while visiting relatives in the ETZ. Sounds like the Preds did better in periods 2 and 3.

 

[Olderfan]

Tampa Bay started ready; Preds got ready later; Officials not ready yet.

 

[PredsV82]

Hynes lives (edited to present tense from past tense) rent free in so many heads here it is pathetic. This Brunette led team came out totally flat with only two shots in the first period ... it killed itself with penalties that led to three TB goals. Brunette also chose to ice Schenn over Fabbro, Smith over McCarron or Fagemo. If there were any intellectual consistency here this place would have exploded over those choices.

Well I can only assume that everyone here is cognizant of the fact that this was Brunos first game and the lineup is just getting solidified whereas we had years of watching Hynes stultifying system. So there can't be any "intellectual consistency" until we figure out what this coach and this team do over the course of at least a significat fraction of one season

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Well I can only assume that everyone here is cognizant of the fact that this was Brunos first game and the lineup is just getting solidified whereas we had years of watching Hynes stultifying system. So there can't be any "intellectual consistency" until we figure out what this coach and this team do over the course of at least a significat fraction of one season

I don't see many similarities. I think it would be more intellectually dishonest to just point to the fact that Fabbro was #7 and Smith was still in the lineup as signs that somehow positive changes aren't in place. Yes, there are those two lineup-card similarities. In the midst of a significant number of greater differences. Now, Smith is the ONLY veteran-tweener grinder in the lineup. Not one of a group. We will see if an adjustment is made to bring Fabbro's speed and maneuverability in against a quicker and less physical opponent in Seattle. Maybe Fagemo will come in also next game, who knows.

But aside from those two minor details, nothing else looks similar at all. The D is moving the puck up, sometimes going for stretch passes, the team is looking for controlled zone entries and more puck control instead of dump-and-retrieve, there is the whole trio on the kid line who appear to have carte blanche to be creative and play as much east-west as north-south in the offensive zone. There is constant movement on the PP. Players aren't taking themselves out of the play by going out of their way looking for hits. The defensive zone work wasn't strong against TB, but bearing in mind a lot of TB's damage was done on the PP, I still think there is more of a positional structure being attempted 5on5 instead of players chasing, although we'll get a better sense of the plan there with some more viewings. Bottom line, it looks like a completely different team on the ice. Even if Smith is still one player on and Fabbro is one player off. We've seen 3 regular season periods of this team so far. Probably by December or January we'll be able to offer some actually meaningful critiques.

I don't believe we critiqued Hynes in his first game either, btw, he got the benefit of the doubt for a good while, until his issues started piling up over a much longer timeframe, and came to a head last season. Even in the worst case, that same initial extension of hospitality should be expected for Brunette also. If his warts start becoming clearer later in the season, or in Year 2, I have no doubt folks will be ready to pile on. That is afterall our job.

 

[Kat Predator]

I don't see many similarities. I think it would be more intellectually dishonest to just point to the fact that Fabbro was #7 and Smith was still in the lineup as signs that somehow positive changes aren't in place. Yes, there are those two lineup-card similarities. In the midst of a significant number of greater differences. Now, Smith is the ONLY veteran-tweener grinder in the lineup. Not one of a group. We will see if an adjustment is made to bring Fabbro's speed and maneuverability in against a quicker and less physical opponent in Seattle. Maybe Fagemo will come in also next game, who knows.

But aside from those two minor details, nothing else looks similar at all. The D is moving the puck up, sometimes going for stretch passes, the team is looking for controlled zone entries and more puck control instead of dump-and-retrieve, there is the whole trio on the kid line who appear to have carte blanche to be creative and play as much east-west as north-south in the offensive zone. There is constant movement on the PP. Players aren't taking themselves out of the play by going out of their way looking for hits. The defensive zone work wasn't strong against TB, but bearing in mind a lot of TB's damage was done on the PP, I still think there is more of a positional structure being attempted 5on5 instead of players chasing, although we'll get a better sense of the plan there with some more viewings. Bottom line, it looks like a completely different team on the ice. Even if Smith is still one player on and Fabbro is one player off. We've seen 3 regular season periods of this team so far. Probably by December or January we'll be able to offer some actually meaningful critiques.

I don't believe we critiqued Hynes in his first game either, btw, he got the benefit of the doubt for a good while, until his issues started piling up over a much longer timeframe, and came to a head last season. Even in the worst case, that same initial extension of hospitality should be expected for Brunette also. If his warts start becoming clearer later in the season, or in Year 2, I have no doubt folks will be ready to pile on. That is afterall our job.

This.

On the defensive zone, it was night and day. Clear emphasis on puck pressure and trapping along the half wall. No more collapsing for the sake of collapsing and clogging up the middle with legs and sticks. The offensive zone time looked very different as well. More speed and movement to create space, especially people without the puck. More sustained zone time. Less dump and chase, which used to stem directly from spending entire extended shifts standing around in the d-zone. The PP was clearly different. Barrie looks like a good PP QB. Gains the zone, moves the puck, keeps his feet moving, constant cycling to break down the defense. We actually scored some goals, btw. Speaking of which, the 6-5 time at the end of the game fell short, but it showed signs of life and wasn't an instantaneous ENG for Tampa.

It wasn't perfect. There were breakdowns. We took some bad penalties and some phantom penalties, which really hurt. The 1st period was bad. Some of our players notably flubbed up with open chances or on defense. But it was the first game with a new coach, new systems, new leadership, and a starting lineup that is 50% overhauled from 12 months ago.

 

[101st_fan]

Well I can only assume that everyone here is cognizant of the fact that this was Brunos first game and the lineup is just getting solidified whereas we had years of watching Hynes stultifying system. So there can't be any "intellectual consistency" until we figure out what this coach and this team do over the course of at least a significat fraction of one season

Considering that there were negative comments about Hynes his first hours as coach, the its his first game concept doesn't hold up. According to these boards there was no excuse for ever playing Cole Smith when Hynes was coach, suddenly that line of thought is gone because suddenly its not Hynes putting in Smith and Lauzon, its Brunette. Bruno benched Fabbro to ice a Josi - Schenn pairing to start the game then transitioning to a Josi - Barrie pairing ... neither pairing was all that great, with Schenn having only one full shift in the last 8 minues of the game. We saw more of Colton Sissons at forward with the goalie pulled then we did of Sherwood, Tomasino, Evangalista combined ... the latter three sitting on the bench for about the last five minutes of the game (Sherwood sat about the last seven minutes). When it came to crunch time, the play the kids talk went to the side and the older guys stayed on the ice the entire time ... Parssinen to the bench after the time out ... all coaching decisions that would have been called out a year ago, five years ago, a decade ago, but not last night.

OK, having a cup of decaf tea, half a package of English biscuits, and calmed down. Still sucks but the team looked competitive

1st line looks fun. VERY fun.

only 13 mins for Parsinen? Did he get hurt in the game? No PIMS to explain that.

The Preds were shorthanded five times and Parssinen wasn't on the PK. He was 4th in ES TOI among forwards behind Forsberg, ROR, and Novak. The shift after the time out gave Novak a slight edge in ES TOI over Parssinen.

I don't believe we critiqued Hynes in his first game either, btw, he got the benefit of the doubt for a good while, until his issues started piling up over a much longer timeframe, and came to a head last season. Even in the worst case, that same initial extension of hospitality should be expected for Brunette also. If his warts start becoming clearer later in the season, or in Year 2, I have no doubt folks will be ready to pile on. That is afterall our job.

Hynes was never given the benefit of the doubt. From before his first game. Confirmed with Link: - John Hynes to be named head coach

Confirmed with Link: - John Hynes to be named head coach

forums.hfboards.com

Of course the assumption during his first game was that Muse was the de facto coach since the hiring was announced only a few hours before game time and he had zero time with the team before the game. His second game behind the bench was completely overwhelmed by a goal by some tall guy from Finland, Pekka something or other. A week after the hire the comments here were along the lines of "hynes will be done by this time next year" and "The hire makes no sense." A little over two months after his hiring the league paused but by then the pitchforks were already out. It was all decided here in the short term.

 

[Flgatorguy87]

I recall a group of people who didn't like the Hynes hire from the jump and seemed to be against him from puck drop. I also think the talk of a more positive offensive system as well as the change to move away from Poile has given everyone fresh eyes and a short memory. Reality is Bruno could be worse than Hynes for all we know, but we just need to see how things play out. I try to keep a middle ground approach and just have fun watching the games these days.

 

[101st_fan]

It doesn't matter who the coach was last night ... hitting the ice not ready to play on the first shift of opening night is inexcusable, the Schenn-Josi pairing was a head scratcher, the extreme shortening of the bench to the point where Tomasino and Evangalista don't touch the ice for the final five minutes is interesting.

 

[triggrman]

I recall a group of people who didn't like the Hynes hire from the jump and seemed to be against him from puck drop. I also think the talk of a more positive offensive system as well as the change to move away from Poile has given everyone fresh eyes and a short memory. Reality is Bruno could be worse than Hynes for all we know, but we just need to see how things play out. I try to keep a middle ground approach and just have fun watching the games these days.

Just reading through some of it, seems like most were like whatever, not my favorite but let's see how it goes. Now that thread stretches into the next season, so it starts going downhill much like our records.

 

[weeze]

The narrative of "so many young guys" popping up consistently is interesting. Average age is over 27 for the team this year, right in the dead center of the league. We also don't have a true "rookie", if you will, no one making a debut today. I think moving Duchene, Ekholm, and Johansen gave us a "rebuilding young team" feel, but it isn't reality on the ice at this point.

Replaced those with other old guys! So we didn't really get younger. I know you knew that already so I was stating the obvious. I think we will miss Ekholm the most.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

I recall a group of people who didn't like the Hynes hire from the jump and seemed to be against him from puck drop. I also think the talk of a more positive offensive system as well as the change to move away from Poile has given everyone fresh eyes and a short memory. Reality is Bruno could be worse than Hynes for all we know, but we just need to see how things play out. I try to keep a middle ground approach and just have fun watching the games these days.

There is a difference between "not liking the hire" because the guy had a poor track record and wasn't a name we were expecting to hear... and not liking his actual performance for our team based on specific lineup choices, gameplans, systems, etc. I think we all enjoyed the physical dominance when our Herd Line mentality was peaking and the team was in first place. It took more than a year for the wheels to fall off to the point where people were critiquing him for real on-ice performance issues in any sustained and specific way.