FlameChampion
Registered User
- Jul 13, 2011
- 13,672
- 15,341
I thought he looked miles ahead of the player he was 2 years ago. Made good decisions with the puck, was hard on Hughes on the forecheck a few times. Set up Turris for a grade A chance in the third.
The whole team looked off ish, but Pulju was among the few on that FWD group who actually attempted to do something.
Yeah its hard to know, my memory is a bit foggy now that its been a couple years. I personally thought JP looked pretty good in his second year. He had 12G-8A-20P in 65 games. He looked like a NHL player (but probably not a #3-4 overall pick) but you could tell he wasnt quite ready. He had a disaster of a third year though, so I think thats what most people remember about him. I had never seen such a large guy get knocked over so easily before and his puck handing was very bad. He didnt look like a NHL player remotely in his third year.
I did like his speed/reach and forechecking last night. I think he could be a really good PK'er. I kinda hope that Tippett tries to find more of a role for him this year, but if we start poorly and are working from behind, its going to be hard for Tippett to try anything new. He didnt get knocked off the puck as easily last night, but I think for a player as big as him, he still lost more battles than he should. His puckhandling was much better but he still had some issues. It could be rust though, a lot of guys had problems handling the puck last night. It didnt seem like a glaring weakness last night compared to others, which is a positive thing I think considering his past.