Confirmed with Link: Scott Gomez will NOT return

[leeroggy]

 

[periferal]

Let's not forget. Brent Thompson still has a job.

I wouldn't be surprised if wang gave everyone employed with him a "lifetime" contract just before he sold to Malkin/Ledecky. Now it's just about when the most opportune time is for L&M to buy them out.

 

[PK Cronin]

If the announcement about your departure from an organization has to explicitly say that you weren't fired, then you were fired.

He wasn't fired, but he had to decide whether he wanted to be a part of the custodial staff under Snow or not...so he decided to leave.

 

[BrockLobster]

Lous biggest move this summer.

 

[Kevin27NYI]

Kinda noteworthy is that I thought he had signed a two year contract, so.. did he ever get a new one?

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Hillier's hiring foreshadowed Gomez leaving. I think Hillier will do a better job with the PP. He actually has some clever schemes. One being the half shot, deflection from the slot. It will be interesting to see if Hillier employs Barzal much as he did with Marner in Toronto. Anything is up for the drawboard.

 

[Hagstrom]

 

[13th Floor]

Hillier's hiring foreshadowed Gomez leaving. I think Hillier will do a better job with the PP. He actually has some clever schemes. One being the half shot, deflection from the slot. It will be interesting to see if Hillier employs Barzal much as he did with Marner in Toronto. Anything is up for the drawboard.

Not gonna lie, I'm still worried.

I like your idea with Barzal/Marner, but I'm afraid our players just lack offensive creativity instinct. Gomez was bad and entry plays pretty much relied on Barzal or Leddy, often through the slingshot play, but that is an echoed complaint across the entire league. Pretty much every team is doing it and a lot of the time when the PK can set up across the blue line, it's more successful than dumping it in.

Our players are just stationary once we get in the zone. I think 'plays' like the half shot that we do often with Lee are great, but we need players who have the instinct to move, create angles, shoot smart shots that disrupt the PK box, etc. And of course, we lack anyone who can actually snipe and make someone pay attention to him... and it kills us. All we have is Barzal circling around passing to 4 stationary guys.

It really comes down to personnel for me, and the fact that we just don't have it. Toews needs PP1 from the start of the season and to continue his development. He can entry just as well as Leddy and has far better instincts once in the zone. Pulock needs to continue to do the subtle things that create time and space for him, especially because of the mobility of Barzal and Toews. Ideally he moves a lot and finds pockets of space to get pucks on net, even from odder angles that can create rebounds and panic. Barzal needs to put more pucks on net. And then some other forward needs to figure out how to shoot from the dots and score. It should be Nelson, but I've been praying for his wrister to get faster and it just hasn't. Eblere? Beau? Wahlstrom eventually?

Watching 5 on 3s of 5 stationary guys trying to set up Pulock for a one-timer was infuriating. I would like to believe that the people whose entire job is to run the PP have said 'yea... try moving around'. I know we rag on them, but we can't be that naive. Our guys just can't or don't do it, or their predictability makes it easy to be negated. We need someone who brings a different offensive dynamic (Panarin would have been nice). I think we can have a few plays and ideas here and there which can produce results, but it won't have longevity. Over the course of the season, we'll end up in the bottom half of the league.

I write this and think about what I might have thought Trotz could do with our defensive personnel heading into last season and wonder if I'm wrong. Could we coach our way out of the obvious roster deficiencies? I dunno. I hope. We'll see.

 

[danteipp]

Best of luck to Gomez in future endeavors, as long as it isn't for the Isles. Hopefully he finds a local high school to coach.

 

[Newsworthy]

I feel Gomez is just the scapegoat. Only one way to find out.

 

[Lame Lambert]

I know it’s early, but the PP has looked significantly better. They’re moving the puck much faster and don’t look as predictable.

 

[Strummergas]

I know it’s early, but the PP has looked significantly better. They’re moving the puck much faster and don’t look as predictable.

That it's early and we're already noticing an improvement is very promising. They're not going to be leading the League in PP goals because of the lack of firepower, but they should hopefully produce better than last year.

 

[MJF]

That it's early and we're already noticing an improvement is very promising. They're not going to be leading the League in PP goals because of the lack of firepower, but they should hopefully produce better than last year.

Last season, just a 10 goal improvement on the PP would have had us ranked 21st instead of 29th. That could have translated to a couple of more wins and a higher finish than 2nd in the Metro.

A pretty tightly bunched division like ours, just improving the PP a little bit can mean better seeding in the playoffs.

 

[islesfan186]

Last season, just a 10 goal improvement on the PP would have had us ranked 21st instead of 29th. That could have translated to a couple of more wins and a higher finish than 2nd in the Metro.

A pretty tightly bunched division like ours, just improving the PP a little bit can mean better seeding in the playoffs.

Yeah, I agree. I said all last season that with a better PP the isles would definitely have won the division.