Pre-Game Talk: Sens @ Isles (Dec. 2)

[Burrowsaurus]

js = aa

but does PTWP = AA?

 

[Drcrush]

Those lines look terrible. How have they been winning so far?

Wait, what?!

What lines are you talking about?

 

[Quo]

Lines look very good and they have Nelson and Strome coming into their own IIRC. Tavares at full bore. Halak proving steady in goal. Boychuck strengthening the d. Shouldn't be much of a mystery.

 

[Deadweight]

Those lines look terrible. How have they been winning so far?

The first 3 lines all play pretty equal minutes and everyone on the team is contributing. Plus the forecheck is crazy suffocating and our possession game is at a high.

the lines probably dont look all that impressive to you because alot of our guys stepping up are young guys catching their groove(nelson, strome, lee esp)

 

[Super Cake]

Oh look, Isles fans are invading our board and defending their team. Reminds me of blues fans.

Isles fans sure have become annoying since their team is finally good.

 

[hunter7isles]

Lines look very good and they have Nelson and Strome coming into their own IIRC. Tavares at full bore. Halak proving steady in goal. Boychuck strengthening the d. Shouldn't be much of a mystery.

Boychuck and Viznovsky being out hurts the look of the defense. Also, we are still missing Grabner. That said, we have a solid #1 line, 2 #2 lines and basically an ideal #4 line. No doubt on the forward side why were are winning.

In terms of improvements, in addition to what you said, Kulemin and Grabovsky have also provided much needed experience and Leddy, perhaps even more than Boychuck, has helped on both ends and has been coming into his own.

Our place in the standings right now might be a bit inflated, but there is no doubt this team is a playoff team, is on the rise and will be a tough team for years to come.

 

[Super Cake]

Another isles fan comes in and talks about how strong his team is.

My god, most of us don't care.

It honestly feels like your mocking us right now.

 

[Six Assets]

isles suck

 

[ChocolateLeclaire]

Bank on Halak being in tonigh for the Isles.

This is what the projected lines are...

Kulemin-Tavares-Okposo
Grabovski-Nielsen-Bailey
Lee-Nelson-Strome
Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck

de Haan-Hamonic
Donovan-Leddy
Hickey-Strait

Both Boychuk and Visnovsky are day to day.

Hopefully is a fast paced game! Any questions?

What happened to good ol' Cory Conacher?

 

[ChocolateLeclaire]

Another isles fan comes in and talks about how strong his team is.

My god, most of us don't care.

It honestly feels like your mocking us right now.

I care.

They're being quite polite about it. I see no problem with them discussing their team prior to the game. I'm sure someone from our board is over there talking about how we're the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever did suck.

My issue with Blues fans is how high and mighty they were DURING the game discussing how much we complained about officials (which was rich as two horrid calls negated two goals in a two goal game). I thought it was rich that they were bragging as they've never won a dang thing. At least the Isles had a dynasty in the 80s. Their fans have been thru the wringer too. I'm happy that they're finally putting it all together.

And Tavares rules.

 

[starling]

We are gonna get burnt.
I predict 3 breakaways/2-on-1s each period and a couple of shorties.

 

[hunter7isles]

Another isles fan comes in and talks about how strong his team is.

My god, most of us don't care.

It honestly feels like your mocking us right now.

We aren't mocking you at all. Your team has always dominated ours (not to mention killed us with that yashin trade) so we have absolutely nothing to mock you for. Just looking for good hockey discussion. I will go back to the Isles board now.

 

[Scrub*]

Trade Spezza.

 

[Micklebot]

Lines look very good and they have Nelson and Strome coming into their own IIRC. Tavares at full bore. Halak proving steady in goal. Boychuck strengthening the d. Shouldn't be much of a mystery.

They probably look bad if you assume players haven't improved from last year.

Grabovski (39pts per 82 over the prior 2 years)
Bailey (40 pts per 82 over the prior 2 years)
Kulemin (32 pts per 82 over the prior 2 years)

That's not top line production, and while if you paid close attention to either Grabovski or Kulemin, you'd know they were better than the stats indicated, they aren't sexy top 6 players.

Having that 3rd line clicking as an offensive threat is big though.

 

[Quo]

No reason for the lack of manners on display here.

Anyway, yeah, some really key additions there. Grabo and Kulemin have always been solid contributors, if not the greatest producers.

If true, Leddy finding another dimension is a big deal.

I don't have the numbers in front of me but I seem to recall Josh Bailey running circles around us every time we play them. Added to my mental list of Sens killers a while ago.

 

[maclean]

i love halak a lot but he can be inconsistent. he's on a huge streak right now, could be over at any time come on boys, we due for a win

 

[Smash88]

Come on guys..

I don't mind the Isles fans coming here to explain there team, just skip over the post if you don't like it.

They aren't being rude at all, it's a nice perspective.

 

[Drcrush]

What happened to good ol' Cory Conacher?

Not good enough to play on our team.

Maybe you could take him back?

 

[starling]

Not good enough to play on our team.

Maybe you could take him back?

Yes. We can offer Colin Greening in return.

 

[PeterSidorkiewicz]

Hey at least Isles fans get to see how unbearable our gdts. They give us a nice explanation of their team and people here get their panties in a bunch.

 

[PoutineSp00nZ]

Hey at least Isles fans get to see how unbearable our gdts. They give us a nice explanation of their team and people here get their panties in a bunch.

I think some of the sens fans around here grew up with a dominant, powerhouse team and simply can't handle the one that is rebuilding and struggling.

Those of us who watched them in the 90s are used to worse. Everything is cyclical.

 

[God Says No]

I think I started this thing. I was expecting way better numbers from their top 6. We know JT is money, but playing Kulemin on the top line? Grabovski with only 4 goals?

Obviously I'm missing something. Halak has good numbers, so maybe that's it.

 

[FolignoQuantumLeap]

I think I started this thing. I was expecting way better numbers from their top 6. We know JT is money, but playing Kulemin on the top line? Grabovski with only 4 goals?

Obviously I'm missing something. Halak has good numbers, so maybe that's it.

There's a guy who has 20 points playing on their 3rd line. Pretty sure he'd be our top scorer.

 

[Sensinitis]

It's called depth, and not having guys like Michalek/Legwand/Neil playing over 12 mins a game.

 

[dok101]

I think I started this thing. I was expecting way better numbers from their top 6. We know JT is money, but playing Kulemin on the top line? Grabovski with only 4 goals?

Obviously I'm missing something. Halak has good numbers, so maybe that's it.

We have had good contributions from our third and fourth lines. Our third line, the "kid" line has produced good numbers through the first quarter of the season. Brock Nelson has put up 20 points, and Ryan Strome, after starting off the year a bit slow has come around and has 17 points thus far.

Speaking of Strome, how has Zibanejad played for you guys? He was taken right after Strome in the 2011 draft.