Should Havlat play

[TomasHertlsRooster]

With regards to the logic in the original post (which I actually hadn't fully read until now), I entirely disagree. At this point, we have to try and win the Stanley Cup while we still have a chance. We should not be scratching Havlat just because we want to buy him out in the off season, and know the risk of him being injured. Right now, every decision you make, you make with the idea of winning a Stanley Cup fresh in your mind. This season will be the peak season that we have a chance to win the Stanley Cup in. Every decision you make now, you make it so that your team can win the series. You don't look ahead to next off-season when making decisions for these playoffs. This is gonna be the last chance for a Cup that we have in a while.

 

[RainbowDash]

Well, I think in LA we need to field players that are going to thrive on our counter attack game and Havlat fits there. I know Havlat isn't a big hitter or anything, but it shouldn't be a problem to tell Havlat that he needs to play 1 hard and physical game at ES, then put him on 2nd PP unit (we'll need him to distribute the puck there). If it means having a nasty bruise or a sore back for a week, thats fine. Deal with it. Make a sacrifice for the team so we can move onto the next round.

 

[stator]

IMO no, he'll get hurt and then we can't buy him out this summer

Havlat must not have liked being a healthy scratch last night. He peeled off in his Panamera turbo right after the game. I mean at the same time the fans were leaving.

I'd say make sure he's healthy for the buy out. He is the one reason why DW could not make any moves prior to the trade deadline.

 

[Kitten Mittons]

Ugh hate Panamera. Stupid Havlat.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Havlat must not have liked being a healthy scratch last night. He peeled off in his Panamera turbo right after the game. I mean at the same time the fans were leaving.

I'd say make sure he's healthy for the buy out. He is the one reason why DW could not make any moves prior to the trade deadline.

Give me a break. Havlat may not be what he once was but don't scapegoat him. DW is the only reason why DW couldn't make any moves at the trade deadline. There are plenty of other things DW could have done then or prior to that to address it if he wanted to. Blaming it solely on Havlat is just ridiculous.

 

[cleveland408]

Havlat must not have liked being a healthy scratch last night. He peeled off in his Panamera turbo right after the game. I mean at the same time the fans were leaving.

I'd say make sure he's healthy for the buy out. He is the one reason why DW could not make any moves prior to the trade deadline.

Hope he didn't get injured going over a pothole.

 

[SharksFan1]

If the Sharks can continue to score without him, no. Really no other reason to put him in. Hertl has filled up the hole on the 2nd PP and offensive 2/3rd line winger.

Kind of suck too, considering his scoring really did start picking up the last couple of weeks of the season. Oh well, I guess you just keep him healthy so you can for sure buy him out in the off season.

 

[stator]

Give me a break. Havlat may not be what he once was but don't scapegoat him. DW is the only reason why DW couldn't make any moves at the trade deadline. There are plenty of other things DW could have done then or prior to that to address it if he wanted to. Blaming it solely on Havlat is just ridiculous.

Still disappointed that Stalock was not promoted to being the first goalie, eh?

I can tell you in addition to Havlat stinking in all three of his seasons with the Sharks while being paid $5m, teams don't promote their 2nd string players over their star vets just because the vet was outplayed a handful of games. It takes more than that because there are many other intangibles coaches consider.

Teams are full of 2nd string players who feel they play better than their 1st string counterpart. They usually practice, work hard, and improve to the point where the 1st string player is injured, or they become absolutely dominating.

That is why I say the road to the conference and cup finals goes through Niemi. TMac is just not willing to dump Niemi for Stalock and said so at a presser. The Sharks have the best offense in the league. They are stacked with speed and scorers. Their defense is good, but not the best in the league. Niemi has to rise to the occasion and be that brick in the wall.

 

[Negatively Positive]

Havlat must not have liked being a healthy scratch last night. He peeled off in his Panamera turbo right after the game. I mean at the same time the fans were leaving.

I'd say make sure he's healthy for the buy out. He is the one reason why DW could not make any moves prior to the trade deadline.

Do scratched players usually stick around to celebrate after the game? I would think he would stick around to congratulate his team before leaving.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Still disappointed that Stalock was not promoted to being the first goalie, eh?

I can tell you in addition to Havlat stinking in all three of his seasons with the Sharks while being paid $5m, teams don't promote their 2nd string players over their star vets just because the vet was outplayed a handful of games. It takes more than that because there are many other intangibles coaches consider.

Teams are full of 2nd string players who feel they play better than their 1st string counterpart. They usually practice, work hard, and improve to the point where the 1st string player is injured, or they become absolutely dominating.

That is why I say the road to the conference and cup finals goes through Niemi. TMac is just not willing to dump Niemi for Stalock and said so at a presser. The Sharks have the best offense in the league. They are stacked with speed and scorers. Their defense is good, but not the best in the league. Niemi has to rise to the occasion and be that brick in the wall.

I see that you had no real response to the post since you felt the need to bring something completely off-topic into your post for the sole purpose of taking a jab at me. Real mature, buddy.

 

[Vaasa]

If Brown isn't in the line-up then this would be a different way to solve those problems:

Hertl - Thornton - Burns
Marleau - Couture - Nieto
Torres - Pavelski - Havlat
Desjardins - Sheppard - Wingels

That the only way I would bring Havlat or Kennedy into the line up. Couture and Marleau are the only pair that can cover for Kennedy's terrible defensive play, and it still leaves every line dangerous. That 3rd and 4th line should cause the Kings fits.

I think Nieto (at least for the moment) is working too well on the 2nd line to move him off. If they want to bring Havlat in and try to roll 4 lines, I would make the changes above to your line-up. As for Kennedy, I don't want him on the ice except in desperation. He's terrible. He kills possession, isn't a good shot, isn't that good defensively, and really don't seem to have much in the way of hockey-sense. I hope he doesn't even see the ice during the playoffs and is traded in the post-season.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

The only reason Nieto did so well is because McLellan hard matched him to Robyn Regehr. I'm slightly unfamiliar with the LA Kings D-Pairs. The way I would use the lines depends much on whether or not they will put Regehr with anybody but Voynov, or whether or not they would put Voynov with anybody other than Regehr, or whether they will give Regehr-Voynov bottom competition. I think you have to hard match Nieto against Regehr, and I don't think Sutter will allow Couture-Marleau to play against Regehr under any circumstances. So, I think the best idea would be to put Nieto on line 3 to consistently play him against Regehr.

 

[Audio Outlaw]

Yes. In LA, we can't afford to ice Mike Brown because Sutter has control of the matchups. I doubt we'll see him at home though.

Do you still feel this way now Jux?

 

[Mafoofoo]

My head says Havlat should be in for Brown but my gut says keep Brown in because right now he and Torres and murdering Kings left and right.

 

[Led Zappa]

Gotta say, Jux's opinion of the LA Kings appears to have been slightly over rated.

Either that or her opinion of the Sharks needs to be over the moon right about now.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

Jux severely overrated the Kings. They're still good but for her to outright say they were better than us was simply incorrect. Their defense is full of pylons who can't make fast breakouts.

 

[Kegsey]

Gotta say, Jux's opinion of the LA Kings appears to have been slightly over rated.

Either that or her opinion of the Sharks needs to be over the moon right about now.

Jux severely overrated the Kings. They're still good but for her to outright say they were better than us was simply incorrect. Their defense is full of pylons who can't make fast breakouts.

I think the Sharks are in the same tier as the top teams in the league and so are the Kings, but I think a lot of people on HF underestimate the drive and hunger the Sharks have for their first cup. No other team has come as close as we have recently only to fail. This team is angry about past performances and they want their cup bad.

Edit: On topic; No I don't think Havlat should play until something goes wrong. All the lines are rolling right now.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

I think the Sharks are in the same tier as the top teams in the league and so are the Kings, but I think a lot of people on HF underestimate the drive and hunger the Sharks have for their first cup. No other team has come as close as we have recently only to fail. This team is angry about past performances and they want their cup bad.

Edit: On topic; No I don't think Havlat should play until something goes wrong. All the lines are rolling right now.

I wouldn't go that far. If they were rolling, they wouldn't have felt the need to go with their plan B in terms of line combinations. And things will be different in LA with the Kings getting last change. Whether that gets Marty in the lineup or not obviously won't be answered until tomorrow but changing the lineup should be an option they're willing to utilize even after decisive wins.

So far, they've had two games where they were dominant on the ice and the scoreboard for two periods and in each game had a period where they were off their game.

 

[Sleepy]

I wouldn't go that far. If they were rolling, they wouldn't have felt the need to go with their plan B in terms of line combinations. And things will be different in LA with the Kings getting last change. Whether that gets Marty in the lineup or not obviously won't be answered until tomorrow but changing the lineup should be an option they're willing to utilize even after decisive wins.

So far, they've had two games where they were dominant on the ice and the scoreboard for two periods and in each game had a period where they were off their game.

I just hope the Kings defense keeps checking out for 40 minutes each game.

 

[Kegsey]

I wouldn't go that far. If they were rolling, they wouldn't have felt the need to go with their plan B in terms of line combinations. And things will be different in LA with the Kings getting last change. Whether that gets Marty in the lineup or not obviously won't be answered until tomorrow but changing the lineup should be an option they're willing to utilize even after decisive wins.

So far, they've had two games where they were dominant on the ice and the scoreboard for two periods and in each game had a period where they were off their game.

Looking back in our past playoffs, the top two lines would do well and our bottom lines would get out-played and eventually scored on and then our PP would have to save us. It happened in both the Vancouver and LA series last year, but this year we don't have that problem. Hell, our PP is god awful and we're still blowing out LA.

I'm not saying we're going to win the cup or we're going to sweep LA but right now we are rolling, and only time will tell.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Looking back in our past playoffs, the top two lines would do well and our bottom lines would get out-played and eventually scored on and then our PP would have to save us. It happened in both the Vancouver and LA series last year, but this year we don't have that problem. Hell, our PP is god awful and we're still blowing out LA.

I'm not saying we're going to win the cup or we're going to sweep LA but right now we are rolling, and only time will tell.

I agree that they're not reliant on the PP this year but all I'm saying is that they're not offensive juggernauts out there all the time. They let up in the 3rd period of game one and they were tentative to start game two. They felt the need to switch up the lines after going down 2-0. They're not playing so well that they're beyond adjustments and possible line changes. Considering that they're heading into LA without last change which McLellan has utilized to the fullest, it's something that ought to be looked at.

Sometimes, these things can be a game of chess and you want to stay at least one move ahead of your opponent. They might want to do that for game three. It may not involve touching the 4th line but I can see one of Sheppard or Brown sitting for Havlat and there wouldn't be anything wrong with that. They're playing well on the whole of it but they could use a tweak or two.

 

[SactoShark]

With the amount of groin spearing going on in the playoffs, Havlat probably told the coaches he doesn't want to play.

 

[OrrNumber4]

Jux severely overrated the Kings. They're still good but for her to outright say they were better than us was simply incorrect. Their defense is full of pylons who can't make fast breakouts.

Jux's analysis of the Kings vs. SJ was based on an SJ team playing very differently.

 

[OrrNumber4]

I think with Havlat....a key in the games so far has been forechecking and physical play. Havlat does not excel at those parts of the game, at least anymore. Really not the series to ice players who are tentative physically.

 

[DarrylshutzSydor]

No question about it Brown and Torres play. Why would you even think about taking out the players who have frustrated the other team and performed great? nuff said.