pucka lucka
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Which is really weird because based on my eyes Harkins is the best of all of them. I think it's a case of PoMo hasn't been able to beat the creativity out of Harkins so he can allow him to play bottom 6.
Winnipeg Jets Training camp: September 23 (mod warning OP)
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- Jun 10, 2014
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Did you ignore all my smiley faces? Here's another one if you did- j/k
Point being - our D (top to bottom) is better now than it has ever been (IMO) - and that will impact our forward play to an extent that we can stop talking about how bad some forwards are at D.
At least I hope it does.
Our top 6 was bad in our end LY - all of them.
The exception that will get called out, is Ehlers - but only because of his possession numbers - not because he was effective defending in our zone.
Being able to carry the puck with speed is such a huge advantage - he can skate out of trouble - I wish they could all do that. Regardless, that's not really defending - that activating offense.
I mention this not because I don't feel we can always be better defensively but more so to reduce the ongoing commentary on how bad some are at D.
What was really bad at D, was our D - and that played a toll on a talented offence. IOW's, it makes them look worse than they are.
Regardless of what this all looked like LY or 3 yrs ago, I look forward to seeing our high powered offense dominate with a really solid D in support.
And hopefully the dialogue changes.
Did you ignore everything I said about Ehlers D play? It is not just carrying the puck out, though that is certainly part of it. He defends too. When we lose the puck in the O zone, he gets back to regain possession very often. That is playing defense in our zone. He is also not bad at breaking up a cycle. Not great, but not bad.I don't think our D this year is going to be that good. It is going to be a lot better than last year. And yes, that will help our F. Whether it will help to the point where CSW's weaknesses don't matter anymore remains to be seen. I think that is a little optimistic, but I hope it does.
If last game against Flames is any indication, I found the JMo - Schmidt pair a little funny. The common thought seemed to be that JMo would play D and allow Schmidt to roam. It seemed like both were playing offense in that game - and it worked.
Nothing says the coach hates like you being bumped up to the top line….
- Jun 10, 2014
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Roslovic might be a poster boy for my idea of not a play-driver despite being a play-maker. I agree with your description of what play-driving means. I summed that up by calling it more assertive.
Sure forwards are supposed to get back and backcheck. But Ehlers does it better. He doesn't slowly come back and take up a position in the D zone. He overtakes the puck carrier and gets the puck back. IMO, that makes him an outstanding defensive F, despite being only avg in other aspects of D play.
Don't disagree about PLD either. I think he is a bit of a 2 way centre, which looks good on our team where we are accustomed to having offensive C and defensive C. I hope he develops into a true 2 way guy, like Couturier. He is just going into D+6. It was in D+6 that Scheifele really arrived as a top C.
Copp with KC's speed and hands? Great would be understatement.
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the way people bend over backwards to take shots at Maurice is sad.
WolfHouse
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When you’re competing for the shutdown bottom six and you’re paired with Scheif-Connor ... well kinda
Yeah for some reason Maurice seemed to make up his mind about Harkins last year at some point and well he can be quite stubborn about changing them.
You would think Harkins has everything in his game that Mor likes. Super hard worker, skated his ass off all over the ice. Fore and back checks hard. Goes to the hard areas.
But we are all speculating about who's in the starting lineup at this point. He very well could be in there.
Yeah I tend to think if he was being seriously considered for the open third line RW slot he would be playing there today instead of playing in a placeholder top 6 spot. Outside of tonight he's played exclusively on the left side and likely is in competition against Tontinato for the 4th line LW slot.
Joe Hallenback
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I think they want to see what Harkins can do with skilled linemates because if he does well he could be the guy that moves up and down the lineup like Copp does
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That's how I see it -
I'd take it a step further even -
As far as how effective this group is in their own end (defensively), I'd say they are all average or close to it.
A "by the numbers" account will always show Ehlers as being better defensively - but I don't think he is.
Maybe slightly but not enough to warrant the huge gap between the opinions expressed on this board - you'd think one was a dynamo in his end while the others completely sucked.
And none of this really addresses the point - why do/did we struggle so much in our end? It's mainly due to the level of D (men) we've had to work with the last few years.
IMO, we do not need to do a lot of balancing within our top 6 due to defensive shortcomings - they'll be fine with a solid blue line.
This group of dmen (for the most part) know how to move the puck and transition. Now our O can play O - and they do that well.
"Like", because I don't have a button, whoever made that a punishment is a vegetable.Did you ignore all my smiley faces? Here's another one if you did
Point being - our D (top to bottom) is better now than it has ever been (IMO) - and that will impact our forward play to an extent that we can stop talking about how bad some forwards are at D.
At least I hope it does.
Our top 6 was bad in our end LY - all of them.
The exception that will get called out, is Ehlers - but only because of his possession numbers - not because he was effective defending in our zone.
Being able to carry the puck with speed is such a huge advantage - he can skate out of trouble - I wish they could all do that. Regardless, that's not really defending - that activating offense.
I mention this not because I don't feel we can always be better defensively but more so to reduce the ongoing commentary on how bad some are at D.
What was really bad at D, was our D - and that played a toll on a talented offence. IOW's, it makes them look worse than they are.
Regardless of what this all looked like LY or 3 yrs ago, I look forward to seeing our high powered offense dominate with a really solid D in support.
And hopefully the dialogue changes.
100% agree with you.
Ehlers has played his best hockey with Copp. Copp pushes the defense back and allows Ehlers access to the middle of the ice. Without that Ehlers takes the ice given and just skates around in circles around the outside.I like spitballin'.
I think it is necessary for PLD to be, or become a play-driver.
CSW has been bad defensively for years. This didn't just occur when we lost Buff. Wheeler was probably less bad a few years ago but he was never good. The same might be said for Scheifele. Connor plays like he has never heard of defense.
I don't entirely disagree with separating Scheifele and Ehlers to spread out the play drivers, but we also need to spread out shooters and play-makers. KC, S, E puts all of our best goal scorers on the same line. I can't see a scenario where I like those 3 together.
Regardless, I see Copp in the top 6 as being temporary. I fully expect him to be gone next year no matter what else happens. Perfetti will be a better fit with Scheifele and Ehlers then either KC or Copp.
I would still like to see
Copp - Scheifele - Ehlers as a line
Connor - PLD - Wheeler/Ves/Svech/...
One of these is not like the other.
In Like it! Up to "/Ves". Those two are NHL/ AHL tweener and have no business in the same sentence nevermind line as Wheeler.
Thechozen1
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- Sep 8, 2021
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Exactly and I can’t see how he doesn’t beat out Toninato. Also thinking they’re trying him out higher in the lineup to see if he can effectively do so in pinch situations like how Copp is often utilized.
MardyBum
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Guardian17
Strong & Free
At the same age Ves is now Wheeler hadn't played an NHL game
….but he didn’t not play a whole better than that goldurned Ves kid….
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roccerfeller
jets bromantic
Gil Fisher
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