conundrumed
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Everything posted by conundrumed
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Just the mental part of the game can take a bit, even for an older goalie. Sometimes you're tracking a beach ball and when you're struggling it shrinks to a period. Smith's been through it before so I think he'll bounce back soon. His pad stack on Ovechkin was hilarious. I'm all for a good pad stack when your stick/glove is the cherry on top. That one was just a flail, lol. He'll get better at tracking and anticipating.
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Sounds like going back to Smith vs the Leafs tonight. Hopefully this doesn't turn into beating a dead horse. Smith should be about ready to put it altogether by now.
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Maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't panic just yet. We're 5-5 after 10. There's been good, bad and downright ugly. We'll turn it around. No point in being reactive. There's a lot of hockey to go. They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, allegedly. Keep the faith, all isn't lost.
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He totally froze Stone a few games back with a lateral pass. Could tell Stone was completely not expecting it. Led to a goal against and Stone being blamed. At any level of hockey, when you're goalie is handling the puck, there needs to be consistency. Not, "uh-oh, what's he going to do"? He may have a fwd trying for the long bomb, but when he doesn't, everyone's just kinda frozen.
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Rittich plays it right. Smith is adventurous. I think the D know they can play it normal. When comes out it's, "uh-oh, what's he going to do"? If he doesn't see an option, it's off the glass to their dman around the red line, or the wheels come right off. Always an adventure, not always good ones.
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I disagree. I think the problem with Smith is he's given too much leverage. Reign him in and manage his starts. This isn't Arizona where he does as he pleases.
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As is typical with my Rittich posts, I'll rave about him. Consistency is his issue. Some have mentioned his athleticism but I strongly disagree. My thinking is BT signed him because some goalie guys said, "holy Blockchain" to him. His mechanics, positioning/fundamentals are amazing when he's on. Always square, angles correct, absorbs pucks. I'm a fan of scheduling your goalies month to month on a 2-1 ratio. I don't believe the "hot hand" holds water at this level. Last thing I wanna hear is, "we'll see how Smitty feels". Don't care how he feels. He isn't the coach. He's paid 4x more than the coach. To listen, not dictate.
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Well said. I've always thought he's forcing the game too much, leading to mistakes. Always thought if he'd let the game come to him he will see it better. Where's the lanes, where's the open ice, where are the patterns. He was always going hard but not really accomplishing anything because he wasn't reading the game well due to hyperventilating all of the time. I also think that problem came from his rookie success. He had early success so thought that's what he needed to keep doing. As you said, he's matured and hopefully builds on his at least 2 goals now. What kind of halftard blows the whistle on a too many men when the other team is exactly at a scoring chance?
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Rittich is 1-0. It wasn't pure, excruciating, "we don't have goalies" hell imploding. For those waiting for it.
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He's fast, good 200' game, and can stickhandle in a phonebooth. As we've changed our philosophy now, it's hardly the time to move Bennett. I like Friedman and all, but this rumour was during camp. The team is looking a lot more Bennett-friendly with young and fast, rather than slow and boring. Worst time to trade him is right now, when we can finally accommodate his style of play.
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Don't get me started, lol. Same rants, same stale old rants. It really isn't difficult at all to think a little deeper, just do it. Did Bennett get the Oiler stars sense of entitlement treatment after his first year? Hand him the keys to the Ferrari. "i worked so hard to get here, finally, my dream". Nuh-uh. Now you work twice as hard to stay here. We went reverse order of practicality imho. You're supposed to knock them down, then build him up. Then knock them down a few more times as they get their wings. We built him up, and then piled on that he wasn't a 20 yr old phenom. Does this sound a little familiar? Like the Oilers do it.
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Good call.
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I'd go Rittich Nashville to be stern on the 2/3 split. If they go Smith, does that mean Rittich gets the next 2/3? Of course not. Can't fall into the trap of too much Smith.
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Van's McDavid.
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Yup, just don't forget to put me on the ignore list in GDTs when things aren't going our way lol
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Pretty much agree. Maybe it'll be good for Jankowski to watch from above. Hard to say there's fault in Janx, as his minutes have been low. Bennett-Dube can bounce back and forth at C so I'm good with that. I expected pretty much what is happening right now, it takes time. The amazing part is, we still have a good roster while we go through the trials of how to lineup.
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Which is fair. Turn over every stone to get it right. Bennett-Neal could be a good grind with a sweet set-up man in the middle. Apologies the practice lines were posted in the lines thread earlier.
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As per Kristen Anderson twitter: Bennett-Dube-Neal is a thing at today's practice. Valimaki-Andersson Janx-Prout the odd men out.
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Too true. Bennett has to earn his minutes, regardless of linemates.
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I think for anyone it's all about momentum. I recall Huska saying he plays Lomberg on whichever line he thinks needs a boost, be it 1 or 4. So if you're on the ice and able to swing momentum in favour more often than not, that'll get noticed. If you lose momentum or it's just killing time for 40 seconds, that'll get you noticed too, but in the wrong way.
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I didn't mean we'll be 0-10 or 0-20, lol. Just that it'll take time to get a finely tuned machine.
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He is where he is on the depth chart. No kid gloves. He has to play his way up the roster. Don't even think about trading him to make room.
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It's going to take a good 10-20 games to find ourselves. Adding Neal, Lindholm, Ryan, Hanafin, Czarnik, new coach. That's a lot of change. Bennett might be better than most of them, guess we'll find out.
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That's good and well and I agree. If he would stop overplaying the puck, everything would be cool. There's a difference between confident and arrogant. Smith playing dman should be a shock move, not the norm that it is.
