travel_dude

We have too many LHS used on LW. For me, the least value LHS we have is Coleman. He takes too many penalties for the type of team we are. He's using his stick when a guy like Zadorov is taking the head off a smaller player. Yes, I get that he plays with Backlund, but Dube is really the guy that was gettng the good looks. Coleman was garbage picking and mostly missing the net with his shot when he was on the rush. Also, I think Coleman is a completer piece, not a guy you need to play top 6 minutes. Thinling out loud, we have Dube, Coronato, Pelletier, Duehr, Ruzicka, and possibly Phillips to use im the bottom 6. None of those fits a Coleman game. And I just don't see running back the same top 9 as last season. Maybe we have the pieves, but they haven't found much magic yet. Sutter, I know. I hate the idea of only using bigger, slower players because it's the west. Hanifin and Backlund out. A defensive D in. Stecher maybe our 7th D. A decent sized C back to play 3C or 4C. The other spot is Ruzie or Pelletier, depending on which spots fit them best. I think Ruzie struggled at times on the dot, but his numbers were better than Lewis. Maybe Pelletier up the middle and Ruzie/Coronato up the wings. The other line gets Dube, the new C and Duehr perhaps.

Singh graduated from calling field hockey, IIRC. He's got a decent tempo, but gets a little highstrung. He doesn't always clue into what the reason for a stoppage is. Suggests it's a penalty when it's a high stick or something else. Not that all of the others on SN are that much better. Ball is decent. Douche from EDM is wound like a top. Anyway it's good to not have to listen to the love in. Could this possibly be Connor McD's best game ever? Silky smooth Draisaitl. Shooting mentality. McD is winding up and will not be enied.

We have one of the better rosters to bring in youth to "learn" and grow. Pelletier should have been on the roster by October, along with perhaps Phillips. We could have carried Valimaki instead of not waiving Lewis and Ritchie. We would have had options for a 3rd line or a youth 4th line. You only play Lucic when you need the nuke option. Pelletier-Ruzicka-Phillips(Duehr) Instead we get shredded with the 4th line out there. I laughed when SN talked about he Oilers shortening the bench last night to try for the tie. If it was us, we would have rolled 4 with Lucic.

LOL. I'm not sure, but I think he implied that their PP was gold so they only needed a couple of EV goals. To me that is saying you expect to get 3-5 PP's per game and know you will score 2+. That's the opposite of a game plan. You try to win EV and whatever PP goals you get just puts you over the top. They didn't get a PP goal so they didn't have a chance. I think Jay is a decent coach, but that's like saying you are a good player playing with Connor. The coaching mistakes were amplified by the sometimes poor performance of certain players. Anyway, suck it Oilers until next season.

What would keeping in Skinner have changed in the last two losses? I don't know if Campbell would have been any better starting any of the games. They didn't lose the series because of the goalie. He didn't steal the last two games for them, but they sure waited long enough to start scoring goals. 17 shots to 8 and they had a one goal lead? Sounded like Sutter score effect. Vegas came back and was efficient. EDM using the same two players to score and they weren't getting it done as a pair. A 5 minute PP in game 5 and they only get one goal? This after already losing Pietrangelo to suspension, so Vegas was not exactly stacked.

I found it interesting that the analysts seemed to think EDM was so close and just needed to run it back next year. That seems like they have no clue about the cap. I agree that they have two players that are elite when they play together. You can't touch them because they were very much like our top line last year. They know where a player is and will be. That implies one very good line there. Nurse is a killer to the team. Ekholm and Bouch are the pair that made a difference, but Bouch has a few years of steady growth ahead needed. Skinner is a study in a rookie goalie and how you can't just rely on them through a good stretch and all of the playoffs. Overall, neither him nor Campbell were enough on their own to make a cup contender. Played well then played like crap. You might build on their recent performance, but they are as likely to take a step back next year. Cap hell for them. Yamamoto is not even worth it, Kane didn't have a good 2nd half, and Nuge is a huge price to pay for whatever he is considered to be. 2C or 3C or 2LW. Not sure. I think Hyman is their hardest working F. Draisaitl looks lazy unless he is driving the net or one timing it. They need are-tool to go anywhere.

Have to agree. Seem to be playing for a low scoring result instead of giving Wolf 3 goal leads.

The way SEA seems to never go away would lead you tp believe the Pacific is the strongest. What happened to the mighty Jets and the venerable AVS. No team in the west seems to have completely figured out goaltending. So, it's not looking like best goalie wins the cup.

Makar soon will be here. Hall wore a Flames jersey as a kid. If half of the home town kids decided to come to CGY, there would be a roster of 50 or so.

Ya know I don't pretend to know what the refs are looking at. 2 feet away they miss stuff. They call phantom stuff and let go others. I don't like the call on the ice sometimes, since he's looking at the line from above or behind the goalie. TO has to prove it's not a goal, which is as tough as proving it was. So, as the rules suggested it was overturned because the cams showed no goal. Had to be more than a belief.

Gudas is one of those guys you hate to play against nd love to have with you. He's gonna cost you to sign. But the type is right. The age isn't helping.

Yeah, that is what I was thinking. The value of Hanifin is to a team that doesn't have a young offensive D but has wealth of forwards. The Backlund thingy is trading a vet to a young team that has lots of D. It may not make us better in the interim.

If it's not physical, then it's just getting the IQ focused. Who knows, it may have caused a decline in performance last season he played. I don't presume anything, just that when a player appears to be mentally ready to play, it's shows up before the physical part. In his cae, the physical part has never been in question.

I'm not suggesting you need to trade Tanev today, just that his age and injury history makes him a weak link for the futire. If he was as injury free as 21/22 (except the playoffs) I woulnd't be so worried. But the injuries are starting to catch up with him and he is getting older. Could be fine or he could be heading downward. I would use Backlund to get you a younger defensive D and use Tanev to get you a decent C/W. Trade has to be before he declines. Sounds a bit scattered I get it. You have to make trades while players still have value though. Or they are just declining in importance and you keep them like TOR uses Gio.

I don't know man. I saw the 2004 replays as being more conclusive that this one. The line is so fuzzy when all the blades scrape aabove it. Has to be white between the edge of the line and the puck. It was goal on the ice though, right?

Had his time where it made sense. It doesn't now. He's as much old school IMHO as Sutter. Couldn't figure out how to make us top 5 with Gaudreau and Tkachuk. Really struggled with new talent and had no clue how to use them.

Set on D is really just an opinion. Yes, we have 6 D signed for next season. Yes, they are capable D. Yes, they are adequate D. With a decent goalie, they would have been adequate (with Kylington). I just think you always have to balance the team according to what you have for the rest of the team. You don't need 4 stud D if you have 3 backchecking C's. You don't need offensive D if you have guys that can move the puck. You use your trade assets to build in another area. It's the overall package that has to be balanced. Lose an offensive D to get an offensive C or W. Lose a offnsive winger to get a defensive D. I think you can graduate the offensive D easier than the defensive D. You almost need to go trade for those types. Kuz maay be on his way to that, but still some time away from it. Not sure about the othes we have on the farm. Stone is a offensive guy with a good shot and is hard on other players, but not otherwise good defensively. Hanifin is good with the puck, but not great holding liines or backchecking. Not good near the blue paint. Tanev is great except lacks size to ckear the front of the net. Zaddy should be great in front of the net but seems to wander. Good offensively. Kyling is hybrid. Probably has the better chance ast being good in all ares. Decision making is sometimes suspect. Strong on his skates and fast at both ends. Ras is a bit smaller than the way he plays. Weegar is pretty good all round. Good in close. Keep Stone as a 7th. Trade Hanifin to upgrade somethng else. Replace Tanev with a younger Tanev. The rest are not the issue.

Leafs down after finally making the 2nd round. Like we can talk much, We had the play-in useless win against WPG, the win against DAL and VAN. Oilers lose due to poor goaltending. Ubless they get perfect goaltending, they will have theor hands full.

I think it's a nod to the Stamps. I'm not sure what dictionary you are using, but it leaves out the obvious?

From what I heard about Maloney's recent comments is that he was tired of the 2-1, 3-2 games and wanted more scoring. Easy to say, but it suggests he wants an offensive thinking coach. Sure it depends on the coach and GM but it's headed away from just trying to get in. You look at the teams remaining and they aren't the 3-2 teams.

Had we not fired Sutter, there would be nothing to cheer for. I mean the usual cheering during a win streak, but the team had to be perfect to get close to one. Had the GM not left, there are chances it would be the same direction as before. I can only blame Sutter for the coaching and AHL player usage. Not that I think we suck, just that we make the same rades and signings every year. There may be good reason for it all, but I would like to see something fresh.

You missed the part where Bettman said absolutely not to Bowman having a job this year in the NHL. The suspension thing meant he couldn't just get a job if offered. Needed approval.

I'm not aying we were a bad team as much as poorly coached this year. Goaltending was putrid when the need was there. Scrambling to get in with 2 weeks reamining and you need to fight off 2 other teams is crazy. FLA was a better coached and better team and barely made it. We were not close to them at all. The posts only matter when you are down a goal or you needed an extra one to ensure a win. We played the kids in a meaningless game and won exactly like we could of for a meaningful game.

I don't think it was one or the other. It just was an example of what the players saw as a coach unwilling to listen or one that harped only on certain players. The GM will make the decision on what is best for the team and secondary the player. If there is no interest, then he has to be ready to waive his NTC come TDL. Love it or hate it, we don't have the cap to pay Backlund what he is looking for on an extension.

Simply put, he's a UFA. The category just is due to not playing NHL games but still being a pro. What do I think about him? I think me and a few others said we reaaly had no idea of what he could become in the NHL because he wasn't given a shot. IN fact the coach spoke down about him as a AHL player that has proven nothing. Not exactly what he said, but he thought you needed to be big to succeed in the NHL. I think he would take some time to adjust to the size of the players he faces. He plays more in your face than Gaudreau, so he would pay the price. Yamamoto from EDM is the same type of player, but gets injured every year as a result. That type of player needs to work harder and dig out the puck for a guy that can score. Has a good shot, so I think he could also score if he got free. He may decide to re-sign because Sutter is gone and the new coach may give him a shot. I think it would be a waste to let him walk without offering him a deal.