travel_dude

The difference is that Mange was top 6 with Backlund last year. The reward Rozie gets for playing well on the top line is being moved down. The reward Lucic gets for being tragically bad was to sit for a few and get top 6 ice. Rosie has a lot to learn yet, but he's not a pylon out there. If Lucic on the 2nd line screams help, Suts is not listening to himself. There's no shame in trying out a player there. If it doesn;t work, both the coach and player know what's missing. It might be a simple adjustment or maybe requires AHL again. It might be a signal to the GM that we need a NHL ready body. I can't for the life of me figure out who is playing bad. Some nights I focus on Lucic, because he sticks out like a sore thumb. Hubey plays poorly in some of those games, but is it the player or the linemate. Some nights I see the top line failing to do anything. They need to score at least a goal per game to have any chance to win. They do good things, but the puck misses players or the rush falls apart. 3rd and 4th lines have their bad nights, but usually don't get scored on. Coleman can be really off, but the other two carry him those games. Same with Mange. Rosie has some plays where he gets taken down too easily. And Lewis gts weak shot and good finishes. The reason I hold it to the coach is that I think I see the frustration with the style. It doesn't work against every team. Maybe that's why we see the play change in games.

Don't get me wrong, he has done good things. But his decision making is suspect at times. Maybe he sees something we don't. Maybe he's relying on previous experience and think that choice worked before. Whether you agree or not, he was outcoached by a young coach last playoffs. Yeah, let's put Lucic out there when we need something. Roll 4 lines because it's last man standing. Goalie looks lost, but don't think about any switch. Lost 2x40 goal scorers and we hear about it every day. Had a player that came in and was a p/gp player. Move him to the 4th line. Don't reunite a line that was best defensive line we had until you try everything else. Toffoli hasn't been a top 3 player in forever, if ever. I like the player but don't expect him to carry the team in scoring. Some reason we can't use Toffoli with Kadri and Ruzle? Move Huberdeau to top line with Dube and Linholm. You have two guys that can take strong side faceoffs. Hubey has two target that can take a pass. Anyway, moving on. We should get a win this week. And a loss.

I think too many give Sutter more credit than perhaps he deserves, Won cups with a killer team at the tops of their curve. 2004 is a different lifetime. I love the work ethics that he preaches. I detest the square pegs model of building a team. Hammer it until it wins a game, so it must be right. Not enough skill so lets not use more skill, let's slow the game down. Play perfect, since that's the way you have to play when you don't use skill. Whatever. I was excited to have Hiberdeau and Kadri join the team. Two players similar to what we just lost. Hubey a bigger tougher Gaudreau. Kadri a less dick version of Tkachuk. What have we turned them into? Funny because we are not that different from last year. An improved Zaddy. A replacement for Kylington. Missing Guddy. No Jarnkrok that couldn;t score.

Well said. +1

Some of it proves to be true, some doesn't. This latest is annoying, since it implies there is nothing the kid can do. Just work your arse off, and by the way, we won't play you. But if you don't work your arse off we never will. Anyway, I'm not going to waste time talking about what Sutter says. I am annoyed with everything he says other than post games. Some nuggets there and sometimes it's BS. Did the fact that the D fell down in the crease cause the 2nd line to play like crap all night? If he's holding them accountable (and I have no reason to think he isn't), why bother with the nonsense.

How are they going to earn it? You mentioned 6 guys that played, but every one of them but Desimone had NHL experience and all are big. And none of them are kids. IIRC he even said that Zary outplayed some vets in camp but waiver status determined his fate. As for rookies, Ruzicka isn't even classified as one by liberal NHL standards.

To be honest, all of this talk from Sutter sounds like BS justification of why he won't play a young player. If we were 10 up, he would want to maintain that. If 10 down, he would want to scrape to get there. Just cut the BS already Sutter. I think anyone looking at his comments see two things; size/weight and NHL experience. He's too small for your magical NHL lines and can't start him in a game because he had a bad camp. I'm not saying that we have awesome prospects, but the three top ones are not playing in the NHL. One got a "chance", but the other won't. The likes of Pettersen will never see a NHL game. Develop and throw away. MTL seems to have zero problem with Caulfield. So little a problem they are worried about paying him more than Suzuki. This may just be all Sutter gamesmanship. He hates getting asked about young or small players. If he gets a chance, he will be tossed to the wolves to prove a point. What does success look like? I will tell you when I make up something.

So, either wait until we have a huge lead this season (not likely) or wait till we are out. But, make sure you gain 10-20 pounds of muscle. So, I'm really not understanding what Sutter wants. You have a bad camp and need to wait till you gain weight now that you are performing? Wait till Sutter tells you what he thinks you are and how you may fit? Grow older because you are still young? I get the idea that we are coming off a decent road trip. And we are right on the line of playoffs or not. But have we been so good that we don't even look at talent?

The inevitable Twitter storm is a comin'. There is a longer quote that Valji [posted, and it's not much better...

Darryl Sutter on forward call-up Jakob Pelletier, still waiting on his NHL debut: “He’s excited to be here. At the end of the day, I want to get him in. But you know what? We’re not 10 up and we’re not 10 out. That’s the way it works.”

Everybody be wary wary qwiet. Pelts on the ice. There's a good chance that he will get in against COL, but at the expense of a young player most likely. This isn't a shot against Lewis, but why not at least try: Pelletier-Ruzicka-Duehr Ruzicka was 2nd best in faceoffs against NAS. He was one of the least played players. I think Sutter may have blamed him a bit for the goal against. Although, I believe Sutter blames the D for laying down in the crease.

I get the idea is to win games. And we did for a stretch. But nobody should have assumed we can win consistently with this setup. Huberdeau and Kadri forced to play a defensive game with a non-movable object. Seeing Lucic's defensive coverage being hope for a tip out of the zone or short pass to somebody. But it has to be frustrating for Hubey to only ever see one pass option on offense. They look like a grinder 4th line some nights. Meanwhile, an effective 4th line gets 7 minutes. Last night was poor passing all across the board, even simple ones missed tape. I don't know what the optimum lines are, but this isn't it. One line consistently stands out and that's supposed to be the shutdown line. Match speed with speed and look back at some combos that worked. Lucic with Lewis and Ritchie worked, so you could probably sub Duehr there. Backlund line, don't ever change. I would also like to see Hubey with Lindholm and Dube, at least they can skate. You could use either Ruzicka or Pelletier with Kadri and Toffoli. Ruzicka could be your C or LW. Pelletier could be your LW with Kadri at C. The problem is that Sutter won't look at lines as being the problem. He will find someone to sit out if Pelletier comes in. And it won't be Lucic. This game wasn't on Markstrom. Even though he started 3 of 5 of this set and we won none of them, he wasn't the only issue. I don't know that the goaltending decision had a direct result on this game. I didn't like the goal line goal, but it's a small complaint. Perhaps try a practice with some other choices for line.

Markstrom with a .534 win % and Vladar with .625 Wolf is impressive, it's almost a guaranteed win when he starts.

The poitives - Marky was .929 and 2 GA. The negatives, we sucked at faceoffs: Backlund 21% Lindholm 44% Ruzie 50% Kadri 52% Hubey and Lucic -1 Top pair -1 Backlund, Dube and Ruzie -1

So, I doubt Sutter has any tough decisions. Go with Markstrom until he lets in 3 in a period. I would have suggested Vladar who didn't lose to NAS this season. But what do I know.

Pretty simple. Run the goalie, call the penalty

What is the whistle for?

What a Satoshi Nakamoto shift by Hubey line

Nothing going with the 2nd line and we see same line out there late in the game.

Game over. We can't score in the box and 5 minutes to score one is too tall an order for the team this game.

I'm just messing around. If we had ever traded for him, we would be a contender.

Saros, 5'11". Sutter would send him to the AHL. Hehe

3rd period SHUTOUT

We get the All Star goalie

Good chance Dube.