travel_dude

Lindy..... Yeah. Phase 2 complete. Begin Phase 3

Derek Grant. Hrumph. Watched the US Olympic team lose to Slovaks last night. Agostino playing against Hrivik. Remember him?

Hanifin okay

Tanev loses another tooth?

Begin Phase 2

Phase 1 complete. Big PK, need another PK. Sheesh.

Yes, I was feeling the same concern. But, we have seen Tkachuk on the MMA line do well. I think he overthinks things at times. Has 2 plays in advanced calculated. You can hear his Garmin going off "Recalculating".

You could call the Johnny line the Prime Line. Nerd math joke.

There is no utopian game that gets played in the NHL. We have seen a few games this year and remarked that was the best game ever. And ones that we have shaken our heads. Players make mistakes and make up for them. If they don't then we see strings of losses or wins that should have been losses. I can't remember any recently that I felt they did more good than bad. The string of 4 loses in early January was just that. Early January. Come back from COVID after almost a month and play 5 in a row on the road. After that 2 singles games in 2 weeks. I felt the game against EDM was us winning the game if not for a pick play that gave them a lead. After that 1 loss in 10 games. There's always a chance to improve little details. Nobody is claiming we are perfect.

They still show Toffoli on the 2nd PP unit. I wonder if we start to see that. Lucic probably won't like so much losing the spot, but I think he can get behind it for the greater good.

I suppose if Backlund hadn't turned it around at all or Mangiapane and Coleman were not heating up, you wouldn't reward Backlund. As it stands, he's getting limited time as a 3rd unit C. Mostly near the end. I don't follow the exact line choices post-PP, so I don't know how Sutter rolls once we are done the PP. Guys that played 1/2 of it tend to sit for a bit. Maybe they want him out there right afterwards.

Mid season funk after winning games is bad. Sutter seems to be more critical after a win than a loss. I think he sees where the losses come from. I don't see the issues creeping in for any prolonged time. The worst we played was early on and after a team outbreak. We should not be worried about the team starting to coast or fall back into bad habits. There really isn't any sign we are headed down this path. We have lost games. That happens. We can look back to the reasons, but I don't think it was a trend or something beyond a single game.

Some games against structured teams look to be a bit sloppy. If we are doubling up the shots and our goalie was not outstanding, it seems to be more than just a bad goalie. One went off his own player (wristed into the open side), one was a slick move by Toffoli, one was a two on zero back and forth from Johnny. The Guddy wrister was not a great look, nor was the Ruzie shot. The Dube goal was a hard wrister that a lot of goalies let in. It was only really a close game for a period. The difference was that we took over the game after the first and gave them nothing at all after the Dube goal.

If Ruzie is ever able to get his FO% to a consistent 50% or higher, it would help justify it. If we are changing while maintaining possession, then it's not as big an issue.

Monahan was really strong in the faceoff circle last night. He is also doing things we haven't seen before. I wouldn't call it being tougher, but he is being more forceful. There wasn't any scoring from his line, but that doesn't mean there was not good plays or chances. And that's with zero practice with Toffoli. Should we really have expected him to look like a #1 playing with Ritchie and while Dube was having a rough time getting chances.

Seeing what Toffee can do with a simple, brilliant pass, you have to wonder if we have about 3-6 looks that could work. I won't get into them here, because I am not Sutter. He won't tip his hand. And Toffee played very little, considering the adjustment, no practice and a lot of games in a short time. Ruzie (or Rozie or Rozy) seems to have discovered that he doesn't just have to be good defensively and win draws; he can use his speed and big body to dominate down low and blow by people. Backlund has the possession and gaining space part down, but is offset by his sometimes giving up on plays (looks lazy) and poor shot placement. Ruzie is starting to understand that yes, he is good enough to play here. Yes, it was not just an illusion by playing in junior and AHL. Yes, a good coach drives you to be better.

The game seemed tighter. But dominating on the shot clock in the 2nd and 3rd (17-4 and 12-4) doesn't seem tight. We were as unlucky as lucky. Dube had a clean look and it dribbled off his stick. Backlund with an open net. Couple of posties. Vladar was good, but not great. Elvis made as many good saves as he did, but he faced twice as many.

That's okay. You can keep heeping praise for th team. It's something we are seeing that we aren't used to. Many still have some nagging doubts, since they think they are being fooled again. This team seems different. Not really propped up by any one position or player. Goalie pitches a shutout, but it's a 6-0 win. Johnny has a good game, but so do a bunch of others. We get a PP goal, but don't win solely due to having one late in the game. A rookie comes in and impresses. The D seems to make far more good plays than little mistakes.

Interesting look. It's a slight change to what I was suggesting with Monahan in that spot.

Elvis left the building prior to the game. It was not a good game for him, but whatevs. The Dome is becoming a feared place to play. Ready for 5 goals against? 6?

The scoring is getting insane. What, is 5-2, 6-2, 6-0 out favorite scores now?

Man, you old. JK. I'm up there. I used to love the bar music scene in Halifax in the 80's. It.was.awesome. Toronto played at the Misty Moon (or was it the Palace). Big cabarets. Couple of thousand people.

Naw, never heard him mention it. It's an advantage for us except against teams like COL. When a team plays in EDM before they come to CGY, they tend to get aclimatized.

Didn't chose the location, the job chose it. And wasn;t exactly wanting to say the location out loud. Used to see a sign near downtown, Iginla Law Office. Detest Oilers.

I was worried about him playing in the high above sea level thingy. Played in LA, VAN and MTL. Not exactly mile high.