travel_dude

The only thing that worried me about Tanev was durability. He plays a rugged game and has been injured almost every year. The way he has been playing with the team thins year allows the toughness to be spread out. He not playing with a kid that doesn't check. Hanifin is playing with BOOM, so that allows Hanifin not to have to always yake the body. Guddy and Zaddy are the big hitters and deal out the justice. Teams are less liable to take liberties with us now. We made the right choice with Tanev and Marky. They are core. Do we really miss Gio now? He's not scoring much this year, which is what he would be here likely. It's a good problem to have a top 4 capable guy eating popcorn. Sure, he needs to play, but it's a long season. At some point, he probably comes in for a big stretch. He needs to be better than Zaddy, though. Right now, he at best even.

The guys that showed up in pre-season were Pospisil and Duehr and Gawdin. Neither Ruzicka nor Pelletier had a good camp. That's not to say they didn't show up, but that the structure of it was geared towards NHL vs AHL lines. Really, when you look at the number of games played, only a few prospects got more than one or two. I am fine with that. Don't spend the entire camp playing a bunch of guys that don't really have a shot. If they look spectacular, give them a game against a tough team. If they keep it up, consider keeping them up. Let them develop otherwise. Both Ruzi and Pelly have gelled and been top producers in the AHL. See if they can play like that in the NHL. But they have to do something in any game they play. Do what Kylington did.

We all want more goals so we aren't going into the 3rd with a tie or down a goal. The more important thing is to know how to win those close games. We had that issue last year. Down a goal, we always pressed, but ended up losing by 2 or perhaps losing a tie game late. We still have an issue in OT, but I think that is personnel related. Poor decision making at times. That comes from being impatient or not managing the threat. We seem to have no problem winning games where we score first.

Ritchie is out week to week, with no real mention of his issues. Pospisil is out of the lineup in Stockton. Duehr is a RW. At this point, I would only consider two players from Stockton that would fit the lineup right now. Ruzicka or Pelletier. Pelletier if we had a LW need and could swap Dube to RW. Ruzicka is we needed a LW or C. Swap out Dube to RW or play Ruzicka at C. Right now, scoring is not a problem for us. Our GA/GA differential is tops in the league. We aren't that far off from tops in goals for. We need to have 200 foot players in the lineup. Lucic, Richardson, Lewis, and Pitlick all fit that bill. If Ruzicka can play that way, we don't need his scoring touch as much. If we are in need of a 200 foot player than can setup guys on the 3rd line, then I think Pelletier is best. Best used if we can shelter them or our top lines are getting shut down.

Richardson is off for maintenance, but they didn't need to bring him up for that. Could practice without the extra forward,, and Lewis at C. They probably want to see him in practice now that he's rolling. Was disappointing at camp. I think there may be some nagging issues with Richardson. He plays a heavy game and might be susceptible to injury. WPG is a big heavy team and having the roster at 100% is key. Ruzicka is a power forward type that could mesh with Lewis and Looch. He's also a skill guy with speed. This will benefit him as a player. Not so much playing a grind style, but learning how to play where it's not just offense that wins games.

This just in... Ruzicka recalled. As much as it's a reward for leading the team (and AHL) in goals, I wonder if there are some issues they want to look at. Monahan doesn't look like himself yet. He's strong on the puck in board battles, but weak on the puck in shooting and passing. Pitlick may be dealing with an injury; he doesn't look 100% some nights. Sutter may just want a different look. I could see them opting to use Ruzicka in the 3 hole, pushing down Monahan to #4 with Lucic and Lewis. Richardson is playing really well defensively, but maybe not so much driving play? The bottom line is that we are down to 14F + Ritchie. We can go with 13 + 7 on any given night, but that doesn't always work out.

The "library" has been that way for some time. Not sure what they are waiting for. Stop texting and watch the game. Get caught up in it. We finally have a team that we can be proud of. Giv Fox hard time (like they did). Boo McBaby and pouter Draisaitl when they touch the puck. Draisaitl is such a poor sport that he didn't want to play with Tkachuk in the All Star game.

I think we lead the league in games starting with the first goal. We used to struggle with scoring in the 1st, but when we did, we were a lot better off. We used to have a flawless record when leading after one or two periods. Good record this year, but could improve. For sure, it's key to score first at home. It gets the crowd involved. When we are down by one going into the third, we haven't been very successful. Comebacks are necessary, but much too stressful.

Ruzicka and Pelletier can only get better. They are middle 6 guys, so we really have no use for them right now anyway unless we bench Pitlick. Duehr seemed to fit the middle 6 as well, but is more of a big fast body than a sniper. The good thing is that the 4th line is not really a concern this season. We have 4-5 guys that can fit there. Need to get Monahan's line going a bit better. Pitlick helps MOnahan's D game, but not so much his O game.

A decent writeup on SN. It sounds a lot of what Sutter talks about in his media scrums. He always calls it checking, not defensive play. He refers to defensive play references as so old school, not what the modern game is. https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/analyzing-the-flames-and-the-difference-between-defence-and-checking/ This video is in the story, in case you don't want to read it.

I would prefer to not play just 565 and put the boots to teams on a nightly basis. As Peeps mentoned in another thread, we have been controlling60% of the play in games. When we won the west, we did it by outscoring not outplayng. You know how that ended up. Thats the Oilers this season. Win with losts of PP goals. Get outplayed or outshot and still manage a win.

Walker "Texas Ranger" Duehr assigned to Stockton today. 3 days break, so either is a cap move or Ritchie is due to come back. I hope he gets some games in before he's recalled again. Right now the hottest players in Stockton are Ruzicka (C/LW), Pelletier (LR), and Phillips (RW). Of that bunch, Ruzicka and Pelletier make the most sense. Both are fast. Pelletier is a Mangiapane like work ethic. Pelletier would benefit Monahan and Dube, as he's a setup guy.

Long road ahead no doubt. I was worried about Guddy more than Zaddy. Wasn't thinking Valimaki would be sitting most nights, but suspected he or Kylington would be an alternate. The pre-season set up Kylington for success; early great play with Tanev allowed Sutter to take that chance. Last year was the worst possible situation; Markstrom getting injured and never really finding his form again. We should have made the playoffs, but glad we didn't. The biggest surprises for me were: Vladar so far - when did we have a decent backup and starter at the same time. Gaudreau - should not be surprised that he found chemistry with Tkachuk, but I was a little worried he could not play a Sutter game. Kylington - as much as I believed he had the right stuff, I never expected him to have the opportunity and right partner to showcase his game - Brodie 2.0. Guddy - who would have believed he was that good defensively; still makes the odd bad play but who doesn't. 4th line with Lucic - not really impressive stats, but man they are committed. I worry about them only when they get hemmed in for long stretches. The guys I thought would be good, but a few have left me wanting: Coleman - solid, but man where is his scoring. Ras - bounced back to being the top guy. Hanifin - I complain too much, but he is 75% solid out there. Mangiapane - I think I predicted 30 goals as being possible, so he's on track to meet that. Like easily. Tkachuk - I worry about him being on a pouter, but he put behind the Gio nonsense. Scoring like he should. Lindy - is there a more underrated top C in the league? Just does everything well. Markstrom - knew he was due to bounce back, but it's nice to see him with a decent D in front. Monahan - slow getting back to his usual self, so I think it's a work in progress. Dube - what happened to him. There have only been a few games where I felt they played too much on the outside. Sutter preaches 10 foot shots and going to the net. The tipped point shots are nice, but we don't have that many guys that can pound it and get it through. I am surprised at how hard a shot Guddy has. Kylington's slapper is pretty decent. Would like to see more from Zaddy and Ras.

The rules are pretty strict for those that test positive coming into the country. Obviously, he didn't. It's still a concern considering the incubation period. I am really quite surprised at the lack of infection in the NHL. Close quarters on the ice. Entering/exiting the building. Teams with a guy that test positive one day but before that was around others. That team played another team who plays another team. It would be like flying on planes that have a case on the flight. Then going to a friend's house. Then going to a party with 40 others. Then flying on another plane with cases on it. Then going to another friend's place and party. Then going home. Then going to the store and out to eat.

Looch is so tough COVID is scared to be alone with him. The good thing is that they get tested regularly, especially after travel.

Well deserved break for you Mr. Thanksgiving has no hockey anyway. Look at the record and smile. Tied for 1st overall. 1st in the West. Best GF/GA differential. Best away record. 2nd lowest GA. Could be wrong but I think our goalie tandem is #1 for combined SA% as well as best GAA. 1st in total shutouts. Who would have believed that going into the year.

I always worry about playing teams that subsequently put playing in COVID-19 protocol. Ottawa NJ NYI Come on NHL teams, get your crap together or else Feds are going to lock the border down to US teams. As it is they will not be allowing non-vaccinated players in come a certain date.

Unless they move over at a young age, the states are against them leaving. Sorokin was doubtful to ever come over. I hope that he can develop into a solid goalie. He's young and good size. Playing well.

Dach was the best Hawk out there/ Able to Satoshi Nakamoto down Debrincat and Kabe for the most part; kept them outside. Kyl/Tanny were the best pair out there. Ras was really good defensively. Hanifin I thought was goos with a few bad plays. 3rd pairing was BOOM. The lines need some practice. Pitlick is a good 4th liner, just need to find that magical 3rd line combo. We had two assists on the Hawks goals. What are we now, 11-0 when Dube scores a goal (from last year onward). Lucic was a good sport and didn't go for the EN cookie, let Lewis get it. Even better than just winning a game? Oilers lost to Dallas in regulation. Poor wittle Connor's point streak ends.

They have 11 shots and we are winning the makority of faceoffs. This should not be tied

2 giveaways by Flames. 2 foals against. We are trying to beat ourselves again.

Messy game

Pitlick with the bad bad giveaway to Hagel. It seemed like it may have been a tipped pass, but not the best idea to go to the middle. The stars are being held in check on both ssides. This will come down to secondary scoring me thinks.

Looch with the 2nd snipe.

I am not going to vote on any of those choices. Superstitious. Little change to the team that played NYI and BOS, except on D. Zadorov facing his former team. Has a burr in his pants. Good top have him in because Toews love to run over our team. Can expose the 2nd PP unit they have with Gus on the backend. Their PK includes Toews with Khaira and Debrincat (?) with Dach. MAF has played well for them and he has played like crap. Never sure which one you get with him. He's the wild card. If we get one past him early, and follow up with a 2nd while holding them at zero, then it's a different story.