Taro T

Officially was 12k+. Smallest actual crowd to date though officially it was bigger than the Swamp Cats game. 100's had comparable to the Cats game. Way fewer in the 300's.

TWO HOURS + to go from Batavia to Pembrooke on the Thruway. Semi trailer was kind of off the road just before the Pembrooke exit; at least what was left of it. Missed the entire 1st period.

Why? Go ask Granato.

The decision or the analysis? Don't like the decision either. Expect though that Okposo, Girgensons, Thompson, Tuch, & Skinner are all exempt from being in the "odd man out" derby. Also, it is likely a given that Cozens and Mittelstadt are also on that list. Later in the year, could see the 2 captains getting an odd game off as a "veteran rest day." And agree w/ @GASabresIUFAN's logic for why a defensive F was chosen to sit at home rather than on the road. But absolutely can't see doing it this early in the season w/ 2 - 20+ minute D-men out. IF Asplund got a tweak in the Krackers game, then it becomes a bit more palatable but still not sold on adding him to the derby. And it'll be interesting to see if he sits 2 in a row like everybody else that's sat has done. He shouldn't if he's healthy.

Always suspected it's from getting too relaxed from having to be "on" all the time when traveling. They're finally back in their comfort zone & routine and just not wired like they are when they're being forced out of their routine. And they probably subconsciously expect things to be a little easier at home (the crowd is on their side, they have to good dressing room, they typically have the last line change, etc., etc.) so maybe they don't amp up quite as much as they typically would. Plus, doesn't it always seem like the 1st day back at work after a vacation or a long work trip everything drags? You need that good night of sleep after getting back to normal to really feel "right." Doubt that just because they're pro athletes that it works all that much differently for them.

Yep. Says pretty much anybody not wearing a letter & not on the 1st line could be a game day decision.

Will trust Yerdon more than Engel. (Referring to who is playing where. They have the same personnel on each unit at least.) Would prefer Engel's deployment but doubt it is what they're actually doing. And still would like to see more changes than just bouncing Quinn into Mittelstadt's role & Mitts into Krebs spot.

Because Skinner is. (Not saying that's the right call, but that's why.)

Should've gone to Lowe's. ;)

Hope it isn't too severe. Had a friend get it a couple of weeks ago and he got hit HARD. He's in his 60's but didn't expect him to gphave it as bad as he did. Took the therapeutic & got over it about 1 week later. Back in the late spring caught it and ended up giving it to the wife. That version was 3 - 3-1/2 days and was equivalent severity/symptom-wise to a moderate flu. Hoping yours is more like the latter than the former.

Except, in the case of the PP, a more appropriate response is: Well, that's WHEN they play the games ... (Which, barring a major change or 3, will also be the answer to the questions: will it be in December, will it be in December, will it be in January ...)

Not disagreeing but they aren't doing that w/ Tuch & Okposo the players playing low.

Wasn't calling Jokiharju a journeyman. Was calling the other 3 guys that dressed last night journeymen (albeit prematurely). THOSE are the 3 that it is REALLY unfair to saddle a rookie with. Should've started the 2nd sentence w/ the word "but." Would've been clearer.

2nd unit could be Skinner/Peterka Krebs/ Quinn/Thompson. - Mitts/Thompson - Peterka/Quinn Power (Depending on which guy is the 5th on PP1, Thompson or Mittelstadt.)

Putting Olofsson "in his office" is one thing they should do. Problem is, in order to do that, they also have to bump Skinner out of the center of the 1sp PP and put a playmaker there. Can either slide Mittelstadt there or put Cozens there making a 2 for 2 swap, but after the way Kreuger treated Skinner really doubt Granato wants to take Skinner off PP1 even though a big part of the reason he scores most all his points 5v5 is he's actually a bad fit on the PP. The only spot he really should be there is down low but the coaches are insisting on having size in that role. Would really like to see them try Tuch Thompson/Mitts - Cozens - Olofsson Dahlin with an entry other than skate the puck past the red line, drop it to the trailer who now tries to skate it in deep w/ everybody else at a standstill and unable to be an option as a pass recipient nor as a forechecker on a dump in. It worked w/ Eichel. They don't have another guy w/ the speed, size, & hands to consistently gain the zone 1 on 4.

Bob Woods was the architect of that. Need to find a way to steal him back from Minny. Yep. LOL.

Pretty sure in this context it means: read more, post less.

Not saying it is the reason, but IF it is, better they learn what will come back & bite 'em the next night w/ 76 games left rather than 10 games left. A lot more room left to get those 2 points back if it turns out they need them.

Thanks for that. The adjustments for games played due to covid shortened years is what puts him remaining waiver exempt through his 1st 51 games or the end of this season, whichever comes 1st. And, at least per cap friendly, that he wasn't playing in NA during the '20-'21 season doesn't bump him up to 57 games of waiver exemption which is where he was at after '19-'20. (Mia culpa, was going off the pre-Covid adjusted #'s originally. Also, because he was born on Dec 31, he counted as 23 not 22 the day he signed.)

You sure? He signed at 22. That's 3 years or 70 games. He's in his 3rd year & played 57 total. So, pretty sure his 13th game after today makes him waiver eligible, not his 3rd.

And if the goaltending holds up. Both are necessary; neither is sufficient.

Said in another thread, would keep Lyubushkin with Power until at least 1 of the 2 injured guys get back. (Probably longer. ;) ) Don't like it when Granato makes Power carry Jokiharju. It is really unfair to expect a rookie to cover a journey man. Keep Dahlin w/ 1 of the lesser 3 and they should have essentially 2 2nd pairings and a 3rd, which should be good enough at home against teams that are in the lower 1/2 of the league. And technically, Henri could be back Saturday. (Not saying he necessarily will be back, but he can be brought off IR on Friday.)

Wouldn't be surprised to see Clague in for Pilut Thursday. But not for their play, because Clague was in Moe-ray-all the back 1/2 of last year. Granato tends to be a players' coach that way.

Personally, until either Jokiharju (their 4th or 5th best D-man) or Samuelsson (their 2nd best) are ready, would be running Dahlin for about 27 minutes typically w/ 1 of the bottom 3 (rotating which of the 3 get that pairing until/unless 1 of the 3 click w/ him) but if they know they're about to be getting the other team's top line put Lyubushkin out with him. Run Lyubushkin and Power for ~23 minutes. And then run the other 2 guys together for the other up to 10 minutes. (And hopefully for a lot of PPs, so a pairing of the 2 of the bottom 3 could be together for ~6 minutes total.) Primarily run them w/ the Okposo line and try to avoid having them on the ice w/ Cozens line. If they get 3 PPs, that would have Dahlin at 27, Buush & Power at 23 each, and the other 3 at 14 each. Don't really want to push Lyubushkin up towards 25 minutes as he plays hard minutes when he's out there. One of the 3 probably slides up to 18 and the other 2 get 12. Shouldn't be the D killing them if they do lose w/ that sort of a deployment. They've got 4 games in a row at home, so they can to a certain degree get the matchups they want. Doubt Granato does that as he'd probably view it as "playing scared." But, expect it could work.

Wonder if he thought Pilut was that 2nd 4/5? The contract he gave him says 'no.' But part of that might just be residual from the way Larry left. He'd made up his mind to leave after Botterill wouldn't give him a 1 way deal, but he didn't actually leave until it was on Adams watch. Also wonder if he thought a guy would become available when rosters had to become cap compliant. Either way, yes, 1 more D-man would be a good thing if Jokiharju or Samuelsson will be out LT, but it then also puts somebody on waivers (Pilut has to clear waivers with 13 more NHL games) that might not clear and then they're back to 8 NHLers. So, whatever they give up the bring in another D, unless he's brought in really quickly, the price likely also includes Pilut or Fitzgerald too and expect Adams will include that in what he's willing to give up. The ton of cap space Adams still has could be leveraged into a significant portion of what they need to pay to bring somebody in if Adams wants to go that route of bringing someone extra in. But, that game had a lot of the same errors from all the skaters that we saw in the Otter game though on a greater scale. It wasn't just the D that were bad in their own end. Let's see if things are cleaned up Thursday night before panicking.