dudacek
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Posts posted by dudacek
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We're going to see a lot more games like that this year.
Games that we are in, and maybe deserve to win, but we lose because we make a key mistake or our goalie lays an egg.
I guess it's a step up from Ron Rolston hockey.
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Phaneuf with yet another cheap shot.
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I've been hoping Myers and McCabe would be a long-term match.
Their games seem well-matched.
I'm officially a McCabe fan. He's got Weber's battle, but with brains and skill.
Kid is going to play in this league for a long-time.
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Maybe it's just hockey withdrawal, or that anything looks better than last year, but I don't think our game has been bad tonight.
We've been physical, skated hard and haven't allowed too many chances.
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Toronto fans are going to look at this score and say they've played well.
They've been bad and lucky.
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Hodgson was absolutely terrible in the first.
Looking better now.
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Best possession time in a year. easy.
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Hanks skate got caught in the ice and is what threw him off balance. Not much Weber could do about that. Looked like a separated shoulder possibly. Feel bad for Tallinder.
Could be his last play as a pro, or at least in North America.
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We have four good kids on D.
I think every one of them is already better than Weber.
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Phaneuf is such a tool.
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Or hopefully he's a good hockey player for us and we keep him and he helps us win some games this year
Insert clapping emoticon here.
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How do people know we don't already have front-line players?
How long has it taken Anze Kopitar to get recognized for being the stud he is? Or Duncan Keith?
Didn't they look a lot like Girgensons and Ristolainen when they were 19?
Six years into their careers, they were still calling Henrik and Daniel the Sedin sisters.
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You have to get the good players to win and the easiest way to get the best players is to draft at the top of the draft.
That's why I'd take two years of bottoming out over the last few years of Darcy every time.
My point was it's not the only way to win: McEichel or bust is a fallacy.
The sheer volume of high picks and prospects we have has already increased our odds.
Who's to say Compher, Lemieux, Karabacek and Baptiste won't become Bergeron, Lucic, Krejci and Marchand?
Or maybe it will be Girgensons, Fasching, Bailey and McCabe.
There are good players already in the system. We have one more huge draft year pending. We will have five of the top 50 picks and we will get some good players whether we win the lottery or not.
After that is is all about development.
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Schaller gets a shot, so they have seen something there.
Marcus and the two Codys I believe are the only vets that haven't seen action yet.
And Reinhart gets to play with a couple of legitimate wingers.
Wonder how many thugs Toronto is dressing and whether Kessel brought his purse?
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Yes generational players win cups. Having mcDavid or Eichel certainly increases our odds.
But in the past 20 years of first overall picks, just three - Kane, Crosby and Lecavalier - have a ring.
Plenty of franchises have won cups without a Gretzky or a Crosby leading the way.
Teams win cups, not players. Just look at the last five cup winners:
Chicago got Kane and Toews up at the top of the draft, Seabrook was picked in the teens, Keith in the 2nd round, Sharp in a trade for a minor leaguer and Hossa as a free agent.
Boston got Bergeron, Lucic and Krecji in the 2nd round and Marchand in the third. Chara was a free agent and Rask was acquired by trading Andrew Raycroft.
The Kings nabbed Doughty at the top of the draft, Kopitar, and Brown with mid first-round picks, Quick was taken in the third. Carter and Richards came in a big trades, Justin Williams and Gaborik in a routine ones.
It's not about McEichel or bust, it's about building a good team.
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My "McEichel tiers"
In the conversation:
-Buffalo Sabres
-Calgary Flames
-Carolina Hurricanes
-Edmonton Oilers
-Nashville Predators
-New Jersey Devils
-Ottawa Senators
-Winnipeg Jets
One step away (could go either way):
-Arizona Coyotes
-Florida Panthers
-New York Islanders
-Toronto Maple Leafs
-Vancouver Canucks
Probably not in it:
-Columbus Blue Jackets
-Philadelphia Flyers
-San Jose Sharks
-Washington Capitals
Definitely not in it:
-Anaheim Ducks
-Boston Bruins
Chicago Blackhawks
-Colorado Avalanche
-Dallas Stars
-Detroit Red Wings
-Los Angeles Kings
-Minnesota Wild
-Montreal Canadiens
-New York Rangers
-Pittsburgh Penguins
-St. Louis Blues
-Tampa Bay Lightning
I plan on developing some type of actual tracking system where I update this list with stats every ten games.
Good list.
While I do think Florida will be better, they are still in the conversation. I would drop them and the Islanders down a tier. I'd also move Winnipeg up a notch.
I've recently started to see Carolina really emerging as a front runner.
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McKenzie's pre-season rankings:
http://www.tsn.ca/bob-mckenzie-s-pre-season-draft-ranking-the-top-15-1.83478
Sabres chief scout on there saying it's hardly unanimous that McDavid is number one.
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Carolina is definitely in the McEichel derby.
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I think this team is going to be better than people think playing themselves out of the McDavid and Eichel sweepstakes. I think they have a making of a solid defensive core and I think you have a few goaltenders with something to prove. Plus you throw in a full season of Nolan and Trots and I think u have a lot of guys playing hard.
I think they will be 15 points better than last year.
But that still puts them smack in the middle of McEichel derby.
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I am really wondering what kind of effect the coaching will have.
You watch the difference between Ennis and Stafford post Nolan.
Rolston undermined their confidence, told them they were doing things wrong and forced them to change their games, cramming it into restrictive boxes.
Nolan has said you guys are good hockey players: work hard, trust your instincts and good things will happen.
I have a feeling Ennis in particular is going to have a career year.
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“We’ve been extremely, extremely ___grateful____ with the approach and the attitude of the __Pegulas__,” Nolan said in First Niagara Center. “The __Kim-watching____ in training camp has been tremendous. When that happens, you usually look in the _internet forums_ at who the __gentlemen______ are to lead that parade, and __Aud Smell____ is one of those guys, for sure.”
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On a different prospect note, I understand that games aren't played behind a microphone, but you've gotta be impressed with Lemieux and McCabe. Just watched locker room interviews on the Sabres site and they just come across as articulate, assertive men, not 18-and 20-year-old boys.
http://video.sabres.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=668
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Schaller, Varone and Adam are all the same age...but I was pointing out how Varone and Adam actually score, Schaller is a defensive forward, as is Kea.
I guess I just can't understand how someone has reached their ceiling at the age of 23...and in Adam's case, after only 87 NHL games. (In which he scored 26 points.)
26 points in 87 games for a 3rd or 4th liner is about as close as you could get to evolving into an "NHL role player."
Actually, most forwards have shown their ceilings by the time they are 23 or 24. There are late developers, but they are typically college players or late-round picks, not high picks six years removed from their draft year.
Luke Adam is an offensive player who isn't good enough to play his game at NHL speed and doesn't have the necessary elements in his game to transition to a banger or a checker on the lower lines. He's had his chance.
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Varone and Adam have been around long enough that people are concluding they have reached their ceiling (good AHL player). Adam has been around longer and had more NHL chances, so his rope. Is shorter than Varone's.
Schaller is entering his second year pro and Kea is a rookie, so there is still room for some hope they could evolve into NHL role players.
GDT: Leafs at Sabres 9-26-2014 7PM
in The Aud Club
Posted
The good:
Torrey Mitchell and Cody McCormick played exactly how I want my fourth-liners to play. Loved their hustle and their edge.
Jake McCabe looked like an NHL defenceman.
Tyler Myers was very solid. Minimized mistakes, made plays.
Chris Stewart finished and drove the net like a legitimate power forward.
The bad:
Cody Hodgson looked selfish. He has to play a give and go game to be effective and it wasn't there.
I hate the fact Mike Weber has become the latest whipping boy, but tonight he deserved it.
Michal Neuvirth better put that one in a garbage bag and bury it in the backyard.
The worth mentioning:
Marcus Foligno wasn't outstanding, but he did play a hard, basic game. It was a good sign.
The first line played like an OK second line. Gionta was OK.
Risto and Zads were unremarkable but dependable.
Meszaros is faster than I thought he would be and definitely an upgrade on McBain and Tallinder.
Schaller had a good, physical first, but kinda faded as the game went on. Flynn was Flynn, didn't hurt his chances.
Reinhart didn't looked overmatched. He was responsible and he wasn't getting pushed around. But he wasn't creating offence either. He could have been Flynn.