PerreaultForever

Holy crap, Marchand's back tonight for the Bruins.

I disagree. Their natural abilities have overcome some of their development flaws so they do what they do and can play in the league but neither was developed properly. I honestly don't think we did a good job with Dahlin either. Too much too soon. He's finally overcoming things and his natural abilities are showing through but I think he'd be even better (and sooner) if we'd taken it slower and coached him more. It's a long argument and other teams have done it too, but D men take more time. We handled Samuelsson properly and you see what we get there now. Yes, different players have different paths, but imo ALL D men need a slower path and some AHL time early in their careers.

Risto and Myers.

Nope, I see it too. If it doesn't change, others will see it eventually.

You can add Strahlman to that list I think now that Gryzlyk and Carlo are back with the Bruins but he didn't look good in his one game so it's not really an upgrade. Maybe better than Pilut but not by much. I think the best plan is a real hockey trade. Forward for a D man of equal ability/promise. So who has too many D men? Either that or trade for an over paid guy with a team that wants/needs some cap room. To beat a dead horse, we should have picked up Reilly when the Bruins waived him. He's playing top 4 minutes with the Bruins and playing well. Would have solved a lot of depth issues here. Failure by Adams to address this issue sooner than later makes me think they really don't care about winning this season.

I'd agree with that. Skinner is just running around all over the place and coughing up pucks at his worst. Maybe Granato tells him to just run free but he doesn't seem to understand team structure at all. Okposo plays like a player well past his prime. Still say the C was a mistake. At this rate he will have no trade deadline value either. Thompson imo is playing passive, a little lazy, and just kind of floating around too much. Lacks drive and aggressiveness which is kind of what the problem was 2 years ago. At this point, the one season reward contract is not looking like good value. This might still change. But he does need to step it up.

A couple things I disagree with (but we're not really that far off). I know Power is a rookie and he's being given too much too soon imo. So he's floundering from time to time. I'm not sure how this will work out but you and I both know we've done this before and it's not gone well. It's a concern. Thompson is passive too often. Uses his stick and not his body. If he drove through players the way Tuch tries to (and does) he would be a beast. As is, he's a skilled player who occupies (and sometimes controls) a lot of ice. Not a bad thing, but he could be so much more. The real issue I have is on the team looking "spent". There's no excuse for a young team with a day off before to look spent. Maybe the D can have that excuse in part but not the team. If anything, Seattle had the tougher travel/schedule. They were flat, not tired. It is just one game, and the next one really matters as I said. If it continues we see a slide to what was. If they bounce back, we see the promise. Montreal game is huge. He was good on that off side goal but otherwise I agree. Switch him for Krebs next game. Then go from there.

Biggest difference for Canucks is Demko. He was outstanding in the Boudreau end of season run but he's been pretty meh if not sub average this season. The team stunk a lot last year too but won some close ones because of him.

Well that was absolute rubbish. Reminded me a lot of mid season games from the Eichel-Reinhart era. in that regard I was amused by Rob Ray taking a shot at Eichel comparing the lazy Mitts play that cost Quinn his goal. Lazy uninspired hockey. Mitts should have been benched for that. Game was lost anyway so coach needs to send a message that everybody is accountable and laziness doesn't cut it. But whatever. It was a sad effort all around. Pilut is terrible. Power wasn't good. The D made a lot of mistakes and the forwards weren't helping them out much. Thompson is a really big man who plays like a really small man. He really needs to step up and start earning that contract. Skinner is an undisciplined mess. So many issues. We play like this and we will lose a lot of games until Samuelsson comes back. They were laughing in the 3rd. Easy night for them. I really hope this was a one off, but there were warning signs all around and the leadership group will be put to the test here to prevent a slide in attitude that we've seen happen in past years. Beniers is pretty good. Borgen is feisty.

You obviously don't watch the Bruins. No longer a tough team at all. Washington might bang us around but right now Tampa and Florida are both tougher than the Bruins. We're not a small team in truth and there is no reason to think we can't stand up to physical teams. It's not the chosen style of the team, but we have some big bodies and guys like Dahlin are already letting it be known they will no longer be pushed around.

This is probably true. I've said for ages I wished they'd found a way to keep Borgen but they didn't so we have to move on. The question now is do we trade a Quinn or Krebs or some other prospect for a D man or do we ride the injuries out as is? I still think we'd be better off with one more decent D man on the roster.

Yes, their goaltending hasn't worked out the way they planned and is a definite weak spot. Borgen has played well but their D is also a little iffy at times. Top half of their line up can score though. If we were healthy on D I'd say we'd be favoured, but with the banged up D and maybe some road fatigue this one could go either way. One thing I do know, I've never seen the Kraken quit. They will play until the end so Sabres need to be ready for that. The fan reaction here will be fun to read when Borgen bangs somebody into the boards. He likes to do that.

Power's not ready for that.

30 minutes plus of ice time for Dahlin-Lybushkin?

I agree. Totally. I wanted 2 (not 1) D man in free agency. I wanted to draft one in the late first or second this past draft. After not doing either, I suggested claiming Reilly off waivers as a stop gap measure. I think our defensive prospect pool doesn't measure up to our forwards. I'd have no problem trading a top forward prospect for a top defensive prospect. Having said that, the Chychrun deal that's out there is too expensive imo. So I'm not sure if there are any other good options at the moment.

I do think Dahlin has arrived finally and will be good but I am curious to see how well he does without Samuelsson beside him.

I was talking to some Philly fans and they were saying a lot of them are afraid the losing will start again when Risto comes back. I kid not.

That leg twisted pretty bad so if it's only a sprain and not a tear that is good news. Probably wear a brace when he comes back but shouldn't be extremely long.

Well this very situation is why I suggested taking Reilly and his contract when Boston waived him but that boat sailed. I don't think you really can replace Samuelsson without a big trade and making a big trade isn't a good idea on a team that seems to be building chemistry unless you give up virtually nothing from the roster. Definitely do not give up 2 firsts plus for Chychrun (as that's apparently his price tag). Lauzon has been scratched in Nashville. I'd take him for a cheap temp fix but with the Borowicki injury he might be in their plans again. For now you see how things go with Pilut and how long the injuries are going to be. If they are long term I'd certainly look to adding a responsible stay at home type guy if we could find one as the rest of the Rochester group is a little iffy.

maybe this is old, but it was the first time I read it and it made me laugh. The Chicago fan mantra is "suck hard for Bedard".

Well this is starting to be fun isn't it? I try not to get TOO excited. I still remember the pain of the 10 game win streak but I'm liking what I'm seeing. Everything just feels different this time. Feels like a team. Finally. I thought this was Power's best game so far. He definitely stepped up and looks like he's starting to be more comfortable with things. Maybe the pairing with Lybushkin had a little to do with it. Dahlin has arrived in full now I think. This is the guy we hoped we'd see when we took him #1. Bit of a rough game for Peterka imo but this will happen with rookies. I'm not worried. Mitts seems to be getting better each game and is also looking like a different player from last year. As is Cozens. Asplund solid. Obviously the Samuelsson injury is troubling. Quinn didn't impress me and I still think he's not ready. If they don't want to send him down for a bit maybe just keep alternating Krebs and him on the 4th line until one of them starts to seize the job full time. All in all though, this is so much better than I expected this year. Hope it lasts.

I agree, but I fail to see why some people have such an issue with sending him down. maybe it's because this team hasn't had a deep enough roster to have extra bodies worth anything for so long people have forgotten how the NHL works for real teams. It's not like if you send him down he's gone until April. he can go up and down all year and play lots and lots of games and get lots and lots of coaching. I really fail to see why this is an issue.

Absolutely. So he plays a couple games, sits a couple, plays another (or two) maybe he goes down maybe he stays up it depends on his play. If he does go down and he dominates when down he's the first call up when you need his skill set or want to replace an underachiever and on it goes as you continually coach and teach. This is not difficult.

What part of "at this time" is unclear to you?

Pilut is a better puck carrier but yes, I consider Fitz a better defender than Pilut.