PerreaultForever

Yes, Samuelsson and Lybushkin gave us improvement in that area. Problem is we don't have similar guys in the pipeline ready to step in and fill that hole with the injury. Our D pool (both young prospects and competent Fitz level AHL subs) is simply too thin.

Indeed, an area we have struggled in for years now and still are. Fitz was in the right spot and trying but he was outnumbered. Too many players stay on the outside and try to make stick plays and simply aren't physical enough. Pilut was useless in this regard.

I saw the Red Wings Bruins game. They did not impress me. If we play like we did in the 3rd against Chicago we can definitely beat them. Even with the injuries.

I know. beat the Leafs is my point.

Chicago is a very low skill team but they went to the dirty areas with effort and for 2 periods this looked like it would be a disaster. Third period we finally asserted a little physicality and we went to the paint and Thompson played the way I've wanted him to play all along. Use that body, use that size, GO TO THE NET and not just float around the outside looking for snap shots. We need to play like this for 60 minutes. Hopefully the end result drives this home to them and we see that kind of effort we saw in the 3rd all the time. This could have been a disaster and maybe even the return of soft loser identity but as it went, maybe it'll be the true realization for them of what it takes to win in this league. Fingers crossed.

Bruins with their hottest start in franchise history - and they were the ones we were going to catch for the playoffs right? Maybe switch that idea to the Leafs.

Absolutely too early for conclusions. It's an of the moment observation. Everything could change next game. or not. We shall see. I have high hopes for Savoie. About 4 years from now I wouldn't be shocked if he was our top line center. but also, too soon to say.

Nope, they're not good. But the team's not good. Only players playing good or better than last year are Dahlin, Tuch, Cozens, Lybushkin and the goalies. Include Peterka if you want but he has made some rookie mistakes too. Vinnie and Zemgus are kind of same as always but hardly significant. Samuelsson and Jokiharju would be in the list but since they are injured I left them off. Everybody else is worse than last year and not good enough. and worse than that, there's no list of good depth players chomping at the bit to take a job.

That's possible, but do you really think Carolina was worried about the Sabres? I doubt it.

Title should be the PP is crap. Too reliant on Dahlin so too easy to defend. Not enough screening net front presence, lost O zone face offs and poor passing which leads to lost possession. We are a speed team so we should have an even faster moving/passing PP. Skinner should not be part of it. Cozens should be on the first unit.

Aren't all hockey players at some point contractually obligated to borrow from the Don Cherry catalogue?

Obviously we didn't try to beat it.

you and Quinn need to get a room 🙂 Just kidding, and I can see that yes, that might have been his best game, but it still wasn't a good game. We have a thin roster and neither of Krebs or Quinn is helping us win.

so?

So, let's see, we just lost to the team everybody said was tanking for Bedard and would finish dead last in the division. Okay, great. You know, I'm thinking Quinn and Krebs are so damn impressive they should get ALL the ice time. Stupid team. As ever.

Why? Why should anyone be exempt from anything? That's not how you build a winning culture. Sitting Mitts would have been a solid decision and we'd all have applauded it. It's what teams like the Bruins would have done. But okay, so you don't want to sit him because he's.............too valuable?...........too fragile?................whatever Granato's reason move on to who sits if you want Krebs in. Asplund? The guy who has played solid hockey all season and earned his spot? Earned an upgrade from the 4th line to the 2nd. Arguably made Mitts and VO instantly look better? What does that tell him? Oh we don't really think you're an important part of this team. It's dumb. It's dumb. It's just plain dumb. It's Sabres. Quinn and Krebs should be rotating in to the 4th line until one of them shows signs of being something. That's it. Either that, or sit slackers. I just don't get this at all.

You've forgotten some of the really bad streaks Dahlin had but still played. Some people here even called him a draft bust (silly, but it happened). We needed him paired with a solid veteran and at times he needed a step back. AHL for him is debatable but he did develop bad habits that could have been avoided imo. Still remains to be seen if those habits will creep back now that Samuelsson isn't beside him. We shall see.

Asplund out so a young guy doesn't sit too long is dumb. One more thing that makes me feel they don't actually want to win this year. If not Quinn sitting, then based on play it should have been Okposo or Skinner sitting. Not Asplund. Big game to see if they have character and bounce back. I know virtually nothing about what montreal has this year and don't really care. Just beat them!

I always thought these old ones were better.

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.