PickaPecaPickles

Yes, I hope he Picks-a-Peca too.

Confirms my impression of Granato and the team which I stated in the main thread about his firing Tuesday:

You might have the causality wrong here? Most of Skinner's goals come when he's on a line with two other very good players (like TNT and Tuch). Who was centering for him when he was in Krueger's doghouse and how many did he score then? Regardless, my point was I'd like to see Krebs with 2 young, offensively talented, north-south skaters (again) before I give up on him. Maybe Benson and Savoie (or Kulich)?

I'd like to see Krebs center a line with some offensive talent before tossing him out with the bath water. I recall he centered for Quinn and JJ in Rochester for a brief stint and did well with them (4 + 11 = 15 in 18 games). His +/- was terrible then, but he ended this season with +2.

I liked Granato a lot as a person and enjoyed listening to him on WGR when I could. I certainly can't judge him on Xs and Os, but just as important, if not more so IMHO, is motivating players. They are pros and supposed to be motivated, but that belies human nature. They rarely looked motivated in the first period (it seems they'd only come to life when they were down or waited until the last period). In fact, the past 2 years, it also looked like the team would wait until the second half (or later) of the season to start playing in a manner showing they wanted to make the playoffs. To me, that is all on the coaching staff. These players obviously need external motivation. You don't necessarily need some guy who is going to crack the whip, as there are different ways to motivate people. But it seemed pretty clear that Granato either didn't think it was necessary or relied on a method that wasn't connecting.

I don't think the simple projection over an 82 game season gives you an accurate estimate of his potential annual production because he came back from serious injuries, twice this season. Give him a healthy start and year, and I'd say he's a 35-40 goal scorer.

Just finished the first season of this Scifi show based on a trilogy from a Chinese author. You may recognize the names of the show's creators, Benioff and Weiss.

This reminds me of something I purposely do wrong. When someone asks me how I'm doing, I say "I'm good" because I think saying "I'm well" sounds snobbish. An anecdote about learning languages and colloquialisms. My (first) wife was Japanese, and one day she asked me what does "waddaya" mean? It took me a few minutes to realize it was the colloquial version of "what do you". Kind of like innit. We certainly can make it rough on those learning English.

I had a point to make, but it's mute.

Dahlin has more talent, not by a large amount though. Byram is more aggressive in the O zone, but I think Dahlin had to pick his moments, given the poor D they played. I think we'll start to see a more aggressive Dahlin now as they gain more experience together.

The offense seems to be turning a corner, the team D is better, and UPL is a top 5 goalie in GAA, top 10 in Save%. Oh, and they just went + on the goal differential. There seems to be a lot of "there" there.

I feel like I'm watching this:

Next year could look like: Skinner-TT-Tuch JJP-Cozens-Quinn Savoie-Krebs-Benson Greenway + 2 [Bring someone in who can stand up for his teammates without getting his face smashed in.] Kulich as the first call-up.

Go Habs!

A big part of it is UPL who now ranks in the top 10 in save %, and that 3rd quarter change coincides with his emergence as a legit #1.