Jorcus

The legend of Mitts. I remember him going through a scoring streak so bad he stopped even trying to shoot the puck. In 21-22 he shot 7.6 % for 40 games In the next year he got to a respectable 11.1 % but he did not start playing well until the second half of the year. I think a lot of the improvement had to do with the Granato coaching. Granato let him focus on the things he did well. He got good at gaining and maintaining puck possession. He limited his passes to no one and bad giveaways and then the assist started to come. Finally he has gained some scoring touch. In a sense you are right they cleared a path for Cozens and there is a chance it won't work out. I would still say Cozens has more upside and in general will put more pucks in the net than Casey will.

I have to wonder if the Oilers would not have made this move if they knew they were going to lose Holloway and Broberg. From the Oilers point of view it was a forward looking money issue I think.

One of the things he needs to improve on is staying on his skates more. He can get knocked off the puck or he comes into battles off balance.

That is a good question. They are not going to do that.

If Aube-Kubel plays Saturday and there are no other injuries, it looks like Benson or Juri would go back to Rochester as they are waiver exempt. So who goes? Was the sit down to prepare Benson for the possibility? Chin up kid, we will call you when we need you.

one of the youtube versions vicious fight.

removed see you tube

Ducks are right on our tail. 0-17 for the year. If the Sabres want to be the worst PP in the NHL they better get to work losing face offs, sloppy drop passes, stay away from the front of the net and miss the net on the slap shots, that should keep you where you are.

One has to keep in mind that it may take Samuelsson time to get back to where he was. It can take players time to get back up to speed after a long time off. This team has also gone 2 defensive transitions since he last played. Remember how Clifton sucked the first 20 games of last year? Once he got comfortable his play improved. 2 years ago we could not win a game without Sammy in the lineup. That shut down D man is in there someplace waiting to come back out. He will get better I am pretty certain of that. Quinn has had periods in his past where his production has gone to almost zero. It happened when he was an Amerk. Maybe there is something wrong but he has been the most disappointing player so far. Cozens gets his chances it sucks that he does not score on them. Quinn does not even seem to get many good looks.

I think if both those guys came back Benson is going to get the hook. What can he do that Aube Kubel can not? They are just not going to take Cozens out. Quinn and Kulick may trade off depending how things are going.

It looks to me like Thompson skated better last night than any game since his back injury. He was up and down the ice. The first line was hard to handle again last night.

The Amerks deserved better last night. They totally controlled play in the 1st. They had speed the won battles and even though the power play did not score it got in the zone had good movement and number of shots that the goalie made good saves on. They kind of lapsed a little in the second after they got the 2-0 lead then when the Sandstrom give away goal happened they got a little sloppy after. Going into the third down 3-2 does not stop another in close shot. The difference was goaltending. Rosen blew a breakaway attempt, Rousek raced to get a get a puck, Toronto's D man can't keep up so he does the slide, and somehow Rousek jumps over him with the puck to get a shot off. Akhtyamaov was good for Toronto and that was how they won. As far as the prospects they all had moments. I would not say anyone looked dominant. Helenius is the youngest player in the AHL and he looked comfortable. Rathbone was an interesting pick up. He has good shot. He is an undersized D man but should be a good Amerk and emergency call up.

Total gaff by Sandstrom. He came out to play the puck with plenty of time. I think he wanted to shoot it out of the zone then when pressure came he tries to wrap it around behind the goal. Instead of going behind the goal it banks to the front of the crease which he is 15 feet away from where Nylander gets the easy tap in. That sucked.

I think Tuch has been ok. Maybe not his very best. Pittsburg had a very hard time against that line in general. They did not play very well last night but when Peterka is on the line in general they are pretty good. They are not as productive with Benson on the line.

At this point I would lean to other factors. He thrived in the all out early Granato system. Offence first, gambling defense. He scored a lot of goals playing that way. When it came to playing clamp down hockey post injury is when things started going south. The thing is he is still getting a lot of good chances but he is going to have to play more of a system game. Ruff alluded in post game comments, too much one on one hockey. Whatever happens to that line they have to get better established in the O zone. I don't every remember Benson playing well with Cozens. Quinn drifting around does not help. That is odd because they have played well together before. For now I would go back to Quinn and Juri with Cozens. I don't know what you do with Benson right now. He is not taking JJ's spot. I know people are going to freak out but he may be the odd player out for a few games.

I don't think you want to throw a 20 year old kid with a left handed shot on the right wing and tell him to go figure it out. I would like to see him back in the line up but replacing Quinn with Juri is not a good option.

Sure does look like Krebs went low on him.

One thing I noticed during the second half of last year when the D men got the puck they were good about protecting it behind the net and would support each other until possession was established and they could find a way out of the zone. It was more transitional than rush plays. The first 2 games were kind of bad overall in the structure. There were a lot of players running into each other. In the last 2 games it has gotten much better, they do seem to want to move the puck up ice quicker which is fine but they have to be wary of the giveaways. So it looks a bit different in structure to me. They did a great job when they had the lead breaking up the Panthers attack.

Thompson is playing much better than he was at the start of last year. He is skating much better now than he was then. He is also passing more rather than trying to stick handle his way out of a jam. There is hope he will get back to what he was.

The problem is they are going to get back to normal in one game. They will hang 9 on the Jackets or the Blackhawks but at the end of the day it will only be 2 points, then it's back to fighting hard to get 2 in the net. Well I hope it doesn't go that way but they are going to have to win or at least get loser points in the tough ones. They do seem a bit snake bit to start.

I will say this about the Power play at least they are trying different things with different players. They are not going to sit on the same 5 guys passing the puck around the outside like last year. They still need more net front presence. They need to set up the screens better. I saw Benson setting a screen on a 5 on 5 but the trouble is the goalie could see over the top of him. Greenway is probably the answer for that.

Please bring the young sisters back. When they sing I expect Mothra to come crashing through the roof.

New Jersey is far from being an under the radar contender for the cup. In betting pools they are just behind the Oilers and Panthers in wagering, tied with the Avalanche and the Stars on Fan duel. On some sites they are tied for second with the Panthers. They are a very good team.

Ivan Ivan scores in the loss for the Avalanche. I don't know if he is any good but you have to like his name.

I was just in Athens among other places as well. Athens is a bit gritty in places but I liked it a lot. Easy to get in and get around to the good spots. Not to expensive and a lot to see.