lomekian

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About lomekian

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    2nd Line Scorer
  • Birthday 04/05/1978

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    London - England (not Ontario)

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  1. lomekian

    Official 2019 Offseason Rebuild Thread

    RE Rasmussen vs Hughes - I wouldn't make the trade. 1) Comparing who is better when they are totally different players in style, physique, skillset and position seems like a futile task unless on is a totally different tier of player to the other. 2) Rasmussen has the potential to offer something to my mind more unique. Hughes undoubtedly has special skill and skating, but if Ras can develop more strength (as seems very likely given his size) and a bit more motor (more of a question mark), he could become the best net front guy in the league, and a very useful guy in the corners, on the boards and in the forecheck. I think hughes' style of d-man is increasingly common in junior and breaking into the league, so given our likely poor NHL performance next year as well, I give us a greater chance of picking up a hughes style guy than a Rasmussen style guy. Rasmussen is stylistically a bit of a throwback, and as long as there aren't too many of them on the roster, it could be useful in complement to others. Also, I;ve been sick of seeing us get dominated by middle line 6"4+ centers so much over the last decade, from Staal's to Bjugstad, and the potential of someone who matches up well against that sort of player, who is already defensively responsible is something I'm keen on. 3) Hughes is such a boom/bust player at the NHL level. We KNOW Rasmussen will be a useful NHL-er with a clearly defined skillset. Hughes may turn into a midget Erik Karlsson. But he may also be unable to cope defensively with the size mismatch as an NHL dman - what I've seen of him does leave question marks in this direction. Of course, if we draft the younger hughes, I might answer differently, because one would assume they have a good understanding!
  2. lomekian

    Realistic Window to Competitiveness

    Agree with those that say the current contracts won't stop us. Neither player is useless and frankly the contracts are only concerning due to the lack of top quality elsewhere. Up front we have a decent young roster, but we lack any top pieces on defence and are short of 1 or 2 potentially elite forwards. In goal we are 'meh'. if all goes well-ish we could be a playoff team in 2 years and a contender in 4. For the first time in a long time, our roster is clearly focused on the future as much as the now. A bit of lottery luck or good drafting. A couple of smart FA's and we could easily be back in the game for real In 4 years. if decisions are bad, however....
  3. lomekian

    Wings Recall Hicketts

    If KH got offered a 2nd for Glendening, he'd have been traded. Probably also if he'd been offered a 3rd & a 4th. For anything less than that, trading him would have been pointless and counter-productive. He's a 4th liner who is good on faceoffs, defensively responsible, scored 10+ goals and is on pace for a career year. He's also a guy who can look decent on a wing, and even fill in on the 3rd line in a push and not look hopeless. Also his cap hit isn't nearly as bad as people make out. He's also the perfect example of the undrafted unwanted guy made good in the modern game, and as such is no bad thing as a sign-post. Back on topic, it makes more sense to look at Hicketts at NHL than Hronek. Hronek we know will get looks at the NHL level, but we also know he's positionally poor at present. Hicketts for his limitations has been an all situations guy, did well in preseason, and is closer to his ceiling. So it makes more sense to look at him and see what we've got, in order to inform moves this summer. Hronek will like be on GR next year anyway due to his defensive shortcomings, so its less urgent to look at him.
  4. Reading this thread's last couple of pages makes me wonder if perhaps you could do with finding greater meaning elsewhere in your life, rather than badgering someone to confess that you, oh wise one, were right all along. Mrazek has shown that he has great natural talent. He has also shown that lacks the positional fundamentals to maximise that talent consistently. The latter should be considerably easier to acquire than the former, but alas he is now further from doing so than he was when he first broke into the league. This suggests greater mental fragility than he demonstrated through his junior and earlier professional career. Can he fix it? Who knows? At this stage there are still a whole load of possibilities from finding himself back in eastern europe for the remainder of his career, to turning it around and becoming a good starting NHL goaltender. Very few goaltenders have become what they will be at his age, and that includes those who start great and tail off, and those who suddenly find consistency. None of us know the guy personally, so can't comment on whether he has the mental strength, flexibility, humility and intelligence to become the player he once looked very likely to be. And now he's not a wing any longer, very few of us care.
  5. lomekian

    Wings Interested In Resigning Green

    Like most, if he wants to come back 2-3 years, $4-5m cap hit, and his neck is ok, I think it's a no brainer. Even if we want to tank, having a D who can effectively give possession to the kids up front is still well worth it, unless we want to go fulll EDM, BUF or ARI. It also means Hronek can come up as a second RHD offensive D without the same amount of pressure, while learning his role from the only person on our roster with a comparative skill set. Also provides a talented partner option for Cholowski, which would be really limited otherwise. And allows us to keep Ericsson and Daley together who seen to work as a pair and boost each other's potential trade value. this isn't like re-singing Helm. This would be keeping the best player in our weakest position. and unless he drops off a cliff, we can always trade him in 2 years.
  6. Essentially Mrazek re-found his game just a little too late. By the time he returned to some semblance of form, Howard had dropped off, and as such was going to be very hard to trade. i prefer Mrazek, and wish we'd kept him, but in Detroit's situation if you can't trade Jimmy I guess you have to trade Mrazek because you can't have $9m invested in two goalies who have both got significant consistency issues. DRW's big problem has been that they have never really been good at the same time. Both seem to need to feel safe as number 1 to perform, and neither is to date consistent enough to justify it. So it was always going to be a case of trading which you could. I think that wrong choice was made, but equally I can see why it was the choice taken, particularly with Holland's current MO of trying to simultaneously stock up on picks AND sneak into the playoffs.. Mrszek and Tatar were both great draft picks, who in a different era would have been bigger successes for us. But both have already returned more than it took to get them, even if Philly somehow miss the playoffs, so I guess we csnt be too angry. Obviously the ideal is for Mrazek to take Philly to the ECFabf either get re-signed or have a meltdown in that series (to Tampa ideally!) and somehow be coaxed to come back as a UFA if we shift Jimmy in the summer. Which is incredibly unlikely!
  7. lomekian

    Two Tendies Enter. One Tendy Lives.

    I have always been rather pro both goalies. Jimmy is a genuine starting goaltender who goes through bad patches and a bit injury prone. Mrazek is a young pretender who has shown patches of brilliance and patches of not being up to snuff. At present Jimmy is the more reliable guy, and (until the last fortnight) less likely to lose you a game. I still vote Mrazek simply because he's shown more by now than Jimmy had at the same age, and when he's in the zone he's better than JImmy, though we've only seen it occasionally over the last year. Were the team in danger of a playoff run, I'd go with Jimmy. But the team is going nowhere with a mediocre roster and a worse than mediocre coach, and the accidental tank is in full effect. So what's the point on marginalising the young guy who still has time to turn things back around simply to overplay a guy who isn't going to get any better and isn't likely to be around as a starter by the time we are competitive again, particularly when the last few years his body hasn't held up to being overplayed. If we are going to have a goalie deathmatch, at least give them an equal chance.
  8. lomekian

    Rumors Thread

    Probably avoiding too much black or grey in the rest of the uniform might help too! That's the problem with German WWI & Nazi appropriated images - they did it really well with a great flair for design, colour relationships and detail. Just ask Hugo Boss about the SS uniforms. Reminds me of the Mitchell and Webb sketch:
  9. lomekian

    Rumors Thread

    I still have hope that Hronek can be a genuine number 3. He's doing pretty well in the AHL when the rest of Grand Rapids are underachieving statistically in a big way. I think we also have enough d prospects with safe 5/6 written all over them. So the question is does *insert young D here* appear to be a future #1 or #2 (or at very worst #3) with a high floor to make sure the worst we end up with is a #4? And are they likely to be ready to get an NHL look at least in the next 18 months. If its yes to both, I'd trade Nike, and that should be enough with the right trading partner (seeing as we mostly think he's worth a 1st in a deep draft). If its no to either, it depends on if you can get another late pick or another maybe D prospect. If its no to both, walk away. I've not seen enough of Fabbro to comment, but from what I know, I like him more than Bean.
  10. lomekian

    Rumors Thread

    Its a bit Kaiser Wilhelm WWI (as occasionally evoked by the Nazis). In Abstract it is very cool logo...in context you might be a bit worried where the $$$ were coming from. You could almost count the months till someone wearing one perpetrated a mass shooting... This is dream scenario of course. And much like trading for Karlsson, I'll be astounded if it happens!
  11. lomekian

    Rumors Thread

    Exactly where I stand. If Karlsson says he dreamt of playing for the wings, its an honour to do so, and he can see himself making a home here long term, then firing on anyone but Larkin is an easy decision
  12. lomekian

    Two Tendies Enter. One Tendy Lives.

    Thanks for explaining that. Its a good stat, and isn't pretty for Mrazek, who somehow features lower than Niemi despite having a considerably better save %. So basically Mrazek's been excellent in one start, good-average in another couple and pretty poor in 3. Howard's been Brilliant in about 1/3rd, just above or below average in another 3rd and rubbish in the rest. Mrazek, luckily for him still has others below him on the list, so he's not literally the worst.... The problem with QS% is that it, like other advanced style stats only tells half of the story. At present the best goalies in the league by that measure are Oscar Dansk, Ryan Miller, Reto Berra, David Rittich, Carter Hutton, Fleury, and Charlie Lindgren. It also puts Jimmy Howard as considerably above Lundqvist, Rask, Jake Allen, Dubnyk and a few others with more wins, better save %s etc. It is partly useful, but as a measure of consistently being above average than anything else, but totally fails to factor in meltdown games or weak goals.It also fails to take into account the quality of the opposition or quality of the team. Both our goalies would much higher up the QS% list if they had STL's blue line in front of them (and a competent team coach). It is not without merit though, for sure.
  13. lomekian

    Two Tendies Enter. One Tendy Lives.

    And you literally used the word literally contrary to its actual meaning. 10 points! At present, Howard is the marginally better and certainly more consistent goalie. But Mrazek must be wondering why he can't get a start against shot shy Florida after Howard playing like a sieve for the last fortnight. Howie was excellent for about 12-15 games, and in the games since then he;s been worse than Mrazek. At present,Mrazek remains more likely to steal you a game against all odds, but also more likely to lose you one by letting in goals he shouldn't. Howard routinely has stretches where he plays very well, but when those stretches end, he often is pretty weak for a few in a row. Mrazek is more likely to be brilliant one game and poor the next, but also seems to find it really hard to perform without a run of games or if overplayed like he was a couple of years ago. What is interesting is when Mrazek first came into the team, his numbers were boosted by the team playing better and more supportive D in front of him than Howard. For the last year (the latter half of Mrazek's struggles) its been the opposite. That said, this team's d is going to expose most goalies. If we're riding Howard while the playoffs is still possible, I can see the logic in that (though not to this extent given his physical vulnerability), but once that gives up the ghost, we'd better give Mrazek more games. To not give him a run to see if he can re-find his former level, particularly once the season is gone, would be really quite stupid, given how long this organisation perseveres with skaters who have never excelled.
  14. lomekian

    Two Tendies Enter. One Tendy Lives.

    My fear too. I like Jimmy, but he's not going to be at his peak when this team is competitive, and if Mrazek can re-find his game, he will be. Also when Mrazek's head is right and his positioning is on, he is capable of amazing displays. I guess I fear that we could let him go for one more year of Jimmy, only for him to be in Vezina discussions elsewhere in 3-4 years.
  15. lomekian

    Two Tendies Enter. One Tendy Lives.

    Fair enough - apologies for misunderstanding you - In which case Mrazek compares really well! I mean researching what I wrote I was genuinely surprised by how many excellent goaltenders he outperformed in his first 3 seasons, including his crappy last year. I guess normally inconsistent young goalies aren't on teams that don't score any goals, so their play isn't as damaging. As you say, if Mrazek returns to his former level, the starter position is there for the taking. I'm just frustrated that Blash isn't using him either in the best way to rebuild his confidence, or indeed the best way to use any vaguely competent back up, and has seemingly flamed out Howard in the process. What's the point of saying you'll let performances determine ice time and then reward Mrazek's shutout by following up him letting in 2 softies against a rampant Calgary (with an awful defensive effort) with a fortnight of splinters on the bench. But then since our winning run, Blashill's coaching has been in insane panic mode...