lomekian

nice ... a play that starts off that bulls*** icing call with help from zetterberg making a bad decision..

Another fictional penalty. Glendenning called for a hook, when he was hooked....NHL officiating is really down the toilet...

Thanks! The frustrating thing is, if you could take the best qualities of each you could have an nhl first or second pairing d-man....of course the worst of each would be lucky to get into the echl ...of course the reason both have been persevered with is that their primary frailties are mental and, in theory conquerable, particularly in the case of Smith, who has just demonstrated a remarkable incapacity to learn from his mistakes and an inability to concentrate for more than two games in a row. Kindl is easier to jettison despite being marginally more consistent, because he just doesn't have the cojones to be consistently effective in this league. He plays like he's scared of being hurt, despite having been hurt less than almost any other player in our line-up. Despite being in N/A since 16, he is the archetypal soft-skilled euro that can't really survive in this league that don Cherry is thankful for. Smith is just an eejit who can be effective if playing with someone with serious brains. Smith is like the occasional guys we had who looked great alongside Lidstrom only to be badly exposed elsewhere. Key thing is neither has any consistency. I think kindl is a slightly safer option, but smith brings more energy and combativeness that this line-up needs more of. But ultimately both are less of a problem than our lack of quality higher up. Kroner was a 1b, but it's reverted to his normal level of being a #3. DDK is a very good #3/4. Ericsson is good at #4/5. Green we are still finding out about but essentially he is a 2nd pairing guy. Quincey is a #4/5/6 depending on who he's with. Smith and Kindl are both #6/7/8 d-men if we are honest, though smith can do the odd game higher up. Marchenko looks a decent bet for a career #5/6.. As with our forward line up, we halve lots of middle ranking players but the only ones who can claim to be top line locks are on the downward curve. The only real positive is that the proper transition has started and some of the kids look ready to contribute.

Smith is what he is...not nearly as bad as half the fan-base make out, but not nearly reliable enough to earn complete trust. One thing is for sure...he needs to be alongside someone who is more defensively solid and calm under pressure. Hence the reason he looks better next to kronner or DD....next to kindl you have jakub's primary weaknesses (a slight lack of intestinal fortitude and a related capacity to panick under intense pressure) intensified by a complimentary s***- storm of Smith's erratic decision making and Iack of awareness.

Calgary are actually pretty good but have been let down by individual errors and mostly abject goal-tending. Hiller makes three great saves and we hit the post twice in the first period, and then lose our best puck mover...that's the balance. If the flames can get decent goal-tendering they are a playoff calibre team, as their backline, when fully fit, has 5 guys who would upgrade our top 4.

Indeed, some of them looked out of gas late on...because we couldn't keep any control in their zone for sustained periods...Green on that first PP reminded us of what it was like to have a blue-liner who can hold the zone....

Green's injury was a massive decider in this game. His passing from the D made such a difference early on and allowed our top 2 lines to flourish....

Can't understand why the wings look so lethargic except in odd man rushes or desperate back-checks....I can understand why the D started to look gassed, but this team really needs to skate more up front. No surprise that the Larkin line looked the liveliest, but also the most wasteful! The makeshift third line looked like a fourth line for most the game TBH.

More headshots from Calgary....

What a spectacular dive by giordano! A fair penalty but his body went in multiple directions...

Typical flames....try to get energy by cheap shots after the whistle with a series of infractions that the officials are slow to pick up on. Decent period. Surprise surprise - Smith looks better when given more offensive responsibility and less defensive responsibility. Larkin line the best so far.

Some interesting stuff on here (don't know if reliable) to further muddy the waters https://twitter.com/JulieDiCaro https://twitter.com/JulieDiCaro/status/647421445425991680

Love the fact Franzen was a wings fan and had the gloves in 1988 - thats before the streak kids....

I prefer Tatar for his enthusiasm and hustle, but I think Nyquist is the better player. Better defensively, better playmaking for others and he just has a higher hockey sense. The downside is that he is more of a confidence player and thus more likely to blow hit and cold.

Larkin is the safest bet, (such smooth progression) and at the moment has little competition for his projected role. Mantha has an upside that may be even greater but a few more question marks, and may have more competition. Neither will see more than a handful of games this year, just as mantha was very unlikely to make the team even before his injury. Looking at lower draft picks, AA is the one who looks most nailed on at NHL level and probably has the highest ceiling, but I think Holmstrom has an alluring mix of intensity and smarts. D-wise, I think all are 2nd/3rd pairing guys, but I love marchenko's gone and think he has upside...

Also using the mutual shut down (edge to hank on an inferior team) in 2013 to compare peaks is not that great, as its 3-4 years after his peak, struggling with back problems and often stuck with at least one offensive vacuum. They are very similar players, and right now Toews is the better, but at his best hank could just do more

Lost a post refuting this do to summarise... Zetterberg was specifically lined up on Crosby. Crosby was at 1.5ppg in the region seasons AND playoffs and considered the best player in the NHL at forward. Hank out scored him significantly in both series. When not playing with Dats, quite common in those days, hank had bloody awful line mates. And even with Dats, homer for all we loved him was not a world class limemate. Hank was flexible enough to be a defensive centre, a goslscoring winger, a playmaker and a defence first or offence first guy depending on the situation. Apart from the final third of this season he has elevated the play of every line mate he's had, from hull to homer and from franzen to nyquist and Abby. Even dats best times have come when the twins are together. Zetterberg is smart enough to find chemistry with Almost every line mate given, not something that stamkos, dats, Malkin, toews or pretty much anyon not called Crosby can say at the mo. Were his back functional and his legs not slowing he'd still be toews equal even though his shot has dropped off. That's not to say the Chicago kid isn't special, but it's easy to forget excellence when one sees it 3 times s week for over a decade

Fetisov is treading a fine line. Having previously been given a position almost against his will to be Putin's mouthpiece, he's now trying to run on his own terms s little more. But there is a lot of idealogical conservatism in Russia at present, a lot of harking back to the 'glory days' and s lot fear. Despite the brief burst of genuine popular democracy in the early 1990s, Russia is s nation that has never experienced the level of freedom that the rest of take for granted. Even under the illusion of equality (where communism proved it nothing to do with socialism) it has always been a nation of servants and masters with an insular focus. Combine this with a pathological mistrust of the outside world and a history of being invaded, and it's easy to see the kind of views Fetisov has to appeal to to a certain degree.

Voracek has been worth that money for 2 years but it's a risky contract. That said the game he plays shouldn't drop off too much given his style and age. As for OV vs Toews, no contest. The Russian is probably one of the top 5 goal scorers of the last 40 years. Toews might just be in the top 5 2 way centres of the last decade. On a better built team OV would have the hardware for sure. Imagine him on dats wing from his draft date onwards....

At his peak zetterberg was the superior player. Neutered Crosby twice in the scf - was a PPG player in Reg and post season on a roster with 3 all time greats and a boat load of filler. Could be a goalscorer on the wing or a playmaker at centre. Could be the shut down guy or the top goal scorer. For 4 years was probably the too 2 way forward in the league or shared the accolade with dats. Serious big game warrior. Now, gotta be the Chicago boy. Hank will probably play more on the wing and has lost a step of mobility and has ongoing back issues. Also his shooting % has fallen off a cliff over the last 3 years. But in a one on one game 7 it'd probably still be tight.

On Pulks specifically, I think if he can hold down a 3rd line place with PP time, he well score on pace for 20 goals...His assist totals will likely be lower, though I'm not as down on his playmaking than others. He has enough about his game to contribute at NHL level, and perhaps has a longer term upside as 30/60 man, but will take a while to adjust. Agree with those that say his wider skillset is underrated, but he is still too guilty of just entering the zone and unleashing the slapper when other things aren't working. Much of his success will depend on who his linemates are. But the guy has the talent to finish that we need.

Without wishing to entirely re-open both debates, i think and have always thought you are wrong about the players you are talking about. Partly because you seem to operate primarily in absolutes. Howard (aforementioned) is a goalie worth his contract when fit. Anyone could see Mrazek had a higher ceiling, but when you have one guy proven at around the level you need, and one guy that might be lights out, but has barely played at the highest level, you don't jettison the proven man, even if his upside isn't quite as high. Either way, despite the fact that I've loved Mrazek since within a few months of the pick, equally, you can't bet the house on him yet. There have been plenty of goalies who start big and deteriorate. I don't think Petr will be one, and I expect him to become one of the top 5 in the NHL, but it doesn't make the Howard signing a mistake in anyway. Quincey was never as bad as people thought, and at the time he signed, that was the best option. He's turned out to be just about worth his contract, and no-one from below has done enough to push him out. He broke through to the NHL in LA as an offensive defenceman, and its taken time for him to take on the defensive mode we need him to. He'll likely be gone by the time the finance is an issue anyway. But the wings were NEVER going to give up on a player they invested so much in at the time when he seemed to finally get the system and elevate his play to the desired level. Franzen was both an excellent player and well worth his contract up until last season. Sure he floats, but he is positionally and defensively responsible, puts up points at 45-60 pace every year (even last year), and has great chemistry with Z and Nyquist. It looks like he's done due to concussions, but as an all round player he is a lot better than credited for, and when he gets hot, he can blow teams away. I'll be amazed if Pulks will ever get as good all round as Franzen was 07-13, and I'm very keen on the little finn. So much playing the soothsayer in retrospect when actually your track record is entirely debatable will piss people off.

That broadway story made me laugh. As a professional actor you see bloody hissy fits all the time from never-were's let alone has beens. And if the assistant is crying because of what he said, she needs to grow some chops because I've had far worse things said to me by people when I've not only been in the right, but also totally conciliatory. If it wasn't him and didn't fit his persona, it wouldn't be a story. As for the broader issue, the sports world is full of people who didn't last because they didn't have the mindset to make the incredible sacrifices necessary to be a top level pro sportsperson, as much in terms of personality as lifestyle choices (due to the tedium of the dullness of many extremely professional but charisma-less teammates), and Avery is one of them. He played up to his panto villain too far, and pissed off the wrong people because he had the dangerous element of intelligence and imagination, but not nearly as much as he thinks. He always knew his role, but never knew the line, which is why things got tricky for him. That said, I've no doubt that his bad behaviour was blown out of proportion because he pissed off the wrong people, and things got into the public domain that would have been kept quiet had they been the actions of others. The article is well written, articulate and thoughtful, but also demonstrates a characteristic lack of personal accountability for his mistakes.

The D is an interesting situation because with free agents and promotions it could be very different, but equally it might be the same. I suppose the biggest question is will the coach keep the Babcock tight positional play that has been reasonably successful or take a risk and go for a more offensive style? The answer to that will determine the futures of many players on the roster, including kindl, smith, weiss, jurco and possibly Pulks, all of whom would be keen to see the latter. One of the interesting questions for the new set up is can they get the playoff version of Brendan Smith to show up in the reg season. In the post season he has looked like a top 4 dman, but in the 82 games he can fluctuate from top 4 to #8 without warning. Kindl also has question marks...although he gets the easy ice time, his points to games ratio is not bad at all, and he is one of the few of our D who actually can hit the net on the PP, and he plays great stretch passes. Can they get him to overcome his indecision and lack of fight in his own end? Big asks, but either coming off would be a big help. Can Big Rig get his confidence back with a healed hand and actually look a top 4 damn? Will DD continue to progress? Will KFQ be able to maintain last seasons form without babs? Or might he even surpass it and re-find his offensive touch as seen in LA and Colorado? We know Marchy and XO can cope with Blashill, but can they REALLY step up? And of course, one can assume KH will try to find a FA upgrade. Landing any of the current options creates spare assets. A trade for an upgrade seems unlikely, but the cap space of others may yet change that, especially from teams out west. As for what I'd like to see... If we can't get Green or Franson at a reasonable price, i would consider Martin, Sekera or maybe even Erhoff or Meszaros (if cheap cheap) if we can swing send some other assets away for an upgrade. Otherwise leave along. Up front, Drew Stafford is an obvious option, Joel Ward as an outside choice but really there isn't much and I'd probably prefer to stand pat. Again if we trade assets, maybe Shawn matthias, glencross,Justin Williams or possibly at a push Frolik come into, but only would be worth considering if we can shift others out to bring an upgrade on the back end. In net, I can't see Jimmah leaving, so no change except possibly in GR. If no trades or signings of note happen, I'd be tempted to shake up some of the lines. Tats works well with D but also with Sheahan so I'd be tempted to go with. Z - D - Abby Tats - Sheahan - Jurco Franzen/Pulks - Helm - Nike MIller, Glen, Ferraro NK - BS KQ - DD JE - AM Of course Weiss and Kindl if not traded will rotate in, and I wouldn't be surprised if the former bounces back to complicate things no end! But I would only do so on the basis of situational line rotation and fairly equal ice time for the top 3 lines. Its tricky because it would mean Tats/Sheahan/Jurco would be the only balanced line really. Nyquist has great chemistry with Zetterberg, but the only other person he seems to really have that telepathy with is Franzen and I can't see him coming back or staying back. Otherwise that's a good line because of Franzen's size, and Nyquist's speed taking some of the physical pressure of Z, but only really works if Z and Franzen can rotate central duties as I don't see Z as a full time center from here on in. Dats can kind of play with anyone as long as there is at least someone providing good forecheck pressure. Pulks I can see moving up and down the line up until he finds a fit as his shot makes him a threat on any line that gets offensive zone time. Certainly the 4th line picks itself as the roster stands. On the back end the only pair that works for both is KQ and DD, and I'm scared of having Kronwall and Ericsson together as Kronner's skating has declined and Ericsson's first 5 yards is SLOOOOW. Smith on the first line IS a massive risk, but he seems to play better when a) given more responsibility and b) with someone really smart! In an ideal world someone comes in alongside Kronner or Marchenko suddenly takes 3 steps forward. We all know our back end is horribly imbalanced and suffers from quantity over quality, so unless we get someone in from outside then there is no really satisfactory solution. I know Smith higher up the line-up might go horribly wrong, but if nothing changes roster wise, i'd prefer to take the risk first up and give him a chance and the confidence to utilise his strengths. Like many, I suspect he just doesn't have what it takes between the ears, but he does seem to switch on when pushed front row centre. As for PP, I only think smith works if we play 2 d- men and he can roam, effectively being a demi forward, so if the current set up works with the coaching changes I'd use him sparingly. I say utilising him there is less of a priority than getting the Pulkcannon in positions to use that slap shot. Our finn has much development to do, but he has the best slapshot and one of the best wristers on the roster and he WILL shoot, so if he's on the team that has to be utilised, and not too close to the crease. His release and ability to find space will never match Brett Hull's but he's the closest this club has seen since.

Shows just how common really unpleasant flying headshots and elbows were really not that long ago....Scott Stevens would have been a walking suspension....