kipwinger

Before my time, did he fight actual tough dudes though?

I don't care whether Seider fights or not, but I do wish Kostin/Fischer/Chiarot would have beat the sh*t out of someone last night. Both Fabbri and Larkin got hit hard in the numbers. Would have liked to see some kind of response there.

Same, and I genuinely don't know the answer to this. There has to be a rationale behind doing it. But it also clearly isn't working. So I'm left wondering whether the strategy is flawed or the execution is flawed.

Danielson is coming on a bit now, but ultimately he hasn't really been dominating in the WHL. I'm not in a rush to move him up a level just yet. After training camp I thought maybe he should be on a fast track but it hasn't shaken out that way. I think he needs to just play at this level and learn to dominate before we start thinking about him in GR.

I presume he would as well, but Brandon is pretty solidly in a playoff spot so I don't think it matters much. Maybe if they lose early.

I get what you're saying, and I've said the same things myself. But there has to be a reason why teams do it right? I guess I'm trying to consider whether Lalonde does this defensive shell thing because it's was effective in Tampa and we just need to improve at executing it? Using your analogy, team's don't run a 2 minute offense all game in the NFL because you're more likely to make mistakes, you'd tire out your offensive player, take more penalties, etc. They do it situationally because it can sometimes work in short stints. But here's the thing, teams have to drill their hurry-up offense over and over and over to get good at it. It's not just their regular offense but all sped up. It's an entirely different system. So is our defensive shell an entirely different system that we need to keep working at to improve upon? Or is it a bad concept overall? I have no idea.

Legit question here, but do good teams also go into a defensive shell when they have a big lead in the 3rd but just execute it better? I'm wondering if this isn't something Tampa did, Lalonde learned (or helped implement) and he's trying to teach the Wings how to do it...but we're just not very good at it? The reason I asked is because a few years ago it was all the rage to criticize Blashill for using the drop pass on powerplay entries. Everyone raked him over the coals about it. But if you watch, most of the rest of the teams in the league use it too. The problem wasn't that we used the drop pass. The problem was that we weren't very good at using it and needed to get better at it. So, is playing a conservative system late in a game the league standard that we need to improve upon? Or is it something we shouldn't do at all?

I know. My point is that we've seen/heard this all before. Karlsson can't play defense, doesn't even really bother trying, scores a bunch but gets scored on even more, and they lose. It's a tail as old as time. I'm not sure why Pittsburgh thought it would be different now. Oh wait, yeah I do. Kyle "Why Bother With Defense" Dubas.

We keep going into this defensive shell, chasing the puck, and taking penalties. We do this every single game.

Two goals for Danielson tonight, and points for Berggren and Edvinsson as well.

No argument from me there. I had to look him up just now to see where he's playing and how he's doing. Spoiler Alert: He's in the ECHL with Toledo and he's injured. Two points in two games though.

Anybody know the status of Alex Tuch? I hope he's out, that guy's a beast.

Yup. That was his last draft. And SY has stated publicly that his Directors of Amateur Scouting run the draft.

How was he great? Lemme guess, he scored a lot.

Tyler Wright didn't pick Broberg. Broberg was taken the same year as Seider (Yzerman's first). You will all remember that Yzerman got the job about a month before the draft and kept all of Holland's people in place until after the draft. You can find pictures of Wright on stage with Yzerman and Seider. You can also find articles about how Wright "pounded the table" for Antti Tuomisto that same draft. In short, you're all as dumb and wrong as you typically are. I kid, I kid...sorta.

Y'all hear Tage Thompson will be back tonight?

I've said it before and I'll say it again, he's not good. He scored 100 points last year and was MINUS 26!!! They're paying full price (11.5 million) for a guy who is 33 years old, scores all the time, and somehow manages to get scored on even more than that. Pittsburgh fans should tie Kyle Dubas to a lamp post and tar and feather him. Instead they blame Sullivan because they're all just as dumb, and impressed by flashy players, as Dubas is.

I swear the level of dingbattery amongst hockey pundits and fans is absolutely epic. Over at The Athletic there's an article disparaging Mike Sullivan for the mess the Penguins are in. At no point in an article (that both praises Dubas' acquisition of Erik Karlsson and laments their lack of depth) does the writer take one second to point out that Pittsburgh is paying Karlsson 11.5 million dollars (against the cap) to be a defenseman and powerplay specialist...neither of which he's doing well. To put this into perspective, that's how much we're paying JT Compher, Shayne Gostisbehere, and Daniel Sprong combined. And all it cost them was a first round pick and at least two players they could currently use more than Karlsson. It's the dumbest trade in recent memory. What did that trade actually accomplish? Well, it definitely made Kyle Dubas look like a big shot. So good for him.

I think Kane is gonna go tonight. He's always had a flair for the dramatic and this would be very on brand.

Kaner, you ready to treat the Sabres like the cabbies they are? Good, cuz you're going!!!

He absolutely demolished us at multiple points last season. Here's hoping we've got some sort of plan for defending him this time around. Personally I'd just have Kostin attack him the first time he touches the ice.

If we need offense at the deadline I'd target Tommy Novak. He's 26, going to be a UFA, and really good offensively. He'd be a nice piece that we could sign for a few years. I'm all set on Stamkos.

Edit: Wrong thread

The only other thing I didn't mention but should add is that I think both Wallinder and Kasper are having a bit harder time adjusting to the North American game than Edvinsson or Johansson did. I think so much of their games is predicated on hanging on to the puck and skating and they haven't learned that in North America you have to give and go more.

I've had the chance to watch a lot of the Griffins games this year on AHL TV and figured I'd give my impressions of a few guys: Edvinsson and Berggren: I'm grouping these two together (and not saying much about them) because they're both too good for the AHL and everyone already knows that. William Wallinder: His offense really hasn't shown through in the AHL because he's basically stuck behind half the roster and doesn't get those juicy offensive opportunities. I think he stands to gain the most when Edvinsson is inevitably called up. He transitions the puck better than any defenseman in our system though. Cross Hanas: Like Wallinder I think he stands to gain a lot from a Berggren promotion. He's my darkhorse to be an impact guy in the NHL. I see a lot of Bertuzzi in him. He's skilled enough to compliment top players, is an adept shooter and passer, is very smart in the offensive zone, but his skating will stop him from being a star. Marco Kasper: I think all the "Kasper has limited offense" talk on draft day really got to his head because he spends too much time playing East-West hockey and trying to be cute now. Once he realizes that being a big, fast, gritty, two way guy is his bread and butter he's going to be fine. If I could I would hook him to one of those Pavlovian response machines they used in "A Clockwork Orange" and force him to watch JT Compher's shifts over and over again, giving him electric shock every time he thinks about trying anything cute. Amadeus Lombardi: The only thing stopping this guy from being a difference maker is time and opportunity. He's absolutely awesome and just needs time to physically grow (which he's still doing) and for some of the players above him on the roster to move on. He's got it all, skating, passing, shooting, etc. but he also does the little things too. Really good faceoff guy and backchecks like a demon. I've heard it said that the most important attribute to have in order to be an NHL center is a brain, and he definitely does. I'm still convinced he can be a star in the NHL. Sodorblom and Mazur: I'm not going to say much about these two because my impression is that they're both playing exactly as advertised. Mazur is the Red Wings version of Reilly Smith (I mean that in the best way) and Sodorblom has all the skill and just needs to keep working on his skating (like Rasmussen did). Albert Johansson: Incomplete. Played hurt for a while and is just now getting back. Plays in all situations AND on his off side though, which is useful. Reminds me of (Chicago) Nick Leddy. Sebastian Cossa: I'm not well versed enough with the mechanics of goaltending to really give full insight here but he sure seems like he's figuring it out. He still lets in the occasional bad goal and in 2 of his 8 starts he looked pedestrian, but most of the time he's really really solid and I don't think that's a bad place for him to be 8 games into his pro careers. He's definitely outplaying Michael Hutchinson (a career AHL/NHL tweener).