shoobiedoobin

Mule surprised me with that nice block. Then he stood completely idle. Grabbed a puck. Then stood completely still again. Get rid of this idiot already.

It's a Crosby comment, on a hockey forum. I just don't even know anymore. He's been hated so long it's almost like you can feel the hipster contrarians defend him just to be different.

One of those things is true. Guy is overrated. Great scorer but his captaincy is no better than some others. He's got the attitude of a 14 year old girl and he doesn't look any more beloved in the locker room than some other great captains. He looks like he even rubs a few teammates the wrong way sometimes. And he's not even a top 5 skater in the league nevermind the best since Fedorov, that's just buying the marketing schtick way too hard.

I think part of it is that he knows his role. He's been around the block and doesn't expect to be any higher on the depth chart. Or if he does he knows it's not likely and is alright with it. Thus allowing him to just play how he needs to play. Whereas a guy like Kindl looks sometimes like he's trying too hard to play himself into the second pairing. I think we saw Ericsson doing the same thing a few years ago. When you feel like you have something to lose, or something to gain, and you let it get in your head you will screw up big time. It's when you let go and play loose that everything flows smoothly. When you hear the ol' saying that sports is mostly mental, that's accurate as hell. It is. Look at E when he came up from GR in that playoff run-he had nothing to lose, he knew he was going back down soon. He just played loose and it showed. Look at Lashoff-he has to know his time here may be limited. It's more realistic that he gets sent to GR soon and I think he's playing loose. I love that he's been so steady and his quick feet have impressed the hell out of me, but I want to see what happens when he's up full time and has something to lose. Time will tell, as always.

He's been exactly what we need for the third pairing. Experienced and stays at home, blocks shots, can clear a crease and be physical enough. Most importantly he doesn't make mistakes. You don't notice the guy. Kinda like Stuart minus the occasional huge hit. I like him a lot.

You can't blame Cleary for that, that happens every other play. If this game were tied, that would NOT be a penalty. These refs as per NHL status quo have taken the game over trying to keep it close. It's killing my interest in hockey more every time I see it.

Yeah, because a couple players chose to play together in Minnesota that erases the appeal of our team. That's broken logic. Sorry I'm usually pretty civil but that's just dumb.

Because part of what makes our team appealing to players is that we don't do stuff like that.

In hindsight yes but at the time Franzen was giving everyone pretty compelling reasons to choose he over Hossa for a couple mil less or so. Managing a team sometimes is about anticipation and foresight. Holland boofed this one. Which isn't that bad, he's gotten so many right and he had damn good reason to believe he'd be right here too. Y'know it wasn't so much Holland as it is Franzen making his decision look bad. If I had to pick Hossa vs Franzen actually trying, I'd take Franzen. But Hossa vs the Franzen we've seen for the past two years, Hossa in a goddamn landslide.

No, not really.

Height really doesn't have much to do with it. Helm can knock the s*** out of guys much bigger than him, and Abby isn't a slouch either. Cleary won't blow anyone up but he can play a sandpaper game.

I've wanted to see Helm and Tootoo together for awhile. I think Miller could work beside them. He typically pretty versatile and can match their intensity.

I just wish this didn't lead to forced, contrived BS from people. Frankly we look dead scared to look like homers so we hate and rip on our team more than we would normally. Such is the way when we're judgmental and afraid to be judged.

Yeah, because we signed him to that. Silly me, how could I not know that Kenny and the internet forum folks work hand in hand?

Kris Draper looked like Lenny. Subban looks like Carl. Damn, only a couple seasons too late.

He has all those things but I just can't stand when he makes a drop pass to no one, or forces a pass and we lose possession without anything good happening. Bertuzzi minus the wheels to get open is just killer. It will depend on the opponent.

Hence why I said I'd be more specific. I got lazy, big deal. He's really, really good 1 on 1. That's a great asset to have as a defender. And he's a good penalty killer. Not great but pretty good. But what gets me is people stop there. What about his ridiculous pinches that hurt the team? Or when he's defending a rush and refuses to play the puck and gets burned? What about during extended (not just quick) stays in the defensive zone where he'll flat out just lose his guy like misplaced car keys? There's an argument here but it's not about those things, he does those things and for what he's asking, no way. The argument to have is whether or not his competitiveness, skating and offensive potential outweigh those things. And on our team with our roster, I'd go more for someone a little different.

Nah, not really. I'll be more specific-for the rep he's acquired, he's not a great defender in his own end. He's alright, and it's easy to miss with his speed and whatnot but he doesn't play D any better than Kronwall. The guy is overrated. He looks like some other players who, and this doesn't just go for hockey, are athletic as hell and that can carry you pretty far but eventually he'll make some bumble assed mistake that makes you scratch your head, that a natural defenseman wouldn't have made. Plunk the kid next to a seriously responsible dman and you might have a great pairing but for what he's demanding in cash he can become a salary problem for someone else. Just like his brother-everyone loves the kid but he's overrated.

I know man but this isn't Scotty's team. And Scotty had a different way of doing it from Babs (such as letting chemistry develop if it was there) but let's say he didn't for the sake of argument. I don't think this specific team works well when being split up every two games. The old teams could and I think we partly got by because of how stacked we were. But we're not anymore and I don't think our guys are developing any quaker instant chemistry while being juggled constantly. I just don't think this team we have now responds well to it. Some teams do, some don't. I don't think Scotty would make it work with them either. I'm not opposed to juggling, I just think we need to be a little more patient if the potential is showing itself. I really do truthfully think that if we just got rid of Mule, and had Bert play permanently in the bottom 6, and had a couple fast hard working bodies with adequate skill in the top 6, suddenly our need to line flip all the time wouldn't be there. There's a deeper problem than just chemistry.

Subban doesn't play defense. If you're OK with defining the best dman on the team as a guy who is just flashy then cool but I'd like my guys to play a little more defense. What we're going through is what every team is going through who doesn't possess Suter, Weber, Chara or maybe Pietrangelo. We're realizing that this league is in a serious elite defenseman drought and getting one is tough as hell. It may be best to load up on a ton of Bs instead of looking for one A. Or something like that.

I dunno about this. I will hardly ever question our coach but our top 6 didn't look bad. We weren't scoring but we weren't having trouble hitting a ton of posts and moving the puck. It really felt like a situation where we just need an extra few games before the chemistry settled in. Especially with Hank, Pav and Brunner. They showed so much potential and now, sorry to say, I don't like how these lines look. I always like how Pav and Flip play together. But Bert as much as I like the guy is slow and can kill entire shifts with his choices with the puck in the offensive zone. Brunner and Z obviously work well together, they showed it overseas and in the first few games. But Mule? s*** c'mon we can shift the lines all we want, it won't make him work any harder. Some people are born lazy and don't have what it takes to change. He's going to be an anchor, not for the same reasons as Bert but the end result might well be the same. Like I've said before I will hardly ever call for a player to straight up get off the team but Mule is 4 mil, and a top 6 spot, that we could be giving to someone willing to skate their ass off. He's an anchor that's holding down whatever line he's on. And have fun passing to him when he won't skate to get open. This can and will kill us if we let it. I seriously hope I'm wrong and somehow chemistry develops but I'm just not a fan of how frequently Babcock mixes his lines up. I think even if a few lines have the chance to work we may never know.

Huskins played one game. And he did well. You're just looking for something to rant about. That salary scenario isn't that scary. I think you mix the fact that we're too afraid to look like Holland lovers with the fact that we nitpick everything and instantly Kenny is treated like a bumbling idiot. The 750k wasn't for one game. Holland I'd bet my last cent takes more into account than your average forum knowitall who really knows jack s***. What if someone else gets hurt? Are we going to keep bringing up inexperienced kids, or should we just fork out league minimum to a solid vet with experience to come in and help them out? What is that 750k costing us? Is there some signing or trade we're not going to be able to make because we're 750k short? What if someone aggravates an injury from a few games ago? Why not keep the kids in GR instead of having their first NHL action be a stressful situation with too much on their plate? I mean if you have the choice, why?

Reminds me of Brendan Smith's hit last year. Kinda sorta. Brendan Smith didn't extend his shoulder, Ben Smith just dipped his head into a guy trying to lay a clean hit. The onus shouldn't be on the hitter to get out of the way. It's not a suicide bomb ffs. Same idea, different example. I am sympathetic, I think we're going through a time when we're learning more about injuries, especially concussions and sports have to tone it down a bit. I know we all want to be manly but living a functioning life without being permanently brain drunk or depressed can be pretty appealing too. I understand the argument about them understanding what they're getting into, but isn't that saying that you'd rather see contact than good players? Because at some point we won't see the best players on the ice, we'll see the ones most willing to hurt themselves and this isn't some second rate ghetto sport like the x games or crashed ice. The game is getting more violent and aggressive and while we say we shouldn't change it, did we ever wish the game was more violent in the past? No, we loved it. We watched. Meaning we shouldn't complain if the contact went backwards a little and we'd likely survive. We expect the players and the game to change but when it's our turn to change, man do we ever flip our lids. We're an entitled bunch.

You're railing against a guy making damn near vet minimum, for one year, who played pretty well.

I do think Suter is a guy you toss money at but at the same time I get the point about people losing their s*** over a couple games. I think this season more than ever we need to focus on not losing 2 in a row. Come out absolutely roaring after a loss and we should be OK.