Echolalia

Last season more than half of Nyquist's goals were from the powerplay. The year before he went on that wild rampage to close out the season where he was scoring at some unsustainable percentage, which brings his career numbers closer to the average you mentioned. He was also something of an unknown that year, so he was granted the time and space that rookies often see, and established goal-scorers do not. He's a talented shooter, but the concern over Nyquist struggling to find time and space to score is a valid one.

lol he lives and dies by the powerplay. Has he had any PP time?

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I think so too. I hope the coach over there will be able to get Mantha to involve himself more in the play, and not just be the final touch before the shot on net (although I do want to see him shoot).

Lol so in addition to getting tix to this game from a friend, now I find out my gf just scored some tix for tomorrow's game. I'm lucking out this preseason. I hope Green ends up playing though.

My buddy scored some pretty nice tickets for the game (13th row up from the glass on shooting end for two periods) and was kind enough to invite me along. Seems like what most people saw on TV echoes my thoughts. Larkin is good. He's NHL ready right now. There were a couple times when he skated into coverage or tried using a hole which closed up around him I think faster than he was anticipating, but those things you get better with with more time in the league. But his vision, his IQ on the ice is excellent. He knows how to find quiet spots in the offensive zone. In the first period on one of his scoring chances he yelled "Pulkky!" before he was even in the slot to receive the pass. He had the vision to know that spot would be open by the time he got there, and the smarts to let Pulks know he wanted the puck before he actually got to his spot and stood still for easy coverage. He was also playing the point on the powerplay for a couple shifts, but it seemed like he had full reign of the ice, cuz he would pinch pretty low, go behind the net, cover the slot, then fade back to the blueline. He was always available to his team somewhere on the ice. At least in that aspect Blashill seemed to give him a real long leash. One thing I did notice was that on defensive zone face off wins one of the set plays (at least including Larkin and Anithasiau) involved these guys completely ignoring any defensive responsibility and bolting for center ice after a clean face off win. They didn't look back to see where the puck went or if our D turned it over. They didn't fade to our blueline looking for a short breakout pass. They sprinted as hard as they could for center ice which obviously pulled Puttsburgh's defense off the blueline and opened up the path for our guys to skate out the weakside (or breakaway pass). Obviously the downside of this would be if the Wings turned it over we could potentially have a couple forwards way out of position, and likely a defenseman on the wall also out of position, but it's something to keep an eye on this year. Some other teams do this every now and again, but our young guys have wheels (and our defenseman are better when they have time and space to work and skate with), so this could be something Blash utilizes regularly. I did only notice it happen with Larkin and Anithisiau (or however you spell it). I could have missed it some other times. I think Brendan Smith had a really solid game. I noticed that before faceoffs Smith seemed like he was doing the play-calling. He would skate to a couple guys on our team and tell them something or point somewhere before the puck dropped. It may have been more a case of him giving tips to kids new to the NHL, but either way he came off as a leader in that aspect, which was interesting to see. He's a risk-taker on the powerplay, which I'm not comfortable with. It didn't bite him in this game, but I can definitely see him trying to make a move around his man at the point and losing the puck leading to a breakaway going in the other direction. Maybe that risk is worth taking for the times he gets past his man and has free reign into the shot. Babcock didn't think so, Perhaps Blashill will. Time will tell. Pulkinen has an excellent shot. He seemed a little more involved in other aspects of the game last night as well, which is actually was I was most excited to see. Mantha seems like the type to hide in the offensive zone then strike suddenly, Brett Hull like. I don't like that, especially with how big a frame he has, which could be better utilized winning pucks in the corner or fending off defenseman. Having said that I did notice he forced several turnovers which lead to scoring chances. Franzen looked like you would expect considering he hasn't played in almost a year. Howard looked steady. Bertuzzi seemed like he had a lot of energy out there. Other than that I can't think of anything else of note.

I know I'll be wearing my Cleary jersey just in case

maybe i should wear the Andersson jersey to see him off right

Ill be at this one, and I'm wearing my Franzen Winter Classic jersey for... ....leftwinger

how do you get a breakaway on a powerplay

At LGW definitely. With Franzen on the PK and Howard in net.

Maybe its just the preseason, but this team doesn't look very organized

Smith

just stepping in. Synopsis thus far?

I hope so! My friend just called me with free tickets to tomorrow's game.

Larkin has looked every bit like an NHL player

Wasn't stamkos sent back to minor league (albeit not for unprofessionalism) in his rookie year? I mean, I kinda see where you're coming from, but at the same time one of the things that makes these guys top-end talent is their commitment to the game. Guys like Tavares and Crosby are elite not just because of their raw talent, but also because they made a habit of showing up every day on time and ready to work and improve their game. This kid seems a bit like Semin in that he has the tools to be a great player, but he may have character issues that prevent him from reaching his peak.

On paper Mantha Larkin Pulkinen seems like a pretty damn balanced line

Hockeytown Authentics is having a sale including everything but authentics?

thanks for the info

So the state doesn't get involved for rape charges, then, or is it a case by case basis. I guess my main question is what determines if the state decides to get involved

How exactly does this work, does anyone know? I'm aware that certain situations allow defendants to come to settlements out of court that both sides are willing to take, but where is that line drawn (does that line exist?) where settlements aren't acceptable? Can people come to settlements on murders? Can they actually do it for rape?

If he was a fourth line grinder and not a star player, I wonder if Chicago would still allow him to come to camp.

Oh my, yes

This conversation is over. See above