kipwinger 8,457 Report post Posted November 7, 2018 9 minutes ago, The 91 of Ryans said: I don't hate Mantha. I want to love him. He did look better last night. I was pleased to see him finally attach the slot off the boards. But you didn't answer my question. You said Helm "created space for Larkin and Mantha to their thing". I'm well aware of what Larkin's "thing" has been. I'd like you to explain to me what you think Mantha's "thing" is. At some point we've got to conclude that A) there's something wrong with Mantha, or B) he's just not as good as people thought he might be. There's a few things that could explain his lack of production though. First, he's no longer got Zetterberg feeding him prime scoring opportunities. Second, he's no longer playing down low and at the net front on the PP. You can't really blame the system, as it's the same for every player in it. You also can't really blame opportunity, he's getting plenty of prime minutes. If I'm Blashill I get him back in front of the net on the PP pronto. He needs to get some goals under his belt. Plus, this whole "Mantha is a sniper" pipe dream is clearly not panning out. If he wants to score at the NHL level he needs to be forced to change his game. It worked last year, this year he's playing like a princess. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
joesuffP 1,746 Report post Posted November 7, 2018 Mantha has been exactly as advertised on his draft day Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
krsmith17 7,191 Report post Posted November 7, 2018 15 minutes ago, The 91 of Ryans said: I don't hate Mantha. I want to love him. He did look better last night. I was pleased to see him finally attach the slot off the boards. But you didn't answer my question. You said Helm "created space for Larkin and Mantha to their thing". I'm well aware of what Larkin's "thing" has been. I'd like you to explain to me what you think Mantha's "thing" is. Doing exactly what he did last night. He played a solid game. Like you said, he was "attacking the slot off the boards", he was also forechecking, and creating scoring opportunities. The production has been s***, but I think if he plays the way he did last night every game, the points will come... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kipwinger 8,457 Report post Posted November 7, 2018 (edited) I'd argue that Mantha should lead the team in shots on goal every game, or nearly every game, for him to be doing "his thing" properly. He's not a play maker. He's supposed to be a goal scorer. He has a decent shooting percentage, but he needs to increase his shot volume if he wants to produce more. I really don't care how many assists he has, that's not really his job. Edited November 7, 2018 by kipwinger 1 krsmith17 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChristopherReevesLegs 7,022 Report post Posted November 7, 2018 (edited) 21 minutes ago, kipwinger said: At some point we've got to conclude that A) there's something wrong with Mantha, or B) he's just not as good as people thought he might be. There's a few things that could explain his lack of production though. First, he's no longer got Zetterberg feeding him prime scoring opportunities. Second, he's no longer playing down low and at the net front on the PP. You can't really blame the system, as it's the same for every player in it. You also can't really blame opportunity, he's getting plenty of prime minutes. If I'm Blashill I get him back in front of the net on the PP pronto. He needs to get some goals under his belt. Plus, this whole "Mantha is a sniper" pipe dream is clearly not panning out. If he wants to score at the NHL level he needs to be forced to change his game. It worked last year, this year he's playing like a princess. Yup, the experiment is failing Edited November 7, 2018 by ChristopherReevesLegs Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kipwinger 8,457 Report post Posted November 7, 2018 6 minutes ago, ChristopherReevesLegs said: Yup, the experiment is failing I'd go with Mantha, Frk, Nyq, Larkin, Green on unit one, and Ras, Vanek, Bert, AA, and Cholo on unit two when all are healthy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
krsmith17 7,191 Report post Posted November 7, 2018 29 minutes ago, kipwinger said: I'd argue that Mantha should lead the team in shots on goal every game, or nearly every game, for him to be doing "his thing" properly. He's not a play maker. He's supposed to be a goal scorer. He has a decent shooting percentage, but he needs to increase his shot volume if he wants to produce more. I really don't care how many assists he has, that's not really his job. I agree with this. He's not getting near enough shots on goal. He said last year (or the year before) that his goal every game is to put five shots on goal, because if he does that, more often than not, he'll score at least one. He hasn't been coming close to that most nights. He needs to get back to that shoot first mentality. That comes with confidence, and you can tell his confidence is at an all-time low right now. The team really needs him to get going. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Learn2LuvIt 245 Report post Posted November 7, 2018 5 minutes ago, krsmith17 said: I agree with this. He's not getting near enough shots on goal. He said last year (or the year before) that his goal every game is to put five shots on goal, because if he does that, more often than not, he'll score at least one. He hasn't been coming close to that most nights. He needs to get back to that shoot first mentality. That comes with confidence, and you can tell his confidence is at an all-time low right now. The team really needs him to get going. Agreed. If you move your feet and keep skating, more often than not, shooting lanes open up. He's not doing this. He's just floating. He's an easy cover for the opposing D right now. Frustrating. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
krsmith17 7,191 Report post Posted November 7, 2018 3 minutes ago, Learn2LuvIt said: Agreed. If you move your feet and keep skating, more often than not, shooting lanes open up. He's not doing this. He's just floating. He's an easy cover for the opposing D right now. Frustrating. He went through a 3 or 4 game stretch where he was floating (worse than I've ever seen), but he's played hard the past couple games. Last night in particular he was really moving his feet. Still not near enough pucks on net though. 2 Hockeymom1960 and Learn2LuvIt reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChristopherReevesLegs 7,022 Report post Posted November 7, 2018 Good thing we put that lil s*** bird on a bridge deal Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dabura 12,205 Report post Posted November 8, 2018 17 hours ago, ChristopherReevesLegs said: Good thing we put that lil s*** bird on a bridge deal RUDE! >:( But yes -- this is why bridges are good. *pivots to Larkin* And this is why bridges are bad. Thank you for coming to my TED talk. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChristopherReevesLegs 7,022 Report post Posted November 8, 2018 4 minutes ago, Dabura said: RUDE! >:( But yes -- this is why bridges are good. *pivots to Larkin* And this is why bridges are bad. Thank you for coming to my TED talk. An LGW member explains financial contract obligations and the importance of mitigating risk circa 2018 1 3 Hockeymom1960, Wheelchairsuperhero, NerveDamage and 1 other reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites