MHF - Hockey Thread

[Montegriffo]

Does Sandin like to rough it up?

[Smitty-48]

Does Sandin like to rough it up?

He's not a bruiser obviously, but he doesn't shy away from physical play

He's a cerebral player, hockey IQ is what sets him apart, but he's not soft, he plays chippy, he doesn't back down

He needs to put on more muscle to avoid injury, but that will come with time

[Montegriffo]

Ah, I thought ''entertaining'' meant hardman.

[Smitty-48]

Ah, I thought ''entertaining'' meant hardman.

Soft defensemen are of little utility, no matter how skilled with the puck

Morgan Rielly is the classic example of a soft player who can't defend, Barrie is no help to him.

With those two as the top D pairing, the Leafs are going nowhere in the playoffs.

It's not about size, since Morgan Rielly is actually 6'1" 220lbs, but he plays small, he doesn't engage physically

Sandin is small, 5'11" 185lbs, but he plays with a chip on his shoulder

Sandin will dish out a body check if he catches a guy with his head down, Rielly never does

Bear in mind that once you get to the playoffs, the Refs call the games completely differently

The Leafs can dipsy doodle their way through the regular season, but in the playoffs they will get rolled

Rielly - Barrie - Dermott - Holl - Marincin; all are pathetically weak in their own zone by NHL standards

That's not a defence that can win a Cup when the Refs put their whistles away in the playoffs

If Dubas can't make a trade to upgrade this D with an actual stud, it's going to be another wasted season.

Sandin is not that stud yet, but he could be in a couple years. Needs to add another 10lbs of muscle to his frame

[Hastur]

Oilers went in to win. No doubts about it. The played Oscar Klefbom for almost 28 minutes and Connor McDavid was outstanding. It's like they wanted to send a message.
Nylander made 0 points and was -3.
Still they "only" got 6-4.
I feel like Toronto is the better team for the long grind. They are less dependent on the big names.

[Fife]

OK hockey nerds, give me the post mortem on the Preds and Poile giving Lavie the boot. Un-Poile move to do this on New Year's week, is it a Hail Mary or a genius move?

[StCapps]

OK hockey nerds, give me the post mortem on the Preds and Poile giving Lavie the boot. Un-Poile move to do this on New Year's week, is it a Hail Mary or a genius move?

If they were going to do it, they had to do it soon, while they could still realistically sneak their way into the playoffs. Seemed like the Preds were tuning him out, waiting longer would have just delayed the inevitable.

[Smitty-48]

OK hockey nerds, give me the post mortem on the Preds and Poile giving Lavie the boot. Un-Poile move to do this on New Year's week, is it a Hail Mary or a genius move?

I wouldn't say Hail Mary because they still have plenty of time to save the season.

Coaches get stale, players start to tune them out, they have a shelf life, so they're all hired to be fired.

Poile is hoping to get the new coach honeymoon bump to try to jump start the team in the second half.

[StCapps]

OK hockey nerds, give me the post mortem on the Preds and Poile giving Lavie the boot. Un-Poile move to do this on New Year's week, is it a Hail Mary or a genius move?

I wouldn't say Hail Mary because they still have plenty of time to save the season.

Coaches get stale, players start to tune them out, they have a shelf life, so they're all hired to be fired.

Poile is hoping to get the new coach honeymoon bump to try to jump start the team in the second half.

*yip*
Smitty Knows. There are no Bill Belichick's in the NHL, hired to be fired once they go stale, once they've gone stale they are fired and the team tries and ride a new coach hooneymoon bump until they go stale, and then wash-rinse-repeat. The circle of NHL coaching life.

[Smitty-48]

I'd call it an exasperation move more than a desperation move.

In that the team on paper should be winning more games and they're not sure why they aren't

If you can get some sort of bump to get the confidence back, you can move up quickly

The teams are all so close, the parity is so tight, that it doesn't take much to move up or down significantly

It's like a horse race now, the GM's don't have much time to ponder their options if they start falling behind.

Everybody is looking at the Blues going from worst to first, that is the new model.

It's not so much that the Blues are such a great team, they just changed up the mood, then they got on a roll

Things are so tight in the league, it just comes down to a mental game, who gets hot at the right time.

Once again, I'm looking at Ryan Johansen as being a big part of the problem

They traded Seth Jones for him and he's making $8 million, but he's only on pace for 18 goals and 52 points

That's just not good enough for a number one center, you need more than that from an $8 million 1C

The Preds need to their star forwards, namely Johansen and Forsberg, to score more goals, simple as that.

They're on pace for 20 and 30 goals respectively, the Preds need both of them to get on a 40 goal pace.

They need to score more, that goal differential of +5 needs to be more like +25