GAME DAY: Preseason - Boston @ Ottawa - 7:00pm ET - Fri. Sep. 25th, 2009--PLUS afterthoughts...

N4L wrote:

wprager wrote:

N4L wrote:Ya, again, you look at the stats column far too much.

OK, big shot, to borrow a phrase from Jerry Maguire -- "Help me help you".

Tell me what I should look at to understand "Alfie's back" versus "Kovalev better step it up".

Isn't Kovalev exactly what we all expected? We are not expecting an Alfie effort, but we are expecting some secondary scoring. After Fisher, Regin and Foligno (who are 1-2-3 in scoring, and have played great but, let's face it, the bulk of their scoring came from one game), Kovalev is tied with Spezza with 3 points in 4 games. He's doing exactly what we expected, no?

Spezza is also doing exactly what we expected, plus he had that one back-check where he took the puck away from someone. And because of that we are piling praises on him. Look, I'm not suggesting he hasn't improved his speed/quickness and dedication to defense, but we are holding up that one example of a takeaway on a backcheck like it's a baby taking his first steps, yet Spezza is a veteran player making $7M a season. We should be expecting one such play at least once in every game, and then the praises should start when he's doing it on every 3-4 shifts.

So we are praising Spezza, we are praising Alfie, yet Kovalev better step it up?

Sorry, I guess I'm one of those people you alluded to earlier that will *never get it*.

Watch the game. Alfi has been better then Kovy when he has played. You can dump the puck in off the boards and it takes a bounce, goes in... That's all a goal tells me by looking at a stat sheet or a box score.

N4L wrote:I didnt make those statements, but alright.

Alfi has been better every game but he has played in a handful. Kovy needs to be better, he hasnt played that well.

N4L wrote:
Kovalev - he is what he is

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I was pretty happy with Schubert's game as well. I think it's a case of too little too late at this point I think. I'm really dissappointed with how Schubert's career has gone. If he had just embraced his swing man roll and continued to excel at it he would have been an invaluable member of the Sens. I had hopes, for his sake, that he could have become a steady 5/6 D man with second unit PP time but even if he just performed his dual role at the 2007 playoff levels he would have been a great asset to hang onto.

wprager wrote:

N4L wrote:I didnt make those statements, but alright.

Alfi has been better every game but he has played in a handful. Kovy needs to be better, he hasnt played that well.

No, you are quite right. You didn't make those statements, CC did. However you commented, rather offhandedly, on my reaction to those comments, so my questions to you are quite relevant.

That said, you did not answer the first question. Has Alfie achieved your expectations? All you said is that he has improved in each game.

As for your answer to the second question, I am a little shocked as it flies in the face of what you said about him earlier:

N4L wrote:
Kovalev - he is what he is

Sounds like he is achieving your expectations, yet when I asked that question you didn't really answer it, stating instead that he hasn't played that well. That may very well be true, but the question was "Has Kovalev achieved the expectations you had when he was first signed?"

The answer to that is clearly stated in your reply to CC's post, yet you are dancing around it when replying to my question.

MurderOnIce wrote:

asq2 wrote:

40 points for Cheechoo?

I thought Lee was OK. He had to cover for Karlsson, who wanders around the ice a lot. As he gets more accustomed to NHL systems, hopefully Erik will make it easier on his defensive partner.

I would agree with you. I really like Karlsson but he does wander a lot and his confidence is on the verge of cocky. He is often down in the faceoff circle. Not that it is bad, in fact it is refreshing but it is never good for the defense partner, who turns out to be the bridesmaid. Lee wasn't bad at all so far. He needs to be more physical but he has been pretty good positionally and isn't making mistakes.

MurderOnIce wrote:

N4L wrote:

MurderOnIce wrote:

asq2 wrote:

40 points for Cheechoo?

I thought Lee was OK. He had to cover for Karlsson, who wanders around the ice a lot. As he gets more accustomed to NHL systems, hopefully Erik will make it easier on his defensive partner.

I would agree with you. I really like Karlsson but he does wander a lot and his confidence is on the verge of cocky. He is often down in the faceoff circle. Not that it is bad, in fact it is refreshing but it is never good for the defense partner, who turns out to be the bridesmaid. Lee wasn't bad at all so far. He needs to be more physical but he has been pretty good positionally and isn't making mistakes.

Not bad and good are totally different. Lee had to do something to get noticed, he hasnt, he has just been meh. Karlsson has shown what he can do and with the assets he has it's better to develope him then someone they dont think can even be a top 6 in The NHL at this point.

If you put Lee with a different partner the results would be different. Pair him with Kuba, Phillips, Volchie almost anyone and his style of play would change. If you play with a partner who is always up in the rush, almost to the point of recklessness on occasion, how are you supposed to get noticed? Wow, look at how Lee was playing the center at the blueline because Karlsson was below the faceoff dot, again.

I am not saying he has been spectacluar. I am saying he has been solidly playing the role he has to in order to compliment his partner, who is going to be an elite defenceman.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Carkner

CCgotITcovered wrote:Wprager - Look, this isn't that hard to understand: Kovalev holds on to the puck WAY too long and is playing an aggravating game to watch. He has done some interesting things offensively and I'm excited to see him when the games matter, but he'd better step it up or he's going to wear VERY thin with fans like the people on this site who actually know how to watch hockey.

Alfie hadn't looked good to me in either of the games I've seen him in, prior to watching the Boston game. After watching that, however, it became quite clear to me that the captain is back. He played a much better game that night, regardless of his empty stats column.

As Clouston said, having Alfie around is like having a coach on the ice. Clearly his head wasn't in the game earlier in the pre-season, but now he's starting to come back into his own skin---I guess. I've been worried about his eventual decline beginning this season, but that Boston game went a long way to dissuading those concerns. Thats all I was saying.

SeawaySensFan wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Carkner

Let's just say that Brian Lee is no Carkner so if I had to choose it would be Carkner. To summarize, I would pick Carkner.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Carkner

Let's just say that Brian Lee is no Carkner so if I had to choose it would be Carkner. To summarize, I would pick Carkner.

Brian Lee is no Carkner.

Sorry, I'll stop now. I must be tired because I find this funny. I just couldn't resist is all.