GAME 4 - 2010 Stanley Cup GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators (1) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (2), Tuesday Apr. 20, 2010 - 7:00PM EST.

OK, maybe it's lower-body strength he needs to work on. All I'm saying is, right now it feels like Karlsson could push Spezza around when both are skating, and there has to be some way of changing that....right?

It has nothing to do with strength.

N4L wrote:It has nothing to do with strength.

Well, it's got to be something more than just an unwillingness to battle, because he's much more able to take contact in the corners than in open-ice. Could it be his skating technique? Maybe he should try skating like Getzlaf instead of having his body in a right-angle.

Well, I think he has the mobility of a an ox. Not very nimble and he is very upright. It's also a willingness to battle and take hits head on, bit of both I guess.

I don't think Spezza will improve dramatically because of a skating program in the off-season. I think he is what he is...

N4L wrote:It has nothing to do with strength.

My 12-year-old is all heart. But his legs are spaghetti noodles and he lives on three grains of rice a day. So it does not take much to knock him off the puck (not that it happens much in peewee).

So, yeah, saying it has nothing to do with strength is factually challenged.

Spezza has the strength though, that's the point.

N4L wrote:Spezza has the strength though, that's the point.

That's one way to look at it, the other is that he doesn't have enough strength.

Spezza's a big guy, I know for sure he isnt lacking strength. He works hard off the ice and trains like a fiend.

So...he can endure the pain of off-season training, but he won't fight through Tobias Enstrom pushing him slightly while skating?

I don't know that that makes sense. There's gotta be something more to it.

asq2 wrote:So...he can endure the pain of off-season training, but he won't fight through Tobias Enstrom pushing him slightly while skating?

I don't know that that makes sense. There's gotta be something more to it.

Works out with Gary Roberts and he's no joke. Hey man, everyone knows what I think the problem is so, haha. I dont think he compete's hard enough where he needs to. Im not saying the guy doesn try but he doesnt focus his energy and efforts on the parts of the game that will lead to his team winning in the playoffs... just my opinion though.

Imagine where this series would have gone had we been playing with a full lineup. I mean, Shean Donovan and Ryan Shannon got to play! Switch those two up with Michalek and Kovalev and see how much more room Spezza would have had for *his* style of game. We all wish he would be a Getzlaf and create his own space, but he just isn't that player. That's one of the reasons I was always a strong advocate of putting Fisher on his wing. Sure, Fisher prefers center, but maybe a promotion to the top line would offset that. And he'd retrieve the pucks and bang in the corners to give Spezza more room. Yes, I realize that getting your $4.2M player to make your $7M player a better player is bass-ackwards, but can we get past how much everyone makes and just figure out how to make this team better?

I personally really loved the Cullen, Fisher, Alfie line and wish Clouston had started the series that way with that line shutting down THE Crosby.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I personally really loved the Cullen, Fisher, Alfie line and wish Clouston had started the series that way with that line shutting down THE Crosby.

Ditto.

^^^ At least next year if we get to keep Cullen, then we can start out that way!!!

wprager wrote:

N4L wrote:Spezza has the strength though, that's the point.

That's one way to look at it, the other is that he doesn't have enough strength.

The other way to look at it is that he's basically the Tin Man from Wizard of Oz.

rooneypoo wrote:

wprager wrote:

N4L wrote:Spezza has the strength though, that's the point.

That's one way to look at it, the other is that he doesn't have enough strength.

The other way to look at it is that he's basically the Tin Man from Wizard of Oz.

So he should be pretty strong, he already has a heart, and just needs to keep a can of oil on hand.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I personally really loved the Cullen, Fisher, Alfie line and wish Clouston had started the series that way with that line shutting down THE Crosby.

Our number 1 line? Ya, it was awesome in the playoffs, productive, and actually shut down Crosby.