GAME DAY: Toronto Maple Leafs @ Ottawa Senators - 7:00pm ET - SAT. Nov. 27, 2010

"Fluff"

rooneypoo wrote:

CockRoche wrote:

Dash wrote:Yeah that was a very nice goal, great play, great patience, great deke.... I call it like it is, and Kovalev has really stepped up this year... contract year lol

Kovalev has always been good for us. Streaks aside, he makes space for others on the ice and is marvelous with our younger players both on and off.

Someone tell him that he's said something intelligent.

rooneypoo wrote:

CockRoche wrote:I'm very impressed with Elliott - actually, Leclaire as well. Our goaltending has been outstanding recently.

For Elliott to do what he did tonight though after sitting out 3 games is remarkable.

You have to remember, he just battled with his team through the most emotional time in his NHL career. His benching the last 3 games was strictly results based. Instead of being able to work out the rest of those feelings on the ice, he was left to internalize them. I wasn't sure how his mental game would be tonight.

Mentally, Elliott tracked the puck much better than I thought he would, he did lose sight of it a couple times when it was in the air tho'. Tracking the puck is 99% mental focus. He showed remarkable composure despite not seeing too much action early. His demeanor was surprisingly patient and consistent throughout the contest. When you are not mentally ready to tend to go and get the puck because you don't trust yourself, but Elliott let the puck come to him all night.

Elliott is improving every aspect of his game right in front of our eyes this season.

Another thumbs up.

I'll use my multi-quoting superpower to tell him for you Rooney.

Big Ev wrote:A one-dimensional scoring winger isn't earning his large paycheck when he only has 7 goals and 14 points in 24 games?

Like I just said, PPG isn't everything, but in this case it is insanely relevant. Kovalev has probably truly earned less than half of his $5+ million so far over the last season and a bit.

The team isn't scoring 3 goals a game, so 14 pts in 24 pts (2nd in the team) is acceptable production wise.
I don't think you can really single out Kovalev when most of the players paid to score on the team are overpaid compared to their production.

rooneypoo wrote:

SDH89 wrote:Elliott starts - another great decision from Clouston.

I hope that wasn't sarcasm.

It's easy to second guess the second guesser the morning after.

rooneypoo wrote:

Big Ev wrote:Listen, there's a mulitquote button. USE IT. Nobody is that imporant to have 9 straight posts haha.

F that. I never fluff, so I deserve it.

Seriously, tho', I don't know how any posts and watches. I hate missing a second of the game.

It's called a laptop, a wireless home network, and TV timeouts.

wprager wrote:

rooneypoo wrote:

Big Ev wrote:Listen, there's a mulitquote button. USE IT. Nobody is that imporant to have 9 straight posts haha.

F that. I never fluff, so I deserve it.

Seriously, tho', I don't know how any posts and watches. I hate missing a second of the game.

It's called a laptop, a wireless home network, and TV timeouts.

I have those first two things. I often PVR the game and start it 30 minutes in, however, so I can fastforward through commercials for the first 50 minutes of the game or so.

On top of all that, I watch all regular season games sitting on my bike.

rooneypoo wrote:I have those first two things. I often PVR the game and start it 30 minutes in, however, so I can fastforward through commercials for the first 50 minutes of the game or so.

On top of all that, I watch all regular season games sitting on my bike.

I'll be anxiously awaiting a post-game interview, then.

wprager wrote:

rooneypoo wrote:I have those first two things. I often PVR the game and start it 30 minutes in, however, so I can fastforward through commercials for the first 50 minutes of the game or so.

On top of all that, I watch all regular season games sitting on my bike.

I'll be anxiously awaiting a post-game interview, then.

I am huffing and puffing by the end of the game, for sure. Those long, drawn out lead ups to the shoot outs are killer, in particular. And I almost died during game 5 of the playoffs last year.

Big Ev wrote:A one-dimensional scoring winger isn't earning his large paycheck when he only has 7 goals and 14 points in 24 games?

Like I just said, PPG isn't everything, but in this case it is insanely relevant. Kovalev has probably truly earned less than half of his $5+ million so far over the last season and a bit.

50%?!? What, he's supposed to put up 100+ points a season? Cause that's what you're saying right now. That 49 points last year = less than half the production he should be providing. Are you hearing yourself?

Kovalev put up 49 points last year. He had a slow start, a very disappointing final 15 games or so, and then a serious injury. From mid-November to the end of February, however, he was really quite good for us -- the points per game thing being your thing, go check out his pace for that period. I bet he was hovering around 0.8 or so. In any event, I definitely remember him being a consistent producer and threat in that period.

Anyway, Kovalev is a 60-70 point player, at best. We signed him knowing that. We gave him that money hoping that he'd be able to put up something like 30g and 35a. Yes, in his first year, he fell short of that, but not in the extent you're suggesting -- and he's still got this year to try to make up for that poor start and finish to last year. If you were expecting 80-100 points, or if you thought than anyone in the Sens organization was honestly expecting that, the problem is your ridiculous expectations and not Kovalev's actual production.

The bottom line is that $5 mil is what a small market like OTT has to pay FAs to attract the kind of talent that can put up 60+ points. Why do you think we had to pay Fisher, whose points ceiling is probably 50, over $4 mil a year? Or Michalek, whose ceiling might be 60 or so points, $4.3? Neither of those two are FA signings, granted, but that only proves my point further. Our little town has to overpay for FA talent, it's as simple as that -- and the going rate (in years past anyway) for guys like Kovalev is $4+ mil.

Big Ev wrote:and please, quit trying to be the new N4L...it's for your own good.

Tell you what, you stop thinking like a fantasy hockey GM, and I'll consider your suggestion.

Big Ev wrote:"Fluff"

Or a few posters whom he thought brought less than nothing to the site. At least, that's what he said.

rooneypoo wrote:

Big Ev wrote:"Fluff"

Or a few posters whom he thought brought less than nothing to the site. At least, that's what he said.

Either way, his departure was clear evidence that he's a self-centered jackass who can't handle opinions other than his own.

As for Kovalev, I'm not expecting 80-100 points lol. I expect somebody who makes that much to at least try hard every night (and we know he wouldn't so that's why the signing was a dumb one in the first place, IMO).

Kinda similar to Spezza but on a lesser scale.

Big Ev wrote:As for Kovalev, I'm not expecting 80-100 points lol. I expect somebody who makes that much to at least try hard every night (and we know he wouldn't so that's why the signing was a dumb one in the first place, IMO).

Kinda similar to Spezza but on a lesser scale.

Personally, I've been more than pleased with Spezza's evolution over the last season and a quarter. He's really improving away from the puck and his giveaway to takeaway ratio has improved dramatically (10GvA:16TkA).

He's becoming a complete player. He'll always look to create something out of nothing and be criticized for it. His effort level lately though is, in my opinion, beyond reproach. He's been killing penalties, protecting leads, and hustling to join the backcheck.

He's putting the work in and we're seeing results. I am at least.

i missed the game, we won. no surpise....

Big Ev wrote:As for Kovalev, I'm not expecting 80-100 points lol. I expect somebody who makes that much to at least try hard every night (and we know he wouldn't so that's why the signing was a dumb one in the first place, IMO).

Kinda similar to Spezza but on a lesser scale.

You're a bundle of contradictions on this one. I say he contributes more than just points, and you say points and the PPG pace matter the most for a '1-dimensional' player like Kovalev. He puts up 49 points, and you say he's not earning even half of his salary, implying that he ought to put up many more points (presumably, twice as many, by the logic of the previous assertion). I point out that you're expecting too much if you think he's going to put up 100 points, and that we expected at best 60+ points, and so 49 isn't all that far off the mark. Then you move away from your initial assertion, saying it's not the points but the effort.

I'm sorry, but you don't know your own mind on this one. Either your expectations are too high, because you expect Kovalev to put up 80+ points, or you're measuring Kovalev's play by two different standards (pure point production on the one hand, effort level on the other), each as best serves your contradictory position best at the moment.

I repeat, Kovalev is of course overpaid (we had to overpay to get any FA player with 60+ point potential), but he has produced offense as expected (if not quite as much as required), his 'laziness' is suuuuuuper over-emphasized (for 4 months last year, and all but two games this year, he has been interested, active, and engaged; the problem is, people want him to be Mike Fisher or Mike Cammalleri, and that's never, ever been his game -- another instance of expecting the guy to suddenly become someone he's never been just because we paid him a lot of money), and he brings a lot of other things to the table (experience and knowledge for the younger players; space on the ice for others) that aren't captured by the points stats.

Flo The Action wrote:i missed the game, we won. no surpise....

Keep it up Flo. We appreciate the effort.

Flo The Action wrote:i missed the game, we won. no surpise....

You are not allowed to watch another game this year; sorry man. What's your track record when you listen to them on the radio? Perhaps you can at least do that ...