Game Day - Rangers @ Ottawa, 7:30PM, Wednesday, Movember 9, 2011

Missed that article somehow, that's great!

The kids are alright...

Hoags wrote:

Peggy wrote:
Nope they already told him to get a house in Ottawa

Did they really ? I only heard about Cowen.

I guess they have some decisions to make.

They told, Da Costa, Cowen & Rundblad they were staying.

Also the issues with the PP the past several games probably has a lot to do with Alfie being out.

I can see the Spezza hate is still out there. Sure he tries to do too much out there.. and has the occasional giveaways... but right now is he 8th in the league in faceoff percentage... which is something this team needs right now.. is centres good on the faceoffs. Zack Smith is 25th... though, of course, doesn't have the same # of faceoffs.

Spezza is what he is... that play on Michalek's goal was great....

SpezDispenser wrote:
Still can't believe Murray compared him to Oates...

You think that's something, Kleinendorst was on Team 1200 today and compared Borowiecki to Scott Stevens.

(KK was asst. coach in New Jersey so he's not talking out of his Donkey).

Are they just Cussing around with us ?

Hoags wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:
Still can't believe Murray compared him to Oates...

You think that's something, Kleinendorst was on Team 1200 today and compared Borowiecki to Scott Stevens.

(KK was asst. coach in New Jersey so he's not talking out of his Donkey).

Are they just Cussing around with us ?

Yeah I heard that, that's twice he's been compared to Stevens, can't recall who the first guy was, maybe it was KK again.

I still think it's Cussing crazy that people don't see the clear distinction/gap between Foligno and Daugavins.

(this coming from a guy who never believed in Foligno)

cash wrote:I still think it's Cussing crazy that people don't see the clear distinction/gap between Foligno and Daugavins.

(this coming from a guy who never believed in Foligno)

The only difference is NHL experience. Foligno is a nice 3rd liner who was on a bit of a hot streak, Daugavins is a nice 4th liner who has 3rd line potential given some games. I wouldn't say Daugavins has made Foligno expendable like some knee-jerk fans are saying, but he could soon enough.

SpezDispenser wrote:

cash wrote:I still think it's Cussing crazy that people don't see the clear distinction/gap between Foligno and Daugavins.

(this coming from a guy who never believed in Foligno)

The only difference is NHL experience. Foligno is a nice 3rd liner who was on a bit of a hot streak, Daugavins is a nice 4th liner who has 3rd line potential given some games. I wouldn't say Daugavins has made Foligno expendable like some knee-jerk fans are saying, but he could soon enough.

Foligno has shown great progress this year. His game has evolved in some pretty significant ways.

Daug is playing well, but he's still clearly not at a FT NHL level. His game against the Rangers was by far the worst of his two stints here in Ottawa. He was anything but noticeable against the Slugs.

Foligno is by no means a game changer but he's clearly head and shoulders above Daug right now.

It doesn't help that I found Daug crappy tonight, but I think he'll develop pretty quickly.

They're the same age (I think)...it shouldn't be expected for him to surpass Foligno at any point, let alone in just a short stint.

That's what I meant, now it's basically gonna come down to NHL experience and how much more comfortable Daugavins can get when an offensive chance comes up. He has a nice skill set if he can put it all together here.

Let's not forget, also, that Foligno has been playing on the 2nd line which, for a while (and again) had a certain #11. You've gotta think that opens up room for the others on the line. And the way Da Costa skates with the puck draws a bit more attention that way, too. Of course that probably means that Daugavins, on the third line, is playing against lower competition. Who knows? Maybe he's "cooled off" recently because, without Alfie on the 2nd, there's little difference between lines 2 and 3, and some teams may have put the better checkers against the third line.

I think Foligno has really worked on his puck handling through traffic. He's holding on to the puck longer, rarely loses it, and often gets it right back. Next, he's go to work on getting his shot off faster in those few split-second times while he's dangling, that a lane opens up. He doesn't have the upper-gear necessary to break away or go wide around a defenseman, so he's got to work on getting his shot off quicker.

Foligno is great at breaking into the zone. A lot of the time he will drive hard and has shown some great stick work to get by people, or he will just flip the puck in and use his size and strength to fight his way in.

I think his development has been slower than most, but he continually gets better.

wprager wrote:Let's not forget, also, that Foligno has been playing on the 2nd line which, for a while (and again) had a certain #11. You've gotta think that opens up room for the others on the line. And the way Da Costa skates with the puck draws a bit more attention that way, too. Of course that probably means that Daugavins, on the third line, is playing against lower competition. Who knows? Maybe he's "cooled off" recently because, without Alfie on the 2nd, there's little difference between lines 2 and 3, and some teams may have put the better checkers against the third line.

I think Foligno has really worked on his puck handling through traffic. He's holding on to the puck longer, rarely loses it, and often gets it right back. Next, he's go to work on getting his shot off faster in those few split-second times while he's dangling, that a lane opens up. He doesn't have the upper-gear necessary to break away or go wide around a defenseman, so he's got to work on getting his shot off quicker.

Foligno has played some of the best hockey of his career over the last 10 games and he was great until the last two games, and even in those two, he was a clear step above Daug. And he wasn't the only one to look like he'd taken a step back over the last couple of games.

I have no issue with Daug, I just have an issue with the idea that he's in any way a better prospect than Foligno. And I agree SD that he has a good skillset and may one day fit on a 2nd line. Imo he has yet to solidify his spot on an NHL 3rd and is pretty far from it. Keep in mind he has to fend off all of Butler, Winchester, Konopka, and Filatov for that spot on the 3rd line Let's see him break onto Philly's 3rd line or Washington's...

The "cooled off" comment was about Daugavins. Without Alfie on the 2nd line we, essentially, have two 3rd lines, so the opposition has less of a reason to focus in on the 2nd line, meaning Daugavins' line would get more attention than they got before.