FINAL: Ottawa 6 @ Winnipeg 4, 8:30PM, Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Big Ev wrote:Cowen has 10 SOG in 24 games. C;mon man.

2 goals, means a shooting percentage of 20% which is very good. Michalek has 20% as well. Guess who leads the team? Konopka with 28.6%, which partially explains why he was a big scorer in the OHL ( ice time and opportunities to shoot).

In response to some of the above comments, which are purposely trying to misrepresent what I've been saying:

1) the Dman's "handedness" doesn't matter -- what matters is what side of the ice he is comfortable on & where he has traditionally played. It's true that the two usually pair up, but not always. Gonchar is a lefty but he plays the right side of the ice traditionally, for instance, but he is a bit of an exception to the rule rather than a typical figure.

2) there's a HUGE difference between having a guy play his offside for a few shifts or games, rather than building your team in the off-season so that you will know you will always have to play a guy on his offside. The former instance happens all the time -- in the middle of a game because of a penalty or a shift change issue or what have you. If Kuba's out for a few games, no biggie. Pairings will get shuffled, our guys who play the left side (Phillips & Cowen) will play a little more, and guys will definitely on occasion play their offside. That's short-term stuff, & you make do. What is categorically STUPID is thinking that a GM is going to build his team in the offseason so that he's going to have 5 guys who traditionally play one side of the ice and 2 guys who traditionally play the other. Any GM worth his salt is going to have at least 3 guys who can play each side, and then go from there. That's why the "Trade Kuba to make room for Rundblad" idea floated around here all summer was so stupid.

If Kuba were out for the season or a long stretch (say, 2-3 months), tho', I'd bet good money that we'd be in the process of making some move to shore up our left side, either through trade or call up. A few shifts or games, you make do. If the hole is long term, tho', any GM who is doing his job is going to try his best to fill it.

So, what you're saying is that a defenceman who is left handed can't use those corkscrews that are made for righties? That's racist.

spader wrote:So, what you're saying is that a defenceman who is left handed can't use those corkscrews that are made for righties? That's racist.

Precisemexactlyso.