GAME DAY: Red Wings @ Sens - Tuesday, Nov 4, 7:30pm (TSN5)

NEELY wrote:Hoffman is an NHL player but he still needs to show some more in terms of his body of work but he's trending in the direction of a borderline NHL top 6 player.  Once these guys get more games in and with each other there will be a solid, solid core that can do some serious damage for years to come.  Still need that stud type D man on the left side though, really missing a guy who can log serious minutes each night and will give you the same results.  Methot isn't that guy.

Hoffman is basically Mason Raymond 2.0.

Ev wrote:

NEELY wrote:Hoffman is an NHL player but he still needs to show some more in terms of his body of work but he's trending in the direction of a borderline NHL top 6 player.  Once these guys get more games in and with each other there will be a solid, solid core that can do some serious damage for years to come.  Still need that stud type D man on the left side though, really missing a guy who can log serious minutes each night and will give you the same results.  Methot isn't that guy.

Hoffman is basically Mason Raymond 2.0.

Hoffman is one of those guys that has one of the toughest jobs in the NHL. He will basically have to produce with little ice time and have to go all out on each and every shift without exception. He may never have the luxury of taking shifts or entire games off like, say, Zibanejad or even Curtis "Own Goal" Lazar. He can get exhausted from the mental toll alone.

wprager wrote:

LeCaptain wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:Will be interesting to see how Zibanejad bounces back after being a healthy scratch in this game.

 He was checking Datsyuk's line all night long

Dude, come on.  It's SSF.  That was tongue-in-cheek or sarcasm.

Pretty sure he meant Zibby was invisible

NEELY wrote:Also the way Karlsson bounced back was the sign of a true leader.  He was awful in Boston, he knew it, came back with a solid effort, a goal, and just a very steady, responsible game.

There was just that one play where he made a bone-headed attempt for a pass at the blue line instead of dumping it deep (boneheaded because he didn't have control of the puck and had a guy right on him). The result was a 2-on-1 (I think Ceci was the "1" -- not sure how that happened since they are both righties) and Karlsson was really dogging it on the way back. I get it, it was probably a long shift for him and he was dog tired but the optics of it were pretty bad -- Bobby Ryan was deep when the turnover happened and he ended up passing him and diving for an attempted pass interception.

Luckily Ceci managed to deflect the pass enough that the winger could not get a perfect one-timer off and Andy made the save. Like I said, I get it that he was probably too tired to skate any faster, but that means that he was out there too long, and the decision to attempt a pass instead of dumping it in was the wrong one to make at the time.

PMac was talking to him on the bench after that one.

wprager wrote:
PMac was talking to him on the bench after that one.

I'm sure it fell on deaf ears.

NEELY wrote:Hoffman is an NHL player but he still needs to show some more in terms of his body of work but he's trending in the direction of a borderline NHL top 6 player.  Once these guys get more games in and with each other there will be a solid, solid core that can do some serious damage for years to come.  Still need that stud type D man on the left side though, really missing a guy who can log serious minutes each night and will give you the same results.  Methot isn't that guy.

Methot is certainly more like that guy that Phillips. We were all counting on Cowen to eventually be that guy but at this point it's not looking very promising.

LeCaptain wrote:And Ryan and Zibanejad aren't even showing what they're capable of.

What the Diddle is happening to Methot?

Reminds me of Kuba that year he was day-to-day for 3 months (I probably exaggerate). Or Andy with the high-ankle sprain.

LeCaptain wrote:

wprager wrote:

LeCaptain wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:Will be interesting to see how Zibanejad bounces back after being a healthy scratch in this game.

 He was checking Datsyuk's line all night long

Dude, come on.  It's SSF.  That was tongue-in-cheek or sarcasm.

Pretty sure he meant Zibby was invisible

That wasn't my take. There was some talk about sitting Zibanejad. He didn't sit and I thought he had a pretty good game given what he was tasked to do. Like you said, he was covering Datsyuk -- 12 of his 18 faceoffs were against him -- and that's tough. He only won 3 of those, which meant he had to chase him after that. Datsyuk had one shot and was a -1, so I'd say that was a good game. He needs to learn to do better on the draws -- he was pretty good until last night. I guess Datsyuk knows a trick or two.

Ev wrote:

NEELY wrote:Hoffman is an NHL player but he still needs to show some more in terms of his body of work but he's trending in the direction of a borderline NHL top 6 player.  Once these guys get more games in and with each other there will be a solid, solid core that can do some serious damage for years to come.  Still need that stud type D man on the left side though, really missing a guy who can log serious minutes each night and will give you the same results.  Methot isn't that guy.

Hoffman is basically Mason Raymond 2.0.

Solid comparison.

NEELY wrote:

Ev wrote:

NEELY wrote:Hoffman is an NHL player but he still needs to show some more in terms of his body of work but he's trending in the direction of a borderline NHL top 6 player.  Once these guys get more games in and with each other there will be a solid, solid core that can do some serious damage for years to come.  Still need that stud type D man on the left side though, really missing a guy who can log serious minutes each night and will give you the same results.  Methot isn't that guy.

Hoffman is basically Mason Raymond 2.0.

Solid comparison.

I think he'll have a better career than Raymond. He's getting a chance to play with good players (not anchored next to Neil) and will start putting up numbers. His speed fits in perfectly with PMac's game. Don't see Greening getting in the lineup anytime soon.

Raymond has been solid for a long time now, if Hoffman has that kind of career then it was a successful one. Think you are selling Raymond a little short or giving Hoffman too much credit.

Ev said that a while ago and I didn't buy it, but the more I see of him the more I see the potential of Raymond there. He's got more learning to do though obviously.

Did anyone else cringe when Neil was on the ice with 2 minutes left?

Not really... that's fine IMO. It's when they need a goal or the amount of ice he is getting at this point.

I'm worried about three things when I see that. 1. He's gonna take a bad penalty. 2.he's gonna go for a big hit and miss and create a turnover and 3.they make a change on the fly and he gets walked by datsyuk.

There are many other options on the Sens bench for that time in the game - and that's being polite.

I don't think I have ever seen Neil try to lay someone out when the game is on the line... he does it at some dumb points in the game but never in a position like the last 2 mins of regulation.

There's still options 1 and 3.

SpezDispensed wrote:Ev said that a while ago and I didn't buy it, but the more I see of him the more I see the potential of Raymond there.   He's got more learning to do though obviously.

Didn't buy what?