GDT: Sens @ Wild - Tuesday, Mar 3rd, 8pm, TSN5, RDS

Yeah, I think Minny should be thanking those posts for getting 2 points from that game (or any points, I guess).

Bobby Ryan is giving Karlsson a run for his money as my favourite Senator. Love that guy!

Was it three posts? I only remember hearing two pings. Whatever, it was nuts.

tim1_2 wrote:Was it three posts?  I only remember hearing two pings.  Whatever, it was nuts.  

The first one just touched it a bit.

tim1_2 wrote:Was it three posts?  I only remember hearing two pings.  Whatever, it was nuts.  

Yeah, 3. Karlsson to Ryan to Zibanejad - ping. Ryan to Karlsson to Zibanejad - ping. Ryan to Karlsson to Zibanejad to Karlsson - ping.

Not to mention the other post Zibanejad hit earlier. Game of inches...

Ev wrote:

NEELY wrote:

Ev wrote:Can't compare cowen and Wiercioch as cowrn never got the same kind of opportunity Wiercioch does in terms of offenzie zone starts and playing against the worst players every night.

Cowen has had more than his fair share of chances.  Saying Wiercioch has had a better opportunity than Cowen in any sort of way is pretty much a false statement.

It's not false, you completely ignored what I wrote. It is fact that Wiercioch has played the softest minutes and cowen hasnt. Wiercioch is a hut who can't play against the fastest biggest players

Saying Cowen has had any kind of advantage in completely wrong. There isn't a player in the organization who has been given more rope than Cowen, it's not close.

Wiercioch does everything better than Cowen other than being more assertive and physical which he will never be. Cowen lacks a lot of things and the biggest one is being hockey sense.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:

NEELY wrote:Lehner may be trade bait at this point.  If they think Hammond can be a backup Lehner has his work cut out for him.

That would be a mistake IMHO.  Just imagine if the Habs had stuck with Huet way back when and then later stuck with Halak instead as well.  I think Andy, regardless of how Hammond plays, should be the one traded.  Greater trade value right now and if you're still building then you don't hang onto a guy that may not even be here when it's time to compete for a cup over a guy that should be a starter in short order and for many years to come.

Maybe... maybe not. Depends what the plan is going forward but Methot sent a shot across the bow when he said that the team liked playing in front of Hammond because you don't hear a lot from him and he just does his job.

I'm the biggest Lehner fan out there but 1) he's no good as a backup and 2) he may have really rubbed teammates the wrong way and if that's the case and there is friction, that's the guy you move in a deal IMO. Team is everything, I don't care who the player is, there is no one bigger than the team.

Ev wrote:I will go to sleep dreaming about Zibanejads skill set

He's a better player when he plays with better players, kind of an obvious comment but the opportunity he's been given he is taking full advantage of and yah, he might be #1 center material.

NEELY wrote:

Ev wrote:

NEELY wrote:

Ev wrote:Can't compare cowen and Wiercioch as cowrn never got the same kind of opportunity Wiercioch does in terms of offenzie zone starts and playing against the worst players every night.

Cowen has had more than his fair share of chances.  Saying Wiercioch has had a better opportunity than Cowen in any sort of way is pretty much a false statement.

It's not false, you completely ignored what I wrote. It is fact that Wiercioch has played the softest minutes and cowen hasnt. Wiercioch is a hut who can't play against the fastest biggest players

Saying Cowen has had any kind of advantage in completely wrong.  There isn't a player in the organization who has been given more rope than Cowen, it's not close.

Wiercioch does everything better than Cowen other than being more assertive and physical which he will never be.  Cowen lacks a lot of things and the biggest one is being hockey sense.

You still missed his point though. He's talking about in-game matchups.

That's fine if people want to break this down to the tiniest little detail of it all.  Does Cowen see better matchups more often than Wiercioch?  Sure, I don't really break down the game using the advanced stats because I believe they are pretty useless.  I see what I see and Wiercioch does things Cowen can't possibly do that he needs to do to be successful at the NHL level.

Wiercioch is a better player than Cowen right now and I believe and think he's going to be the rest of both their careers.  Cowen has played close to 100 more games (a full season) than Wiercioch too which also tells a lot of the story.

I wish we could combine Wiercioch and Cowen. Puck movement, mobility and size...

Because...Wiercioch is not great at getting rubbed off pucks and he likely never will be and Cowen can't move the puck like Wiercioch - not even close.

I did find it refreshing the past few games, to see the puck being moved out of the zone with crisp first passes.

You also said Zibanejad will never be a 1st liner and I believe he will

Anyways, in terms of Cowen, I see a guy who has been dynamite in Junior, then in the AHL, and is still 24 which is very young for an NHL 6'5" defenseman who has had 2 major surgeries. I see a guy who won't reach his potential until he is 26-27.
And to boot, looks like Bryan Murray also prefers Cowen to Wiercioch.

Wiercioch has been sending guys in alone his whole career, he needs playing time. Imagine if he was given the same leash Cowen has been? Wiercioch has the ability to play sound defensive hockey with positioning and hockey sense, Cowen makes up for having an extremely low hockey IQ with physical play. Seeing as he has been suspended 2 times already, lost tons of $$$, I question whether he can even do that effectively anymore.

Wiercioch won't last I don't think. Too soft. He'd be destroyed in the playoffs - or we'd be trying to shelter him. I guess he'll be a good stop-gap until someone else is ready though, if they move Cowen that is.

LeCaptain wrote:

NEELY wrote:

Ev wrote:

NEELY wrote:

Ev wrote:Can't compare cowen and Wiercioch as cowrn never got the same kind of opportunity Wiercioch does in terms of offenzie zone starts and playing against the worst players every night.

Cowen has had more than his fair share of chances.  Saying Wiercioch has had a better opportunity than Cowen in any sort of way is pretty much a false statement.

It's not false, you completely ignored what I wrote. It is fact that Wiercioch has played the softest minutes and cowen hasnt. Wiercioch is a hut who can't play against the fastest biggest players

Saying Cowen has had any kind of advantage in completely wrong.  There isn't a player in the organization who has been given more rope than Cowen, it's not close.

Wiercioch does everything better than Cowen other than being more assertive and physical which he will never be.  Cowen lacks a lot of things and the biggest one is being hockey sense.

You still missed his point though. He's talking about in-game matchups.

When Wiercioch is replacing Cowen's spot with Ceci on the 2nd pairing, he's getting pretty much the exact same matchups Cowen would have gotten. The big difference is PP and PK time, with Cowen playing a lot of the PK and none of the PP, and Wiercioch playing just the opposite. So, yeah, before this stretch, Wiercioch would have had easier matchups. In the most recent run, since Cowen's has been out? BS. Wiercioch is playing the exact same role, 5 on 5, as Cowen was.

Anderson is too soft

Ev wrote:Anderson is too soft

I couldn't get to sleep last night and I was thinking this exact thing. Not that he's too soft, but we're Cussed if he's our starter and we don't have a quality backup. The guy can't stay healthy.

I'm perfectly happy is Anderson is honest with the coaching staff and tells them he's "not comfortable". Goalies are crazy to start with, and a lot of the elite guys over the years have needed to feel 100% comfortable/healthy to want to play...whatever.