wprager
Administrator
Number of posts : 52818
Age : 62
Location : Kanata
Favorite Team : Ottawa
Registration date : 2008-08-05
tim1_2 wrote: DefenceWinsChampionships wrote: tim1_2 wrote:Poor Sabourin man. I know people will say that's a pointless fight or whatever, but people need to also understand that this is how he got into the NHL, it's what he knows, and he ain't going to change. Anyone that willingly drops the gloves with Lucic is taking a big risk, that dude is a gorilla. And then to have to continue fighting when your right hand gets f'd up...yikes. He made it out alive though, good for him.
Good game otherwise...sucks for Forsberg that his hot streak got interrupted by all the COVID stuff, but nice to see Murray actually play well. Hopefully it lasts this time.
Forsberg's hot streak shouldn't really matter. It's way more important to get Matt Murray going. Forsberg will be gone on or before the trade deadline. Murray's here to stay with Colin White being the player that will be bought out this off-season.
I get that Sabourin's thing is fighting but up 2-0 against Lucic only puts momentum in Calgary's favour. He's lucky he got out of there alive because he was fed a lot of direct punches to the face. It's unfortunate an injury is what forces him out of the lineup. I'd take Shaw, Bishop, Gaudette, etc ahead of him every day of the week. He was in the lineup for "toughness" since Calgary is a physical team (according to DJ Smith). The Sens lead the league in hits per game (27.93) with Calgary ranked 14th at 22.79. They're also middle of the pack in PIMs/game. Nothing here suggests that they're a physical team. Lucic, Zadorov, and Gudbransson are their only physical players and all three barely see the ice.
So you're complaining about the lineup we used to smoke a good team after an incredibly long weird layoff. You think you know that Calgary isn't a physical team based on their hits per game and PIMs per game, and think this gives a better indicator than the work DJ Smith and his coaching staff did scouting and game-planning.
I think this coaching staff has earned some benefit of the doubt here.
Short answer: YES
Longer answer: DJ has made a lot of very questionable (outrageous, some might say) personnel decisions since he's been here. He called Zaitsev "elite" and was instrumental in bringing him here. I suspect he also had a say in bringing in Gudbranson and Coburn, and most definitely J. Brown. He admitted to having completely misjudged Zub at the start of last season. He's never given Brannstrom a real chance. It was under his watch that we lost DeMelo and Wolanin for nothing. Simply put, he loves the types of players that he used to be himself, the type of player that is dying out in today's NHL.
One Austin Watson in the lineup is enough. Add in Josh Brown and you *really* do not need Sabourin. There are no more teams like the '70s Flyers around. And not only can Sabouring not play very well, he's also not very good at fighting -- just willing to do it. Last night Sanford declined an invite and we got a power-play out of it. It does work, sometimes. And as for fighting, I would have much rather Sabourin dropped the mitts after Coleman elbowed Zub when it was 4-1, than accept Lucic's invitation when up 2-0. Lucic is a vet, I'm sure he would have understood "Hey man, we're up 2-0, I have no reason to fight you" (especially if said loud enough for the stripes to hear).
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