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The Toughness And Reliability We've Been Looking For...


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This is a thread about Maxim Lapierre, Dan Hamhuis, Chris Tanev and Keith Ballard.

Last night, these 4 players especially stood out to me. Of course the ginger trio won us the game but out there we saw Hamhuis, Tanev and Ballard providing much defensive stability and given Edler and Bieksa's blunders, they're exactly what we needed to retain the lead.

As usual, Hamhuis was our Mr. Reliable, but we also saw Ballard delivering a crushing hip check and play a solid game in our end, and I have to say the same about Tanev, he had a great game, clearing the puck at the right times and showing a ton of maturity for his age.

Lapierre was an absolute force last night, he has great chemistry on the 2nd line, and it's scary to see what that'd be like with Kassian replacing Raymond (worth a shot? yes? no? maybe slot in Higgins instead?). Lapierre threw his body around everywhere, did a couple wrap-arounds and created a lot of offensive opportunities. THIS GUY DESERVES MORE ICE TIME, KEEP HIM WITH KESLER! He's a talented player and could take a load off Kesler trying to shut down the Kings' top players and get back on goal-scoring form again.

Thoughts?

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He seemed impressive in his first few games when they tried him on the 2nd line, when he was throwing hits everywhere. It's the playoffs now though so there's less room to experiment. Doesn't seem like Raymond fits anywhere though, and his defensive reliability is pretty much non-existant (Kopitar's goal).

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The D needs to get better and they're starting to show signs of improvements.

Edler + Bieksa has been giving me heart attacks for the last couple weeks. I'm glad that AV is switching it back to Hamhuis + Bieksa. If our D can handle the fore-check of LA, this series would be a lot easier to play.

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I still don't know how I feel about Ballard. I am a total fan of his crushing hip checks, but there were quite a few times last night where I was holding my breath as he tied up a player with a spare hand, or hooked someone on his way by. I think hes a solid 5/6 defensemen, but I still get scared when he does certain things. It seems when he gets riled up he likes to play more physical, which is generally good, but he often gets carried away.

Last night Ballard played on the edge, there were a few times i was surprised he didn't get called for holding or hooking, or even interference.

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This is a thread about Maxim Lapierre, Dan Hamhuis, Chris Tanev and Keith Ballard.

Last night, these 4 players especially stood out to me. Of course the ginger trio won us the game but out there we saw Hamhuis, Tanev and Ballard providing much defensive stability and given Edler and Bieksa's blunders, they're exactly what we needed to retain the lead.

As usual, Hamhuis was our Mr. Reliable, but we also saw Ballard delivering a crushing hip check and play a solid game in our end, and I have to say the same about Tanev, he had a great game, clearing the puck at the right times and showing a ton of maturity for his age.

Lapierre was an absolute force last night, he has great chemistry on the 2nd line, and it's scary to see what that'd be like with Kassian replacing Raymond (worth a shot? yes? no? maybe slot in Higgins instead?). Lapierre threw his body around everywhere, did a couple wrap-arounds and created a lot of offensive opportunities. THIS GUY DESERVES MORE ICE TIME, KEEP HIM WITH KESLER! He's a talented player and could take a load off Kesler trying to shut down the Kings' top players and get back on goal-scoring form again.

Thoughts?

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I still don't know how I feel about Ballard. I am a total fan of his crushing hip checks, but there were quite a few times last night where I was holding my breath as he tied up a player with a spare hand, or hooked someone on his way by. I think hes a solid 5/6 defensemen, but I still get scared when he does certain things. It seems when he gets riled up he likes to play more physical, which is generally good, but he often gets carried away.

Last night Ballard played on the edge, there were a few times i was surprised he didn't get called for holding or hooking, or even interference.

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Yup, Lappiere gets marginalized when he's played on the 4th line.

Malhotra is great at faceoffs, but has struggled to take a regular shift with any effectiveness.

Kassian is just in over his head right now...only 'cause he's young and still growing as a player...his defensive game isn't reliable enough.

Lappy has proven to be a very valuable player for us when he isn't taking ridiculous penalties. He definitely should be rewarded with more ice time. I think Lappiere, Kesler, Burrows is a hell of a trio.

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He seemed impressive in his first few games when they tried him on the 2nd line, when he was throwing hits everywhere. It's the playoffs now though so there's less room to experiment. Doesn't seem like Raymond fits anywhere though, and his defensive reliability is pretty much non-existant (Kopitar's goal).

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