Canuck Surfer Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Well, watching the Detroit game he is skating hard enough to back check and gets in on the fore check. I see him as hesitant when not directly involved in a play. He hangs back circling, instead of charging in to the boards after a puck, or to make a check. In the maeantime, Raymond, or Weise is charging in. It can't always have been his responsibility to play a lane in the background. He has not learned to pick his spots and asert himself... When he had his magical run with the Twins, that was not the case. They cycled the puck into a corner or behind the net & Kas was charging in hell bent on winning a puck and chipping it back to a Twin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watermelons Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 You know nothing about hockey then...there are some players who play better in the playoffs than they do in the regular season (Lappy, Higgins...Kesler, Edler. Maybe hes hoping that Kassian is the same way??) Learn the game of hockey before you knock someones opinion. Just saying Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knucklehd Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 I agree with parts of many posts. Defensively, kass has looked lost, tentative and uncomfortable out there. Once he gets over our blue line though, you can almost see a switch flip, he plays with much more confidence, aggression and creativity, although not much to show for it. The defensive game is the hardest part for young players to figure out. Give him time, till then however, I will continue to hold my breath when he has the puck in our zone. Once he figures that out, I think you'll see him have a breakout season.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoneypuckOverlord Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 I hope he does wake up during the playoffs. I want him to throw his body around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyBaby Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Hahaha wow... we are STILL pretending that this kid is actually going to be good. As soon as playoffs are over we need to trade him ASAP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThaBestPlaceOnEarth Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 I like what I've seen from Kassian this season, he's playing all over the lineup, getting solid experience and getting better defensively and positionally game over game. He plays with a lot of enthusiasm but you can tell he needs more time to work with the coaching staff than he's been able to get with the short season, I think it's next year where we'll really see what he can do with a proper offseason training and camp and preseason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Karlsson Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Well, watching the Detroit game he is skating hard enough to back check and gets in on the fore check. I see him as hesitant when not directly involved in a play. He hangs back circling, instead of charging in to the boards after a puck, or to make a check. In the maeantime, Raymond, or Weise is charging in. It can't always have been his responsibility to play a lane in the background. He has not learned to pick his spots and asert himself... When he had his magical run with the Twins, that was not the case. They cycled the puck into a corner or behind the net & Kas was charging in hell bent on winning a puck and chipping it back to a Twin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canucksnhl Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 I don't think he should be fighting as much.. He's great power forward with amazing potential, but fighting seems to impede his skills development. Great hands, big body, good positioning, decent passing skills, although he needs to work on his shooting. But in the playoffs I'm okay with him fighting as much as he wants and with whoever messes with our skilled guys, as long as he doesn't get injured in a fight. Which has happened a few times now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riffraff Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 if Kassian AKA "Doug Glatt" could play with the heart and passion of Lappy there would not be a problem. If Lappy had the size of Kassian my word look out. To think he is a top 6 man on this team is a joke. Can we trade Zack for Matt Kassian? If we could have kept, Tanner Glass, Raffi or Volpatti we would not need Kassian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
250Integra Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Kassian is not ready right now and he's not going to turn into some beast in the playoffs. Give me a break on the "he hasn't had proper line mates" or "he got pulled off the Sedins line and has played poorly since then ". There's a reason why he's bounced around (defensive lapses) and anyone can play with the Sedins and succeed. Heck, Taylor "gentle giant" Pyatt could score consecutive 20+ goals and even Bitz pot in 2 goals in a few games. Most rookies playing in the NHL playoffs have shown more aggressive play than Kassian did last year, which was why he was stapled to the bench, and he's supposed to be this "rumbling bull". Sorry but even Steve Bernier throws a few big hits sometimes too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clynch Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Kassian will do better in the playoffs because it is the playoffs. It has less to do with his ability, or him flipping a switch. The switch is hit by the refing. They call less infractions, let the rougher play go. it is more suited to his brand of hockey. If he can take advantage he has the ability to be great, for a young player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gross-Misconduct Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 He can't skate. Skating is important in the NHL. Especially in the playoffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baggins Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Kassian is not ready right now and he's not going to turn into some beast in the playoffs. Give me a break on the "he hasn't had proper line mates" or "he got pulled off the Sedins line and has played poorly since then ". There's a reason why he's bounced around (defensive lapses) and anyone can play with the Sedins and succeed. Heck, Taylor "gentle giant" Pyatt could score consecutive 20+ goals and even Bitz pot in 2 goals in a few games. Most rookies playing in the NHL playoffs have shown more aggressive play than Kassian did last year, which was why he was stapled to the bench, and he's supposed to be this "rumbling bull". Sorry but even Steve Bernier throws a few big hits sometimes too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyBaby Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Remember that age 22 the Sedins were pretty useless and possible busts. Kesler didn't look like he would ever amount to a 3rd liner. Burrows was in the ECHL. Bieksa was on the Moose who looked like he might make it as a 5/6 defenceman if he panned out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honky Cat Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 And then there was also thousands upon thousands of players that were not like that and just faded away... The people you mentioned though always at least had a couple "flashes" of greatness.. whether it was the chemistry with the twins, Kesler being speedy as hell, and Bieksa did not look like that. He always exhibited signs of improvement and growth.. Burrows, well, the Sedins made his career and without them he would no doubt be a third liner. The sooner that we except Kassian is just straight @$$ cheeks, the sooner we can make enough noise through the media via this site in getting this kid out and stop wasting his teammates/coach's time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldnews Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 The sooner that we except Kassian is just straight @$$ cheeks, the sooner we can make enough noise through the media via this site in getting this kid out and stop wasting his teammates/coach's time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BleedBlueAndGreen Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 I'm really excited to see how he performs in the Chicago game tomorrow. They're fast and skilled, but also play a hard-hitting, smash mouth smile that i think Kassian will sink or swim in this setting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck Surfer Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Your commentary is fair, but... Do you think Brendan Shanahan would be who he became without line mates? Guys like Kassian, who have size, speed and soft hands on their scouting report represent a special opportunity. Is Burrows better? Absolutely! But; - point one; Kassian is somewhere between 212 and 220 lbs. Chara, Pronger years ago, Seabrook, Weber, heck mid sized Willie Mitchell as defenders have all had success smothering the Twins with physical play. And where a step behind AB, this could still be used to crack like a can opener size match up issues against big D and reinvigorate the Twins. Historically teams have shut down the Twins in play off match ups. - point two; Burrows has also had the ability to reinvigorate other lines. Its not all about Kass; it's about getting 3 or 4 lines rolling! - point three; it's about developing Kassian. Ahem, its why we should have been going to this match up 40% of the time (my formula). Kassian still needs guys good enough to create structure and puck control; with them he has been effective. Now Burrows is unquestionably better after years with the Twins. So too could be our beastly physical PF with the soft hands. He will learn how to assert himself and then bring that to subsidiary lines when asked, as well.... Look at Saad in Chicago; does anyone really believe he is better than Kane or Sharp who play 2knd line, heck even Bolland? But he's playing first line with Toewes/Hossa & their depth lines are all the better for it. Plus he add's exactly size and athleticism which busts match ups. Quenneville knows how to engineer better match ups! Kassian is not ready right now and he's not going to turn into some beast in the playoffs. Give me a break on the "he hasn't had proper line mates" or "he got pulled off the Sedins line and has played poorly since then ". There's a reason why he's bounced around (defensive lapses) and anyone can play with the Sedins and succeed. Heck, Taylor "gentle giant" Pyatt could score consecutive 20+ goals and even Bitz pot in 2 goals in a few games. Most rookies playing in the NHL playoffs have shown more aggressive play than Kassian did last year, which was why he was stapled to the bench, and he's supposed to be this "rumbling bull". Sorry but even Steve Bernier throws a few big hits sometimes too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisbanks Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 I'm really excited to see how he performs in the Chicago game tomorrow. They're fast and skilled, but also play a hard-hitting, smash mouth smile that i think Kassian will sink or swim in this setting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamiSalo Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 I don't think the comparison has been made yet, but it is worth mentioning that this kids hockey hero, and local power forward legend, Big Bert, didn't put it all together until he was 24 years old!! Unbelievable that some of you want to give up on this kid, who is exactly the type of player we have needed to develop since Bert left. SMH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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