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Everything posted by aGENT
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Have to agree with this. Lesser coaching, time missed with the shoulder injury and a simply less mature player who hasn't quite yet figured out how hard playing in the NHL actually is and how hard you have to actually work to get/stay there. It shouldn't be surprising that he's 'behind'. Bo's not got night and day better 'IQ' than Virtanen, he's no Sedin. What he does have is maturity, relentless work ethic and the benefit of better fundamentals taught (and credit to him, learned) by superior coaching.
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Excellent! Another teaching opportunity!
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How would you assess Horvat's IQ?
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Yeah, I'm not doing that much work Particularly for something completely subjective. But there's a pretty big group of below average 'Dorsett's' or average IQ guys out there. Most of the guys who play simple, un-nuanced games would fall in the average to below average IQ range.
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Dorsett would probably qualify. @ForsbergTheGreat posted a pretty good example/description last page actually: Guys with average or below average IQ aren't necessarily going to drive a line. They're there to bring some mix of energy, speed, physicality, a shot and generally compliment the guys who do the 'creating'. If they're skilled enough, they can do quite well there in complimentary roles.
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He's certainly no Sedin but his 'lack of hockey IQ' gets overstated on here IMO. His hockey IQ is 'average' not 'poor'. His biggest hurdles are maturity and becoming a pro (working far harder than he's ever had to to play with pace and attack, consistently).
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Hammer in his prime was a legit #2D IMO. We never been blessed with a true #1D, but during that period we were overflowing in quality #2's.
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He's certainly heading that way. 'X-player sucks' or similar, adds very little to the forum/discussion.
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Sorry, that should have been, slightly more offensive (I don't think he'll put up huge numbers, likely 25-35 points in his prime) but yes, he is much more creative/dynamic. He'll do more to drive play, particularly in the offensive zone, even if that doesn't translate to vastly more individual points.
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Not if you look how he's being played, listen to Green's comments etc. They have him working on fundamentals and training, practicing etc to learn how to be a consistent pro in more of a checking role with a couple of hardworking but limited skill players as line mates (with a dabble of PP time/offensive situations). Once Green feels more comfortable with Jake's pace, consistency etc, he'll likely get more rope offensively and give more offensive opportunity (along with more expectations). We're not there yet.
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Wrong thread but... IMO having Jake in the pros last year wasn't inherently a 'mistake'. Given some possibly questionable usage in CAL and knowledge of his weaknesses (behaving/training/practicing like a pro), it actually made a lot of sense to have him up here to monitor his practice, training, diet etc habits more closely and have consummate, hard working pros like the Sedins, Burrows, Hansen, Horvat etc around for him to learn from as opposed to going back to junior and continuing with those bad junior habits. That said, I think they could have handled him better than they did last year if that was the plan. A more consistent play, training and practice schedule with more one on one coaching even when the rest of the team wasn't practicing/was on the road, conditioning stints in Utica if available, a plan to send him to the WJC off the bat short of exceptional progression etc. Far too much was left up to Jake to be the professional he clearly wasn't yet IMO. He also should have been sent to Utica off the bat this year given his play/injury in the preseason. Sounds like's largely back on track working hard and learning to be a pro, learning fundamentals and unlearning bad junior habits. It will be interesting to see how he responds when Green eventually starts giving him more rope once he feels comfortable with Jake in those aspects. As for Juolevi... I maintain he's likely a solid #2-3 D with #4 as his floor and #1 with his ceiling (if less likely). IMO we end up with a larger, slightly more creative and offensive Tanev. My crystal ball says he'll either be a good complimentary #2D or a VERY good 1B/2A D who will be able to share the load almost equally with another very good D. (Tryamkin?)
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Watched a couple good ones lately, probably give them both 8/10. Captain Fantastic was pretty darn delightful IMO. Vigo was good in the lead along with most of the kids and supporting characters (though some were more 1 dimensional, likely limited by film length/editing). Cinematography was gorgeous and the writing was largely good quality with only a few weak moments. American Honey was very raw and brash with good acting and story throughout so long as you can subdue your mature, adult eye rolling at the very immature behavior the film is largely about. It reminded me how much I don't miss being a teen/early 20's eedjit Also watched sausage party....well it wasn't as bad as I expected, so that's something! The not so subtle cultural/religion references worked for the cheap laughs the film relies on but holy they could have toned down the constant torrent of f-bombs by a factor of 10 and still probably had too many. Otherwise pretty low level, cheap laughs that stoned teenage boys should adore. 4.5/10
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INB4 someone comes in with: 'He doesn't have Doan's leadership...'
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NHL schedules, travel etc do not allow for practice time. It IS a process but being in the AHL allows him more coaching, practice, training and ice time then he was ever going to get at the NHL level to get through that process. All things he badly needs to correct all his bad, junior habits. Nothing was made of his conditioning? Not sure that's true. It was commented on in media, it was likely commented on behind closed doors and was reflected in his ice time, usage and eventual demotion to the AHL. And FWIW, being strong (which it seems like Virtanen may have concentrated more on) and being in NHL condition to constantly attack, with pace for +/-15 minutes a game are two different things. This, IMO, goes back to some of his bad, junior habits- floating, coasting etc. He's still figuring out he'll need to be in far better shape and work far harder to play with pace at the pro level than he could get away with in junior floating and dominating with his size. And big guys tend to take longer to get those bodies in to that kind of shape. It's not going to happen overnight especially with his brain probably still fighting all those bad habits lingering around in there.
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IMO, he WAS trending in the wrong direction. Now that they have him in Utica where he should have been, and getting the additional coaching, practice time etc he was never going to get in the NHL, he's stabilized IMO. They're very much 'rebuilding' his game right now. By all means his game could never evolve and head further South but I've not seen or heard any indication he's not working hard or that none of it is sinking in. Quite the contrary in fact. Comments from his coach are that he's doing exactly those things.
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This. Those of us preaching patience aren't blind to this. I've said MANY times on here Jake has a LOT of work to do to break his bad junior habits. For this I'm labeld a 'homer wearing rose coloured glasses that can't have an objective discussion'.... Uh huh...
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As I've said before, I don't care if he doesn't get another point until next Christmas as long as he's working on his biggest flaws, which IMO, are his ability to maintain pace and pressure. He's too damn big, fast and skilled to not have success if he can play like a pro (pace and attack) instead of a junior (floating), merely 'ok' hockey IQ or not. His biggest hurdle is becoming a pro and doing away with all his junior bad habits.
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Derp. Yeah, some folks around here could use some more Elsa in their lives apparently.
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Granlund has a LOT of work to do on faceoffs if he ever wants to get back to centre. Both him and Baer are adept at playmaking from the wing though. So I'm sure something will work out with Bo or Granlund or a yet to be determined C.
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Derp. Obviously it's just propaganda to cover the conspiracy.
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True dat hombre.
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@Monty and @The Bookie, wife wasn't thrilled with the boar scene (it was hard to watch ) and I think that may have knocked it down a few pegs for her. Otherwise though, fantastic little movie. Mandatory viewing IMO.