-
Posts
3,452 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
7
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Blogs
Gallery
Everything posted by stonecoldstevebernier
-
Another goal for Gaudette today puts him at 13-21-34 in 23 games so far this season.
-
One assist for Zhukenov today brings him up to 13-27-40 in 42 games on the season, although he had a night to forget in the faceoff circle with just 4/17 won. (Zhukenov's assist was also on German Rubtsov's first QMJHL goal.)
-
Well, he's moving his feet, when he has the puck at least. A couple of times per game he'll make a dash down the right wing but it rarely results in anything because its easy for goalies to get square and play the shooter when they know he won't pass it up. He has a tendency to float when he doesn't have the puck but that could also be a byproduct of the line he's playing on. I made a similar post, can't remember if it was here or in the Comets thread, but he has a habit of hanging back while Bancks and Hamilton go in the corners and dig out pucks. He's obviously the player with the most offensive skill on that line and tries to play like it, waiting for a pass so he can shoot. I'd prefer to see him on a line where he's forced to be more physically involved and do the dirty work himself. Even if the goals aren't coming you can get yourself in the game by being physical and make a difference, or create an opportunity for your teammates because of it. The problem with that is that the Comets' top two lines are both rolling right now. Archibald-Valk-Grenier has cooled down a little but there's no way Virtanen could bump Archi or Grenier off that line, they've played too well. The other line, recently formed, is Zalewski-Pelletier-Kunyk which has been on fire. I was hoping Virtanen could get some extended time with Pelletier to get some chemistry but it'll be even harder now that Green seems to have found two lines that work offensively.
-
Carcone is one of those players where we probably won't know what we have until year 2 and 3 of his ELC. He impressed me at camp and he's shown flashes of that in the AHL. He's a very good stickhandler and skilled at escaping defenders in close quarters, but there is even less space at the AHL level than there is at the junior level to do that. He reminds me a little bit of Mike Zalewski in his first year with the Comets, in the sense that the effort is there but the offense isn't coming with it yet. A 2.7% shooting percentage is something that will improve with experience and with higher quality opportunities.
-
One assist for Zhukenov and 8/14 faceoffs won today. Now at 13-22-35 in 37 games and holds a 54.6% faceoff rate.
-
Guillaume Brisebois | D
stonecoldstevebernier replied to Patrick Jane's topic in Prospects / Farm Team
A goal, two assists, and +4 for Brisebois today vs Moncton. Up to 4-17-21 in 34 games this year now.- 1,427 replies
-
- 1
-
-
- Defenceman
- Left-shot
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
Didn't miss that fact. But I guess you missed the fact that in the three games he played in he's averaged 8:54, and that he was scratched in between those, and that my point was that WD hasn't given him a shot to show what he can do even when he's been available. Do people on CDC ever try to make intelligent replies to long posts or just pick out one thing that completely ignores the point of the post they're quoting? I guess now I know the answer to that.
-
The thing that really irks me about Rodin being out of the lineup is that the players keeping him out are just filler - they're not guys who are in the team's future plans at all. We've seen 30+ games of Chaput, Skille, and almost 30 of Megna. We know what they are and what they can provide. I think Skille has earned his place but the other two haven't done anything at all that should prevent them from being scratched. We've seen enough of Megna in a top six role to know he isn't that player, and in all likelihood these players won't be here next season as the team cycles through NHL/AHL tweeners like every team does. So why is Rodin, a new face with offensive upside, being held out of the lineup and playing limited minutes for players who don't mean anything to the team going forward? The same thing happened last year with Bartkowski. There was literally no point to him playing 80 games if he wasn't going to last. Even when the team was out of playoff contention and JB announced he wasn't going to re-sign Bartkowski he was still in the lineup every game down the stretch. I really hope the same thing doesn't happen with Megna this year. Its painful to watch him get 15 minutes of ice time per night and to have Rodin and Boucher watching from the press box without even being given a chance.
-
He's been playing most regularly on the third line, and on the second unit powerplay. Usually he's with Wacey Hamilton and Carter Bancks, which is where he was today as well. He had two scoring chances but neither one resulted in a shot on net. The first he was darting down the right side with quite a bit of room and completely whiffed on the shot. The second chance was exactly where you'd want him to be, parked in the slot for a one-timer, which he got off but had it blocked. He doesn't look bad in the sense that he's not making dumb plays or costly giveaways. He looks bad because we expect so much out of him. A lot of the time when he's on the ice, he just looks uninvolved in the play, kind of floating around the offensive zone while others do the dirty work to dig the puck out of the corners. His speed and shot are both still very apparent skills but he rarely gets a chance to use them when he's waiting for the game to come to him. When I watch Virtanen, he reminds me of Ronalds Kenins last year. When Kenins first played with the Canucks he was hitting absolutely everything, and always finished his checks no matter what. In his second year he looked like a completely different player. In the few games he played, there were a lot of moments where he'd be forechecking and have an opportunity to hit someone but he'd just peel away at the last second. That's what Virtanen looks like right now. He's not using his size or his physicality to his advantage but what this means, I don't know. Could be a lingering injury; could be a mental thing where he feels a need to play a certain way to succeed; could be disinterest; or it could be that he's being coached to play a certain system. I'm not a coach, or a scout, but I think if Virtanen's struggling to hit the score sheet (which he is) he needs to start doing things like playing aggressively and doing the dirty work in the corners to try to make something happen instead of waiting for something to happen. That said, I wouldn't worry too much about him just yet, or press a panic button. A lot of times players will get on slumps and nothing goes right for them and it takes a while to break out of it because the longer it goes on, the worse it feels. Just look at Eriksson's start to the year. Virtanen is far younger and has a lot to learn, and time to learn it.
-
Two assists today for Gaudette gives him 10-20-30 in 19 games on the year. Edit: beaten to it
-
Ninth in the nation in scoring... that whole Northeastern line (Gaudette, Sikura, Aston-Reese) is in the top 10.
-
Looking forward to (hopefully) seeing Jasek in North America next season. He reminds me of Hansen a little bit; responsibly defensively, kills penalties, has a bit of grittiness and a spark to him, and has enough skill there that his offensive game could develop over time. His size is an issue right now, but he plays physical and if he can put on a bit more muscle it'll make his transition to the North American game easier. Also, It'll be good for him to get a whole season playing consistently in Utica instead of bouncing between three teams in the Czech Republic.
-
No Rodin tonight. If he really is 100% healthy and they're not just being cautious with him, I don't know what to make of this. I'm sure WD doesn't want to tinker with a winning lineup but you have to find out what you have in Rodin at some point, and play him. So why not do it on the second half of a back-to-back and rest somebody (Megna/Chaput/Gaunce) who played last night?
-
Guillaume Brisebois | D
stonecoldstevebernier replied to Patrick Jane's topic in Prospects / Farm Team
Thanks man, I appreciate your contributions in the prospects threads too.- 1,427 replies
-
- 2
-
-
- Defenceman
- Left-shot
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
Guillaume Brisebois | D
stonecoldstevebernier replied to Patrick Jane's topic in Prospects / Farm Team
One assist, +1 for Brisebois in a 2-1 win today. 3-15-18 in 29 games for him.- 1,427 replies
-
- 1
-
-
- Defenceman
- Left-shot
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
Two more assists for Zhukenov today vs Rimouski, and 9/16 on faceoffs. 12-21-33 in 32 games now.
-
A goal and two assists for Zhukenov today, earning him first star honours and putting him back at the ppg mark (12-19-31 in 31 games). Also won 11/20 faceoffs - he's at 55.1% there so far this year.
-
Gaudette with a four point night! A goal and three assists vs Clarkson gives him 10-16-26 in 17 games this season. Assists:
-
Didn't watch today's game, but Juolevi got a huge boost in ice time over the previous two games. 22:49 compared to the 16ish he was getting before. Probably should've been playing that from the start though, its too late for the Finns unless they get another Danish miracle tomorrow... But yeah, I agree with other sentiments that you shouldn't judge a player by their WJC performances, good or bad. Whether he leads the tourney in d-man scoring like last year or has a year like this one, it'll be way different when he's playing on a team of grown men in the NHL. You take Laine, Puljujarvi, Aho, Rantanen, and Kapanen out of your lineup and you're just not going to look as good. If you're going to get nine assists you need some players to convert those passes (and the ice time to do it).
-
In fairness, there was a lot of discussion on here last year about Tkachuk being that same type of player - that he was a beneficiary of the Marner/Dvorak line. I do wonder if JB would've taken Tkachuk if he knew how good Stecher would be, though. Our prospect depth at D is abysmal but on the big club we're pretty set for the near future... Edler-Tanev/Hutton-Stecher/Tryamkin-Gudbranson (or some other combination of those guys). Of course, the flip side is that if Juolevi emerges as hoped, it allows you to flip a Edler/Tanev/Gudbranson for a forward anyway. And the Larsson/Hall trade showed us how much good defensemen can be valued in this league now. Time will tell. I don't if I want JB at the helm making those decisions though (or perhaps more accurately, the Aquilinis meddling in JB's decisions).
-
Finland loses... Juolevi didn't even see the ice in the last two minutes. Why was he named captain if he's not going to play? Moral support? In the third period: Saarijarvi 10:21, Valimaki 6:38, Heiskanen 6:17, Juolevi 5:45. Barely above Vaakanainen at 5:33.
-
Juolevi has been good, despite the score. Finland's goaltending has been brutal though. And I don't understand Juolevi not being on the first unit PP. Yes, Finland has Saarajarvi and Valimaki who are great offensive talents but Juolevi has the pedigree and talent that belongs on the first unit, he showed that last year at 17 years old. The setup they have isn't working so far anyway. Another PP chance here...
-
Just looking over the scorers sheet, Jasek was fourth amongst Czech forwards in ice time with 16:42, and had the second most TOI in the third. Interesting to see his coach trust him in defensive situations, he was also out during the final minute when the Finns pulled their goalie as well as being on the PK. Hopefully he can use some of that creativity he displayed vs the Swiss and the Danes to put a couple points on the board since the Czechs will probably be in tough to score vs the top teams.
-
Jasek has been involved in the play so far, he has a chippy style to him. Has had a couple of shots on goal so far and was out on the Czechs first PK unit. Also did this:
-
A goal and an assist for Gaudette today in his return to the lineup from that concussion. 9-13-22 in 16 games on the year now.