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oldnews

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Everything posted by oldnews

  1. Neal was ? very good last year? I would've done a better job - not hindsighting - I would have signed Okposo instead lol.
  2. more than one. they 'coulda' had both Lucic and Gardiner, if they were a more attractive destination....
  3. yes - that much is exceedingly well known - we've seen your denial that Eriksson is responsible for his own play, endlessly. It's Benning's fault. Or Green's, for not spoon feeding him the right linemates or situations to play in.... the only person that can really take responsibililty for Eriksson's performance, though - is Eriksson. Aside from LE - the rest of the so-called 'mediocre UFAs' or veterans - have been relatively good (at least when healthy) - are relative small-fry issues compared to Eriksson.
  4. Who cares? He's been playing with uber-rusty Hamonic, and then the 8th man (not a shot at Benn, he's been ok), but the circumstances are less than ideal = is an understatement. Hughes has made some mistakes this year - no doubt - but overall it has been a team/unit symptom - it's not merely him trying to do too much carrying the puck in high risk situations in the dzone, or trying to force stretch passes that aren't necessarily there - but as Cassie described last night - it's been a lack of playing as a unit that has caused most of their problems - forwards blowing the zone prematurely, not taking care of exits and supporting the puck - that has also left Hughes a bit exposed at times. And defensively, he's also struggled at times, but with the volume of minutes he plays, his workload, and a struggling top 6 that hasn't been particularly mindful without the puck (with the exceptions of Hoglander and Boeser imo) - there's room for improvement in lots of areas. For me the majority of the errors this season have been of this nature - giveaways in high danger areas - that can't effectively be defended - a fixable tendency that particularly the young forwards trying to 'cheat' the game, can correct. He's been frustrated and things aren't coming as easily for him thus far - and as expected he's not winning the 'possession' game (68% ozone starts and 50.3% corsi isn't very good) - and neither are the skilled top 6 forwards - while at the same time, they haven't been finishing the chances they do produce 5 on 5. Hughes was a 3rd worst -10 last year (over larger sample), and while his possession numbers were slightly better, there was still room for improvement (but as a rookie - not particularly a concern). For me - a degree of this is to be expected, and the rest can be corrected and improved upon with better engagement from the rest of the guys on the ice as well. He's seemed a bit more engaged the past few nights - sometimes you need to go through rough stretches to gain the benefit of the growing pains. Half his points this season are on the man advantage - otherwise he really misses the steady Tanev - and not just off the ice. The articles that surfaced in the offseason regarding Hughes being dragged down by Tanev, were based on some really poor, elementary 'analytics' that were negative value analyses. Thus far, Hamonic wasn't really up to speed (and isn't a Tanev replacement in any event) - and Benn has stepped up well, but that remains the team's principal need, particularly long term - Hughes' partner. His plus minus in context is not good - no doubt about that - however it's not on him alone - and the idea that alot of people had going into this season, that he's already a "#1" defenseman - is very premature.
  5. good summary of your point.
  6. Strange deal for Carolina. But not as strange as that Gardiner contract. Or the decision to trade Edmundson's rights....
  7. Toffoli was injured when it mattered the most as well - while Tanev was not. Not the reason I would have prioritized Tanev, though.
  8. newsflash - defensemen get injured whether their name is Tanev or not. I'm guessing you've paid attention to this franchise long enough to realize that. If that's what you reduce your assessment of a player to - you have the wrong principal factors in mind. Unless those injuries result in decline, then you're dwelling too much on it.
  9. Poor analogy. layoffs, etc - are highly unpopular and hurt people's lives. on the other hand, the 'pop' culture rage over at csmarmy, the province, etc - are whining for any other plan this plan - but couldn't plan a birthday party themselves. No comment at all is the wiser move - if an owner is intending to clear house. Making these statements - and then walking another walk - would only undermine Aquilini's credibility. He's made similar comments in recent times -and both management and the coaching staff remain here.
  10. huh? can you quote one person that believes that? I think some people believe he could capably replace a veteran like Pearson in the lineup. Dramatically change the team? That sound like a straw paraphrase.
  11. anyhow - hopefully everyone feels a bit better about the team - that's three straight games they've been dominant - against the two teams that were supposed to bully everyone else this year. the team is taking some time to work the knots out, but they're coming around. hopefully it'll shut up the smarm crowd for a few days: the worst opportunists of the whine.
  12. if suffering from Tanev being on your roster is your concept of suffering, you haven't suffered.
  13. I think they have a pretty good blueline and goaltending - but imo their forward group is over-rated.
  14. you need to let go of that kind of blame imo. you absolutely cannot put an injury on a player (unless they are Dustin Penner, reaching for the pancakes).
  15. If there were no Demko here this line of thinking would be about as counterproductive as possible. No Demko - and re-signing Markstrom was not only a no-brainer - it would be essential.
  16. no - that's not how you guage a player, particularly a warrior like Tanev that throws himself in the line of fire before anyone else. you guage them by performance - and when they're injured, their cap does not apply.
  17. No one thought there was a chance in hell Sbisa would be claimed - let alone earn a top 4 role on a team with a busload of NHL #4 D. people here sandbag their defenseman with a lot of ignorance.
  18. he earned more than he got. a bunch of teams failed badly in not matching that.
  19. people here telling themselves that Markstrom can't sustain his performance is pretty wishful. look - I hate Calgary as much as anyone - but let's not sandbag Markstrom - he deserves more recognition for how good he is. he's as incisive as they come - mentally tough as hell, great athlete, technical beauty - the real deal.
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