Tonight's win over the Leafs by the Canadiens should shush those bothersome 'Leafs rivalry' stories. The Leafs are rivals for the Canadiens in the same way that roadkill is a rival for a crow.
Another good thing about this listless Toronto outing is I didn't have to hear about what a great pickup Leo Komarov was, how he was going to allow the Leafs to have more balance, roll four lines, be a deeper lineup, blah blah blah...
I wasn't subjected to another Brandon Kozun lovefest like I was during the first matchup, how he was reminiscent of Martin St-Louis, another slight undrafted free agent, how the Flames may have Johnny Gaudreau, but for my money, the Leaf youngster had just as much skill, yadda yadda yadda...
And thankfully, they didn't try to reanimate the corpse of Korbinian Holzer, the way they were hyping him and Mike Kostka as diamonds in the rough, prescient finds by a shrewd Toronto front office, defencemen who would be an integral part of a resurgent Toronto blue line, barf retch barf...
Good on Manny for finally potting a goal, a nice wrister in on a feeble Jonathan Bernier, who may be playing like a guy who no longer wants to ride in this clown car no more nohow? Manny picked up a nice drop pass from Dale Weise, on a partial breakaway. This line, with Michaël Bournival, had good jump all night, and was noticed by the HNIC broadcast crew.
David Desharnais scored two goals, but these were unjustly amassed, due to icetime unfairly allotted to him. Realistically, Mon Oncle Arthur could have scored those goals, one standing by the side of the net and just potting a rebound, and the other deposited into a deserted net. If Michel Therrien wasn't so bent on ruining Mon Oncle Arthur, he'd have put him on the ice in the waning minutes of the game and he would have, rightfully, scored that empty net goal. Indubitably, that should have been Mon Oncle Arthur's tally.
Carey Price had a couple of adventures with his puck handling, but nothing Drydenesque, and picked up another shutout, to help pad his already stellar stats. Ho hum.
Max Pacioretty was a force, he played like he cared contrary to the Leafs, and he seemed too much for them to handle. Just ask Dirty Nazem down there on the ice on his keister. Max was fast, on the puck all night, protecting the puck, attacking the net, great stuff. I don't think Max has played this well since the season with Erik Cole.
P.K. had a strong but not flawless game. Again his decision making can be questioned, it's like he tries too hard sometimes, trying to do it all himself. Maybe he was trying to put on a show because he was facing the Leafs, but he snuffed out a few attacks, a couple of powerplays, all by himself.
It's like if you're doing a patrol against the German lines P.K. You go out and you probe and you find out that there are significant forces with machine guns and armor. So now you pull back and report to headquarters, you don't keep probing. You didn't find a weak spot, an opportunity, you know what you need to know, live to fight another day, go on another patrol somewhere else later on. You dump the puck behind the net and let your forward see if he can do something with it.
Or it's like you're at the pub and after a scan of the room, you and your wingman go and chat up the three cute girls standing by the pool table. But you find they're not very receptive, they listen patiently and give you one-word answers and forced smiles, and try to resume their conversation. So you tell them you'll catch them later, genially excuse yourself, and head back to your bros. The night is still young. You saw quite a few young ladies looking in your direction when you walked in, there's interest somewhere. You don't insist with the pool girls, offer them a drink, then another, drag them to the bar to show them your cool coaster trick, tell them about your wheels, your cool job,... You don't waste your time, there will be other, more sympathetic audiences. Save it for then.
P.K., pass the puck to a teammate, see if he has better luck. Maybe the pool girls like their beaus dancier, less behemothy.
The young defencemen had a light night, with Greg Pateryn playing 11 minutes, and Nathan Beaulieu playing 15, while Sergei Gonchar, Tom Gilbert, P.K. and Andrei Markov all played around 25 minutes. Nate had a doozy of a giveaway in his own zone early in the first, which elicited an audible groan from the New Forum crowd. Nate had the puck under control, had 'time and space', but made a blind backhand pass behind the net to the other corner where he thought his defence partner should be, but his assumption was unfounded. A Leaf gobbled up the free puck and this caused a few anxious moments.
Still, Nate played confidently the rest of the game, and Greg Pateryn tried to make an impact by hitting everything in white, so good night for both. They'll both get to play more games if they continue to play to their strengths.
At the end of the game, the Leafs' coaches pulled kind of a jerk move by pulling their goalie and throwing on an extra attacker, and I could only wonder to what end? What was the strategy? To harm their draft standing?
I could understand trying to win a game, throwing up a Hail Mary when in a playoff chase, but that's not the case. I could understand trying to come back from a one or even a two-goal deficit, but they were down 3-0. Were they trying to ruin Carey Price's shutout? Did Peter Horachek think he'd impress future employers with his daring strategery?
They got what they deserved, the Canadiens, after whiffing many times as is their custom when trying to seal a win, finally made it 4-0, and all that remained was the ceremonial Leaf jersey toss, the Toronto answer to Detroit's octopus.
Good win against a weak sister, they've given us a lot of problems lately, in the form of the Sabres, the Devils, the Coyotes, the Sabres again.
And good for us that we've got a steady diet of Sharks and Ducks and Kings and Lightning coming in March. If we play badly against poor teams, we should do great this month.
Saturday, 28 February 2015
Friday, 27 February 2015
Darren Dreger, putative 'Insider', is dumbfounded, crestfallen at Dave Clarkson trade.
Darren Dreger is so awful, I can’t believe he has a job. I’m watching a PVR’ed edition of “TSN Drive with Dave Naylor”, and at the 15 minute mark he does his “Leafs at 6″ segment, which he does every day. Except that today the Dave Clarkson trade news broke at the same time.
And he doesn’t understand it, visibly. On HockeyInsideOut, we right away understood the pros and cons, what each team would gain from the trade. The Blue Jackets get a player for their real dollars they’d have to spend on an injured Nathan Horton, and the Leafs get to place him on LTIR, and use the cap relief to spend another 5 mill in real dollars on other players, which for them isn’t a hurdle, but is a huge issue for cash-strapped Columbus. The Leafs get a mulligan, the five mill they were sinking on Dave Clarkson, they’re now sinking on Nathan Horton, with the bonus now that with him on LTIR they have the ability to spend another five mill past the cap if they so wish.
The Blue Jackets get a player, and the Leafs get an extra 5 mill in cap space, a contract mulligan in this trade. Easy peasy.
We had that worked out in five minutes on social media. But Darren Dreger is on camera, with a ‘deer in the headlights’ expression, almost despondently saying there was no scuttlebutt on this, and re-hashes that there is a lot though on Joffrey Lupul and Tyler Bozak, like Bob Cole nowadays when he backtracks and explains why he thought there was a penalty, but the stoppage in play was actually because of the end of the period, that’s why that siren was making all that racket, but it looked like a Leaf had tripped Henrik Sundin on that play, everything was happening, …
But Steve Simmons is obviously going through this mental calculus, and is aquiver, his headphones askew, in a positive lather, and he asks directly: “Can the Leafs put Horton on long-term injury, and not have the same cap ramifications?”
There it is. The setter has put up the ball perfectly, all the Insider has to do is spike it.
His response: “Uuuuuuhhhh, I would assume so…”
Simmons: “So this might be a great deal for the Leafs?” (Which it is.)
Dreger: “Uhhh-it’s a salary dump by the Toronto Maple Leafs. You have to assume that, you know, they’re… they’re going to place Nathan Horton on long term injury, and insurance kicks in. Right? If he never plays again, you know, Horton still gets paid, the money that is owed to him. Contractually.”
Brilliant analysis. Darren is pretty sure NHL contracts are guaranteed, almost certain.
Steve Simmons then references Pat Gillick, who once said that every GM makes mistakes, lots of them, but the good ones recognize them and fix them.
Simmons: “Today has to be a good day for Dave Nonis.”
Dreger: “I would think so and obviously we’re going to hear from Dave Nonis at some point in the foreseeable future…”
Still with that look, that expression of loss of control, that the world doesn’t make sense anymore. How could his own brother-in-law do that to him, not call him and give him the scoop? ‘I’m supposed to be an Insider, dammit’, he exudes with every beaten puppy look he casts about. You can tell he’s making a mental note to reduce the budgeted amount for Dave’s birthday gift coming up.
Dreger: “…This one was NOT on the radar.”
More Dreger, after repeating all the Leafs he was sure were more likely to move: “So… it’s a dump! It’s getting out from under a contract that was going to be problematic for the future.” Still not getting it, not understanding the quid pro quo, our Insider, who likes to tell us how “complex and complicated” the CBA is.
Naylor: “How much do we know about he likelihood that Nathan Horton may ever be able to play again in the NHL?”
Dreger: “Well not a lot of late. But it wasn’t that long ago that we on ‘Insider Trading’ were speculating that this probably wasn’t going to be a good thing for the long term future of Nathan Horton.” (?)
“But maybe something has changed, obviously we have to do some work here to figure out if that’s the case, or if the Toronto Maple Leafs are, as we already suggested, are simply taking on what can be minimized down to an insurance case. But we’ll have to wait and see. I mean, quite frankly, because of the information coming out as abruptly as it did, we’re kind of speculating here.” Still, still not getting it, Darren is.
As Dave Naylor and Steve Simmons carry the conversation, Darren Dreger stands up and walks away. The host explains that their Insider has to excuse himself to take some calls. I dearly hope it’s a manager calling him, telling him “Stop talking! Stop talking now, you nincompoop!”
Steve Simmons says “He (Dreger) may not want to be with us anymore.” And I’m not sure if he doesn’t realize what he’s saying, or if it’s a fully intentioned swipe at him, for not being any help, and not answering any questions, and not providing any insight.
When Dave Nonis gets fired, does Darren Dreger keep his job?
And he doesn’t understand it, visibly. On HockeyInsideOut, we right away understood the pros and cons, what each team would gain from the trade. The Blue Jackets get a player for their real dollars they’d have to spend on an injured Nathan Horton, and the Leafs get to place him on LTIR, and use the cap relief to spend another 5 mill in real dollars on other players, which for them isn’t a hurdle, but is a huge issue for cash-strapped Columbus. The Leafs get a mulligan, the five mill they were sinking on Dave Clarkson, they’re now sinking on Nathan Horton, with the bonus now that with him on LTIR they have the ability to spend another five mill past the cap if they so wish.
The Blue Jackets get a player, and the Leafs get an extra 5 mill in cap space, a contract mulligan in this trade. Easy peasy.
We had that worked out in five minutes on social media. But Darren Dreger is on camera, with a ‘deer in the headlights’ expression, almost despondently saying there was no scuttlebutt on this, and re-hashes that there is a lot though on Joffrey Lupul and Tyler Bozak, like Bob Cole nowadays when he backtracks and explains why he thought there was a penalty, but the stoppage in play was actually because of the end of the period, that’s why that siren was making all that racket, but it looked like a Leaf had tripped Henrik Sundin on that play, everything was happening, …
But Steve Simmons is obviously going through this mental calculus, and is aquiver, his headphones askew, in a positive lather, and he asks directly: “Can the Leafs put Horton on long-term injury, and not have the same cap ramifications?”
There it is. The setter has put up the ball perfectly, all the Insider has to do is spike it.
His response: “Uuuuuuhhhh, I would assume so…”
Simmons: “So this might be a great deal for the Leafs?” (Which it is.)
Dreger: “Uhhh-it’s a salary dump by the Toronto Maple Leafs. You have to assume that, you know, they’re… they’re going to place Nathan Horton on long term injury, and insurance kicks in. Right? If he never plays again, you know, Horton still gets paid, the money that is owed to him. Contractually.”
Brilliant analysis. Darren is pretty sure NHL contracts are guaranteed, almost certain.
Steve Simmons then references Pat Gillick, who once said that every GM makes mistakes, lots of them, but the good ones recognize them and fix them.
Simmons: “Today has to be a good day for Dave Nonis.”
Dreger: “I would think so and obviously we’re going to hear from Dave Nonis at some point in the foreseeable future…”
Still with that look, that expression of loss of control, that the world doesn’t make sense anymore. How could his own brother-in-law do that to him, not call him and give him the scoop? ‘I’m supposed to be an Insider, dammit’, he exudes with every beaten puppy look he casts about. You can tell he’s making a mental note to reduce the budgeted amount for Dave’s birthday gift coming up.
Dreger: “…This one was NOT on the radar.”
More Dreger, after repeating all the Leafs he was sure were more likely to move: “So… it’s a dump! It’s getting out from under a contract that was going to be problematic for the future.” Still not getting it, not understanding the quid pro quo, our Insider, who likes to tell us how “complex and complicated” the CBA is.
Naylor: “How much do we know about he likelihood that Nathan Horton may ever be able to play again in the NHL?”
Dreger: “Well not a lot of late. But it wasn’t that long ago that we on ‘Insider Trading’ were speculating that this probably wasn’t going to be a good thing for the long term future of Nathan Horton.” (?)
“But maybe something has changed, obviously we have to do some work here to figure out if that’s the case, or if the Toronto Maple Leafs are, as we already suggested, are simply taking on what can be minimized down to an insurance case. But we’ll have to wait and see. I mean, quite frankly, because of the information coming out as abruptly as it did, we’re kind of speculating here.” Still, still not getting it, Darren is.
As Dave Naylor and Steve Simmons carry the conversation, Darren Dreger stands up and walks away. The host explains that their Insider has to excuse himself to take some calls. I dearly hope it’s a manager calling him, telling him “Stop talking! Stop talking now, you nincompoop!”
Steve Simmons says “He (Dreger) may not want to be with us anymore.” And I’m not sure if he doesn’t realize what he’s saying, or if it’s a fully intentioned swipe at him, for not being any help, and not answering any questions, and not providing any insight.
When Dave Nonis gets fired, does Darren Dreger keep his job?
Jarred Tinordi sent down to Hamilton Bulldogs, again.
I’m not too worried about Jarred Tinordi, even after being sent down to Hamilton again on Thursday, after a rough outing against the Blue Jackets. Sure, it would be great if his learning curve had been steeper, instead of the gradual progress we’re seeing now. It would be great if something had clicked for him this season, like it did for Nathan, and he took a quantum leap.
But he is where he is, a big tall player the likes of which generally take a long time to mature. And as we’ve pointed out recently, it’s not like he’s the laggard and everyone else who was drafted at the same time is now killing it in the NHL. In fact, Jarred is doing as well as a ‘project’ 6’6 defenceman drafted 22nd overall in 2010 could be expected to.
So again, taking time to reflect on the slow development of physically-similar players like Victor Hedman, Hal Gill and Zdeno Chara among others, let’s take a deep breath and temper our expectations. He’ll come around, he hasn’t topped out.
Next season, he’ll be waiver-eligible, so we won’t be able to play him in Hamilton while he gets his game polished. This season is our last chance to do that. It makes sense that, with Alexei Emelin and Sergei Gonchar nearing a return to active duty that both those lefties will bump him down to Hamilton again.
And this isn’t optimal, it would be better if he was already a fixture on our roster, but it’s also not a bad thing. He’s going to get big minutes for another twenty games, and he’s going to be expected to lead his teammates to a playoff berth, and then have some playoff experience. This isn’t a bad situation, he needs to play.
Next season, it gets tricky, he’d have to pass through waivers to go to Hamilton, so that won’t happen, he’ll have to remain in Montréal. So unless he takes that big step over the summer, he’ll be the #7 defenceman, playing a few games, sitting out quite a few more, and expected to work hard in practice, as he matures some more. It won’t be the first time this happens, although it’s not ideal. Maybe we bend the rules a bit and send him down to the Bulldogs for a couple of conditioning assignments (which are waiver exempt) to keep him game-ready.
Scotty Bowman told the story of how disappointed he was when Bill Nyrop announced his retirement at a young age. He’d developed as a dependable #4-5 defencemen supporting the Big Three, and playing in front of enforcers like Pierre Bouchard and Gilles Lupien. As Scotty bellyached about losing Mr. Nyrop, I think he said it was Dick Irvin who was nearby and after listening patiently, asked him if having to play Rod Langway was so bad an option, that he’d looked really good when he’d had a chance to play lately. Rod Langway had been the routine healthy scratch, but working with Claude Ruel for the whole season, he’d slowly improved his game, almost imperceptibly, unbeknownst to the head coach, as it were.
So that’s what we can hope for, should be patient for, to let the big kid grow some more, get his game ready next season, and slowly ease him into the lineup. It won’t be ideal, you prefer not to have a spot on your 23-man roster eaten up by a developmental player, but it’s the situation that’s best for us right now.
But he is where he is, a big tall player the likes of which generally take a long time to mature. And as we’ve pointed out recently, it’s not like he’s the laggard and everyone else who was drafted at the same time is now killing it in the NHL. In fact, Jarred is doing as well as a ‘project’ 6’6 defenceman drafted 22nd overall in 2010 could be expected to.
So again, taking time to reflect on the slow development of physically-similar players like Victor Hedman, Hal Gill and Zdeno Chara among others, let’s take a deep breath and temper our expectations. He’ll come around, he hasn’t topped out.
Next season, he’ll be waiver-eligible, so we won’t be able to play him in Hamilton while he gets his game polished. This season is our last chance to do that. It makes sense that, with Alexei Emelin and Sergei Gonchar nearing a return to active duty that both those lefties will bump him down to Hamilton again.
And this isn’t optimal, it would be better if he was already a fixture on our roster, but it’s also not a bad thing. He’s going to get big minutes for another twenty games, and he’s going to be expected to lead his teammates to a playoff berth, and then have some playoff experience. This isn’t a bad situation, he needs to play.
Next season, it gets tricky, he’d have to pass through waivers to go to Hamilton, so that won’t happen, he’ll have to remain in Montréal. So unless he takes that big step over the summer, he’ll be the #7 defenceman, playing a few games, sitting out quite a few more, and expected to work hard in practice, as he matures some more. It won’t be the first time this happens, although it’s not ideal. Maybe we bend the rules a bit and send him down to the Bulldogs for a couple of conditioning assignments (which are waiver exempt) to keep him game-ready.
Scotty Bowman told the story of how disappointed he was when Bill Nyrop announced his retirement at a young age. He’d developed as a dependable #4-5 defencemen supporting the Big Three, and playing in front of enforcers like Pierre Bouchard and Gilles Lupien. As Scotty bellyached about losing Mr. Nyrop, I think he said it was Dick Irvin who was nearby and after listening patiently, asked him if having to play Rod Langway was so bad an option, that he’d looked really good when he’d had a chance to play lately. Rod Langway had been the routine healthy scratch, but working with Claude Ruel for the whole season, he’d slowly improved his game, almost imperceptibly, unbeknownst to the head coach, as it were.
So that’s what we can hope for, should be patient for, to let the big kid grow some more, get his game ready next season, and slowly ease him into the lineup. It won’t be ideal, you prefer not to have a spot on your 23-man roster eaten up by a developmental player, but it’s the situation that’s best for us right now.
Jarred Tinordi compared to his 2010 draft classmates.
HockeyInsideOut poster ‘Chris’ made a great point a few months ago about the slow and steady progress of Jarred Tinordi, comparing him to other defencemen drafted in the same cohort. I’d asked him to save a copy and re-post as needed, but here’s my book report on his post.
Only Cam Fowler, picked 12th overall, has played 320 games and has turned into a strong regular defenceman with the Ducks, and a proto-star.
Erik Gudbranson, the 3rd overall pick by the Panthers, has played 220 games, with the benefit of a weak roster and no playoff races to consider. He’s been getting games, but also had his icetime managed to protect him for a couple seasons at least.
Aside from those two, Jarred is comparable to anyone in the first round. Picked 22nd overall, he’s gotten 39 games.
Dylan McIlrath, picked 10th, has three games under his belt. Brandon Gormley at #13 has 20 for the Coyotes. Derek Forbort, #15, has yet to play a game with the Kings. Mark Pysyk, #22, has played 67 for the woeful, out of contention Sabres, but only four this season.
Early in the second, the Hurricanes did well drafting Justin Faulk, who has 234 games under his belt already, but aside from that, everyone else in the second round is in the same ballpark, slowly being eased into rosters, if at all.
So if we look at things in perspective, Jarred isn’t early, but is arriving on time. Next season, he’ll be eligible for waivers, so he’ll need to contribute then or we’ll have to make a decision, but for now there’s no reason to write him off.
We also need to remember that Jarred wasn’t drafted to be a ‘star’, to pick up lots of points, to be on the top pairing. If he did, great, but the reasonable trajectory for him was that he was a project, as all big defencemen tend to be, and that he’d be a defensively-oriented defenceman on the lower pairings who’d bring a lot of toughness and leadership. That assessment isn’t out of whack with how he’s shaping up in Hamilton.
Only Cam Fowler, picked 12th overall, has played 320 games and has turned into a strong regular defenceman with the Ducks, and a proto-star.
Erik Gudbranson, the 3rd overall pick by the Panthers, has played 220 games, with the benefit of a weak roster and no playoff races to consider. He’s been getting games, but also had his icetime managed to protect him for a couple seasons at least.
Aside from those two, Jarred is comparable to anyone in the first round. Picked 22nd overall, he’s gotten 39 games.
Dylan McIlrath, picked 10th, has three games under his belt. Brandon Gormley at #13 has 20 for the Coyotes. Derek Forbort, #15, has yet to play a game with the Kings. Mark Pysyk, #22, has played 67 for the woeful, out of contention Sabres, but only four this season.
Early in the second, the Hurricanes did well drafting Justin Faulk, who has 234 games under his belt already, but aside from that, everyone else in the second round is in the same ballpark, slowly being eased into rosters, if at all.
So if we look at things in perspective, Jarred isn’t early, but is arriving on time. Next season, he’ll be eligible for waivers, so he’ll need to contribute then or we’ll have to make a decision, but for now there’s no reason to write him off.
We also need to remember that Jarred wasn’t drafted to be a ‘star’, to pick up lots of points, to be on the top pairing. If he did, great, but the reasonable trajectory for him was that he was a project, as all big defencemen tend to be, and that he’d be a defensively-oriented defenceman on the lower pairings who’d bring a lot of toughness and leadership. That assessment isn’t out of whack with how he’s shaping up in Hamilton.
Thursday, 26 February 2015
Ducks defenceman François Beauchemin comments on the Sekac for Smith-Pelly trade.
François Beauchemin of the Anaheim Ducks on L’Antichambre, is asked for his thoughts on Devante Smith-Pelly:
Vincent Damphousse asks him about his greatest quality and his biggest area for improvement:
“Very good teammate, everyone got along with him, he has a very good attitude, he was ‘up and down’ this year, going to Norfolk of the AHL, lately had been in the NHL. He’s the kind of guy who can play on all four lines, depending on the situation. He has offensive talent, he played a few games with Getzlaf and Perry and it went well. Like every young player he isn’t consistent, he spent some time on the second, third and fourth lines. He’s able to score goals, play aggressively, deal out hits, and skates well.”
Vincent Damphousse asks him about his greatest quality and his biggest area for improvement:
“When he skates and involves himself physically, as I said he played on the top line, when does that, play physically, skate, shoot, go to the net, he’s a guy at his size, he’s hard to stop. What he needs to work on is his consistency. Young players like him sometimes struggle with their consistency and work ethic, they need a pat on the back and examples to follow, the way to work and be ready for every game. That’s what he needs to work on.”Denis Gauthier asks what awaits Jiri Sekac with the Ducks:
“I think they’ll try him with Perry and Getzlaf right away, since the start of the year we’ve been searching for a left winger for those two. Almost the whole team has had a shot at that spot and it hasn’t worked out for more than a couple of games, and then a change would be made. A tall LW like him with speed, able to score goals, I think he can complement them well.Gaston Therrien asks a meandering question about opinions and critiques on social media, and whether the Ducks are a better team with Devante Smith-Pelly (!):
“I think we have other players who can do the same job, so that’s why we could spare him, really we have a lack of speed, we have other players who have large size, play physical like him, what we needed was a leftie with speed to play with Perry and Getzlaf and I think we filled that need today.”
The Devante Smith-Pelly trade, Day 3
Offhand, the Jiri Sekac for Smith-Pelly trade reminds me of the Pierre Turgeon for Shayne Corson trade. In both cases, we gave up a player at a position in which we had a surplus, in order to get another we were short of.
Also in both cases, I was happy to receive the player we got, I always loved Shayne Corson, and have had a man-crush on Devante Smith-Pelly, but man is the cost of acquisition ever high. That smarts.
I really liked Jiri, wanted him to succeed, wasn’t worried about his slump, this was his first season, it’s not like everyone else around him was tearing it up. I figured he’d come around, it’s his first NHL season, he’s 22. I thought he’d be around for a while, he wasn’t going to be Andreas Engqvist.
I chuckled at the few mentions on social media that we ‘should have given them Pateryn and Hudon instead’, as if we set the price, as if the Ducks wouldn’t have had a say in this. As if Marc Bergevin opened the bidding with Max Pacioretty, and Bob Murray talked him down to Jiri Sekac, told him that’d be sufficient.
One point which was made yesterday is that the Ducks GM is Bob Murray, who was actually Marc Bergevin’s first roommate in their playing days. So they go way back, there’s some mutual respect.
They’ve already dealt with each other, scratched each other’s back with the Louis Leblanc trade, and the René Bourque for Bryan Allen deal. I have to think that the trade talks were done quickly, with no B.S., no initial demand of a Corey Perry or Alex Galchenyuk.
And I don’t think this was the climate when Pierre Gauthier was the GM.
All the reports out of Anaheim, from the ‘insiders’, talk about how Jiri was exactly what they were looking for, size with a little more speed and skill at forward, something they need for this playoff run, and that they don’t have in their system, full of Nick Ritchies, thumpers to compete against L.A. Sven Andrighetto, as intriguing a prospect as he is, wouldn’t have fit the bill.
So Jiri would be the guy they were targeting, not Charles Hudon or Christian Thomas. They wanted to speed up, but not necessarily size down.
The trade confirms what we’ve repeated to ourselves since June, that Jiri Sekac was much in demand. That the Ducks took him in return for a player they drafted high in the second round, who is well-regarded, a player who got some NHL action at 19, says a lot. If someone had floated this rumour two days ago, I would have laughed, and thought the Canadiens would have had to throw in sweeteners, and more than the trusty fifth-rounder.
And I’ll repeat that the Canucks, who have roughly the same profile we do, a smaller skilled team that can skate and which opponents often try to physically dominate or outright goon, and consequently has been trying to add size with the Zack Kassians and the Shawn Matthiases and Bo Horvats, were asking for Devante Smith-Pelly in the Ryan Kesler trade. They were rebuffed, apparently told he was an untouchable.
We got a good one. We got a big young player with skill, something we’ve been whining we needed, except we’d dream of Wayne Simmonds or Brian Bickell, usually.
Alain Chainey, an analyst on TVA Sports and a former scout on the Ducks’ staff who was closely involved in the decision to pick him, is quite clear that Devante Smith-Pelly isn’t just a thumper and a grinder. He says that when he hits someone, you notice it, but he’s much more skilled than a third or fourth-liner. He says they scouted him and loved his goals and his energy, and were unanimous that they’d pick him if he were available in the second round.
They did okay in that draft, they got Cam Fowler at 12th overall, and Emerson Etem at 29th.
He also made the point that Trevor Timmins and his staff scouted the kid heavily in junior, and the Canadiens pro-scouting staff did the same, and they know exactly who they’re getting in this trade, it’s not a shot at the dartboard.
It’s a perfect fit for now, and for the future. A big strong winger who can play in the corners, in front of the net, plays right wing, shoots right. He plugs the hole that we hoped would be addressed in two years with Michael McCarron/Nikita Scherbak. He’s a great puzzle piece. He won’t be a UFA for five years, so he’ll be affordable, we have him for his ‘prime’ years.
We now have, in no particular order, Brendan Gallagher, P.A. Parenteau, Devante Smith-Pelly and Dale Weise on right wing, and that’s really good. All are true-blue RW’s, they shoot right, none is a displaced leftie. It’s not crystal clear who plays first or second or third line, and Dale may seem destined for the fourth, except that the coaches love him and he’s shown this season that he can play on the first line in spurts. That will be healthy competition. Pierre-Alexandre loves playing with David and Max, he’ll have to put up points, put out 100% effort to do so.
The good thing is the right wingers will have to stay on their toes, no one’s role is assured.
So the roster has better fits on the right side, rather than last season with a Thomas Vanek who preferred left wing, except that he also wanted to play on the top line with David and Max, but not so much when the Bruins were angry and mean, and a Daniel Brière who took the money but never relished the RW assignment, instead wanting to play centre.
One caveat I’ll have is that growing up, we were forever searching for ‘un gros ailier gauche’, or ‘un gros joueur de centre’, and would look longingly at the Islanders with Clarke Gillies and John Tonelli and Bob Nystrom. So we’d keep trading for big wingers who had big rep, and would come here and disappoint or flop completely. Perry Turnbull, Lucien DeBlois, Ryan Walter, I’m probably forgetting a couple, we’d find that these big guys weren’t that great, a cure for what ailed us.
Devante Smith-Pelly is a little under the radar in Montréal, but he was one of the precocious kids in the 2010 draft. As a draft/hockeydb nerd, I noticed how he was one of the first ones out of that group to play in the NHL, aside from the guys at the very top. So I paid attention when he played against the Canucks, and he’d give them fits, they’d have no answer for his size and skating, you’d see some very skittish defencemen swiveling their heads and rushing the passes.
Maybe the Ducks lost patience a little, maybe the bloom is off the rose, and they’re looking over his shoulder at the next best thing in their system. Maybe he would have benefited from a Red Wings-style apprenticeship in the minors, rather than the shuttle he was on, back and forth between the AHL and NHL, and high expectations when he was in the Ducks lineup.
So while we’re categorizing him today on HIO as ‘less-skilled’, a grinder and thumper, I don’t think that’s accurate. He was always described as a scoring forward with size, and he’s played Top 6 regularly with the Ducks, played with Ryan Getzlaf.
Maybe he’s taken some time to develop, and lately been in a slump and been relegated to the minors/fourth line/pressbox, but that’s definitely not his ceiling. He can definitely take a few steps forward.
So yeah, Jiri Sekac is a steep price to pay, but we’re not getting the “Travis Moen who doesn’t fight” who was described earlier in this thread, Devante Smith-Pelly is much, much more than that.
I’ll take comfort in what Pierre LeBrun reported yesterday, how another GM told him you don’t get players like Devante Smith-Pelly at their peak. We got him in a trade for a significant piece, but still relatively cheap because the Ducks had a surplus and maybe thought the kid needed a change. Maybe he blossoms with us.
We’ve used Gally with Max and David Desharnais out of necessity, to work the corners and the front of the net, but groused about two small players on the same line, wished Gally was a little bigger. Devo can maybe be that bigger Gally. He does have the hands for it.
And we should all congratulate Marc Bergevin, for his patience and also for his guts, for his perseverance in trying to improve the team. He doesn’t always hit a homerun, but a baffling Christian Thomas for Danny Kristo trade aside, his moves always make sense, they have an internal logic. He sacrificed a leftie to tick off many needs on his list in one swoop, yet didn’t take on an expensive veteran to do so. He didn’t give up the younger better player, he swapped youth for youth.
Without the profusion of smoke signals that would have emanated from Toronto. We learned of this trade once Jiri was in the hotel underground waiting for his cab, not from Louis Jean or Davren Dregnoniser. Berg runs a tight, professional organization, he’s always moving forward, climbing one rung at a time.
Nice work.
Also in both cases, I was happy to receive the player we got, I always loved Shayne Corson, and have had a man-crush on Devante Smith-Pelly, but man is the cost of acquisition ever high. That smarts.
I really liked Jiri, wanted him to succeed, wasn’t worried about his slump, this was his first season, it’s not like everyone else around him was tearing it up. I figured he’d come around, it’s his first NHL season, he’s 22. I thought he’d be around for a while, he wasn’t going to be Andreas Engqvist.
I chuckled at the few mentions on social media that we ‘should have given them Pateryn and Hudon instead’, as if we set the price, as if the Ducks wouldn’t have had a say in this. As if Marc Bergevin opened the bidding with Max Pacioretty, and Bob Murray talked him down to Jiri Sekac, told him that’d be sufficient.
One point which was made yesterday is that the Ducks GM is Bob Murray, who was actually Marc Bergevin’s first roommate in their playing days. So they go way back, there’s some mutual respect.
They’ve already dealt with each other, scratched each other’s back with the Louis Leblanc trade, and the René Bourque for Bryan Allen deal. I have to think that the trade talks were done quickly, with no B.S., no initial demand of a Corey Perry or Alex Galchenyuk.
And I don’t think this was the climate when Pierre Gauthier was the GM.
So Jiri would be the guy they were targeting, not Charles Hudon or Christian Thomas. They wanted to speed up, but not necessarily size down.
The trade confirms what we’ve repeated to ourselves since June, that Jiri Sekac was much in demand. That the Ducks took him in return for a player they drafted high in the second round, who is well-regarded, a player who got some NHL action at 19, says a lot. If someone had floated this rumour two days ago, I would have laughed, and thought the Canadiens would have had to throw in sweeteners, and more than the trusty fifth-rounder.
And I’ll repeat that the Canucks, who have roughly the same profile we do, a smaller skilled team that can skate and which opponents often try to physically dominate or outright goon, and consequently has been trying to add size with the Zack Kassians and the Shawn Matthiases and Bo Horvats, were asking for Devante Smith-Pelly in the Ryan Kesler trade. They were rebuffed, apparently told he was an untouchable.
We got a good one. We got a big young player with skill, something we’ve been whining we needed, except we’d dream of Wayne Simmonds or Brian Bickell, usually.
Alain Chainey, an analyst on TVA Sports and a former scout on the Ducks’ staff who was closely involved in the decision to pick him, is quite clear that Devante Smith-Pelly isn’t just a thumper and a grinder. He says that when he hits someone, you notice it, but he’s much more skilled than a third or fourth-liner. He says they scouted him and loved his goals and his energy, and were unanimous that they’d pick him if he were available in the second round.
They did okay in that draft, they got Cam Fowler at 12th overall, and Emerson Etem at 29th.
He also made the point that Trevor Timmins and his staff scouted the kid heavily in junior, and the Canadiens pro-scouting staff did the same, and they know exactly who they’re getting in this trade, it’s not a shot at the dartboard.
It’s a perfect fit for now, and for the future. A big strong winger who can play in the corners, in front of the net, plays right wing, shoots right. He plugs the hole that we hoped would be addressed in two years with Michael McCarron/Nikita Scherbak. He’s a great puzzle piece. He won’t be a UFA for five years, so he’ll be affordable, we have him for his ‘prime’ years.
We now have, in no particular order, Brendan Gallagher, P.A. Parenteau, Devante Smith-Pelly and Dale Weise on right wing, and that’s really good. All are true-blue RW’s, they shoot right, none is a displaced leftie. It’s not crystal clear who plays first or second or third line, and Dale may seem destined for the fourth, except that the coaches love him and he’s shown this season that he can play on the first line in spurts. That will be healthy competition. Pierre-Alexandre loves playing with David and Max, he’ll have to put up points, put out 100% effort to do so.
The good thing is the right wingers will have to stay on their toes, no one’s role is assured.
So the roster has better fits on the right side, rather than last season with a Thomas Vanek who preferred left wing, except that he also wanted to play on the top line with David and Max, but not so much when the Bruins were angry and mean, and a Daniel Brière who took the money but never relished the RW assignment, instead wanting to play centre.
One caveat I’ll have is that growing up, we were forever searching for ‘un gros ailier gauche’, or ‘un gros joueur de centre’, and would look longingly at the Islanders with Clarke Gillies and John Tonelli and Bob Nystrom. So we’d keep trading for big wingers who had big rep, and would come here and disappoint or flop completely. Perry Turnbull, Lucien DeBlois, Ryan Walter, I’m probably forgetting a couple, we’d find that these big guys weren’t that great, a cure for what ailed us.
Devante Smith-Pelly is a little under the radar in Montréal, but he was one of the precocious kids in the 2010 draft. As a draft/hockeydb nerd, I noticed how he was one of the first ones out of that group to play in the NHL, aside from the guys at the very top. So I paid attention when he played against the Canucks, and he’d give them fits, they’d have no answer for his size and skating, you’d see some very skittish defencemen swiveling their heads and rushing the passes.
Maybe the Ducks lost patience a little, maybe the bloom is off the rose, and they’re looking over his shoulder at the next best thing in their system. Maybe he would have benefited from a Red Wings-style apprenticeship in the minors, rather than the shuttle he was on, back and forth between the AHL and NHL, and high expectations when he was in the Ducks lineup.
So while we’re categorizing him today on HIO as ‘less-skilled’, a grinder and thumper, I don’t think that’s accurate. He was always described as a scoring forward with size, and he’s played Top 6 regularly with the Ducks, played with Ryan Getzlaf.
Maybe he’s taken some time to develop, and lately been in a slump and been relegated to the minors/fourth line/pressbox, but that’s definitely not his ceiling. He can definitely take a few steps forward.
So yeah, Jiri Sekac is a steep price to pay, but we’re not getting the “Travis Moen who doesn’t fight” who was described earlier in this thread, Devante Smith-Pelly is much, much more than that.
I’ll take comfort in what Pierre LeBrun reported yesterday, how another GM told him you don’t get players like Devante Smith-Pelly at their peak. We got him in a trade for a significant piece, but still relatively cheap because the Ducks had a surplus and maybe thought the kid needed a change. Maybe he blossoms with us.
We’ve used Gally with Max and David Desharnais out of necessity, to work the corners and the front of the net, but groused about two small players on the same line, wished Gally was a little bigger. Devo can maybe be that bigger Gally. He does have the hands for it.
And we should all congratulate Marc Bergevin, for his patience and also for his guts, for his perseverance in trying to improve the team. He doesn’t always hit a homerun, but a baffling Christian Thomas for Danny Kristo trade aside, his moves always make sense, they have an internal logic. He sacrificed a leftie to tick off many needs on his list in one swoop, yet didn’t take on an expensive veteran to do so. He didn’t give up the younger better player, he swapped youth for youth.
Without the profusion of smoke signals that would have emanated from Toronto. We learned of this trade once Jiri was in the hotel underground waiting for his cab, not from Louis Jean or Davren Dregnoniser. Berg runs a tight, professional organization, he’s always moving forward, climbing one rung at a time.
Nice work.
Canadiens using hockey numbers again. Finally.
I’ll reiterate: I really like that the Canadiens are now making use of the lower uniform numbers, instead of doggedly handing out sweaters with numbers in the sixties and seventies.
Good on us that Devante Smith-Pelly will wear #21. Not a great historical fit, I reflexively think ‘Doug Jarvis’, and sure, Guy Carbonneau. Maybe #17 would have fit a little better, a winger like Murray Wilson makes more sense in my mind. But 21 is much better than 41 or 91, I’ll take it.
Jarred is #24, Nate is thegreat28, Jacob de la Rose looks awesome in #25. Love that Gally got #11 after the #73 purgatory, and Chucky sports a very rakish #27, I have visions of Frank Mahovlich.
17 and 26 will be available next season, along with 20 probably. Greg Pateryn could lay claim to the #6, I don’t think Bryan Allen will be in a position to object.
Step right up, kids, step right up!…
Claim your hockey number now, before they’re gone!
Good on us that Devante Smith-Pelly will wear #21. Not a great historical fit, I reflexively think ‘Doug Jarvis’, and sure, Guy Carbonneau. Maybe #17 would have fit a little better, a winger like Murray Wilson makes more sense in my mind. But 21 is much better than 41 or 91, I’ll take it.
Jarred is #24, Nate is thegreat28, Jacob de la Rose looks awesome in #25. Love that Gally got #11 after the #73 purgatory, and Chucky sports a very rakish #27, I have visions of Frank Mahovlich.
17 and 26 will be available next season, along with 20 probably. Greg Pateryn could lay claim to the #6, I don’t think Bryan Allen will be in a position to object.
Step right up, kids, step right up!…
Claim your hockey number now, before they’re gone!
Wednesday, 25 February 2015
Jiri Sekac for Devante Smith-Pelly, a day later.
Offhand, the Jiri Sekac for Smith-Pelly trade reminds me of the Pierre Turgeon for Shayne Corson trade. In both cases, we gave up a player at a position in which we had a surplus, in order to get another we were short of.
Also in both cases, I was happy to receive the player we got, I always loved Shayne Corson, and have had a man-crush on Devante Smith-Pelly, but man is the cost of acquisition ever high. That smarts.
I really liked Jiri, wanted him to succeed, wasn’t worried about his slump, this was his first season, it’s not like everyone else around him was tearing it up. I figured he’d come around, it’s his first NHL season, he’s 22. I thought he’d be around for a while, he wasn’t going to be Andreas Engqvist.
I chuckled at the few mentions that we ‘should have given them Pateryn and Hudon instead’, as if we set the price, as if the Ducks wouldn’t have had a say in this. As if Marc Bergevin opened the bidding with Max Pacioretty, and Bob Murray talked him down to Jiri Sekac, told him that’d be sufficient.
All the reports out of Anaheim, from the ‘insiders’, talk about how Jiri was exactly what they were looking for, size with a little more speed and skill at forward, something they need for this playoff run, and that they don’t have in their system, full of Nick Ritchies, thumpers to compete against L.A. Sven Andrighetto, as intriguing a prospect as he is, wouldn’t have fit the bill.
The trade confirms what we’ve repeated to ourselves since June, that Jiri Sekac was much in demand. That the Ducks took him in return for a high second-round pick who is well-regarded, a player who got some NHL action at 19, says a lot. If someone had floated this rumour two days ago, I would have laughed, and thought the Canadiens would have had to throw in sweeteners, and more than the trusty fifth.
And I’ll repeat that the Canucks, who have roughly the same profile we do, a smaller skilled team that can skate and which opponents often try to physically dominate or outright goon, and consequently has been trying to add size with the Zack Kassians and the Shawn Matthiases and Bo Horvats, were asking for Devante Smith-Pelly in the Ryan Kesler trade. They were rebuffed, apparently told he was an untouchable.
We got a good one. We got a big young player with skill, something we’ve been whining we needed, except we’d dream of Wayne Simmonds or Brian Bickell, usually.
It’s a perfect fit for now, and for the future. A big strong winger who can play in the corners, in front of the net, plays right wing, shoots right. He plugs the hole that we hoped would be addressed in two years with Michael McCarron/Nikita Scherbak. He’s a great puzzle piece. He won’t be a UFA for five years, so he’ll be affordable, we have him for his ‘prime’ years.
We now have, in no particular order, Brendan Gallagher, P.A. Parenteau, Devante Smith-Pelly and Dale Weise on right wing, and that’s really good. All are true-blue RW’s, they shoot right, none is a displaced leftie. It’s not crystal clear who plays first or second or third line, and Dale may seem destined for the fourth, except that the coaches love him and he’s shown this season that he can play on the first line in spurts. That will be healthy competition. Pierre-Alexandre loves playing with David and Max, he’ll have to put up points, put out 100% effort to do so.
So the roster has better fits on the right side, rather than last season with a Thomas Vanek who preferred left wing, except that he also wanted to play on the top line with David and Max, but not so much when the Bruins were angry and mean, and a Daniel Brière who took the money but never relished the RW assignment, instead wanting to play centre.
One caveat I’ll have is that growing up, we were forever searching for ‘un gros ailier gauche’, or ‘un gros joueur de centre’, and would look longingly at the Islanders with Clarke Gillies and John Tonelli and Bob Nystrom. So we’d keep trading for big wingers who had big rep, and would come here and disappoint or flop completely. Perry Turnbull, Lucien DeBlois, Ryan Walter, I’m probably forgetting a couple, we’d find that these big guys weren’t that great, a cure for what ailed us.
I’ll take comfort in what Pierre LeBrun reported yesterday, how another GM told him you don’t get players like Devante Smith-Pelly at their peak. We got him in a trade for a significant piece, but still relatively cheap because the Ducks had a surplus and maybe thought the kid needed a change. Maybe he blossoms with us.
And we should all congratulate Marc Bergevin, for his patience and also for his guts, for his perseverance in trying to improve the team. He doesn’t always hit a homerun, but a baffling Christian Thomas for Danny Kristo trade aside, his moves always make sense, they have an internal logic. He sacrificed a leftie to tick off many needs on his list in one swoop, yet didn’t take on an expensive veteran to do so. He didn’t give up the younger better player, he swapped youth for youth.
Without the profusion of smoke signals that would have emanated from Toronto. We learned of this trade once Jiri was in the hotel underground waiting for his cab, not from Louis Jean or Davren Dregnoniser. Berg runs a tight, professional organization, he’s always moving forward, climbing one rung at a time.
Nice work.
Also in both cases, I was happy to receive the player we got, I always loved Shayne Corson, and have had a man-crush on Devante Smith-Pelly, but man is the cost of acquisition ever high. That smarts.
I really liked Jiri, wanted him to succeed, wasn’t worried about his slump, this was his first season, it’s not like everyone else around him was tearing it up. I figured he’d come around, it’s his first NHL season, he’s 22. I thought he’d be around for a while, he wasn’t going to be Andreas Engqvist.
I chuckled at the few mentions that we ‘should have given them Pateryn and Hudon instead’, as if we set the price, as if the Ducks wouldn’t have had a say in this. As if Marc Bergevin opened the bidding with Max Pacioretty, and Bob Murray talked him down to Jiri Sekac, told him that’d be sufficient.
All the reports out of Anaheim, from the ‘insiders’, talk about how Jiri was exactly what they were looking for, size with a little more speed and skill at forward, something they need for this playoff run, and that they don’t have in their system, full of Nick Ritchies, thumpers to compete against L.A. Sven Andrighetto, as intriguing a prospect as he is, wouldn’t have fit the bill.
The trade confirms what we’ve repeated to ourselves since June, that Jiri Sekac was much in demand. That the Ducks took him in return for a high second-round pick who is well-regarded, a player who got some NHL action at 19, says a lot. If someone had floated this rumour two days ago, I would have laughed, and thought the Canadiens would have had to throw in sweeteners, and more than the trusty fifth.
And I’ll repeat that the Canucks, who have roughly the same profile we do, a smaller skilled team that can skate and which opponents often try to physically dominate or outright goon, and consequently has been trying to add size with the Zack Kassians and the Shawn Matthiases and Bo Horvats, were asking for Devante Smith-Pelly in the Ryan Kesler trade. They were rebuffed, apparently told he was an untouchable.
We got a good one. We got a big young player with skill, something we’ve been whining we needed, except we’d dream of Wayne Simmonds or Brian Bickell, usually.
It’s a perfect fit for now, and for the future. A big strong winger who can play in the corners, in front of the net, plays right wing, shoots right. He plugs the hole that we hoped would be addressed in two years with Michael McCarron/Nikita Scherbak. He’s a great puzzle piece. He won’t be a UFA for five years, so he’ll be affordable, we have him for his ‘prime’ years.
We now have, in no particular order, Brendan Gallagher, P.A. Parenteau, Devante Smith-Pelly and Dale Weise on right wing, and that’s really good. All are true-blue RW’s, they shoot right, none is a displaced leftie. It’s not crystal clear who plays first or second or third line, and Dale may seem destined for the fourth, except that the coaches love him and he’s shown this season that he can play on the first line in spurts. That will be healthy competition. Pierre-Alexandre loves playing with David and Max, he’ll have to put up points, put out 100% effort to do so.
So the roster has better fits on the right side, rather than last season with a Thomas Vanek who preferred left wing, except that he also wanted to play on the top line with David and Max, but not so much when the Bruins were angry and mean, and a Daniel Brière who took the money but never relished the RW assignment, instead wanting to play centre.
One caveat I’ll have is that growing up, we were forever searching for ‘un gros ailier gauche’, or ‘un gros joueur de centre’, and would look longingly at the Islanders with Clarke Gillies and John Tonelli and Bob Nystrom. So we’d keep trading for big wingers who had big rep, and would come here and disappoint or flop completely. Perry Turnbull, Lucien DeBlois, Ryan Walter, I’m probably forgetting a couple, we’d find that these big guys weren’t that great, a cure for what ailed us.
I’ll take comfort in what Pierre LeBrun reported yesterday, how another GM told him you don’t get players like Devante Smith-Pelly at their peak. We got him in a trade for a significant piece, but still relatively cheap because the Ducks had a surplus and maybe thought the kid needed a change. Maybe he blossoms with us.
And we should all congratulate Marc Bergevin, for his patience and also for his guts, for his perseverance in trying to improve the team. He doesn’t always hit a homerun, but a baffling Christian Thomas for Danny Kristo trade aside, his moves always make sense, they have an internal logic. He sacrificed a leftie to tick off many needs on his list in one swoop, yet didn’t take on an expensive veteran to do so. He didn’t give up the younger better player, he swapped youth for youth.
Without the profusion of smoke signals that would have emanated from Toronto. We learned of this trade once Jiri was in the hotel underground waiting for his cab, not from Louis Jean or Davren Dregnoniser. Berg runs a tight, professional organization, he’s always moving forward, climbing one rung at a time.
Nice work.
Tuesday, 24 February 2015
Gary Bettman must chainsaw a chunk of his nose off every night.
Reportedly, when he was asked whether the league would try to resurrect CagGeek or launch a similar site, Gary Bettman answered that hockey fans aren’t interested in player salaries.
It’s impossible to get a straight answer from this guy, everything is spin, everything is a strenuous denial in face of the facts. No decision has been made on Vegas. The Emperor has no clothes. The Emperor has no epidermis either.
Here’s the actual quote, from Puck Daddy:
It’s impossible to get a straight answer from this guy, everything is spin, everything is a strenuous denial in face of the facts. No decision has been made on Vegas. The Emperor has no clothes. The Emperor has no epidermis either.
Here’s the actual quote, from Puck Daddy:
“I don’t think it’s a resource we need to provide because I’m not sure fans are as focused on what players make as they are about their performance on the ice,” he said.Gary, with your three lockouts, you actually made it central, essential to know what players make, and fans as a matter of course are going to care what a David Clarkson or Scott Gomez makes. You laughable lying tool.
Should the Canadiens have signed and kept Devan Dubnyk?
Lots of talk on Jacob Markstrom on TSN 1040 Vancouver, how he’s finally delivering on his promise, a former can’t-miss 6’6″ prospect, drafted 31st overall in the 2008 draft. They’re saying that he responded really well to the Canucks' Rollie Melanson’s coaching, after being confused by a succession of goalie coaches in Florida, who all tried changing his style, working on his weaknesses instead of playing to his strengths.
It’s reminiscent of Carey Price maybe not responding very well to former Habs' goalie coach Pierre Groulx’s methods, looking confused at times, sliding way out of his net, dropping to his knees too early, etc. The change to Stéphane Waite has been a godsend, he’s now at the top of his game, fully exploiting his physical gifts, reaching his lofty potential.
This great response to a coaching change is what made me wonder last summer if we should try to hold on to Devan Dubnyk and see how he’d do working with Stéphane Waite. His recent play in Minny, and Dustin’s concurrent struggles, have made me re-visit this idea lately.
Now, Marc Bergevin has proven to be very in tune with team dynamics. He prizes character, veteranship, guys who are ‘good in the room’. We’ve heard talk about Peter Budaj being a perfect backup, that this helped the team morale.
So maybe he thought that having Devan Dubnyk as a backup to Carey was a non-starter, that he’d chafe in that role and be a rival rather than a complement, that it might poison the well.
But as an uninformed fan, I’d feel a lot less exposed going into the playoffs with Devan Dubnyk as our spare tire rather than scrappy, undersized Dustin Tokarski.
It’s reminiscent of Carey Price maybe not responding very well to former Habs' goalie coach Pierre Groulx’s methods, looking confused at times, sliding way out of his net, dropping to his knees too early, etc. The change to Stéphane Waite has been a godsend, he’s now at the top of his game, fully exploiting his physical gifts, reaching his lofty potential.
This great response to a coaching change is what made me wonder last summer if we should try to hold on to Devan Dubnyk and see how he’d do working with Stéphane Waite. His recent play in Minny, and Dustin’s concurrent struggles, have made me re-visit this idea lately.
Devan Dubnyk is the most intriguing UFA on the rolls, in that he’s a big NHL goalie, a former first-rounder, and that the Canadiens’ goaltending situation past Carey Price is now more muddled. Dustin Tokarski will be eligible for waivers next season, and has probably little left to learn at the AHL level, it may be time for him to take the next step and function as the backup to Carey Price. This would mean Peter Budaj getting traded away, and every goalie in the system taking another step up the depth chart.
Most probably, Devan Dubnyk will ply his trade elsewhere next season, in the NHL most likely. He’s obviously not eager to remain in the AHL, few players are. The fact that he left the Canadiens during their playoff run rather than remain with the Black Aces, and was unavailable for emergency duty when Carey Price fell to injury, probably didn’t endear him to Canadiens management. It would be no big loss, in that he was received at the trade deadline at no cost, in a ‘future considerations’ move to help out the Predators. There is nothing invested in him by the Canadiens.
Yet a fan can dream. What if he did stay as the main guy in Hamilton, and got some of the Stéphane Waite treatment that worked wonders with Carey this season? Could our goalie coach point the former Oiler in the right direction, and unlock his potential? Could Mr. Dubnyk see this as a necessary step for the good of his career? This is a very long shot, but it’s worth discussing it before dismissing it as a pipe dream. Right?
Now, Marc Bergevin has proven to be very in tune with team dynamics. He prizes character, veteranship, guys who are ‘good in the room’. We’ve heard talk about Peter Budaj being a perfect backup, that this helped the team morale.
So maybe he thought that having Devan Dubnyk as a backup to Carey was a non-starter, that he’d chafe in that role and be a rival rather than a complement, that it might poison the well.
But as an uninformed fan, I’d feel a lot less exposed going into the playoffs with Devan Dubnyk as our spare tire rather than scrappy, undersized Dustin Tokarski.
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