The key to enjoying life as a Habs fan with Zack Kassian in the lineup is to not expect him to be Rick Tocchet or even Mike McPhee. He’s a better, occasionally more physical version of Benoit Pouliot.
Big talented forwards with good hands, drafted high, inconsistent, infuriatingly uninvolved sometimes. You sour on them not because they’re the worst player on your team, but because you think they could be so much more.
That’s it in a nutshell. Anything over and above that expectation is not guaranteed. Potential shmotential. Zack isn’t Brendan Gallagher, he’s not Chris Nilan, he’s not Max Pacioretty. He’s not the anti-Lucic Buffalo hoped he’d be. He’s a talented guy with size who sometimes is unfocused and struggles to get results. Alert Gaston Therrien.
Instead of piling on him after a couple of pre-season games, let him get his bearings, maybe get caught up in the excitement, and get pulled along in the wake of P.K. and Max and David and Gally. His floor in terms of production is 12 goals, with 20 as a ceiling if everything falls in place. The ceiling he had as a draftee is unrealistic, write that off.
This ain’t no surprise, or disappointment. We knew this about him the moment we traded for him. Instead of thinking of him as a failed Clarke Gillies, think of him as the steal we got, along with a treasured fifth-rounder, for Brandon Prust’s expiring contract with a high cap hit.
If RDS set their sights on him so early, they’ll have a tough time with him. Reduce your expectations. Agony is born of desire. Accept the Universe, endure its weight. Take the good, bank the incremental gains.
Now all of you get off his back, get off Jarred’s back while you’re at it, and accentuate the positive instead of picking at warts ’till they bleed.
Tuesday, 29 September 2015
Sunday, 27 September 2015
Pre-Season Game 5: Canadiens 1, Leafs 0
Here's my take on the Canadiens 1-0 win against the Leafs tonight, as presented by Sportsnet's band of Toronto homers. Thank you Gary Bettman.
--But really, how bad was that? They basically took a fawning local Leafs broadcast and aired it nationally, quality and objectivity be damned. It's Lou Lamoriello this, Mike Babcock that... Awful.
--With the generalized fault-finding centred on him, I'm reduced to tallying occasions when Jarred Tinordi makes an easy, simple play as a big win. At one point, he got the puck from Greg Pateryn, skated forward, scanning the ice, and I yelled from my couch "No, no! Give it back to Greg!" Even I could see there was no easy play to make for him, that the right choice was to pass it back and see what Greg could do with it. Sure enough, Jarred slid it back to him, I jubilated audibly, and Greg passed the puck up and got us out of our zone.
--Another time, Jarred gets the puck and headmans it quickly to his open winger. "Success sire!" I shout, like the Klingon lieutenant to Khan, upon their photon torpedo finding its target. But before they realize that Kirk has more tricks up his sleeve.
--Greg and Jarred had a pretty solid game overall I thought. Hopefully it's not confirmation bias.
--Darren Dietz and Mark Barberio formed an effective pair, they were like twins out there, similar size, good wheels and offensive instincts. Young Mr. Dietz didn't help his cause though with two minor penalties. Go practice your self-control on the windswept Rock, young man.
--I see T.J. Brennan crosscheck Mike McCarron in the back in front of the Leafs net, making him fall to the ice, followed quickly by a whistle. Big Mac gets up on his knees and looks around, thinking "What the hail?" Realizing what he's done, Mr. Brennan gives him a friendly tap, breaks off eye contact, and skates off towards his bench. Quickly.
--Less noticeable turn by Mike tonight, but still saw good things. He goes to the net when a shot is about to develop. He fights in the corners. He doesn't shy away from skirmishes. Good job.
--If Zack Kassian is going to fight, I'd prefer he'd reserve his efforts for others rather than plugs like Mark Fraser, who's on a PTO with the Leafs, has little effect on the game, and is a seriously tough kid. You don't owe him anything Zack, don't let him wow his bosses on your back. Save that for players and games that count. I don't know what caused it, but yeah, Zacky boy, save it.
--The RDS boys didn't get the memo on Zack. They already want him to play more physically, to involve himself more, to use his size, like Brandon Prust did. This bodes ill.
--I just realized who Leo Komarov looks like, it's the London Police inspector or whatever who's Sherlock Holmes' foil, the Cumberbatch series. That character is plenty dumb, and so is Leo Komarov.
--If the Leafs are going to crash into Mike Condon like that in pre-season, what're they going to do to Carey Price in December? And more importantly, why didn't one of our guys pick up Tyler Bozak and throw him on top of James Reimer's head? What are we waiting for, that the NYPD will arrest Chris Kreider, and everything will be okay hence?
--I thought I was jonesing for pre-season hockey, but now I'm kind of over it. Maybe it's because there's so much good football and rugby on right now, after a summer of famine I'm now bloated from TV sports.
--Or maybe it's because the camp has been a little disappointing. There's been no Brendan Gallagher, no Michaël Bournival this year. Sven Andrighetto, Nikita Scherbak, etc., none of them are taking the bull by the horns. No cavalry. Maybe next year...
--But really, how bad was that? They basically took a fawning local Leafs broadcast and aired it nationally, quality and objectivity be damned. It's Lou Lamoriello this, Mike Babcock that... Awful.
--With the generalized fault-finding centred on him, I'm reduced to tallying occasions when Jarred Tinordi makes an easy, simple play as a big win. At one point, he got the puck from Greg Pateryn, skated forward, scanning the ice, and I yelled from my couch "No, no! Give it back to Greg!" Even I could see there was no easy play to make for him, that the right choice was to pass it back and see what Greg could do with it. Sure enough, Jarred slid it back to him, I jubilated audibly, and Greg passed the puck up and got us out of our zone.
--Another time, Jarred gets the puck and headmans it quickly to his open winger. "Success sire!" I shout, like the Klingon lieutenant to Khan, upon their photon torpedo finding its target. But before they realize that Kirk has more tricks up his sleeve.
--Greg and Jarred had a pretty solid game overall I thought. Hopefully it's not confirmation bias.
--Darren Dietz and Mark Barberio formed an effective pair, they were like twins out there, similar size, good wheels and offensive instincts. Young Mr. Dietz didn't help his cause though with two minor penalties. Go practice your self-control on the windswept Rock, young man.
--I see T.J. Brennan crosscheck Mike McCarron in the back in front of the Leafs net, making him fall to the ice, followed quickly by a whistle. Big Mac gets up on his knees and looks around, thinking "What the hail?" Realizing what he's done, Mr. Brennan gives him a friendly tap, breaks off eye contact, and skates off towards his bench. Quickly.
--Less noticeable turn by Mike tonight, but still saw good things. He goes to the net when a shot is about to develop. He fights in the corners. He doesn't shy away from skirmishes. Good job.
--If Zack Kassian is going to fight, I'd prefer he'd reserve his efforts for others rather than plugs like Mark Fraser, who's on a PTO with the Leafs, has little effect on the game, and is a seriously tough kid. You don't owe him anything Zack, don't let him wow his bosses on your back. Save that for players and games that count. I don't know what caused it, but yeah, Zacky boy, save it.
--The RDS boys didn't get the memo on Zack. They already want him to play more physically, to involve himself more, to use his size, like Brandon Prust did. This bodes ill.
--I just realized who Leo Komarov looks like, it's the London Police inspector or whatever who's Sherlock Holmes' foil, the Cumberbatch series. That character is plenty dumb, and so is Leo Komarov.
--If the Leafs are going to crash into Mike Condon like that in pre-season, what're they going to do to Carey Price in December? And more importantly, why didn't one of our guys pick up Tyler Bozak and throw him on top of James Reimer's head? What are we waiting for, that the NYPD will arrest Chris Kreider, and everything will be okay hence?
--I thought I was jonesing for pre-season hockey, but now I'm kind of over it. Maybe it's because there's so much good football and rugby on right now, after a summer of famine I'm now bloated from TV sports.
--Or maybe it's because the camp has been a little disappointing. There's been no Brendan Gallagher, no Michaël Bournival this year. Sven Andrighetto, Nikita Scherbak, etc., none of them are taking the bull by the horns. No cavalry. Maybe next year...
Rugby World Cup: Canada 18, Italy 23
Disappointing 23-18 loss by Canada to Italy today at the Rugby World Cup, for a few reasons. Mainly, this was the only realistic chance for our boys to get out of the qualifying round into the quarterfinals. In the pool they're seeded in, Ireland and France are virtually guaranteed a pass into the elimination stage. Romania is the minnow. So Italy and Canada were in a fight for third place and the ticket out of the round-robin phase.
Both teams are virtually guaranteed losses against France and Ireland, and a win against Romania. The tiebreaker, essentially, was the head-to-head matchup. This was win and you're in the playoffs.
So the disappointment of the loss has to be seen through the prism of how close the result was, were it not for a couple of bounces, a couple of questionable decisions or oversights by the referee(s), an overturned try, and various other woulda coulda shouldas. Our whole tournament pivots on these happenstances, and the games against France and Romania are now largely academic. We're playing out the string.
For me, the disheartening aspect of the loss is how captain Tyler Ardron, with Canada pressing and threatening at the Italian goal line, and awarded a penalty, chose to kick for goal and the sure three points, instead of trying to score a try. Maybe a prudent choice, to narrow the margin to 20-18, and still 8 minutes to go, but I think it deflated the Canadian side, who were so close they could smell it.
Contrast to Japan against South Africa, who twice in the final minutes of their game had an opportunity to kick for goal and tie the game, which would have been a huge moral victory if it stood at the final whistle. But the Japanese never wavered, they chose to keep pressing for the win, which they thrillingly did, in the final minute.
Sometimes these decisions send a message to your opponents and to your own side. Faint heart never won fair maiden.
Despite the bitter conclusion, the match was thrill-a-minute. I've grown accustomed in past World Cups that the best Canadian players are in the forwards, but that's not the case this year. The play-by-play team talked often of how many of our boys were successful 7's players, how they're comfortable with ball in hand in the open field. Prime among them was DTH van der Merwe, who scored what may be the try of the tournament, a weavy exciting run through overmatched Italians.
The forwards held their own, notably in the scrums. After the poor showing in the Pacific Nations Cup, I expected the Italian scrum, steeled against other Six Nation packs, to make lunchmeat out of ours. The Canadian pack actually held them to a standstill a couple of times when they tried to push us back, and forced the Italians to wheel when they themselves were driven back. On our put-ins, the ball came out quick and clean, so that the opponent couldn't mount much of a drive.
The lineouts weren't so good though. Again, we chose not to contest a lot of their throw-ins, and I don't really understand the strategy, in basic terms. I'll have to look up the pros and cons of conceding their throw-ins, I assume it's to be more ready to defend, but philosophically I hate it. It looks awful. It doesn't gibe with our ethos of furiously defending and tackling.
At the start of the match Brian Spanton of TSN stated that Canada was very capable of causing this upset, but I didn't think it was realistic. Not after getting shut out this summer against other Tier 2 powers. But as the game progressed, I did believe, this was easily in our grasp. We now have to rue the lack of killer instinct.
Further readings:
Italy fire up their World Cup campaign with comeback win over Canada
Agonizing loss for Canada against Italy at Rugby World Cup
Both teams are virtually guaranteed losses against France and Ireland, and a win against Romania. The tiebreaker, essentially, was the head-to-head matchup. This was win and you're in the playoffs.
So the disappointment of the loss has to be seen through the prism of how close the result was, were it not for a couple of bounces, a couple of questionable decisions or oversights by the referee(s), an overturned try, and various other woulda coulda shouldas. Our whole tournament pivots on these happenstances, and the games against France and Romania are now largely academic. We're playing out the string.
For me, the disheartening aspect of the loss is how captain Tyler Ardron, with Canada pressing and threatening at the Italian goal line, and awarded a penalty, chose to kick for goal and the sure three points, instead of trying to score a try. Maybe a prudent choice, to narrow the margin to 20-18, and still 8 minutes to go, but I think it deflated the Canadian side, who were so close they could smell it.
Contrast to Japan against South Africa, who twice in the final minutes of their game had an opportunity to kick for goal and tie the game, which would have been a huge moral victory if it stood at the final whistle. But the Japanese never wavered, they chose to keep pressing for the win, which they thrillingly did, in the final minute.
Sometimes these decisions send a message to your opponents and to your own side. Faint heart never won fair maiden.
Despite the bitter conclusion, the match was thrill-a-minute. I've grown accustomed in past World Cups that the best Canadian players are in the forwards, but that's not the case this year. The play-by-play team talked often of how many of our boys were successful 7's players, how they're comfortable with ball in hand in the open field. Prime among them was DTH van der Merwe, who scored what may be the try of the tournament, a weavy exciting run through overmatched Italians.
The forwards held their own, notably in the scrums. After the poor showing in the Pacific Nations Cup, I expected the Italian scrum, steeled against other Six Nation packs, to make lunchmeat out of ours. The Canadian pack actually held them to a standstill a couple of times when they tried to push us back, and forced the Italians to wheel when they themselves were driven back. On our put-ins, the ball came out quick and clean, so that the opponent couldn't mount much of a drive.
The lineouts weren't so good though. Again, we chose not to contest a lot of their throw-ins, and I don't really understand the strategy, in basic terms. I'll have to look up the pros and cons of conceding their throw-ins, I assume it's to be more ready to defend, but philosophically I hate it. It looks awful. It doesn't gibe with our ethos of furiously defending and tackling.
At the start of the match Brian Spanton of TSN stated that Canada was very capable of causing this upset, but I didn't think it was realistic. Not after getting shut out this summer against other Tier 2 powers. But as the game progressed, I did believe, this was easily in our grasp. We now have to rue the lack of killer instinct.
Further readings:
Italy fire up their World Cup campaign with comeback win over Canada
Agonizing loss for Canada against Italy at Rugby World Cup
Saturday, 26 September 2015
Pre-Season Game 4: Canadiens 1, Blackhawks 5
Random thoughts and observations on tonight's pre-season loss, as viewed on RDS' "Canadiens Express", the full game being blacked out. Thank you Gary Bettman.
1) Were Jeff Petry and Alexei Emelin really on the ice for all three of the Blackhawk goals in the first period?
2) Charles Hudon clanged two shots off the post so far.
3) When Ryan Johnston gets plastered face-first in the glass by Ryan Garbutt, who rushes in to exact revenge but le bouledogue, Gabriel Dumont, who doesn't get out the tape measure or check his opponent's number and prior fight card before engaging. That kid has got heart, gets short shrift from Habs fans.
4) Hard to get a sense of Zack Kassian's game. Pierre Houde mentions that he refused invitations to fight, but then immediately gets a hooking call. Zack can turn down opportunities to tangle with the gloves off, but must not try to compensate by being extra frisky in other areas and give up cheap minor penalties.
5) Mark Barberio moves well and looks the part, but he has to be hoping that Marc Bergevin had gone to the bathroom when he tried to thread a pass from his corner cross-crease through two Chicago players, who did intercept it, and were left in front of Carey Price with the puck. Don Cherry will have an aneurysm, don't ever show him that tape.
6) Nathan Beaulieu's take-chargeiness increases to fill up the available space left by the absence of P.K. and Andrei. He's a pleasure to see skating around out there, head high, just flying. The couple of hiccups we'll beat out of his game.
7) Still very impressed with Brett Lernout's game, the kid has moves, and moxie. I kind of wished the Canadiens had drafted Alexis Vanier instead in 2013, but maybe Trevor Timmins has a better handle on the draft prospects than I do, no matter how many scouting reports I glean.
8) Great crash-bang bodycheck by Devante Smith-Pelly in the Hawks' zone. Guy Carbonneau was saying that to play physical today in the NHL, you have to have speed. So far in camp, Devo has shown a little more zip.
9) When Gabriel Dumont gets run himself by Christopher Desousa, Jeremy Gregoire takes it upon himself to avenge him. RDS broke away from the fight midway, but did I see Jeremy fighting leftie?
10) We scoffed at the no-name roster of the 'Hawks when we first saw it, but now I'll admit that kid Garrett Ross for one is pretty good. And our kids didn't quite rise to the occasion like Chicago's did.
1) Were Jeff Petry and Alexei Emelin really on the ice for all three of the Blackhawk goals in the first period?
2) Charles Hudon clanged two shots off the post so far.
3) When Ryan Johnston gets plastered face-first in the glass by Ryan Garbutt, who rushes in to exact revenge but le bouledogue, Gabriel Dumont, who doesn't get out the tape measure or check his opponent's number and prior fight card before engaging. That kid has got heart, gets short shrift from Habs fans.
4) Hard to get a sense of Zack Kassian's game. Pierre Houde mentions that he refused invitations to fight, but then immediately gets a hooking call. Zack can turn down opportunities to tangle with the gloves off, but must not try to compensate by being extra frisky in other areas and give up cheap minor penalties.
5) Mark Barberio moves well and looks the part, but he has to be hoping that Marc Bergevin had gone to the bathroom when he tried to thread a pass from his corner cross-crease through two Chicago players, who did intercept it, and were left in front of Carey Price with the puck. Don Cherry will have an aneurysm, don't ever show him that tape.
6) Nathan Beaulieu's take-chargeiness increases to fill up the available space left by the absence of P.K. and Andrei. He's a pleasure to see skating around out there, head high, just flying. The couple of hiccups we'll beat out of his game.
7) Still very impressed with Brett Lernout's game, the kid has moves, and moxie. I kind of wished the Canadiens had drafted Alexis Vanier instead in 2013, but maybe Trevor Timmins has a better handle on the draft prospects than I do, no matter how many scouting reports I glean.
8) Great crash-bang bodycheck by Devante Smith-Pelly in the Hawks' zone. Guy Carbonneau was saying that to play physical today in the NHL, you have to have speed. So far in camp, Devo has shown a little more zip.
9) When Gabriel Dumont gets run himself by Christopher Desousa, Jeremy Gregoire takes it upon himself to avenge him. RDS broke away from the fight midway, but did I see Jeremy fighting leftie?
10) We scoffed at the no-name roster of the 'Hawks when we first saw it, but now I'll admit that kid Garrett Ross for one is pretty good. And our kids didn't quite rise to the occasion like Chicago's did.
Friday, 25 September 2015
Speculation on, criticism of Jarred Tinordi reaching fever pitch.
I see we're reaching DefCon 1 on Jarred Tinordi, approaching critical mass at which point we'll achieve fusion furore. And it's not just a social media and chat forum deal, like Zenon Konopka a few summers ago, RDS for one is all in, picking apart his game every chance they get, every pre-game or post-game or between-periods talky-talk segment they run.
I appreciate that at least they're accurate on this subject, they're correct, contrary to Mike McCarron's case, where they keep saying that he got moved to centre last season after the trade to Oshawa. In fact, we know well that Mike got put at centre two seasons ago by the London Knights' perfidious head coach, and played mostly fourth-line centre the rest of their Memorial Cup Host season. Last season, he played first-line centre with Max Domi and piled up points, until getting traded to Oshawa, where he played second-line centre behind Cole Cassels, and obtained more muted results in the points column, but still played a critical role in their conquest of the Memorial Cup.
I've criticized RDS on this subject before, how fuzzy or plain uninterested they are in the prospect pool, in the farm teams, with Gaston Therrien being shaky, and Gilbert Delorme, Mario Tremblay and Jacques Demers basically ignorant of the situation. But in the Jarred Tinordi case, they're on the ball, they know the issues.
1) He's a leftie, behind Andrei Markov, Alexei Emelin, and Nathan Beaulieu on the depth chart.
2) He's in a battle for a putative #7 spot with Greg Pateryn if there isn't a trade involving defencemen, since Greg is behind P.K., Jeff Petry and Tom Gilbert on the right side.
3) He's in a battle for a putative #8 spot and fourth on the left side with Mark Barberio, who's having a good camp and giving good competition for that spot.
4) He's got to go through waivers to be sent down to the AHL, but it's a foregone conclusion that he wouldn't sneak through, that another team would claim him. That means he has to be on the roster this season, or be traded to avoid losing him for nothing.
Gaston Therrien and Denis Gauthier had a good discussion yesterday about the practical realities. Gaston tried to tamp down the controversy, saying that he hadn't had a bad game against the Leafs, that he's still a singular talent, with a big heart and size and strength and mobility. He argued that other teams, not having familiarity breeding contempt, and not focusing on his warts, would see great value and great potential in Jarred, so we shouldn't get burned, unload him for nothing. We should be patient.
Denis agreed with all that, but also talked about what being patient means. Yes we can keep him on the roster, stash him that way, but that only works for a little while. He explained that you can't keep a kid like that in the pressbox for 10 or 12 games straight, if there aren't any inuries, at some point you have to make a decision. It's not fair to keep a kid like that if you're not going to play him.
It's been said that the aspects he needs to work on, decision-making and on-ice vision, are things you work on while playing, you can't improve those while sitting in the stands. And I agree in a large degree, it's not ideal at all to sit out Jarred when he should playing. It would be much better to have him in the AHL this season, getting minutes.
Being in the roster but sitting int he stands still would help though in one important way, which is to give the kid time, confidence, and to quell the indecision. The kid is so confused right now, getting hounded by the press and social media that he's tight, overthinking, fearful of making mistakes. If he's on the team in November, getting the occasional game in to spell Andrei Markov or sub in when someone's banged up, he'll settle down, settle in, and start to contribute.
It's often been said that Jarred needs to simplify things, speed up his decision-making. I posted before how instead of trying to make Markov-quality zone breakouts and passes, what he should do is simply pass the puck to his partner whenever he's open. Yesterday I was limited to viewing the "Canadiens Express" version of the game, so I didn't see the whole thing, but on one sequence, Jarred was on his side and had the puck, took a quick look up-ice and found nobody wide open. He didn't insist, just slid the puck to Tom Gilbert, who drew a forechecker before sliding the puck back to Jarred, who then hit a forward with a clean pass.
Success! I cheered at this simple play. And hoped that the coaches would show him this video, and ask him to do more of that, and less of the behind-the-net quarterbacking. Just pass it to your more puck-skilled partner. Your job is to be big and tough and protect Carey and work the corners and front of the net. Let the others be Phil Housley. Keep it simple, big lug.
One final point about Jarred is that yes, his size is a big part of the fascination with him as a prospect, compared to a Darren Dietz or Christian Thomas. Precisely. That's the whole point. His being 6'6" makes him a singular weapon, and not just in the intimidation sense. We saw him correct his own mistake when he was backtracking and trying to corral a puck, a Washington forward bearing down on him. Jarred bobbled the puck, but calmly stripped it off his opponent a couple seconds later, with a surgical poke check, his long reach serving him well.
The RDS boys echo this concept, stating often that the toolkit that Jarred brings to the table is different than the other prospects, and therefore more enticing. They explain that with Andrei, P.K., Jeff Petry, Tom Gilbert and Nathan Beaulieu, there are enough puck movers and offensively-gifted d-men on the squad. What we really need is another guy to help out Alexei Emelin in terms of toughness and physical play.
So yeah, it almost feels like a losing battle, I'm starting to re-think my advocacy sometimes, but then remember how Marc Bergevin loves defencemen, loves size and character, how he tells us all the time to be patient, and I continue believing that Jarred is secure in Montreal.
I appreciate that at least they're accurate on this subject, they're correct, contrary to Mike McCarron's case, where they keep saying that he got moved to centre last season after the trade to Oshawa. In fact, we know well that Mike got put at centre two seasons ago by the London Knights' perfidious head coach, and played mostly fourth-line centre the rest of their Memorial Cup Host season. Last season, he played first-line centre with Max Domi and piled up points, until getting traded to Oshawa, where he played second-line centre behind Cole Cassels, and obtained more muted results in the points column, but still played a critical role in their conquest of the Memorial Cup.
I've criticized RDS on this subject before, how fuzzy or plain uninterested they are in the prospect pool, in the farm teams, with Gaston Therrien being shaky, and Gilbert Delorme, Mario Tremblay and Jacques Demers basically ignorant of the situation. But in the Jarred Tinordi case, they're on the ball, they know the issues.
1) He's a leftie, behind Andrei Markov, Alexei Emelin, and Nathan Beaulieu on the depth chart.
2) He's in a battle for a putative #7 spot with Greg Pateryn if there isn't a trade involving defencemen, since Greg is behind P.K., Jeff Petry and Tom Gilbert on the right side.
3) He's in a battle for a putative #8 spot and fourth on the left side with Mark Barberio, who's having a good camp and giving good competition for that spot.
4) He's got to go through waivers to be sent down to the AHL, but it's a foregone conclusion that he wouldn't sneak through, that another team would claim him. That means he has to be on the roster this season, or be traded to avoid losing him for nothing.
Gaston Therrien and Denis Gauthier had a good discussion yesterday about the practical realities. Gaston tried to tamp down the controversy, saying that he hadn't had a bad game against the Leafs, that he's still a singular talent, with a big heart and size and strength and mobility. He argued that other teams, not having familiarity breeding contempt, and not focusing on his warts, would see great value and great potential in Jarred, so we shouldn't get burned, unload him for nothing. We should be patient.
Denis agreed with all that, but also talked about what being patient means. Yes we can keep him on the roster, stash him that way, but that only works for a little while. He explained that you can't keep a kid like that in the pressbox for 10 or 12 games straight, if there aren't any inuries, at some point you have to make a decision. It's not fair to keep a kid like that if you're not going to play him.
It's been said that the aspects he needs to work on, decision-making and on-ice vision, are things you work on while playing, you can't improve those while sitting in the stands. And I agree in a large degree, it's not ideal at all to sit out Jarred when he should playing. It would be much better to have him in the AHL this season, getting minutes.
Being in the roster but sitting int he stands still would help though in one important way, which is to give the kid time, confidence, and to quell the indecision. The kid is so confused right now, getting hounded by the press and social media that he's tight, overthinking, fearful of making mistakes. If he's on the team in November, getting the occasional game in to spell Andrei Markov or sub in when someone's banged up, he'll settle down, settle in, and start to contribute.
It's often been said that Jarred needs to simplify things, speed up his decision-making. I posted before how instead of trying to make Markov-quality zone breakouts and passes, what he should do is simply pass the puck to his partner whenever he's open. Yesterday I was limited to viewing the "Canadiens Express" version of the game, so I didn't see the whole thing, but on one sequence, Jarred was on his side and had the puck, took a quick look up-ice and found nobody wide open. He didn't insist, just slid the puck to Tom Gilbert, who drew a forechecker before sliding the puck back to Jarred, who then hit a forward with a clean pass.
Success! I cheered at this simple play. And hoped that the coaches would show him this video, and ask him to do more of that, and less of the behind-the-net quarterbacking. Just pass it to your more puck-skilled partner. Your job is to be big and tough and protect Carey and work the corners and front of the net. Let the others be Phil Housley. Keep it simple, big lug.
One final point about Jarred is that yes, his size is a big part of the fascination with him as a prospect, compared to a Darren Dietz or Christian Thomas. Precisely. That's the whole point. His being 6'6" makes him a singular weapon, and not just in the intimidation sense. We saw him correct his own mistake when he was backtracking and trying to corral a puck, a Washington forward bearing down on him. Jarred bobbled the puck, but calmly stripped it off his opponent a couple seconds later, with a surgical poke check, his long reach serving him well.
The RDS boys echo this concept, stating often that the toolkit that Jarred brings to the table is different than the other prospects, and therefore more enticing. They explain that with Andrei, P.K., Jeff Petry, Tom Gilbert and Nathan Beaulieu, there are enough puck movers and offensively-gifted d-men on the squad. What we really need is another guy to help out Alexei Emelin in terms of toughness and physical play.
So yeah, it almost feels like a losing battle, I'm starting to re-think my advocacy sometimes, but then remember how Marc Bergevin loves defencemen, loves size and character, how he tells us all the time to be patient, and I continue believing that Jarred is secure in Montreal.
Tuesday, 22 September 2015
Re-visiting Jarred Tinordi's situation, with training camp in full swing.
In response to something I'm seeing on social media, I'll repeat that it's kind of unfair for us as a fanbase to tell Jarred Tinordi to stop playing with that physical edge and just focus on hockey, when he was sent down to the AHL two seasons ago with marching orders to play with more physicality, to hit more and impose himself when the going got tough.
I accept the general consensus that Jarred is confused or invisible these pre-season scrimmages, but I'll take that in stride, as the symptoms of a kid still learning to put his game together. We always parrot to each other that we need to be patient with youngsters, that it takes longer for defencemen, well now is the time to put this patience in action. Let's allow Jarred to play games under more real conditions, when he can actually hit people and contribute that way, instead of no-contact scrimmages. Let's give him the time to develop, like Jamie Oleksiak is taking, like Erik Gudbranson is taking, like Hal Gill took.
And I'll repeat that there really isn't any imminent risk, or any urgency to 'do something', to prepare for the fact that we may lose Jarred Tinordi to waivers. That would only happen if we exposed him to waivers, which won't happen, since we don't need to. It's like if there are three staircases to get to the ground floor, and one of them is closed for construction, and we'd fret endlessly about what could befall us if we went that way, what risks we'll have to face. That staircase is clearly marked and signed and closed off, we won't go that way, we'll use the other two staircases, so really there's no reason to worry.
The Habs' 23-man roster will allow the Canadiens to carry Jarred as the 7th or even 8th defenceman, where he'll keep working on his skills and his game, and he'll be babied and spoonfed minutes and games and get into gear. The unfortunate recurrence of concussion symptoms to Michaël Bournival relieves even more pressure on the 23-man roster, as any decision in his case will have to wait until he's ready to compete, which I have to believe will take months, not just a couple of weeks. So Michaël will be on the injured list and in limbo for the opening of the season, like Davis Drewiskie for a few months was a couple seasons back.
The concern over Mark Barberio is also misplaced, I believe. While he may be a talented player and one we'd like to retain and develop, that won't take precedence over Jarred. Let's remember that the Lightning chose not to make him a qualifying offer this spring, but rather let him walk as a free agent, as we did with Yannick Weber and Frédéric St-Denis and Ryan White recently. Further, he didn't receive a one-way contract offer, but a few two-way deals. The Canadiens goosed up the AHL salary portion to make the two-way offer palatable, but in my mind is also an indication that they realistically see him with the IceCaps as a trusty veteran and callup insurance.
If anyone is getting sent down and exposed to waivers, it's Mr. Barberio, a player we have little investment in, we obtained for free, and is eminently replaceable by many, many other defencemen who are fleet of foot, offensively-inclined, and haven't managed to crack an NHL roster yet. His market value, the demand for his services, is indicated by Tampa allowing him to walk, and by the relative lack of concrete offers he received this summer.
John Blum is a defenceman who had great success in junior, is a wiz with the puck, but hasn't managed to stick with the Minnesota Wild yet. Canucks fans, remembering his star turn as a Vancouver Giant, often call for him to be acquired, but the retort is usually that they already have similar players like Yannick Weber and John Clendenning and others who themselves can't crack the lineup. The NHL has a lot of prospects and players who fit that bill, a heady puck-mover who's a little undersized and needs a break or three to have a career. Mark Barberio is one of these types of players.
6'6" defencemen who were picked in the first round with Jarred's pedigree don't come available very often though. You'd do well to retain a prospect like him, and choose to risk losing a more replaceable asset like Mark Barberio. In an ideal world, we'd keep both and roll sevens on both cases. Practically, we can hope that Mark sneaks down to St. John's and goes unclaimed, other teams having their own roster and waivers headaches to deal with, and has a strong start to the season and gets called up if/when needed.
I accept the general consensus that Jarred is confused or invisible these pre-season scrimmages, but I'll take that in stride, as the symptoms of a kid still learning to put his game together. We always parrot to each other that we need to be patient with youngsters, that it takes longer for defencemen, well now is the time to put this patience in action. Let's allow Jarred to play games under more real conditions, when he can actually hit people and contribute that way, instead of no-contact scrimmages. Let's give him the time to develop, like Jamie Oleksiak is taking, like Erik Gudbranson is taking, like Hal Gill took.
And I'll repeat that there really isn't any imminent risk, or any urgency to 'do something', to prepare for the fact that we may lose Jarred Tinordi to waivers. That would only happen if we exposed him to waivers, which won't happen, since we don't need to. It's like if there are three staircases to get to the ground floor, and one of them is closed for construction, and we'd fret endlessly about what could befall us if we went that way, what risks we'll have to face. That staircase is clearly marked and signed and closed off, we won't go that way, we'll use the other two staircases, so really there's no reason to worry.
The Habs' 23-man roster will allow the Canadiens to carry Jarred as the 7th or even 8th defenceman, where he'll keep working on his skills and his game, and he'll be babied and spoonfed minutes and games and get into gear. The unfortunate recurrence of concussion symptoms to Michaël Bournival relieves even more pressure on the 23-man roster, as any decision in his case will have to wait until he's ready to compete, which I have to believe will take months, not just a couple of weeks. So Michaël will be on the injured list and in limbo for the opening of the season, like Davis Drewiskie for a few months was a couple seasons back.
The concern over Mark Barberio is also misplaced, I believe. While he may be a talented player and one we'd like to retain and develop, that won't take precedence over Jarred. Let's remember that the Lightning chose not to make him a qualifying offer this spring, but rather let him walk as a free agent, as we did with Yannick Weber and Frédéric St-Denis and Ryan White recently. Further, he didn't receive a one-way contract offer, but a few two-way deals. The Canadiens goosed up the AHL salary portion to make the two-way offer palatable, but in my mind is also an indication that they realistically see him with the IceCaps as a trusty veteran and callup insurance.
If anyone is getting sent down and exposed to waivers, it's Mr. Barberio, a player we have little investment in, we obtained for free, and is eminently replaceable by many, many other defencemen who are fleet of foot, offensively-inclined, and haven't managed to crack an NHL roster yet. His market value, the demand for his services, is indicated by Tampa allowing him to walk, and by the relative lack of concrete offers he received this summer.
John Blum is a defenceman who had great success in junior, is a wiz with the puck, but hasn't managed to stick with the Minnesota Wild yet. Canucks fans, remembering his star turn as a Vancouver Giant, often call for him to be acquired, but the retort is usually that they already have similar players like Yannick Weber and John Clendenning and others who themselves can't crack the lineup. The NHL has a lot of prospects and players who fit that bill, a heady puck-mover who's a little undersized and needs a break or three to have a career. Mark Barberio is one of these types of players.
6'6" defencemen who were picked in the first round with Jarred's pedigree don't come available very often though. You'd do well to retain a prospect like him, and choose to risk losing a more replaceable asset like Mark Barberio. In an ideal world, we'd keep both and roll sevens on both cases. Practically, we can hope that Mark sneaks down to St. John's and goes unclaimed, other teams having their own roster and waivers headaches to deal with, and has a strong start to the season and gets called up if/when needed.
Monday, 21 September 2015
Rugby World Cup: South Africa 32, Japan 34
To stay true to my vow of being insufferable about the World Cup of Rugby, I have to chime in about the South Africa-Japan game. What an incredible display of rugby, and of character and sport, by both teams. The two-point win by Japan is being called the most shocking result ever in rugby history.
A commenter on social media had tipped me off that I was in for a goodie, which is fine, but what a game that would have been to come into cold, with the expectation of a blowout, but the Japanese side refusing to lay down for the juggernaut.
The Japanese make up for the lack of stars on their roster, their relative lack of size and high-end speed, with ferocious dedication and team discipline, and by boundless energy. It's refreshing that in rugby, if you're an underdog, the only way to win is to attack, to keep up the pressure on offence and defence and try to cause mistakes and breakdowns by the other side, there's no collapsing into a shell and trying to lull the game into a coma.
Gary Bettman, stop lecturing other sports about the moral superiority of your athletes, and pay attention to how rugby has a theoretically overmatched referee to police 30 overgrown louts, but somehow keeps excellent control and gets assistance from the touch judges, and, wonder of wonders, a video referee who'll stop play and tell the ref "I want you to look at a high tackle, two minutes ago, by #8 green, should be a penalty, ...", and no one gets away with anything because the ref "didn't see it." Brad Marchand and Milan Lucic would be out of the game, out of a job.
Pay attention also Gary, to how the team on the attack, the one that is mauling or rucking or scrumming towards a try, gets to keep possession of the ball if organized play breaks down, if a maul or a scrum is collapsed. Even if the ref can't beyond reasonable doubt point to a culprit, to who caused the maul to fall to the ground, it's plenty bloody obvious that it was the desperate defending team resorting to this tactic. The team on the attack had nothing to gain, the defending team everything to lose. So the defending team gets a penalty, the attacking team gets the ball, and we play on.
A point of emphasis in this World Cup is to keep the flow going, so when a player is tackled he's given latitude to post the ball for his teammates, and the tackler has to release the player and roll away. This has been called unfailingly, and the players are getting the message, making a great show of getting out of the way when on the ground, to not spoil the ball and bog down play. Again, it's pretty clear that the team that's defending is the one trying to slow down the game, so the onus lies on them.
Compare to those tedious cycle games in hockey, or when a player falls on the puck and freezes it, suddenly losing any control of his body, and unable to 'find' the puck or do anything to free it. Puzzling that a superbly conditioned athlete now turns into a sack of soggy rice. And that it's always the player in the defensive zone who does this.
Same for the pucks being frozen along the boards, in a tangle of skates and sticks. Which team benefits from this? Could it be that it's the defending team, having a chance to catch its breath, make a line change, send out the right personnel, and now have a 50% chance at the draw, with players properly positioned? Wouldn't it make more sense to penalize the team that freezes the puck, blatantly, and slows down the pace of the game, to take it to OT and get a loser point?
Anyway, if you have this game stacked on your PVR, as I did, give it your first priority. If not, try to find it online somewhere and watch it cold, without knowing the score, although you can kind of guess that it's a close one, shockingly.
Although if you're reading this now I've spoiled the ending for you. I tried to preserve my virginal purity before the game, avoided websites and skimmed over a message enjoining me to watch this one, but then TSN's "The Reporters" panel blew the ending for me. Yes, even they were talking rugby, and Michael Farber compared it to the Miracle On Ice at the 1980 Olympics.
This one rugby game was better than the combined action of the entire previous World Cup of Soccer Histrionics and Staged Dives. And I should know, because I didn't watch a single game of that, would sometimes tune it in to see if it was worth the fuss, and then turn away in disgust after no more than five minutes at the shamelessness and the blow-dried-iness of the peacocks trotting around aimlessly. And billion-dollar stadiums built in the midst of the Amazonian jungle and crushing, endemic, hierarchically-imposed poverty.
More readings:
Japan win over South Africa has given the world hope. This was rugby's game changer.
A commenter on social media had tipped me off that I was in for a goodie, which is fine, but what a game that would have been to come into cold, with the expectation of a blowout, but the Japanese side refusing to lay down for the juggernaut.
The Japanese make up for the lack of stars on their roster, their relative lack of size and high-end speed, with ferocious dedication and team discipline, and by boundless energy. It's refreshing that in rugby, if you're an underdog, the only way to win is to attack, to keep up the pressure on offence and defence and try to cause mistakes and breakdowns by the other side, there's no collapsing into a shell and trying to lull the game into a coma.
Gary Bettman, stop lecturing other sports about the moral superiority of your athletes, and pay attention to how rugby has a theoretically overmatched referee to police 30 overgrown louts, but somehow keeps excellent control and gets assistance from the touch judges, and, wonder of wonders, a video referee who'll stop play and tell the ref "I want you to look at a high tackle, two minutes ago, by #8 green, should be a penalty, ...", and no one gets away with anything because the ref "didn't see it." Brad Marchand and Milan Lucic would be out of the game, out of a job.
Pay attention also Gary, to how the team on the attack, the one that is mauling or rucking or scrumming towards a try, gets to keep possession of the ball if organized play breaks down, if a maul or a scrum is collapsed. Even if the ref can't beyond reasonable doubt point to a culprit, to who caused the maul to fall to the ground, it's plenty bloody obvious that it was the desperate defending team resorting to this tactic. The team on the attack had nothing to gain, the defending team everything to lose. So the defending team gets a penalty, the attacking team gets the ball, and we play on.
A point of emphasis in this World Cup is to keep the flow going, so when a player is tackled he's given latitude to post the ball for his teammates, and the tackler has to release the player and roll away. This has been called unfailingly, and the players are getting the message, making a great show of getting out of the way when on the ground, to not spoil the ball and bog down play. Again, it's pretty clear that the team that's defending is the one trying to slow down the game, so the onus lies on them.
Compare to those tedious cycle games in hockey, or when a player falls on the puck and freezes it, suddenly losing any control of his body, and unable to 'find' the puck or do anything to free it. Puzzling that a superbly conditioned athlete now turns into a sack of soggy rice. And that it's always the player in the defensive zone who does this.
Same for the pucks being frozen along the boards, in a tangle of skates and sticks. Which team benefits from this? Could it be that it's the defending team, having a chance to catch its breath, make a line change, send out the right personnel, and now have a 50% chance at the draw, with players properly positioned? Wouldn't it make more sense to penalize the team that freezes the puck, blatantly, and slows down the pace of the game, to take it to OT and get a loser point?
Anyway, if you have this game stacked on your PVR, as I did, give it your first priority. If not, try to find it online somewhere and watch it cold, without knowing the score, although you can kind of guess that it's a close one, shockingly.
Although if you're reading this now I've spoiled the ending for you. I tried to preserve my virginal purity before the game, avoided websites and skimmed over a message enjoining me to watch this one, but then TSN's "The Reporters" panel blew the ending for me. Yes, even they were talking rugby, and Michael Farber compared it to the Miracle On Ice at the 1980 Olympics.
This one rugby game was better than the combined action of the entire previous World Cup of Soccer Histrionics and Staged Dives. And I should know, because I didn't watch a single game of that, would sometimes tune it in to see if it was worth the fuss, and then turn away in disgust after no more than five minutes at the shamelessness and the blow-dried-iness of the peacocks trotting around aimlessly. And billion-dollar stadiums built in the midst of the Amazonian jungle and crushing, endemic, hierarchically-imposed poverty.
More readings:
Japan win over South Africa has given the world hope. This was rugby's game changer.
Saturday, 19 September 2015
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love P.K. Subban.
I've been accused recently of being in the “PK booster club”, which is funny since I’ve been more critical of P.K. than the norm for a Canadiens fan. I at one point wanted to package him and Andrei Kostitsyn to try to pry Shea Weber out of Nashville.
I’ve been called on the carpet by HockeyInsideOut regulars over my critiques, that I’m too harsh on him, and some members even claim that I ‘hate’ him.
I spent some time this summer re-watching the 2013-14 season 24CH, and one thing I came away with is that, while P.K. doesn’t have the personality we equate with a captain usually, he’s no Bob Gainey or Jonathan Toews or Steve Yzerman, he’s definitely a leader on the team, off the ice as well. He’s a rabble-rouser, a chatter instigator, a willing foil for pranks, but he is a big presence on the team. It does take all kinds to make up a team, and P.K. plays an important role, that a Brian Gionta, for example, couldn’t and shouldn’t undertake.
Another facet which struck me is how money he is. So many episodes recapped how, when the game was on the line, P.K. made the big play, scored the big goal. In real time, I applauded but took it for granted, since he’s on the PP and offensively-gifted. Of course he’ll score the goal, right? If not he who will? But watching 24CH in that concentrated manner, you’re struck by P.K.’s late-game, big-game heroics. And I’d mentally soft-pedaled these.
So my resolution for this season is to, taking Hal Gill’s injunction to heart, “let P.K. be P.K.” I’m not going to try to hold him to the standard of Raymond Bourque or Chris Chelios, I’m going to allow him to be himself, with all his glory and his little foibles. That I’m not going to list here, because that’s not what I’m about any longer. I’m celebrating P.K., not trying to improve him. Anymore. I’m not ruing the contract, the perceived lack of the ‘hometown discount’ that I thought a team player should give, never mind Don Meehan’s advice.
And I want to be clear, I’d arrived at this resolution before yesterday’s announcement of his incredibly generous and meaningful gesture towards Montréal and the province of Québec and Canadian families. This came as a cherry on the sundae. It only strengthens my resolve.
Dustin Tokarski though, if he botches a save or two, I have a feeling he might become my whipping boy, my spiritual scratching post.
I’ve been called on the carpet by HockeyInsideOut regulars over my critiques, that I’m too harsh on him, and some members even claim that I ‘hate’ him.
I spent some time this summer re-watching the 2013-14 season 24CH, and one thing I came away with is that, while P.K. doesn’t have the personality we equate with a captain usually, he’s no Bob Gainey or Jonathan Toews or Steve Yzerman, he’s definitely a leader on the team, off the ice as well. He’s a rabble-rouser, a chatter instigator, a willing foil for pranks, but he is a big presence on the team. It does take all kinds to make up a team, and P.K. plays an important role, that a Brian Gionta, for example, couldn’t and shouldn’t undertake.
Another facet which struck me is how money he is. So many episodes recapped how, when the game was on the line, P.K. made the big play, scored the big goal. In real time, I applauded but took it for granted, since he’s on the PP and offensively-gifted. Of course he’ll score the goal, right? If not he who will? But watching 24CH in that concentrated manner, you’re struck by P.K.’s late-game, big-game heroics. And I’d mentally soft-pedaled these.
So my resolution for this season is to, taking Hal Gill’s injunction to heart, “let P.K. be P.K.” I’m not going to try to hold him to the standard of Raymond Bourque or Chris Chelios, I’m going to allow him to be himself, with all his glory and his little foibles. That I’m not going to list here, because that’s not what I’m about any longer. I’m celebrating P.K., not trying to improve him. Anymore. I’m not ruing the contract, the perceived lack of the ‘hometown discount’ that I thought a team player should give, never mind Don Meehan’s advice.
And I want to be clear, I’d arrived at this resolution before yesterday’s announcement of his incredibly generous and meaningful gesture towards Montréal and the province of Québec and Canadian families. This came as a cherry on the sundae. It only strengthens my resolve.
Dustin Tokarski though, if he botches a save or two, I have a feeling he might become my whipping boy, my spiritual scratching post.
More thoughts on reducing Andrei Markov's icetime this season.
I think it was Vincent Damphousse who had an interesting comment a couple days ago about trying to reduce Andrei Markov’s icetime. He said that Jacques Martin, when his team was killing a penalty, would send out as his first option Hal Gill and Josh Gorges, they’d take the big bite of that sandwich, and those are hard minutes.
On the contrary, powerplay time is relatively easy on a defenceman, so a vet like Andrei can easily play a lot of PP time as he’s done the last few years, and not suffer much fatigue relatively speaking.
So that would be one way to go, and we’ve batted that around on social media, that Andrei shouldn’t kill penalties anymore. Trouble is, as Vincent said, that Michel Therrien’s best option for the PK is still Andrei and P.K., they’re his best defencemen not just for the powerplay, but for killing penalties also. He doesn’t really have a trusty Hal Gill on his bench.
Now, we can argue with Vincent that Jacques Martin didn’t have a P.K. at the height of his powers or a healthy Andrei either, and that if he did they might have been killing penalties under his watch too, but the point is well taken. Our #5-6 defencemen have to be trusted to kill penalties.
Right now, with a projected Emelin/Beaulieu-Gilbert pairing, I don’t know that we’re there. Certainly if Greg Pateryn can assert himself, his skillset might make him dependable on the PK, and same for Jarred Tinordi, his great size and reach make him a potentially difficult d-man to play against when on the powerplay.
But until that happens, Michel Therrien will be tempted to use and overuse his first pairing.
Another consideration that Vincent had is that when a game is out of reach in either direction, Michel Therrien should almost bench Andrei, drastically limit his minutes to reduce wear and tear and risk of injuries. But that got me to thinking, when is a game ever out of reach. 3 or 4 goal margins are rare in today’s NHL, this isn’t the eighties, so while the concept is sound, I’m not sure how useful it is.
On the contrary, powerplay time is relatively easy on a defenceman, so a vet like Andrei can easily play a lot of PP time as he’s done the last few years, and not suffer much fatigue relatively speaking.
So that would be one way to go, and we’ve batted that around on social media, that Andrei shouldn’t kill penalties anymore. Trouble is, as Vincent said, that Michel Therrien’s best option for the PK is still Andrei and P.K., they’re his best defencemen not just for the powerplay, but for killing penalties also. He doesn’t really have a trusty Hal Gill on his bench.
Now, we can argue with Vincent that Jacques Martin didn’t have a P.K. at the height of his powers or a healthy Andrei either, and that if he did they might have been killing penalties under his watch too, but the point is well taken. Our #5-6 defencemen have to be trusted to kill penalties.
Right now, with a projected Emelin/Beaulieu-Gilbert pairing, I don’t know that we’re there. Certainly if Greg Pateryn can assert himself, his skillset might make him dependable on the PK, and same for Jarred Tinordi, his great size and reach make him a potentially difficult d-man to play against when on the powerplay.
But until that happens, Michel Therrien will be tempted to use and overuse his first pairing.
Another consideration that Vincent had is that when a game is out of reach in either direction, Michel Therrien should almost bench Andrei, drastically limit his minutes to reduce wear and tear and risk of injuries. But that got me to thinking, when is a game ever out of reach. 3 or 4 goal margins are rare in today’s NHL, this isn’t the eighties, so while the concept is sound, I’m not sure how useful it is.
Training Camp Scrimmage 2: Blancs 2, Rouges 4
Impressions on the Blancs-Rouges intrasquad game this morning at the Canadiens’ Brossard rink.
-Stéphane Leroux and Gaston Therrien are doing the honours. I always have time for Monsieur Leroux, he’s humourous, humble and self-effacing, and knowledgeable if not downright encyclopedic when it comes to the LHJMQ.
-Gaston Therrien I’m less sold on. I like when he speaks plainly about players and situations, when he tells us what’s going on instead of protecting his sources, his access. Last season though, he botched this assignment, seemed put off at having to watch recruits and pre-season. He wasn’t informative, seemed foggy on who was who, and his comments were limited to incessantly saying about this or that player “Il doit en donner plus”, or “Il peut en donner plus.” Not very insightful.
This time around, at least based on yesterday, he seems better prepared, maybe attending the rookie tournament in London helped.
-Gabriel Dumont wins a draw to Jeff Petry, who wrists it past McNiven. 1-0 for les Rouges.
-Thomas Fleischman scores to make it 1-1, on a penalty shot against Mike Condon. Alex Semin had been called for hooking on a backcheck.
-P.K. gives the puck away in his zone, Christian Thomas puts it behind the goalie and makes it 2-1 for les Rouges.
-Ryan Johnston gives the puck away in his own zone, Lars Eller makes it 3-1 for les Rouges.
-Second period will feature Carey Price on les Blancs, Dustin Tokarski for les Rouges.
-Connor Crisp inherits another P.K. giveaway, gets off a shot on Carey Price who calmly makes the save.
-Really jumpy stream, constantly refreshing after an interruption. Very frustrating, considering what I’m paying for this.
Actually, it’s a little bit like torture, you hope and expect to see the youngsters, and get denied. Maybe we were better off when we’d read about scrimmages the next morning in La Presse, and discovered the exploits of Mike McPhee or Kent Carlson or Gaston Gingras that way. In print. With everything left to the imagination. The way it was meant to be, apparently.
-P.K. on a penalty shot, advances on Dustin Tokarski and winds up, unleashes a slapshot and scores. I think Dustin conceded the goal, stood up before P.K. actually shot it. 3-2 pour les Blancs.
-Lars on a feed from Alex Galchenyuk, cruises in on Carey Price and picks the top corner. Stéphane and Gaston are very appreciative. 4-2.
-McCarron, Scherbak and Carr still playing on the same line.
-Game ends 4-2, hard to pick out any standouts with the poor quality webcast. Yesterday Nathan Beaulieu and Brett Lernout jumped out at me, today it was really hard to follow the action.
-Stéphane Leroux and Gaston Therrien are doing the honours. I always have time for Monsieur Leroux, he’s humourous, humble and self-effacing, and knowledgeable if not downright encyclopedic when it comes to the LHJMQ.
-Gaston Therrien I’m less sold on. I like when he speaks plainly about players and situations, when he tells us what’s going on instead of protecting his sources, his access. Last season though, he botched this assignment, seemed put off at having to watch recruits and pre-season. He wasn’t informative, seemed foggy on who was who, and his comments were limited to incessantly saying about this or that player “Il doit en donner plus”, or “Il peut en donner plus.” Not very insightful.
This time around, at least based on yesterday, he seems better prepared, maybe attending the rookie tournament in London helped.
-Gabriel Dumont wins a draw to Jeff Petry, who wrists it past McNiven. 1-0 for les Rouges.
-Thomas Fleischman scores to make it 1-1, on a penalty shot against Mike Condon. Alex Semin had been called for hooking on a backcheck.
-P.K. gives the puck away in his zone, Christian Thomas puts it behind the goalie and makes it 2-1 for les Rouges.
-Ryan Johnston gives the puck away in his own zone, Lars Eller makes it 3-1 for les Rouges.
-Second period will feature Carey Price on les Blancs, Dustin Tokarski for les Rouges.
-Connor Crisp inherits another P.K. giveaway, gets off a shot on Carey Price who calmly makes the save.
-Really jumpy stream, constantly refreshing after an interruption. Very frustrating, considering what I’m paying for this.
Actually, it’s a little bit like torture, you hope and expect to see the youngsters, and get denied. Maybe we were better off when we’d read about scrimmages the next morning in La Presse, and discovered the exploits of Mike McPhee or Kent Carlson or Gaston Gingras that way. In print. With everything left to the imagination. The way it was meant to be, apparently.
-P.K. on a penalty shot, advances on Dustin Tokarski and winds up, unleashes a slapshot and scores. I think Dustin conceded the goal, stood up before P.K. actually shot it. 3-2 pour les Blancs.
-Lars on a feed from Alex Galchenyuk, cruises in on Carey Price and picks the top corner. Stéphane and Gaston are very appreciative. 4-2.
-McCarron, Scherbak and Carr still playing on the same line.
-Game ends 4-2, hard to pick out any standouts with the poor quality webcast. Yesterday Nathan Beaulieu and Brett Lernout jumped out at me, today it was really hard to follow the action.
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