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NHL November 2014 |OT| Cleary Must Be Always

Red_Man

I Was There! Official L Receiver 2/12/2016
Beaulieu is pissed he was sent down to Hamilton and talked to Bergvein about it. Such bullshit he's gone, wtf is Allen and Weaver doing in the lineup ahead of him.
 

Smiley90

Stop shitting on my team. Start shitting on my finger.
Horvat is rocking an insane 62.6% in faceoffs. (62-37) First in the NHL (among those that have taken more than 30 faceoffs)

I wonder what the highest faceoff percentage for a rookie was, historically. Because... uh... that's crazy.
 

Smiley90

Stop shitting on my team. Start shitting on my finger.
Preds aren't as boring as they used to be.

Posted 2 days ago, son

I'm gonna post it every day for the rest of the season if need be.

Malhotra had a 43/44% faceoff percentage in his first two years in the NHL.

SO TAKE THAT.

Horvat also won all 8 defensive zone faceoffs he took against the blackhawks.

we have a good rookie :')
 

Smiley90

Stop shitting on my team. Start shitting on my finger.
I hope McDavid doesn't end up on the Oilers.

Buffalo on the other hand... That's a match made in heaven.
 

Red_Man

I Was There! Official L Receiver 2/12/2016
Oilers aren't bad enough to get McDavid and thank God they aren't. That piece of shit team doesn't deserve him.
 

gaming_noob

Member
Kessel + JVR + Rielly + Kadri + Nylander + 2015 first for Connor McDavid.

Frattin - McDavid - Clarkson
Lupul - Bozak - Devane
Leivo - Santorelli - Komarov
Holland - Winnik - Brown
 
The only bottom six injury we have right now is Torres. We don't have a lot of real talent down there though which is a huge problem. Sheppard is glued to that 3C spot even though he sucks at faceoffs, isn't good defensively, and has almost no playmaking ability. Desjardins is okay in his role but isn't actually a very good player. We could use someone with a lot more hockey IQ down there. Waiving Burish was a step in the right direction, no reason he should have been playing over the younger forwards. Kennedy and Wingels have been the only two bottom six players consistently carrying their weight imo.

As far as top six goes, they're playing a lot like they did before Burns got moved to forward in 2013. They're getting a lot of shots and shot attempts but they're mostly shitty perimeter chances. Not a lot of actual prime scoring chances. Pavelski, despite the Thornton bump last year, is not a better winger than center. Really wish they'd put him back at 3C. Problem is that happened because Burns was moved to forward. With him back on defense it creates a hole on Thornton's wing. Couture has been up and down, Marleau has been awful lately, Hertl is playing like a commie, Nieto has awful luck. Thornton is a certified beast out there though.

I suspect they'll come around at some point but yeah I think the forward depth issues are very concerning.

Defense is by far the thing that needs the most work. Irwin and Hannan are both pylons while Mueller is good but obviously still growing into his role. Trading for Dillon fixed the hole on our left side but now there's a hole on the right too. Burns is still figuring out what the hell to do down there. Braun has been good but not as good as he can be. Defense pairing may work better as:

Vlasic-Burns
Dillon-Braun
Mueller-Hannan

That third pairing absolutely needs to be shored up on the right side though.

What about calling up some younger players? Sharks have cap room to make a move, but I don't think a massive trade for picks and prospects is the answer.
 

Yawnier

Banned
Kessel + JVR + Rielly + Kadri + Nylander + 2015 first for Connor McDavid.

Frattin - McDavid - Clarkson
Lupul - Bozak - Devane
Leivo - Santorelli - Komarov
Holland - Winnik - Brown

Good god that leafs roster looks bad. Frattin and Wendel Clarkson on the first line? pukeeeee
 

zroid

Banned
Kessel + JVR + Rielly + Kadri + Nylander + 2015 first for Connor McDavid.

Frattin - McDavid - Clarkson
Lupul - Bozak - Devane
Leivo - Santorelli - Komarov
Holland - Winnik - Brown

sRihPLU.gif
 

Acid08

Banned
What about calling up some younger players? Sharks have cap room to make a move, but I don't think a massive trade for picks and prospects is the answer.
We have a couple up right now, Goodrow is playing well on the third line and Tennyson got called up to play in that RD spot. Ideally I'd like the team to do two things:

1. Package Sheppard+ for a good bottom pairing RD

2. Replace Desjardins with Freddie Hamilton who has been very good in Woostah this year. Hamilton is really smart, defensively responsible, and has better offensive instincts.

The way I envision this lineup(when healthy) with the XXX spots up for grabs/open for trades:
Hertl-Thornton-XXX
Marleau-Couture-Nieto
Torres-Pavelski-Wingels
Goodrow-Hamilton-Kennedy
Scott/Brown

Vlasic-Burns
Dillon-Braun
Mueller-XXX
Hannan

Niemi
Stalock

Realistically right now though? Maybe something like:
Hertl-Thornton-Wingels
Marleau-Couture-Nieto
Sheppard-Pavelski-Kennedy
Goodrow-Hamilton-Desjardins

Vlasic-Burns
Mueller-Braun
Dillon-Fedun(call-up from Woostah)

I don't know. Thornton needs a real winger/forechecker who can smash into the ozone and retrieve pucks. Basically, he needs Burns.
 

Curufinwe

Member
I saw the picture of where the ball hit him - do you think there'll be a push within the sport to introduce ear-guards to the helmet, like a baseball batter's helmet has?

I think there will be sme changes. It's crazy that just a few decades ago lots of batsmen only wore hats.
 

zroid

Banned
Then trade McDavid+Gardiner+Lupul+Komarov for Crosby

Frattin - Bozak - Clarkson
Leivo- Crosby- Devane
Holland- Santorelli- Winnik
Booth- Smith- Brown

I would be ok with this just to see Crosby's reaction to playing behind Tyler "#1C" Bozak
 
I was watching the Oilers game while doing cardio at the gym. It wasn't the complete trainwreck I was expecting! Edmonton got a lot of shots on net and won a surprising amount of faceoffs. But I know nothing of their typical stats in those regards.
 
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