I think every fan has atleast one That Guy as in "If someone has to beat us just don't let it be that guy." I have a few but at the very tip-top of my That Guy list is Mike Comrie. I hate Mike Comrie so much that I usually just refer to him as That Little Bitch and evidently have done it enough that most of my internet buddies know exactly who I'm talking about when I say it and use the shorthand "TLB." Man, I just want to punch him square in his smug little, Hilary Duff kissing face.
Listen, I know it stinks that we lost again, but you guys and gals on the message boards needed to settle right the heck down. Was this game great? No, it was not. Was it a death knell to the entire season? No, it was not.
Here are a few good things for you to ponder:
- The special teams looked better. The PK was very strong overall and while the PP was up and down and could still use more shots on goal, it did sustain some kind of pressure/possession for most of the time.
- Play in the third period was greatly improved. There was less "I'm going to get this goal if I have to do it all by myself!" going on and more dumping and chasing. The team had 17 SOG in the third period and created a lot of good chances. It was just one of those nights where the puck wouldn't go in the net. It won't be like that every night.
- When the team needed a goal Captain (of the Month) Hecht provided one. You could argue that it took a flukey hop up and over DiPietro (who played really well in both games) but it got to that point because of Jochen's determination to get to the net with the puck. I'm looking forward to Kotalik's return and a line of Stafford-Hecht-Gaustad. At the very least, those three are going to be fun to watch because they're all such hard workers.
- The defense didn't look quite so much like a train wreck. Tallinder looked more like himself, Campbell turned in a fairly solid game, and Kalinin was very good in both zones while soaking up Lydman's minutes as well as his own. (Haters, feel free to hate on, okay?) And hey, Spacek is on pace for 82 goals this season! I'll admit that there are things that could definitely be improved in this area. How about clearing the puck after Ryan comes up with a big save and is flat on the ice? Oh, and maybe you guys could keep the idiots on the other team out of Ryan's crease? On one hand, I was glad to see Tri take a penalty for hacking at the guy harassing Ryan after the whistle but on the other hand, it was a pretty mild hack. Knock somebody down! But overall I think you'd have to say the defensive game was better.
As much as I'd like to pretend that the loss of Chris Drury and Daniel Briere means nothing, they were the go-to guys for the last couple of seasons. That doesn't mean the team as is is lost forever. It does mean that they'll need some time to sort out how they fit together on the ice and off. The season is 82 games long. Last season the Senators had a wretched first half and ended up playing for the Cup. A little patience if you please? Let's give the guys a month or so before we decide they're going nowhere. As my pal Kate said while we we commiserating about opening weekend, "It would have been awesome to have a great start, but I would rather have a great finish."
A few other random notes:
- Drury and Briere are good hockey players, okay? They're going to score points. There's no rule that says every point they score is one less the Sabres are going to score for the season. It is entirely possible for them to play well AND for us to play well, maybe even at the same time. I really don't need a daily update on how they're doing. They're not on my team anymore so I DON'T CARE!
- The Sabres website is now listing all the songs played over the PA during games at HSBC which is pretty cool. Even cooler though is that some of those songs are being selected by a player every night and are noted as player selections. This has the potential for awesomeness. My life is already much improved knowing that somewhere in the world, Jochen Hecht might be getting down to Nelly. I picture Jochen as a terrible, terrible dancer. Make sure you bring your earplugs on Toni Lydman night, Sabres fans!
- My heart felt all light and happy when they announced Teppo Numminen during the official player introductions last night even though he wasn't there to skate out on the ice. Seems like hard feelings all around to me.
- Scott Niedermayer, you are screwing with my fantasy team. Please do something - anything! - soon.
And I'll close with this personal note to Tim Connolly (because I know the players huddle around their laptops just waiting for me to post): Timmy, please tighten your chin strap and wear a mouth guard. Your helmet currently barely qualifies as buckled and that's not going to cut it when some ass-wipe barrels into your head. Your helmet is going to go flying and you're going to make contact with whatever you hit - the boards, another player, or god forbid, the ice - with your unprotected, bald skull. You're going to get carried off the ice on a stretcher and I'm going to cry like a little girl. And here's the thing Timmy... I feel like this is probably going to happen. Players can talk all they want about having respect for each other and the league can talk all they want about cleaning up the game but they're all full of it. Someone somewhere is going to take a run at you and I really hope you get back up after it happens. Don't be stupid about this, okay? Don't let some idiot with no self-control end your career.
Showing posts with label new york islanders. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new york islanders. Show all posts
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Closing Thoughts
Okay, so one round down, three to go. I'm glad to get this wrapped up in 5 so the boys can get in a couple of days of rest. Some randome thoughts:
- All the kudos in the world to the Islanders. I think Buffalo was clearly the more talented team, but I have no problem saying that the Islanders played more desperately and with more heart for most of the series. It would've been awfully easy for them to pack it in after the second period last night and instead they came dangerously close to forcing a game 6.
- It's never been more clear that Buffalo starts to look very average very quickly when they're skating and moving around. Use those feet, guys. That's what God gave 'em to you for.
- Buffalo definitely didn't play up to the level they're capable of. While it's a little concerning to see efforts like last night's third period and game 2's first period in the postseason, I'm not super, super worried yet. Playing down to less talented teams and tanking games that should be won has been an unfortunate trend with this team all season. On the flip side they've almost always been able to get up for big games against tough opponents. And hopefully they did learn a little something about underestimating the guys on the other side of the ice.
- As poorly as we played at times, I'm not ready to say Ottawa and the Rangers played light years better than us. The Islanders played tougher, smarter hockey than the Penguins or the Thrashers did and I think they would've given Ottawa and NY some scares just like they did us.
- The defensive game of the Afinogenov-Roy-Vanek line was absolutely frightening at times. They all need to show more hustle in our end but especially Roy who is capable of being one of the best two-way players on the ice. He needs to be the one carrying the defensive responsibility on that line.
- I hate to say it because I love him so, but Henrik Tallinder had an average series overall and "average" might be generous at times. He looked very good in the first game but unlike himself during other stretches. He and Lydman do put in the most time against the opposition's top line along with the most short-handed time, but I'd have to agree with those who think Hank is playing like he's scared of getting hurt again. That's worrisome because it seems like when guys play tense and tentative like that they're actually more likely to get hurt. That said, the penalty kill was very strong in the series. I'd just like to see Hank play a little more consistently and use that size every once in a while. Brian Campbell and Dmitri Kalinin had a very strong series.
- The powerplay remains an enigma. Some nights it looks very good, some nights it looks like they're not moving the puck and scared to shoot.
- Tim Connolly has looked better every game. He had the stick handling skills pretty much from the second he stepped on the ice (geez, that penalty kill last night), but his legs are coming back slowly but surely as well. Words cannot express how happy I am to see him out there again.
- Ryan Miller had a strong sereis. Overall he outplayed DiPietro and that made the difference in the series. Ryan may never have great individual numbers (though some of that is playing for a team that prefers to play run-and-gun and gives up a lot of odd man rushes), but he's going to win a lot of games. He almost always seems to be able to do just enough to pull out the victory.
- Jason Pominville, Daniel Briere, and Jochen Hecht make up the worst line of postseason beards in the entire playoffs. These three look like 14-year-olds trying desperately to grow enough facial hair to shave. I love it.
Not a tremendous effort but an effective one and at this point I supposed that's all that matters. I'd prefer to see Tampa Bay over the Rangers because their defense/goal tending is very suspect and St. Louis and Lecavalier are playing a ridiculous amount of minutes and almost sure to start feeling that... But I think we can beat either team for sure.
I'm off to curl up on the couch with my box of Puffs Plus and a bag of cough drops and the Calgary/Detroit game on the TV. Flame on, Flames! Man, I love playoff hockey.
- All the kudos in the world to the Islanders. I think Buffalo was clearly the more talented team, but I have no problem saying that the Islanders played more desperately and with more heart for most of the series. It would've been awfully easy for them to pack it in after the second period last night and instead they came dangerously close to forcing a game 6.
- It's never been more clear that Buffalo starts to look very average very quickly when they're skating and moving around. Use those feet, guys. That's what God gave 'em to you for.
- Buffalo definitely didn't play up to the level they're capable of. While it's a little concerning to see efforts like last night's third period and game 2's first period in the postseason, I'm not super, super worried yet. Playing down to less talented teams and tanking games that should be won has been an unfortunate trend with this team all season. On the flip side they've almost always been able to get up for big games against tough opponents. And hopefully they did learn a little something about underestimating the guys on the other side of the ice.
- As poorly as we played at times, I'm not ready to say Ottawa and the Rangers played light years better than us. The Islanders played tougher, smarter hockey than the Penguins or the Thrashers did and I think they would've given Ottawa and NY some scares just like they did us.
- The defensive game of the Afinogenov-Roy-Vanek line was absolutely frightening at times. They all need to show more hustle in our end but especially Roy who is capable of being one of the best two-way players on the ice. He needs to be the one carrying the defensive responsibility on that line.
- I hate to say it because I love him so, but Henrik Tallinder had an average series overall and "average" might be generous at times. He looked very good in the first game but unlike himself during other stretches. He and Lydman do put in the most time against the opposition's top line along with the most short-handed time, but I'd have to agree with those who think Hank is playing like he's scared of getting hurt again. That's worrisome because it seems like when guys play tense and tentative like that they're actually more likely to get hurt. That said, the penalty kill was very strong in the series. I'd just like to see Hank play a little more consistently and use that size every once in a while. Brian Campbell and Dmitri Kalinin had a very strong series.
- The powerplay remains an enigma. Some nights it looks very good, some nights it looks like they're not moving the puck and scared to shoot.
- Tim Connolly has looked better every game. He had the stick handling skills pretty much from the second he stepped on the ice (geez, that penalty kill last night), but his legs are coming back slowly but surely as well. Words cannot express how happy I am to see him out there again.
- Ryan Miller had a strong sereis. Overall he outplayed DiPietro and that made the difference in the series. Ryan may never have great individual numbers (though some of that is playing for a team that prefers to play run-and-gun and gives up a lot of odd man rushes), but he's going to win a lot of games. He almost always seems to be able to do just enough to pull out the victory.
- Jason Pominville, Daniel Briere, and Jochen Hecht make up the worst line of postseason beards in the entire playoffs. These three look like 14-year-olds trying desperately to grow enough facial hair to shave. I love it.
Not a tremendous effort but an effective one and at this point I supposed that's all that matters. I'd prefer to see Tampa Bay over the Rangers because their defense/goal tending is very suspect and St. Louis and Lecavalier are playing a ridiculous amount of minutes and almost sure to start feeling that... But I think we can beat either team for sure.
I'm off to curl up on the couch with my box of Puffs Plus and a bag of cough drops and the Calgary/Detroit game on the TV. Flame on, Flames! Man, I love playoff hockey.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)