Future

Want to make a guy feel comfortable fast? Put him in a position he's used to playing.

You know what he's done his whole life? Score goals. Put him in a position where he can score goals.

He was awful that first game with Zib and Panarin.

His issues are independent of linemates. If the issue was that he was making plays but nobody could finish, that's one thing, but that's not really the problem.

I think Kakko still has his feelers out. He's hockey smart and skilled, and is aborbing every mistake, practice, game. It may take 10, 20, 30 games but his switch will turn on and his production will take off.

Pretty much how I feel. I think it will take longer than that, but I think the switch will flip pretty quickly.

Depending on his linemates, there might not be a ton of points, but I think he'll flip the switch at some point here. Nothing has really gone right for him, and sometimes it just takes a good bounce or something to get it going.

That and a lot of defensemen and a goalie to step way up to fill Hank's skates.

Lol.

By and large, I think the defensemen are fine, including Miller and Lundkvist. But I don't think it matters if they don't add a bunch more forwards.

The problem is that Bell wasn't worth his contract at any point, regardless of usage. He's been one of the least efficient players in football, on a per touch base, for years. Yards After Contact and Broken Tackles were both lower than Connor.

Bell is only excellent when he has a good OL or is force-fed the ball in space. 5 years ago, he was unique like that. Now, there are probably 15 players in the league who can be as productive and more explosive with the same type of touches (look at SF). Bell is a good chain mover, but that's it, and he needs specific usage to do that.

@AdamSchefter

 

 

 

 

Solder has not been worth his contract, but it makes me wonder who they replace him with.

I'd be surprised if they actually can trade him. Maybe CLE or something gives you a late-rounder, but he's got a high price tag AND two more years.

Maybe you're right. And maybe I'm lumping up Phil's posts with those of yours and AJs as well.

It's been a collective, "no" up until earlier it changed to a, "maybe we can change something."

My opinion is an unequivocal no and I find this thread to be toxic. That's not Phil or the mod position as a whole lol, just to be clear.

I've been pretty much with him all along, CC. I just like his approach and his responses in the pressers.

I'm still on the fence, because I don't think he does anything to get more out of the roster than the talent suggests.

But I will say that it's easy to buy into him because of the way he handles pressers and answers questions.

:catfight:

While you've replied to this thread, it has read, albeit politely, like you are simply saying, "no."

It was only earlier today (thread bans) that any kind of change was to be considered.

 

I also don't even disagree with the whole sentiment about people shooting themselves in the foot and then complaining about it.

I know you're directing this at Phil, but he has been much kinder and more open about it than you're giving him credit for. This thread is open simply out of mods (not me) being willing to hear people out, so complaining about the answers is just more of the whining I mentioned earlier. I would have shut this thread down completely before it reached page 2, so have a little perspective probably.

I'd argue that it's only "silly" because you disagree with it.

It's quite clear this is a point of contention. Covering your ears and saying, "NO" isn't the solution.

I do see though that you said you'd discuss with staff some options for the section...

I agree with everything that people have said, more or less, about divisiveness and think this conversation is far, far worse than "silly."

It's complaining about a self-inflicted problem...it's like chewing rocks and complaining that your teeth hurt.

I guarantee it. some posters have nothing to add unless its Trump bashing. That's how it all starts. Remember the "nuke the hurricane" topic? No one was interested in discussing the idea, it was all "trump is an idiot, stupid, moron for suggesting it, etc" like everyone's is an expert. the topic turned into partisan rhetoric

The flip side of that is true as well...

Will you lose forum members and activity for closing it?

Or will you lose members and activity for keeping it open?

 

Stop with the bullshit.

Neither one of these happens to the point that it should have any influence l lol.

This discussion is wild to me. If you don't like the Politics section...don't go there. Simple.

I'm not looking to carry Quinn's jock, but I have to say that when the team played with speed and purpose, like last night v. BUF, our squad looks much more cohesive and capable. If the coach can get them to sustain that kind of commitment and effort, things might just work our for David.

Agreed. This was true under AV as well.

System is pretty irrelevant if you don't skate.

No for once Quinn more or less kept the lines together. The second and third lines played much better than the first with kakko on it.

 

He had a few noticeable plays a nice give and go play with... I wanna say Lemieux, that he beat the goalie with and hit the post on. Then another play where he skated it into the zone and got flattened along the boards. Gave the puck up on a bad clearing attempt for Buffalos first goal. Also gave up the puck at the blue line on one play which didn’t result in much but wasn’t pretty. Over all not a great game.

 

Edit: sorry typing on my phone

 

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The list of plays where he gives up the puck is a long one. It's why his minutes aren't there.

Better question is, I proposed two months ago on the edge of a cliff in Ireland. Was that better than just pushing her off?

Lmao.

Uh, congrats?

4. As the pressure mounts, there will be plenty of talk about Babcock’s future. One thing everyone should remember: he takes a lot of the heat. A lot of it. What I respect about him is that he recognizes it as part of the job. Where does it go if he’s gone?

That's the best question. What if they still suck? They've already hated on AM34 for whatever in the playoffs, that'll be worse without a coach there to blame as well.

Babcock has his weird deployments and stuff - like most every coach - but I think he catches more heat than he should. The team he inherited was super young, and the d corps is and has been awful. They aren't built to be a good playoff team, and there isn't much the coach can do about that. If they flame out this year, then yea you probably have to move on, but it's still too early to can him I think.

i'd just love to hear his reasoning on why Anderssen is stuck on the 4th line. I think every other player was tried on some other line but him

“Lias has to play faster, from play-to-play,” Quinn said. “He has a tendency to kind of stand up after he does something. He doesn’t have a lot of continuation within his play. He knows that. We’ve talked about it. Those are the things that he’s going to have to do if he’s going to get more minutes and more responsibility.”

Well, that's on the Rangers' marketing group to figure out. But that's easily-remedied by simply positioning it as "these are the players we've determined we want to see this thing through to the end." If you need to qualify it, you do so by thanking Kreider for everything he's done, and wishing him nothing but the best. The same as you did for Girardi.

I don't care about the message to fans or Marketing lol, I'm talking about a player's perspective.

I think Buffalo is a really good example of that. They've cycled through buying and selling every year and part of the problem is that they've just "bought" the wrong pieces, but they've finally been consistent for an entire year.

You're one of the three people on the planet with Hulu? Wow.

4. Even have it for live

Letterkenny's hilarious, but only if you're actually paying attention to the dialogue - it's not funny if you just throw it on in the background. It's basically Trailer Park Boys in a different setting.

Lol I was going to make a similar joke earlier

 

 

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ha - it's low hanging fruit. Been the same joke about this team for 3 years.

Yea I think it’s over due. Balances it out a bit more I think. I’m sure it won’t last more than half a period but I guess we’ll see.

 

That 4th line is still brutal.

 

 

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Which one?

not asking for any special treatment. all I want is to tell "fuck you" to people I don't like and not get infracted for it

This is asking for special treatment.

Interesting game within the game here, namely the Mittelstadt v Andersson draft pick deathmatch. A titanic 4th line matchup.

Lol. It's amazing how much less mad sabres fans are that Mittelstadt plays less than Sobotka than Lias behind Howden and Strome.

Lias would do a lot better playing with Sheary and Vesey than with the District V linemates he currently has, though.

Yes it's too early, etc. etc.

But I would also say that playing on a line without Zib is a much better measurement of where he's at. At that price tag, he should be able to carry a line. He's a lot more valuable if he makes Buch and Strome/Howden/Chytil whoever more productive.