GDT: 12/9/14 - 7:30PM EDT - Washington VS Tampa Bay

[IdealisticSniper]

Congratu-****ing-lations.

Ovechkin set the tone for the Caps with the first shift of the game. He hit everything that moved and scored a goal. Bolts were hemmed in from the get-go, the Caps were flying, and the Bolts were flat-footed. Then, the Caps more or less were in our faces the rest of the night, we didn't get any really good scoring chances.

This is just flat out wrong. TB had plenty of great chances to score. Holtby was very good and on others TB just didn't get the bounce.

We lost this game in special teams both on the PP and the PK. The 5v5 play was fairly even and I would go as far to say TB had a slight advantage there over the course of the game.

 

[Glide5]

Bryan Burns @BBurnsNHL
Boyle on losing 2 in a row "We're genuinley pissef off about losing the game, especially back to back" #WSHvsTBL

Well then, I know what I will br expecting on thursday.

Well, at least someone gets it. Boyle seems to be a hell of a locker room guy.

 

[DFC]

I'm expecting a good effort vs. Carolina. Cooper has instilled a pride about winning on home ice with this team, and I don't think they want to leave town having dropped 3 straight in front of their own fans.

I also think Cooper's finally going to give the lineup a moderate shuffle. IMO, the only thing that should be set in stone right now is TKO/Triplets. Wouldn't even mind slotting Cally with Flip, just for the depth. They looked good last year.

 

[Leonardo87]

I'm expecting a good effort vs. Carolina. Cooper has instilled a pride about winning on home ice with this team, and I don't think they want to leave town having dropped 3 straight in front of their own fans.

I also think Cooper's finally going to give the lineup a moderate shuffle. IMO, the only thing that should be set in stone right now is TKO/Triplets. Wouldn't even mind slotting Cally with Flip, just for the depth. They looked good last year.

I would not be opposed to breaking up the TKO line if it can get two lines going. I would keep Kuch and Johnson together, and maybe move Palat with Flip, or with Cally.

 

[DFC]

I would not be opposed to breaking up the TKO line if it can get two lines going. I would keep Kuch and Johnson together, and maybe move Palat with Flip, or with Cally.

I think TKO is floating us right now at even strength though. It's arguably the hottest line in the league (Someone posted stats on the main board and TKO was tied for the highest scoring line in the NHL). We need to find a line to support it, and we have the pieces, Coop just seems too stubborn to put them together.

I think a line like Killorn/Paquette - Flip - Callahan would be a poorman's version of the old Palahan line and it would give us a 3rd line most teams would have a hard time handling. Which again leaves us with Stamkos, who aside from needing to find some chemistry with a LW, needs to just flat-out up his game.

Tyler Johnson's our best player right now. As awesome as that is, it shouldn't be the case for a team with Steven Stamkos.

 

[2020 Cup Champions]

I think TKO is floating us right now at even strength though. It's arguably the hottest line in the league (Someone posted stats on the main board and TKO was tied for the highest scoring line in the NHL). We need to find a line to support it, and we have the pieces, Coop just seems too stubborn to put them together.

I think a line like Killorn/Paquette - Flip - Callahan would be a poorman's version of the old Palahan line and it would give us a 3rd line most teams would have a hard time handling. Which again leaves us with Stamkos, who aside from needing to find some chemistry with a LW, needs to just flat-out up his game.

Tyler Johnson's our best player right now. As awesome as that is, it shouldn't be the case for a team with Steven Stamkos.

That line is what I've wanted to see for weeks now.

 

[The Macho King]

I just don't think you split up Stamkos and Callahan right now. They're two pieces of an important puzzle. Both Stamkos and Cally have Corsi% of around 55% - that's really damn high, especially considering they've been carrying Killorn the past while (who sports a sexy 49% Corsi%). They just need a playmaking LW that can keep plays alive and get them the puck.

I'm at a loss of who we can get to do that though. Playmaking LWers aren't exactly common. I mean, the best bet would be to get one in the draft, but how does that help us now? For us to see any benefit of that now we would have had to draft that playmaking LW like two years ago...................................................................................

 

[Leonardo87]

I think TKO is floating us right now at even strength though. It's arguably the hottest line in the league (Someone posted stats on the main board and TKO was tied for the highest scoring line in the NHL). We need to find a line to support it, and we have the pieces, Coop just seems too stubborn to put them together.

I think a line like Killorn/Paquette - Flip - Callahan would be a poorman's version of the old Palahan line and it would give us a 3rd line most teams would have a hard time handling. Which again leaves us with Stamkos, who aside from needing to find some chemistry with a LW, needs to just flat-out up his game.

Tyler Johnson's our best player right now. As awesome as that is, it shouldn't be the case for a team with Steven Stamkos.

Poor Cally, first 24 games into his new contract and he has already been demoted to the 3rd line.

I just don't think you split up Stamkos and Callahan right now. They're two pieces of an important puzzle. Both Stamkos and Cally have Corsi% of around 55% - that's really damn high, especially considering they've been carrying Killorn the past while (who sports a sexy 49% Corsi%). They just need a playmaking LW that can keep plays alive and get them the puck.

I'm at a loss of who we can get to do that though. Playmaking LWers aren't exactly common. I mean, the best bet would be to get one in the draft, but how does that help us now? For us to see any benefit of that now we would have had to draft that playmaking LW like two years ago...................................................................................

Stamkos and Cally have been good together, last night's goal was another example. The fact that Stamkos and Killorn were blowing dog defensively last night has nothing to do with the chemistry of the two.

They need like you said that playmaking LW. Killorn is just not the answer.

 

[DFC]

Poor Cally, first 24 games into his new contract and he has already been demoted to the 3rd line.




Stamkos and Cally have been good together, last night's goal was another example. The fact that Stamkos and Killorn were blowing dog defensively has nothing to do with the chemistry of the two.

They need like you said that playmaking LW. Killorn is just not the answer.

Not exactly a bad thing when Val Filppula is waiting there and desperate for chemistry. It would also allow us to get Cally back on the PK, which needs a shot in the arm. Maybe I'm wrong, but I seem to remember our PK being pretty good early in the year. I think it suffered when we removed both Cally and Flip.

I'm sort of indifferent on where Callahan plays right now. He's okay with Stamkos, but Stamkos has not been playing at the level we're used to, and a lot of that seems due to his decision-making more than anything physical.

Palat-Flip-Callahan was a dominant cycling line. I wouldn't mind trying to recreate that. The better option is Drouin-Stamkos-Callahan, but apparently that's not going to happen until every LW we have is injured.

 

[Leonardo87]

Not exactly a bad thing when Val Filppula is waiting there and desperate for chemistry. It would also allow us to get Cally back on the PK, which needs a shot in the arm. Maybe I'm wrong, but I seem to remember our PK being pretty good early in the year. I think it suffered when we removed both Cally and Flip.

I'm sort of indifferent on where Callahan plays right now. He's okay with Stamkos, but Stamkos has not been playing at the level we're used to, and a lot of that seems due to his decision-making more than anything physical.

Palat-Flip-Callahan was a dominant cycling line. I wouldn't mind trying to recreate that. The better option is Drouin-Stamkos-Callahan, but apparently that's not going to happen until every LW we have is injured.

I think Coop is protecting Cally from injury by leaving him off the PK. But yeah since Flip and Cally have been off the PK it has not been as good.

I think Stamkos and Callahan have been very good together, don't need corsi to see that, they are finding each other, and doing it without a legit strong top LW. Imagine them getting a playmaker on that line.

 

[Brie]

I see a few wanting to move Cally of the line with Stamkos despite Cally and Stammer playing so well together and Cally being our 2nd best goal scorer. But the question for those who want that and keep the TKO line together is who do you play Stammer with then? Paquette and Connolly? Neither of them are anywhere ready to handle 1st line minutes.

 

[DFC]

I think Coop is protecting Cally from injury by leaving him off the PK. But yeah since Flip and Cally have been of the PK it has not been as good.

I think Stamkos and Callahan have been very good together, don't need corsi to see that, they are finding each other, and doing it without a legit strong top LW. Imagine them getting a playmaker on that line.

I think they've been "just okay" at even strength. Otherwise Stamkos's even strength numbers wouldn't be low right now. A big part of that problem is Stamkos just doesn't seem to be in a "Stamkos" frame of mind.

Cally would still be getting 18 minutes or so on the 3rd line. I think he was removed from the PK for the same reason as Flip--to limit his minutes. As soon as Flip got off the top line, he went back to the PK. The same would likely be true for Cally, and he's a valuable penalty killer who's sitting on the bench while the PK struggles.

Ideally he should play with Stamkos and a playmaker, no argument there. But Cooper doesn't seem to like ideal situations.

If we can't have:

Drouin - Stamkos - Callahan
Palat - Johnson - Kucherov
Killorn - Flip - Connolly
Paquette - Boyle - Morrow/Brown

Which apparently just makes too much f*ing sense for Coop to go with... then I think we need to get outside of the box and try to get the best chemistry we can, wherever we can find it. IMO, Cally was better with Flip as his center than he is with Stamkos.

In reality our top line is the TKO line right now, and it has been for 1.5 months.

 

[Brie]

But after they removed Palat from the Pallahan line last season and replaced him with Killorn the line was awful and couldn't get anything done, especially in the PO, again it was Killorn that brought it down.

 

[Brie]

Stammer and Drej out for todays practice so the lines are:

Killorn - Filppula - Callahan
Barberio - Johnson - Kucherov
Paquette - Drouin - Connolly
Brown - Boyle - Morrow

So I guess no changes will be made.

 

[The Macho King]

Stammer and Drej out for todays practice so the lines are:

Killorn - Filppula - Callahan
Barberio - Johnson - Kucherov
Paquette - Drouin - Connolly
Brown - Boyle - Morrow

So I guess no changes will be made.

Okay - it's official. Cooper is a ****ing idiot.

 

[DFC]

But after they removed Palat from the Pallahan line last season and replaced him with Killorn the line was awful and couldn't get anything done, especially in the PO, again it was Killorn that brought it down.

Yeah, that's true.

If Coop refuses to play Drouin with Stamkos, our other main playmaking option is Kucherov, which would break up TKO. I don't think we're willing to do that right now, nor do I think we should, but just for fun, it might look like:

Kucherov - Stamkos - Callahan
Palat - Johnson - Connolly
Drouin - Flip - Paquette/Killorn
Paquette/Killorn - Boyle - Brown/Morrow

 

[Leonardo87]

Stammer and Drej out for todays practice so the lines are:

Killorn - Filppula - Callahan
Barberio - Johnson - Kucherov
Paquette - Drouin - Connolly
Brown - Boyle - Morrow

So I guess no changes will be made.

I think I just threw up in my mouth after looking at those lines.

 

[2MinutesforGiraffing]

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

- Albert Einstein

 

[The Macho King]

Can we as a group stop listing Stamkos' line first? It clearly isn't our top line based on most stats and the eye test. Plus, it would feed into the fiction that Killorn is a top line player, which he clearly ****ing isn't.

 

[DFC]

Can we as a group stop listing Stamkos' line first? It clearly isn't our top line based on most stats and the eye test. Plus, it would feed into the fiction that Killorn is a top line player, which he clearly ****ing isn't.

Pumping his tires for trade value.

But yeah, TKO has been our top line since about the beginning of November. Unfortunately I'm not sure Coop has even gotten that memo, since they're getting significantly fewer ES minutes than the Stamkos line.

Our team feels like a weird construction of glass ceilings right now.

 

[Leonardo87]

Can we as a group stop listing Stamkos' line first? It clearly isn't our top line based on most stats and the eye test. Plus, it would feed into the fiction that Killorn is a top line player, which he clearly ****ing isn't.

I have a better idea, lets move Stamkos and Callahan to the 3rd line, so we can get Drouin on there. Since it's not the top 6, Coop will have no problem putting Drouin on there.

 

[2020 Cup Champions]

I see a few wanting to move Cally of the line with Stamkos despite Cally and Stammer playing so well together and Cally being our 2nd best goal scorer. But the question for those who want that and keep the TKO line together is who do you play Stammer with then? Paquette and Connolly? Neither of them are anywhere ready to handle 1st line minutes.

That's OK because TKO will play top line minutes. See below.

Can we as a group stop listing Stamkos' line first? It clearly isn't our top line based on most stats and the eye test. Plus, it would feed into the fiction that Killorn is a top line player, which he clearly ****ing isn't.

 

[Werewolf]

Playmakers: Kucherov/Drouin/Filp
Snipers: TJ, Stammer, Connolly
Puck Retrievers: Callahan, Killorn, Palat

I don't care who is with who. Pick one from each group and form your lines. Here you go Cooper try this:

Palat/Stammer/Kucherov
Drouin/TJ/Callahan
Killorn/Filp/Connolly

Of course I don't want to break up the TKO line...but putting Killorn/Callahan and Drouin/Filp in same lines is just awful. Any combination of balanced lines are better than we've been seeing out of Cooper.

 

[IdealisticSniper]

Playmakers: Kucherov/Drouin/Filp
Snipers: TJ, Stammer, Connolly
Puck Retrievers: Callahan, Killorn, Palat

I don't care who is with who. Pick one from each group and form your lines. Here you go Cooper try this:

Palat/Stammer/Kucherov
Drouin/TJ/Callahan
Killorn/Filp/Connolly

Of course I don't want to break up the TKO line...but putting Killorn/Callahan and Drouin/Filp in same lines is just awful. Any combination of balanced lines are better than we've been seeing out of Cooper.

Kucherov is a sniper and Johnson is more of a playmaker.

 

[DFC]

Playmakers: Kucherov/Drouin/Filp
Snipers: TJ, Stammer, Connolly
Puck Retrievers: Callahan, Killorn, Palat

I don't care who is with who. Pick one from each group and form your lines. Here you go Cooper try this:

Palat/Stammer/Kucherov
Drouin/TJ/Callahan
Killorn/Filp/Connolly

Of course I don't want to break up the TKO line...but putting Killorn/Callahan and Drouin/Filp in same lines is just awful. Any combination of balanced lines are better than we've been seeing out of Cooper.

The key is definitely a balance on each line. We have one line that has that balance right now (TKO), and, oh, look what they're doing...

Jeez, Coop.