If they were set on taking a defenseman at the draft, Trouba seems like a better player than Pouliot.
If they were set on taking a defenseman at the draft, Trouba seems like a better player than Pouliot.
"You know what," said head coach Steve Spott when asked why the London Knights captain got the honour, "his statistic is shot blocks and, I tell you what, he is so talented when it comes to killing penalties and battling for his hockey club that, in our mind tonight, he did so much yeoman's work, he deserved the cape."
One person who did notice Harrington against the Slovaks was his goalie.
"Oh yeah, 100%, especially at the end of those power plays when it's getting really tiring and he's blocking shots and moving pucks out and making saves for me," said Subban. "I remember one in the third, the puck was coming and he just stopped it with his stick and shot it down. That's all you can ask for from a defenceman."
I'm going to go kill myself.
Yakupov is kind of an idiot, constantly trying to beat guys one-on-one even when he has numbers on the rush.
Yakupov is kind of an idiot, constantly trying to beat guys one-on-one even when he has numbers on the rush.
Anyway, Makarov was passed on in thte last 2 drafts, but with Thiessen and Killeen probably not being retained after this season perhaps the Pens can nab Makarov with a mid-to-late draft pick this summer. He seems to have decent potential, good size, fairly sound fundamentals and already has some big-game experience/success. Could be a good back-up for Zatkoff next season, and move into the AHL starting job sometime after.
Harrington was great as usual for us yesterday.
Didn't see the goal but glad Teddy got one for Latvia
I'm going to go kill myself.
I'm not a fan of some of Spott's coaching decisions. First, his pet project Ryan Murphy is logging way too many minutes, despite looking pretty bad defensively out there. To top it off, he's not even adding the offense that is his calling card. Let him run the PP, but stop playing him so much at even strength, in place of more defensively sound guys like Reinhart and Wotherspoon.
Second, his lack of using Nate MacKinnon. Every shift MacKinnon's actually been given, he's been a buzzsaw out there, creating difficulties for the opposition defense with his puck pursuit and board work. Add to that the chemistry him and Drouin already have, you'd think it would be a no brainer to try them together more than a shift or two in the third period.
Canada, as a whole, hasn't looked very good, IMO. The scores flatter them, but I think if the opponents had been Russia and the US instead of Germany and Slovakia, the outcomes would have been different.
Trouba's shot when he can get it off is pretty ridiculous. He gets so much torque on his shaft and he practically takes a chunk out of the ice.