Alex Galchenyuk Thread 8.0 - "Time on Ice" Edition
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OK – just re-watched Russia-US game on PVR. Here is the break down by period with some comments:
1st Period
5 shifts – 4:35 ice time (approx.)
- Main impression is that Kuraly sucks. Kuraly does not seem comfortable on his back hand, definitely favors distributing the puck to Barber.
- One PP – very long shift (1:30) but had very little impact.
- I have not seen him play with Sarnia this year but I can’t imagine he spends as much time as he does on the boards waiting for a pass. On the fourth shift you see home much time he spends standing still waiting for an outlet pass.
- He was nearly perfect in either passing the puck or not losing it.
2nd Period
6 shifts - 5:05 ice time (approx.)
- Dominated in two PP occasions
- On second PP – had the puck for a lot of the PP that ultimately lead to Trouba’s goal. Obtained primary assist.
- Had a couple of bad plays in 5 on 5 shifts. I have him with 2 puck possession losses and a couple of bad passes.
- Still notice that line mates are not helping. Barber is practically non-existent and Kuraly is not having a good game.
3rd Period
6 shifts – 5:00 minutes (approx.)
- Had some of his least effective shifts, especially his 4th shift of the period, which lasted about 1:25 mostly chasing puck in defensive zone.
- Lots of uneventful shifts, not getting the puck.
- Last shift, on the PP, he controlled the PP again. Lack of finishing by US.
General comments
- I thought he received his fair share of ice time - go to guy on PP, no PK.
- On this team and tournament, he would greatly benefit from playing center and not having to wait for the puck. I assume that Housley does not want him to free wheel.
- At the very least, put him on the first line instead of Gaudreau. Miller is a much better distributor and finisher and Gaudreau is pretty much useless.
- I understand we want to see Gally dominate each game, but this was a quality opponent with size and speed. IMO, he played as well as the other major players on the ice, no one stood out – with the exception of Nichushkin – who took over in the 2nd and 3rd period. I think he will start being mentioned with the top 3-5 of the draft.
- Grigs does play with a slower pace, but he often has the puck on his stick.
1st Period
5 shifts – 4:35 ice time (approx.)
- Main impression is that Kuraly sucks. Kuraly does not seem comfortable on his back hand, definitely favors distributing the puck to Barber.
- One PP – very long shift (1:30) but had very little impact.
- I have not seen him play with Sarnia this year but I can’t imagine he spends as much time as he does on the boards waiting for a pass. On the fourth shift you see home much time he spends standing still waiting for an outlet pass.
- He was nearly perfect in either passing the puck or not losing it.
2nd Period
6 shifts - 5:05 ice time (approx.)
- Dominated in two PP occasions
- On second PP – had the puck for a lot of the PP that ultimately lead to Trouba’s goal. Obtained primary assist.
- Had a couple of bad plays in 5 on 5 shifts. I have him with 2 puck possession losses and a couple of bad passes.
- Still notice that line mates are not helping. Barber is practically non-existent and Kuraly is not having a good game.
3rd Period
6 shifts – 5:00 minutes (approx.)
- Had some of his least effective shifts, especially his 4th shift of the period, which lasted about 1:25 mostly chasing puck in defensive zone.
- Lots of uneventful shifts, not getting the puck.
- Last shift, on the PP, he controlled the PP again. Lack of finishing by US.
General comments
- I thought he received his fair share of ice time - go to guy on PP, no PK.
- On this team and tournament, he would greatly benefit from playing center and not having to wait for the puck. I assume that Housley does not want him to free wheel.
- At the very least, put him on the first line instead of Gaudreau. Miller is a much better distributor and finisher and Gaudreau is pretty much useless.
- I understand we want to see Gally dominate each game, but this was a quality opponent with size and speed. IMO, he played as well as the other major players on the ice, no one stood out – with the exception of Nichushkin – who took over in the 2nd and 3rd period. I think he will start being mentioned with the top 3-5 of the draft.
- Grigs does play with a slower pace, but he often has the puck on his stick.
Why wouldn't they? They're a bunch of school boys playing a horde of rabid russians thousands of miles from home. I know I'd be intimidated.
Unbelievable Housley didn't try having Gally center the first line even for a couple shifts while down. He should be embarrassed, how do you not play your best player massive minutes in the third while down a goal? How is Miller on the ice more then Gally? Frustrating to watch as a Habs fan.
I think Housley just isn't a fan of him
That is just silly.
Housley is just trying to spread the offence around without loading up on one line. It is more of a compliment that he is relying on Galchenyuk to carry a line as he is the only player on the team that can do so.
Pittsburgh for years has always given Malkin the most talented linemates while Crosby is expected to carry his line. This is just more of the same strategy.
They have???
First off, which talent are we talking about? Malkin played with Neal last year, but before that he didn't have anybody. He played with the same caliber of wingers as Crosby did. The main reason why Neal played with Malkin is also because Crosby was injured all year, had he not been, I wouldn't have been surprised if they were placed together.
I understand spreading the offense, but it's the wrong strategy to employ in the third period down a goal. You also don't have to keep putting your best players together. Just do it every now and then, hoping to get something. If you're still down by 1 at the 10min mark of the 3rd period, then stick with it.
hogtownhabsfan*
Guest
Still, that's less than 15 minutes which is inexcusable for their best offensive forward in a game they lost 2-1.
It has nothing to do with who is like and who is dislike....or sort of. Meaning that how he is used right now, on the 2nd line, isn't when the problem started. It's the composition of the team in itself. They don't believe in the Lucia, Biggs, Vesey big pluggers, so your 2nd line is filled with Kuraly and Barber. This is incredibly weak for me. So to upgrade your "2nd line", you have to mix it with maybe your best talent in Gally. 'Cause the other line with a underwhelming Miller so far, you have 2 high real midgets in Gaudreau and Grimaldi, who frankly would not be able to do a better job on the 2nd line either if you had to upgrade Gally on the supposed 1st.
Problem is that they didn't entirely seem to believe in matchups by not bringing Boucher around. You also have to deal with underachieving players like Trocheck who is suppose to give way more than he's doing and I'd also put AHL'er Miller in that category.
Add the Noesen suspension and some calls that were maybe questionable (at least give Samuelsson, Nelson and Kerdiles a greater shot...) and you might have had a better offensive firepower. As of now, it might change, but there's no offensive game on that team.
Problem is that they didn't entirely seem to believe in matchups by not bringing Boucher around. You also have to deal with underachieving players like Trocheck who is suppose to give way more than he's doing and I'd also put AHL'er Miller in that category.
Add the Noesen suspension and some calls that were maybe questionable (at least give Samuelsson, Nelson and Kerdiles a greater shot...) and you might have had a better offensive firepower. As of now, it might change, but there's no offensive game on that team.
Thing is Bylsma doesn't send his 3rd an 4th line in the last 2 minutes when he's losing. That's what pissed me off the most, and I believe that's what made people mad. Evaluation time is done. Shorten your bench and put your best players on the ice if you want to win.
He shouldn't roll all 4 lines especially late in the game when he needs a goal, that is going to come from his top players. Also he cut his ice time against Germany cause everyone figured it was to use him more in the Russia game, which he didn't really
When the Pens need a goal, they don't send out Matt Cooke on the ice. Bylsma will double shift Sid and Malkin and even send them out together for a few shifts
Agreed, especially on the uselessness of big pluggers. They had no impact against a smaller and lighter defense man group.
For the rest, I think you are right, there are not many options.
This is ridiculous, this is pure conjecture.
What is more plausible is that 18 year old players are never given the prime roles on WJC teams. It is considered a 19 year old tournament. 18 year olds rarely dominate and are not put in that position to dominate. I'm not saying that I agree, but the facts bear this out. All teams, including Canada, rarely give important roles to non 19 year olds.
Interesting. I was hoping someone else would provide some break down for Galchenyuk's ice time, to compare with what I have. What are you using to time his minutes?
I ended with 5 shifts - 4:48 TOI.
Kuraly isn't too strong on the forecheck. He's a good passer and wins the majorit of his face-offs, but he's a peg lower in terms of skill, compared to Galchenyuk. Barber too. In the game against Germany, they were able to hide that, because Germany is just not a great team. Against the likes of Russia and Canada, their flaws as a line will show. Galchenyuk will benefit more playing with guys like Grimaldi and Miller, especially when they are down a goal and in the 3rd period.
I do watch Sarnia games. In the defensive zone, that's pretty much what he does when there is a battle in the corner. He will glue himself to the boards and patiently wait, however he is also taking away the passing lane to the defenseman. If he chipped in and dug for the puck and it came out to the defender at the blue line, he'd have an open lane to fire a puck on net. What Gally doing is pretty standard to what he does in Sarnia and depending on who's out there, be it Basso, Murphy or DeAngelo, Gally could be waiting for a loose puck for a few seconds.
I got 6 shifts - 5:12 TOI.
He indeed looked much better in the 2nd, especially on the PP. I really like Trouba on the point, nice shot and good accuracy. As for the puck possession losses, you can chalk that up to Galchenyuk being on his own. At times, I saw him with the puck on his stick, dangling it around as he waited for Kuraly and Barber to open up... only they never did. Something I like about his game is that if he is in trouble and he has nobody to pass to, he'll put it in a spot where either he or a teammate has a chance to get to it, instead of just plainly turning it over.
Probably the biggest difference between us. I got 6 shifts - 5:46 TOI.
Funny, I also had exactly 1:25 TOI on his 4th shift. I agree. At this point Kuraly and Barber just looked tired and the Russian squad had no problem shutting them down and taking them out of the play. At some points, they were even able to take them out and double team Gally. Great defending in the neutral zone by Russia. He did play 2 or 3 shifts of barely even touching the puck and circling around the neutral and defensive zones. It's almost like, if Galchenyuk or the D don't retrieve the puck, USA has a hard time getting it at all. Especially in the 3rd, this is the time where you swap Galchenyuk with Gaudreau. PP at the end looked good and Gally was having an easy time controlling the puck and making passes but like you said, just no finish.
- He played a lot more than the previous two games against Germany and the last exhibition match (logged just over 12 minutes each game). Like you said, he doesn't play the PK and if the US take penalties consistently, it will stunt Galchenyuk's ice time.
- I disagree with the need for Galchenyuk at C. This is pure speculation on my part, but possibly the reason Housley doesn't have Galchenyuk on the PK is because his explosiveness in his skating is not as good as some of the others and he's also coming from an off-season have a bad knee injury. Beaulieu in Sarnia also has him playing wing - he does take face-offs on special teams but quickly converts back to wing. It could just be to make it easier on Galchenyuk, to take away the defensive responsibilities that come with playing centre.
- Agreed. He logged 15+ minutes (going by my ice time logs) and he added an assist to his total. He played good. He also now leads the US in both assists(3) and points(4), despite playing under 30 minutes over the last two games.
- Grigorenko plays a very controlled game. I like it. Yakupov on the other hand... boy am I glad the Habs didn't take him. He plays a high-tempo, quick game but he loses the puck too easily, I saw him bumped easily off of the puck on a few occasions and he also gets frustrated quickly, which turns into him being a puck hog and wanting to do everything himself. I saw the talent and why he went 1st overall, but I also saw the ugly side to his game and I didn't like it at all.
Crosby's regular line mates were Dupuis and Kunitz for most of the time he's played the last 2 seasons. Those are fringe 2nd liners on most teams.
Personally I think Galchenyuk isn't playing on the PK for two reasons. Housley wants Galchenyuk to have as much energy as possible. Also, while Galchenyuk is a great PKer in the CHL, in the 30 odd seconds that he was on the penalty kill in one of the pre-tournament games he was awful. That could most likely be attributed to his style of penalty killing and the larger ice. He is very aggressive and attacks the point, while blocking the passing lane. Larger ice means more room for the players. Galchenyuk was caught running around between the man on the point and the man along the boards above the circle. I think he should be given another chance on the penalty kill, but his style, at least in my opinion, is not very effective on the larger ice.
Yakupov used to do that in junior to. The difference was he could actually get around everyone. I've managed to catch a few of his games for Nizhnekamsk this year and he wasn't playing like that at all. While still a tad selfish, he used his teammates more and didn't try to rush the puck up the ice every time he got it. I think now that he's back playing against his age group, he's doing what he could do in junior, but with the higher talent level he simply can't.
As captian Gally should know how to... Never mind, I just remembered he's not wearing the C on this team.
Simple fact is, Galchenyuk is far and away the best USA forward, therefore he should be used as such. For some reason though, he isn't...
No reason Gaudreau and Grimaldi should be on the same line. They're effectively the same player. It's like having 2 Charlie Saraults on the same line, not gonna work. Split em up and let them distribute to guys that can finish.
No reason Gaudreau and Grimaldi should be on the same line. They're effectively the same player. It's like having 2 Charlie Saraults on the same line, not gonna work. Split em up and let them distribute to guys that can finish.
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