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Player Discussion Arber Xhekaj: The Sheriff

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Deebs said:
His positioning leads to his hooking and holding calls. He over-pursues and gets caught sticking a guy. He'll figure it out.
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Yeah. he has still a lot t learn on D. And refs won't give him an inch.
 
Kobe Armstrong said:
Oh I agree, but we are getting caught slow every game, even against the slow teams
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Habs are actually a fast skating team (according to NHL EDGE stats), it's just that nobody on the team can play at that speed...and they can't keep hold of the puck if they slow down (beside Dach and Slaf who is getting better at it).
 
morhilane said:
Habs are actually a fast skating team (according to NHL EDGE stats), it's just that nobody on the team can play at that speed...and they can't keep hold of the puck if they slow down (beside Dach and Slaf who is getting better at it).
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We have too many skaters in our line up ( Monahan, Gallagher, Pearson, Kovacevic, Savard, Pezzetta) who are mediocre skaters. Other than Newhook and Matheson, the rest of our skaters, who are supposedly our best skaters, are not elite. The Devils showed us what true speed is. We were a step behind them most of the game. We had so much trouble exiting our zone the last game because the Devils defence was pinching almost to the top of the circle. They had no respect for our team speed.
 
ChesterNimitz said:
We have too many skaters in our line up ( Monahan, Gallagher, Pearson, Kovacevic, Savard, Pezzetta) who are mediocre skaters. Other than Newhook and Matheson, the rest of our skaters, who are supposedly our best skaters, are not elite. The Devils showed us what true speed is. We were a step behind them most of the game. We had so much trouble exiting our zone the last game because the Devils defence was pinching almost to the top of the circle. They had no respect for our team speed.
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Guhle, Dach, Anderson, Barron, Ylonen, Harris and Xhekaj are all good skaters.

The problem isn't skating speed, it's execution, puck handling and IQ.
 
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ChesterNimitz said:
We have too many skaters in our line up ( Monahan, Gallagher, Pearson, Kovacevic, Savard, Pezzetta) who are mediocre skaters. Other than Newhook and Matheson, the rest of our skaters, who are supposedly our best skaters, are not elite. The Devils showed us what true speed is. We were a step behind them most of the game. We had so much trouble exiting our zone the last game because the Devils defence was pinching almost to the top of the circle. They had no respect for our team speed.
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Habs had trouble exiting their own zone because the dmen and most of the forwards can't win a puck battle, protect the puck or pass properly under pressure. And on top of that, they were puck watching like little kids who have no idea what to do.
 
morhilane said:
Habs had trouble exiting their own zone because the dmen and most of the forwards can't win a puck battle, protect the puck or pass properly under pressure. And on top of that, they were puck watching like little kids who have no idea what to do.
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The best way to relieve the pressure that you correctly identified is to have the skating ability to create time and space to execute your breakout play. The speed and resulting pressure that the Devils applied suffocated our efforts to execute any consistent break out plays or strategies. We simply didn’t have the skating ability to counter the pressure that the Devils applied. Hockey is a frustrating game when the team you are playing against is distinctly faster. Add the Devils skill level and we have to be happy that the score wasn’t worse. We were caught slow. And that, unfortunately, is going to be the result that will be expected to happen again and again this season against superior opponents.
 
ChesterNimitz said:
We have too many skaters in our line up ( Monahan, Gallagher, Pearson, Kovacevic, Savard, Pezzetta) who are mediocre skaters. Other than Newhook and Matheson, the rest of our skaters, who are supposedly our best skaters, are not elite. The Devils showed us what true speed is. We were a step behind them most of the game. We had so much trouble exiting our zone the last game because the Devils defence was pinching almost to the top of the circle. They had no respect for our team speed.
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Agree with your list other than Pezzetta who is a very strong skater, it is the main reason that he was a high pick in the OHL priority draft.

I would also throw Andersson, Guhle, Ylonen, Barron and Harris as high end skaters as well as Caufield and Evans being above average. Slavkovski is also a very good skater without the puck on his stick but is slow when he has possession (this should definitely improve as it is mostly an IQ problem as he is indecisive and lacks confidence when carrying the puck). You are correct though in pointing out that we have too many skaters who struggle to keep up and is the main reason why Newhook was targeted.

It should also be pointed out that New Jersey is not an exceptionally fast team either and have quite a few mediocre skaters as well but they play faster due to a higher collective IQ as well as having more experience.
 
ChesterNimitz said:
The best way to relieve the pressure that you correctly identified is to have the skating ability to create time and space to execute your breakout play. The speed and resulting pressure that the Devils applied suffocated our efforts to execute any consistent break out plays or strategies. We simply didn’t have the skating ability to counter the pressure that the Devils applied. Hockey is a frustrating game when the team you are playing against is distinctly faster. Add the Devils skill level and we have to be happy that the score wasn’t worse. We were caught slow. And that, unfortunately, is going to be the result that will be expected to happen again and again this season against superior opponents.
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You are mixing up poor/slow execution with skating speed.

Anderson standing around like a pylon in the dzone isn't because he's a slow skater.
 
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He makes alot of mistakes but he also makes alot of plays where you are left saying wow the AXE can actually play hockey.

Its alarming how much he has the puck on his stick , IMO it says alot about how abysmal our defence is when Arber is the most noticeable with the puck (outside of the matheson highlight reel goal). Somebody else needs to step up there's no reason Arber should be the one trying to make something happen although its a positive for his growth of course
 
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The Gr8 Dane said:
He makes alot of mistakes but he also makes alot of plays where you are left saying wow the AXE can actually play hockey.

Its alarming how much he has the puck on his stick , IMO it says alot about how abysmal our defence is when Arber is the most noticeable with the puck (outside of the matheson highlight reel goal). Somebody else needs to step up there's no reason Arber should be the one trying to make something happen although its a positive for his growth of course
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Hes a positive player with the puck on his stick. Hes very, very good. Its his play without the puck that needs to get better, hes still very young.
 
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morhilane said:
You are mixing up poor/slow execution with skating speed.

Anderson standing around like a pylon in the dzone isn't because he's a slow skater.
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Perhaps. But I think Anderson is one of our most overrated skaters. While he has excellent straight forward speed, he lacks first step quickness and has limited agility and lateral mobility. Has anyone ever seen him skate backwards?

As for the breakout, it starts with our defencemen. Your defence needs the skating ability to turn and retrieve dump ins and then have the mobility to avoid the pressing forecheckers and create time and space to make an accurate first pass or skate the puck out of our zone. How many of our current defencemen have the ability to effect that essential task on a consistent basis. That inability was on constant display against the Devils. The mobility differential between their forwards and our defence allowed them to disrupt our breakout most of the game. Its hard to play defence when your face is against the glass most of the game.
 
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ChesterNimitz said:
Perhaps. But I think Anderson is one of our most overrated skaters. While he has excellent straight forward speed, he lacks first step quickness and has limited agility and lateral mobility. Has anyone ever seen him skate backwards?

As for the breakout, it starts with our defencemen. Your defence needs the skating ability to turn and retrieve dump ins and then have the mobility to avoid the pressing forecheckers and create time and space to make an accurate first pass or skate the puck out of our zone. How many of our current defencemen have the ability to effect that essential task on a consistent basis. That inability was on constant display against the Devils. The mobility differential between their forwards and our defence allowed them to disrupt our breakout most of the game. Its hard to play defence when your face is against the glass most of the game.
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Anderson has great first step explosiveness.....His mobility is fine as it is more a question of play style. Nicholas has introduced some new tactics that he is starting to deploy such as stop ups and spinning over the top and under defenders and he has surprised teams this season with his ability to do so. His edges certainly aren't ever going to be confused with Barzal's edges but he is at least around average.

All of Guhle, Matheson, Barron, Harris are well above average to elite skaters and both of Xhekaj and Kovacevic are average to above average especially for their size.

The fact is that this is an inexperienced team slowly adapting to some novel concepts and until they learn to play as a cohesive 5 man unit there are going to be deficiencies in the transition game that is resulting in a team that is not currently able to translate their physical skill sets into consistently positive outcomes.

It only takes split second hesitations from D to F breakout passes to nullify great transitions, sometimes this is due to the F taking a poor route and sometimes the D is not seeing it early enough. Sometimes the F2 connector is not in the right spot or makes the wrong decision, but it is these fine calibrations that can entirely change the appearance of team speed.
 
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In my opinion Arber has become an untouchable! One of those guys that doesn’t need an A or a C on his sweater! I mean no one and I mean no one bullies the boys anymore without knowing they’ll be standing tall before the MAN!!! His balance when he fights is incredible. I’d like to know if anyone in his family has a wrestling background, I mean real wrestling not the BS on tv! He looks like a natural with great upper body strength and a real nasty attitude, love it when he keeps pummeling dudes once he gets them down!! Strike first, Strike fast, no Mercy!!!! Love that Kid!!!!
 
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X-Man seems to be avoiding the long fights at this point. It's always a few punches and a takedown. If that's what BGL has been teaching him, I woud scrap all of that, he should go back to actually fighting. He was actually dominating when he was doing that.
 
Hannibal said:
Good news if day to day is true!!
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This call for a beer @waitin425 @Jee @Stive Morgan

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