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Around the League 2019-20 Pt. 2

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BringTheReign said:
I've taken the train to a few Ducks-Kings games at Honda Center; it's a pretty great setup, and if this project comes to light I imagine I'll be doing that more often (whenever games resume).
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never thought about that, there's an amtrak station right there huh? when i was in the central coast my buddy would ride his bike down to santa barbara then take the surfliner back up, said it worked pretty well
 
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If only as an excuse to re-post Ottawa Sun writer Chris Stevenson's bad hot take when Ottawa drafted Hossa in 1997:

Chris Stevenson said:
Marian Hossa. Never met the guy; never seen him play.

He was the Senators' first pick, 12th overall in the NHL draft yesterday. Nothing against Mr. Hossa, but hearing his name when it came the Senators' turn to pick was a big disappointment. To put it bluntly, the Senators blew it yesterday. The name the Senators should have announced was that of Ottawa 67's winger Matt Zultek.

The Senators need size and scoring up front, two commodities Zultek, who's 6-foot-4 and 218 lbs. (and still growing), has in spades. Maybe he doesn't play as tough as his size might indicate, but he can handle the pushing and shoving. He's also skilled as witnessed by his 27 goals as a rookie with the 67's last season and his win in the agility portion of the skills competition at the Canadian Hockey League's all-star game.

Since he's coached by Brian Kilrea, you know Zultek is going to come away from his junior career with a good knowledge of how to play a two-way game and what it takes to be a good national leaguer.

Hossa? He apparently has a great offensive flair. But the knock on the smallish (6-foot, 185-lb.) Slovak is he is a completely one-dimensional player, who, one scout told The Hockey News, threw snow on numerous occasions to avoid getting hit. The Senators blew a chance to pick up a good kid playing right in their own backyard. Zultek already has built-in fans right here in Ottawa and for a team struggling to sell tickets, why not take advantage of that?
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Ziggy Stardust said:
Yes, the Sens most certainly should have selected Matt Zultek. What a legendary career that man had. Hey @Brodeur, you should share that post with the author!
https://twitter.com/CJ_Stevenson

Responding to this tweet would be appropriate.
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I'm sure Sens fans have reminded him frequently over the years. If anything, it's just a good reminder to pump the brakes on draft day.

Amusingly, a different Ottawa writer (Don Brennan) basically had the same premise/article in 2008 when they took Erik Karlsson over Ottawa 67 product Tyler Cuma. Brennan managed to quote a friend of his who called it a "garbage pick" to fortify his argument.
 
The Tikkanen said:
I remember King fans wanting King back for "his toughness". Guy was so bad Russia had no use for him.
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It was time for him to go and I was fine that he was traded but it wasn't really his toughness, it was his size. Dude was LARGE. One game I sat by the glass and he was coming up the wing, just sort of brushed a dude into the boards. I wouldn't even have called it rubbing him out, and the boards shook so hard you could feel it. I'm sure that's why Sutter liked him so much. Even if he never really threw any huge hits, dude was a pile of meat to deal with.
 
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Bandit said:
It was time for him to go and I was fine that he was traded but it wasn't really his toughness, it was his size. Dude was LARGE. One game I sat by the glass and he was coming up the wing, just sort of brushed a dude into the boards. I wouldn't even have called it rubbing him out, and the boards shook so hard you could feel it. I'm sure that's why Sutter liked him so much. Even if he never really threw any huge hits, dude was a pile of meat to deal with.
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He was too nice. If he had a mean streak, he would have really buried some guys.

He didn't fight much, but he has an impressive fight card. You can tell how strong he is when you watch his fights. Held his own with Reaves and McQuaid.
 
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Raccoon Jesus said:
He was basically a skating metaphor for the team: big, slow, hard working but getting nowhere, not enough offense, boring.
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The way the Kings were constructed from 2011 to 2014 was perfect for dominating the league. Part of the problem besides the roster aging is that players like Dwight King (limited but effective in a small skill subset) were basically legislated out of the league. I was so done with him the season before he was traded and by that time he was losing most board battles. The Kings FO presented a video of how the Kings played defense and in the neutral zone during the championship stretch and it was awesome to watch. Then they rolled a lowlight reel of the team from 2016 to 2018 attempting to play that way and it was a penalty fest which combined with the drastic talent drop (particularly on defense) on the roster was disastrous. The Blues proved you can still win with a similar style, but they had talent and better skaters. Even then the Blues style of play in 2019 was still not as heavy as prime Kings nor did they push the envelope as far on physicality and stick play.
 
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cyclones22 said:
The way the Kings were constructed from 2011 to 2014 was perfect for dominating the league. Part of the problem besides the roster aging is that players like Dwight King (limited but effective in a small skill subset) were basically legislated out of the league. I was so done with him the season before he was traded and by that time he was losing most board battles. The Kings FO presented a video of how the Kings played defense and in the neutral zone during the championship stretch and it was awesome to watch. Then they rolled a lowlight reel of the team from 2016 to 2018 attempting to play that way and it was a penalty fest which combined with the drastic talent drop (particularly on defense) on the roster was disastrous. The Blues proved you can still win with a similar style, but they had talent and better skaters. Even then the Blues style of play in 2019 was still not as heavy as prime Kings nor did they push the envelope as far on physicality and stick play.
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I'd argue the Caps fit that bill as well, very true
 
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The last two Cup winners aren't soft. I would argue that the last four finalists aren't soft and then you have Tampa bowing out to a more physical team in the first round last season.

The current team is Charmin. I am concerned about this moving forward but hopefully Blake can add this element to the team once these prospects start contributing because I don't see it coming from within.
 
BigKing said:
The last two Cup winners aren't soft. I would argue that the last four finalists aren't soft and then you have Tampa bowing out to a more physical team in the first round last season.

The current team is Charmin. I am concerned about this moving forward but hopefully Blake can add this element to the team once these prospects start contributing because I don't see it coming from within.
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I think they'll address that via trade, free agency, or unsigned prospects, like when they found Kurtis MacDermid. They do have some guys who can play chippy hockey, like Kempe and Wagner. Hell, Lizotte's got spunk, not in the determined to not back down sense. He's unlike a p***y like say, Nick Shore, who can't engage in any physical battles.
 
BigKing said:
The last two Cup winners aren't soft. I would argue that the last four finalists aren't soft and then you have Tampa bowing out to a more physical team in the first round last season.

The current team is Charmin. I am concerned about this moving forward but hopefully Blake can add this element to the team once these prospects start contributing because I don't see it coming from within.
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TBL is just the San Jose Sharks and they're running out of time to prove anyone otherwise

I think people forget Hedman and Doughty are barely a year apart and their best players are past their production primes, problematic for an all-out-offense team. Even more problematic when your best players get checked and just stop playing.
 


Brown still delivered some massive hits this season, and that Jeff Carter hit earlier in the season surprised me as well. Something you wish he did more often since the guy is built like a rock.

The Kings need more guys who can score and lay the body, which is what the Caps and Blues had a great mix off. They were far from being big and slow hockey teams. They punished opponents physically and offensively, and both previous Cup winners were four lines deep.
 
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