Blackwood/Vanecek/We Really Need to Move On/Goalie Thread

[HBK27]

wouldn’t be surprised if he goes on waivers and they keep him in utica if no one claims him

I could see them putting him on waivers if he continues to struggle in the rehab starts.

I would be surprised though if he doesn't get claimed. Arizona's backup Ingram has a 4.57 GAA & .866 SV% in 8 games this season, so I could see them taking a chance on Blackwood as a possibility for next year or to possibly flip at the TDL if he does decent and there are injuries elsewhere. Buffalo can also use goaltending help, so I think they're a possibility as well.

 

[Triumph]

I could see them putting him on waivers if he continues to struggle in the rehab starts.

I would be surprised though if he doesn't get claimed. Arizona's backup Ingram has a 4.57 GAA & .866 SV% in 8 games this season, so I could see them taking a chance on Blackwood as a possibility for next year or to possibly flip at the TDL if he does decent and there are injuries elsewhere. Buffalo can also use goaltending help, so I think they're a possibility as well.

Arizona is not trying to win games. As for the fantasy that Blackwood could end up on a different playoff team, nobody has cap room for Blackwood, even at half-price.

 

[glenwo2]

I have season tickets the Comets and I can tell you one thing. Daws is not the same player he was last season. I don't know if it's confidence, something personal, or he's just not developing any further. Some of the goals he lets in are simply jaw dropping and confusing. I was at the game vs the Crunch on Saturday night and a he just looked lost, couldn't track the puck and also while trying to play the puck behind the net, handed it right to Syracuse basically an empty net goal. I feel bad for the kid.

That's NOT a good sign.

 

[glenwo2]

Blackwood has elite potential and is better than Vitek

Oh you're talking about this guy :

Yeah. Blackwood sure showed us how "elite" he can be, didn't he?

He'd have a hard time making a BEER LEAGUE team at this point.


Amirite, @Bleedred ?

 

[FinnishDevil]

See Utica score on Twitter

Thoughts and prayers to @Bleedred blood pressure.

 

[glenwo2]

And btw, it may have just been a rehab stint but all I saw there is the same old Blackwood.

 

[guitarguyvic]

I turned on Blackwood last year when I attended the game against Arizona and witnessed first hand his “I don’t even want to be here” body language and then subsequently shitting the bed. The team played well that game but we’re getting stoned and this guy just gave up the absolute worst stinker goals in short order, and the game was pretty much over at that point. But what really got me was that body language. I’ve never seen an NHL player look like they didn’t even want to be in the arena. It was gross and I’m pretty sure I even live posted about it. That combined with the horrid performances and the stupid vax shit previously was enough for me to lose all interest in keeping the guy around. I sincerely hope he doesn’t make it back to the big club.

What’s really funny though is I posted almost these exact thoughts after the game, and I remember tons of posters shitting on me for giving up on him, citing his injuries as a valid excuse for stinking and having a crappy attitude. Mind you this was before he came out of the lineup long term. Guess most people finally came around to what I was saying. Go figure.

 

[glenwo2]

He's 26 years old and without a bad hip. I would hold off on the gravestone just yet. There is a chance that you are correct. There is also a chance that he rebounds.

He's 26 years old and he SUCKS.

Period.

Good Hip, Bad Hip, Hip Hop.

I don't give a s--t.

He's terrible and has been terrible for a long time now.

The "hope" by some here (now just a dwindling few) that he will magically turn into an NHL goaltender is just pure Naivety at this point.

 

[glenwo2]

Sure he does

Back in 2016, maybe 2017 he does.

His AHL stats are .896% in 89 games. Probably slightly better if you combine his 4 playoff games of .928%.

But still, .896% in 89 games is just slightly reminiscent of his stats over a pretty long (not quite as long) stretch in another league.....

I think he was referring to the poster who claimed that Blackwood was the only one who has the capability of being Elite.

wouldn’t be surprised if he goes on waivers and they keep him in utica if no one claims him

Feel bad for Utica fans but better them than us.

 

[FinnishDevil]

Bit of an off topic here.

Honestly my memory of Blackwood thats been engraved to my mind is not even from his NJD time but when he was the starter for Canada at World Juniors in Finland. I wanted to pay attention to him as he seemed like a goalie of the future for us, but my #1 memory of him is in the quarter final against Finland and him allowing an absolute stinker to Laine right before the 1st intermission that got Finland back in the game and the arena behind them aswell.

Finland was getting a lesson in the 1st and it truly looked like men vs boys at times with Finland having trouble with the breakouts and our goalie Vehvilainen was uhm.. awful and got pulled eventually. That Laine goal was everything that Finland needed to get rolling and it went through Blackwood.

He ended up allowing 6 goals on 29 shots and 3rd goal was even worse than the Laine one but that 1st goal was such an important mental break for the Finns that I always go back to it.

Spoiler: YT highlights

 

[AfroThunder396]

Buffalo may have some interest in Blackwood, they are a goalie away from being a real problem in the east and they have assets out the wazoo.

 

[My3Sons]

Buffalo may have some interest in Blackwood, they are a goalie away from being a real problem in the east and they have assets out the wazoo.

Presumably they would trade for a goalie that is performing well in a backup role on a non-playoff team? It's hard to see a team offer anything for MBW right now.

 

[jkrdevil]

I think college sports are much like that, for the fact that there’s a massive roster turnover. No one stays on the team for longer than 4 years and there’s so much change from year to year, due to guys either graduating or ending up in the pro leagues and then new players coming in every year out of high school.

There is still a bit of continuity with college teams. Rooting for minors leagues the entire team can change from one year to another because of affiliate changes. I think a few years ago Tamp’s affiliate won the Calder Cup and then the team changed affiliations. So all those guys who won that were on an opposing team the next year.

Buffalo may have some interest in Blackwood, they are a goalie away from being a real problem in the east and they have assets out the wazoo.

So why would they want Blackwood?

 

[My3Sons]

Most people will say injuries and covid,

I'm not discounting the injuries or covid,

So you are agreeing with the majority that it has been injuries and Covid holding Blackwood back and that you expect him to rebound during this stint with Utica and become the goalie you know he really is despite the swoon? Honestly, sometimes you are so cryptic. Just say it already.

 

[HBK27]

Arizona is not trying to win games. As for the fantasy that Blackwood could end up on a different playoff team, nobody has cap room for Blackwood, even at half-price.

Yes, I know Arizona is not trying to win games, but they're not also outright throwing them either, otherwise Ingram would be getting a larger workload versus Vejmelka who has played in 20 of their 27 games this season.

Plenty of teams will have cap space at the deadline to absorb a $1.4M cap hit. As a stated though, there would have to be a couple of factors in play - Blackwood at least playing decently and a team suffering a major goaltending injury. Friedman's latest 32 Thoughts also floated the idea of Arizona trading Vejmelka (something like him and Chychrun in a package to the Kings for instance) - something like that and replacing him with Blackwood might also be something the Coyotes would be interested in on the off chance he can regain his form.

 

[AfroThunder396]

Presumably they would trade for a goalie that is performing well in a backup role on a non-playoff team? It's hard to see a team offer anything for MBW right now.

Their starter was supposed to be Eric Comrie until he got hurt, now they're trotting out 41 year old Craig Anderson's corpse and rotating him with a career minor leaguer in UPL. I think they'll take a flyer on just about anyone right now.

Blackwood is obviously a gamble for them, but his age and potential RFA control could make him an interesting target. If they don't like him it's pretty easy to move on, if they do like him it's pretty easy to keep him.

They have the most goals scored in the league but are 7th in their division. The defense is mediocre but goaltending is killing them. Anderson is decent when healthy but he can't stay healthy, and they have no other option. It's eerily similar to what happened to us last year, but they have fewer bodies to go through.

 

[Bleedred]

Buffalo may have some interest in Blackwood, they are a goalie away from being a real problem in the east and they have assets out the wazoo.

So why would they want Blackwood?

I think I see what he did there.

And if that's so, there's another team we won't have to worry about getting to the playoffs.

 

[Bleedred]

There's some people that just act like a goalie bouncing back after a 62 game stretch of HORRIBLE goaltending is no tall order, as long as he's ''Healthy''.

And then add his 89 games of .896% career in the AHL, 88 of which came before last night and long before his spiral at the NHL level. His last 62 games are likely closer to what he is than his first 70-whatever games in the NHL. His 88 games in the AHL between 2016-2019 (with his best year there coming all the way back in his first season, mind you) of .896% are likely closer to his level of play than the first 70-whatever games in the NHL. I think it was @Zajacs Bowl Cut that called it a mirage in the AHL thread and that may very well be what it was. It was certainly an outlier in his pro career, if anything else.

The list of goalies that bounce back after a 60+ long game stretch of this isn't very long, but the list of goalies that have done it while staying on the same team? That's an even shorter list, a much shorter list at that.

And bounce back doesn't mean one good ''Up'' year or ''Comeback'' season like Bobrovsky and Quick had last year, before reverting right back to the goalies they were for multiple years before last season.

Steve Mason is one particular goalie that bounced back and resurrected his career, at least for a few years. He was as bad as Blackwood has been, but probably in twice the amount of games played, as I don't think he got injured as much and there wasn't a reduced season in there until the end of it when he started turning it around in the lockout year after going to Philly.

After winning the Calder and coming pretty close to winning the Vezina as a rookie in 08-09 at 20 years old, he just totally fell apart after that. Until he got sent to Philly. They even acquired Bobrovsky before he got sent to Philly and he was continuing his horrid play, while Bobrovsky was having a Vezina winning season behind the same team.

But he obviously needed a scenery change, as he resurrected his career for 3 straight years of solid to really good play, before falling apart again and I think injuries kind of forced him to retire at 30 years old. The chances of Blackwood turning it around with this organization is even lower than his chances of turning it around somewhere else.

There's some people that just act like a goalie bouncing back after a 62 game stretch of HORRIBLE goaltending is no tall order, as long as he's ''Healthy''.

And then add his 89 games of .896% career in the AHL, 88 of which came before last night and long before his spiral at the NHL level. His last 62 games are likely closer to what he is than his first 70-whatever games in the NHL. His 89 games in the AHL between 2016-2019 (with his best year there coming all the way back in his first season, mind you) of .896% are likely closer to his level of play than the first 70-whatever games in the NHL.

The list of goalies that bounce back after a 60+ long game stretch of this isn't very long, but the list of goalies that have done it while staying on the same team? That's an even shorter list, a much shorter list at that.

And bounce back doesn't mean one good ''Up'' year or ''Comeback'' season like Bobrovsky and Quick had last year, before reverting right back to the goalies they were for multiple years before last season.

Steve Mason is one particular goalie that bounced back and resurrected his career, at least for a few years. He was as bad as Blackwood has been, but probably in twice the amount of games played, as I don't think he got injured as much and there wasn't a reduced season in there until the end of it when he started turning it around in the lockout year after going to Philly.

After winning the Calder and coming pretty close to winning the Vezina in 08-09 at 20 years old, he just totally fell apart after that. Until he got sent to Philly. They even acquired Bobrovsky before he got sent to Philly and he was continuing his horrid play, while Bobrovsky was having a Vezina winning season behind the same team.

But he obviously needed a scenery, as he resurrected his career for 3 straight years of solid to really good play, before falling apart again and I think injuries kind of forced him to retire at 30 years old. The chances of Blackwood turning it around with this organization is even lower than his chances of turning it around somewhere else.

 

[Bleedred]

Bit of an off topic here.

Honestly my memory of Blackwood thats been engraved to my mind is not even from his NJD time but when he was the starter for Canada at World Juniors in Finland. I wanted to pay attention to him as he seemed like a goalie of the future for us, but my #1 memory of him is in the quarter final against Finland and him allowing an absolute stinker to Laine right before the 1st intermission that got Finland back in the game and the arena behind them aswell.

Finland was getting a lesson in the 1st and it truly looked like men vs boys at times with Finland having trouble with the breakouts and our goalie Vehvilainen was uhm.. awful and got pulled eventually. That Laine goal was everything that Finland needed to get rolling and it went through Blackwood.

He ended up allowing 6 goals on 29 shots and 3rd goal was even worse than the Laine one but that 1st goal was such an important mental break for the Finns that I always go back to it.

Spoiler: YT highlights

I only watched goals 1 and 3 out of it cause that's what you had mentioned. And plus, I don't think it's fair to grade a 19 year old the same as I would a 20-something year old pro league goalie. So I won't dissect every goal.

Yeah, the first goal was from too far out. It's a little more forgivable as it was from Laine, I think it was one timed (I watched these close to an hour ago), so it wasn't a terrible goal, but it was still from too far out and goes through his legs.

Third goal was pretty bad. It's the type of goal I see more than occasionally at the NHL level (it doesn't seem like as much this year though), actually fairly often the last several years before this. But I'd still nail him on it.

He was a REALLY good goalie his last year in juniors, which was the same year as that tournament. His first couple years, I'm not sure if they would be considered bad or not, as I don't know if .902% in the OHL in 13-14 is like a .902% in the NHL that year, which was farrrrrrr below league average, but he was also ages 16-18 those seasons.

Wasn't he like OHL goalie of the year in 15-16? He came to the AHL and he performed okay that year. .907% in 36 games. Not sure if a .907% was bad in the AHL that year. It was certainly below average in the NHL that year, but it wouldn't be these last 2 years.

But then he played 52 more AHL games over the next two seasons and I'm sure it was a similar low .890's% combined between those two years. Much like his last 62 games in the big leagues. Actually, it was .890% if I calculated that right on hockeyDB.

 

[FinnishDevil]

I only watched goals 1 and 3 out of it cause that's what you had mentioned. And plus, I don't think it's fair to grade a 19 year old the same as I would a 20-something year old pro league goalie. So I won't dissect every goal.

Yeah, the first goal was from too far out. It's a little more forgivable as it was from Laine, I think it was one timed (I watched these close to an hour ago), so it wasn't a terrible goal, but it was still from too far out and goes through his legs.

Third goal was pretty bad. It's the type of goal I see more than occasionally at the NHL level (it doesn't seem like as much this year though), actually fairly often the last several years before this. But I'd still nail him on it.

He was a REALLY good goalie his last year in juniors, which was the same year as that tournament. His first couple years, I'm not sure if they would be considered bad or not, as I don't know if .902% in the OHL in 13-14 is like a .902% in the NHL that year, which was farrrrrrr below league average, but he was also ages 16-18 those seasons.

Wasn't he like OHL goalie of the year in 15-16? He came to the AHL and he performed okay that year. .907% in 36 games. Not sure if a .907% was bad in the AHL that year. It was certainly below average in the NHL that year, but it wouldn't be these last 2 years.

But then he played 52 more AHL games over the next two seasons and I'm sure it was a similar low .890's% combined between those two years. Much like his last 62 games in the big leagues. Actually, it was .890% if I calculated that right on hockeyDB.

I agree I wouldnt judge him as bad since theyre pretty much kids when playing at World Juniors. I cant even imagine the pressure playing goal for Team Canada since youre supposed to win every year and the skater group is often elite.

Still, I feel like in somewhat recent memory of mine that if a goalie has shit the bed in WJC under pressure, they've often struggled at NHL level too.

I dont think Mackenzie is above average in terms of his in-game mental side for example. I think he often bends under pressure even if he's a physical freak and stylistically fine goalie. His body language never gave me much confidence, even during his first good stretches years back.

This is not me talking about person Mackenzie, but the athlete Mackenzie when he puts on a mask.

 

[Bleedred]

I agree I wouldnt judge him as bad since theyre pretty much kids when playing at World Juniors. I cant even imagine the pressure playing goal for Team Canada since youre supposed to win every year and the skater group is often elite.

Still, I feel like in somewhat recent memory of mine that if a goalie has shit the bed in WJC under pressure, they've often struggled at NHL level too.

I dont think Mackenzie is above average in terms of his in-game mental side for example. I think he often bends under pressure even if he's a physical freak and stylistically fine goalie. His body language never gave me much confidence, even during his first good stretches years back.

This is not me talking about person Mackenzie, but the athlete Mackenzie when he puts on a mask.

One goalie that comes to mind that shit the bed in the WJC but had a good career (probably not for expectations though) was Fleury. I remember him letting in some bad ones in 2004 or whatever it was. I don't even remember if it cost Canada the gold, but I remember it and I remember the goals.

One thing that gets overlooked by a lot of people and they absolve Blackwood blame on it is that the guy gets beaten on almost every measly, borderline, questionable screen there is. And when you really think every little thing is a screen and write off every single potential screen possible as a ''Screen'' when he gets beat on them, well then you probably won't be seeing as many ''Bad'' or ''Stoppable'' goals on him.

I notice the goalies that get beaten on the questionable, borderline screens that are barely screens are the BAD or MEDIOCRE goalies. I don't see Hellebuyck often getting beaten on these screens that are barely screens. I've seen him getting beaten when there's bodies or a body right in front of him, but not some guy up in the high slot or off to his side. That doesn't happen all that often with Hellebuyck or Shesterkin. It doesn't happen to any of the good goalies as much as it happens to Blackwood or the particularly mediocre to bad goalies in the league.

It doesn't happen to Vanecek all that much, although it kind of did in his season debut and there was a little bit of it going on in the Islanders game last week.

 

[AceKing21]

You can't have Schmid back. Sorry, not sorry.

HAHA! I really want him to stay in NJ and have a wonderful career. My GF, who for some reason knows what every single player on Utica looks like, who they date or who they are married and what their pet names are (I call her a super fan) spotted Akira in a local grocery store here in Utica. I said to my 4 year old who loves hockey and the Comets to walk up to that guy over there and ask him if he plays goalie. So my little guy walks up to Schmid and asks, "do you play goalie?" Schmid starts laughing and said, "I sure do buddy." He proceeded to have a nice 3-4 minute convo with my son, gave him a high 5 and went on with his shopping. It's guys like that I root for even if they are now currently on the team I despise.

 

[Bleedred]

I’m really surprised Ryan didn’t ask Ruff about Blackwood’s game last night.

Being that he actually has the balls to ask the tough questions, on top of actually tweeting about it last night.

 

[My3Sons]

I’m really surprised Ryan didn’t ask Ruff about Blackwood’s game last night.

Being that he actually has the balls to ask the tough questions, on top of actually tweeting about it last night.

He’s saving those questions for when Blackwood makes his triumphant return with NJ

 

[Triumph]

I turned on Blackwood last year when I attended the game against Arizona and witnessed first hand his “I don’t even want to be here” body language and then subsequently shitting the bed. The team played well that game but we’re getting stoned and this guy just gave up the absolute worst stinker goals in short order, and the game was pretty much over at that point. But what really got me was that body language. I’ve never seen an NHL player look like they didn’t even want to be in the arena. It was gross and I’m pretty sure I even live posted about it. That combined with the horrid performances and the stupid vax shit previously was enough for me to lose all interest in keeping the guy around. I sincerely hope he doesn’t make it back to the big club.

What’s really funny though is I posted almost these exact thoughts after the game, and I remember tons of posters shitting on me for giving up on him, citing his injuries as a valid excuse for stinking and having a crappy attitude. Mind you this was before he came out of the lineup long term. Guess most people finally came around to what I was saying. Go figure.

His injuries were a valid excuse for stinking because he played in two more games and was mercifully finally shut down for the season after that. He was clearly playing injured for most if not all of last season. But this year makes three years in a row where he's been seriously impacted by injury and it's time for both sides to move on.