Post-Game Talk: Can you say "anti-climatic?" Jets start strong then stumble to a 4-1 loss to the Sens

[Romang67]

One shouldn't make judgement on one game but I will anyways.
PAVELEC is going to have to be outstanding for us to win. Probably should of had the first goal. Bad rebound on the second goal. No chance on the third goal. Forth goal bad but did not matter at that point.
DEFENCE bottom four were awful. Enstrom, Byfuglien and Bogosian all missed some time last year because of injuries. How did we survive last year? Oduya was not great? Kind of ironic that Byfuglien looked like the player in the best shape on the entire team. Redmond needs to play.
WHEELER was a disappointment as he has played this season. LADD shows playing street hockey is not enough to get you in game shape. KANE does not matter who you play with him. He will never have chemistry with anyone but somehow he will score his 30 a year.
USSR LINE I am not a fan of BUMistrov. He is a tease. Hustles, stickhandles, dipsy doodles but does not accomplish anything. He will be a 20 goal scorer sometime this year but it has taken him until his 3rd season to get there (19 career NHL goals). He is not a goal scorer. Not a playmaker. He does not make the players he plays with better. Everyone said that line was good today. Antropov 1 SOG Poni 0 SOG Burmistrov 0 SOG.
SCHEIFELE should be centering Antro and Poni. He is not going to accomplish anything by going back to Barrie. The ideal situation for him is to be a third line center this year. No preasure of being in the top six. He is ready. If he is not ready now what will be different next year. Little Jokinen and Burmistrov will all still be here.
WRIGHT and PELUSO need to play in Boston. See what they can do.

Thing is, I don't think you're getting what we want our third line to accomplish. And I don't mean to offend you by saying that.

What we want our third line to accomplish, and why so many of us are so happy to see an actual third line on our team, is for them to go out and shut down the oppositions top lines. If they score, GREAT! But that's not why they're out there. Tonight they played a great puck possession game, shut down Ottawa's top line on even strength, and even drew atleast one penalty (the one by Michalek on Burmistrov after an extended shift in the offensive zone where they were really close to scoring).

Don't expect that line to light it up, that's what we have the two top lines for, two lines that now can face lesser opposition because we have a line that can handle the top lines of other teams.

Remember what the GST did for us last year? Playing all the time against top lines? Remember how they tried really hard, but were really awful at it? That's why many of us are giddy about seeing us, not only having an actual third line, but having a third line that seemed like they could shut the opposition down.

 

[ps241]

As much as I've been upset about how TC was handled/moves, let's remember this is one game. One sloppy game as teams try to get back into the groove.

USSR Line was great. Clearly showed they had all been playing, great puck control, in your face, gotta be happy with that emotion and offensive puck control while playing easily the hardest minutes. Love Antro going after Alfie, also saw him dominant Spezza in the corners a couple of times, that is a shutdown line with offense, love it. Don't like Noel screwing with the lines, in particular the USSR line, so fast. Stick with the lines for the game. Burmistrov was solid, throwing hits, working hard, the offense will come, the line had several great chances.

Don't think Postma was nearly as bad as people say. He had the one bad turnover, but really that should have stopped anyways.

I hope they give Scheifele a real chance with Joki and Kane, and stick with that.

I hope this is the lineup on Monday

Ladd - Little - Wheeler
Kane - Jokinen - Scheifele
Ponikarovsky - Antropov - Burmistrov
Wright - Slater - Thorburn

Enstrom - Byfuglien
Hainsey - Postma
Stuart - Redmond

(As an aside, Machacek scores the only goal in the STJ game today...)

Now that I watched the late games and all the highlights of the day and just finished feeding my daughter I feel my head is a bit clearer now and feel a few things.

I think we need to buckle up for a wild ride this season because night to night things are going to be really turbulent for a while and that is not just for the Jets. The more i look at it the more I am not worried about a slow start we just have to hang in and stay reasonably healthy and not loose it for ourselves in the first four weeks.

Last night I said the only way this could be worse is if I was Holden and watched both my teams get schooled. It was nice to watch the Stars with a full building getting a 3rd period comeback to beat the Yotes.

I guess its because my expectations were low but I liked the bones of what i saw in Postma as far as NHL level skating skills and offence but he is going to need to be more sheltered which might be tough until Bogo comes back. We need less D men that are offence first and certainly we don't need that skill on our bottom pairing so he will need to relax and clean it up a bit in our end but I am not quite panicked yet. Charlie we need your help.

I agree the 3rd line was great and if we had Bogo and Hainsey last night this team instantly gets allot better.......how much would it have killed Bogosian to be watching our D last night?



very funny small print happening between you and garret


Your line up looks solid but Wellwood will get one more shot on that top line. I think part of the reason Noel juggled was just to see what other combinations might do on a cold night because I think he would be thrilled with how the USSR line played. I didn't hate the idea of him moving Burmi up for a look see with Schief and Kane once the game was out of reach. That is not a line I would want to see together yet because we need our 3rd line playing like they did last night all year but on a bad night its ok to shop a bit for chemistry options for Kane.

going to be a crazy ride for three months.

 

[Zhamnov5GoalGame]

Lots of teams lost today, we were one of them. I thought both teams looked bad... but their bad team beat our bad team. Kane and Jokinen at times tried to force passes to each other and Kane seemed to "poke" at the puck around the net a few times one handed when it seemed like there were other plays to make. BUT give him a chance he's definitely a streaky scorer and you have to expect ups and downs.

Regardless of what you think the Jets should do with Scheifele get used to the fact that he is going back to Barrie. For the next 4 games I'm all for giving him plenty of ice time and opportunity. The thing is how much better will he be at 22 than he is now? If he plays this year we have to re-sign him after he's 21. If we send him down we get him guaranteed when he's 22 on his rookie contract. Bob Mackenzie wants us to call up Trouba this season... that's not happening either.

One win on the road and we'll all feel a lot better.

 

[ps241]

one last thing I was really impressed with Karlsson. I was not a fan of his Norris trophy win and thought it was a case of the voters going for the bright shinny object that scored allot. Last night he looked pretty clean on D and he is a unique weapon to have on your team because he generates so many chances for his team. I would still prefer Pietrangelo of those two but after watching last night I now get both sides of the debate.

 

[Romang67]

one last thing I was really impressed with Karlsson. I was not a fan of his Norris trophy win and thought it was a case of the voters going for the bright shinny object that scored allot. Last night he looked pretty clean on D and he is a unique weapon to have on your team because he generates so many chances for his team. I would still prefer Pietrangelo of those two but after watching last night I now get both sides of the debate.

Really? I thought he looked terrible defensively myself. He kept getting beat to the outside, and didn't seem to control the puck well either. I counted several times when he was got stripped of the puck in his own zone, and got bailed out by Anderson. He still finished the game with three points though...

 

[GJF]

He was a beats offensively but only meh defensively (IMHO).

 

[broinwhyteridge]

They came in cold with no pre season games ever being played.

So did Ottawa and every other team in the league.

 

[Jesus Christ Horburn]

After having a night to think about it, I think the biggest reason the team looked bad was rust and conditioning. They looked great for the first part of the game, then the wheels fell apart. CBC said that the Sens had the most players playing in others leagues while the Jets had the fewest, and it showed.

 

[broinwhyteridge]

Post game show was lacking as well. Not enough nut jobs.

 

[ps241]

Really? I thought he looked terrible defensively myself. He kept getting beat to the outside, and didn't seem to control the puck well either. I counted several times when he was got stripped of the puck in his own zone, and got bailed out by Anderson. He still finished the game with three points though...

I have the game PVR's so i will have a look again but I thought he was better than when we played him last year but I was drinking a bit so perhaps i need a fresh set of eyes on the subject.

 

[BennyTheJet]

What I was most worried about last night was the complete absence of Blake Wheeler. I really hope he steps it up next game against Boston. We can't afford for him to have another slow start to the season.

Buff was amazing, and absolutely the most skilled player on the ice last night. I love watching him overpower anyone who comes near the puck when it's on his stick.

 

[Nothing Is New]

Didn't get to watch it all, but I thought Postma actually looked decent - as an offensive D-man. He skated very well, and showed an offensive edge - plus his shots were accurate. He's not physically strong but could be an asset with the
right partner.

Also thought Schiefele wasn't that bad - earned another start. Burmi looked good.

Have never been a buff fan at his current salary level. Yes, a goal but minus one and the same big, lumbering presence on the ice. He looks a little slower to me (although that goal shot was a laser).

To me, this is precisely the kind of game where they needed to have Peluso on the ice - neutralize Neil and keep the peace. As an old Thrasher fan, I well remember Neil playing havoc around the net, taking extra shots and the Thrash doing nothing about it.

Biggest concern coming out of this game - lack of team speed.

 

[scelaton]

Lots of teams lost today, we were one of them. I thought both teams looked bad... but their bad team beat our bad team. Kane and Jokinen at times tried to force passes to each other and Kane seemed to "poke" at the puck around the net a few times one handed when it seemed like there were other plays to make. BUT give him a chance he's definitely a streaky scorer and you have to expect ups and downs.

Regardless of what you think the Jets should do with Scheifele get used to the fact that he is going back to Barrie. For the next 4 games I'm all for giving him plenty of ice time and opportunity. The thing is how much better will he be at 22 than he is now? If he plays this year we have to re-sign him after he's 21. If we send him down we get him guaranteed when he's 22 on his rookie contract. Bob Mackenzie wants us to call up Trouba this season... that's not happening either.

One win on the road and we'll all feel a lot better.

Agree it was only one game and we should not over-react... but they did not look good to me as a team and something has to change fast or we will end up with a start just like last year, which will kill off our slim playoff chances.
Much of this will not happen, but if I were coach...
1)I'd change the first line to Jokinen at centre, flanked by Little and Ladd. Kane's lack of familiarity with Jokinen was obvious last night (a sad reality that he could have easily changed if he'd gotten his ass here a bit earlier). We need a scoring line fast and the aforementioned 3 are talented, seasoned and have been skating together.
2)I'd put Scheif at C, flanked by Wheeler and Kane. Why not? Give Scheif his chance at top-6, with young wingers who can skate and score. If we're going to give him a tryout in the NHL, lets do it NOW, with proper line mates, in his natural position and with sufficient playing time. I still think he prob belongs in Barrie, but how can we even tell if we don't give him a chance!
3)Third line stays the same. Don't touch it!!
4)I'd recall Machacek and Meech ASAP. Machacek has proven his worth, deserves a chance and Meech is better and more consistent than Clitsome.
5)Put Redmond with Hainsey on the second pairing. He is a much more composed and safe pick from what (admittedly little) I have seen. Agree with giving Postma a little more time on the 3rd pairing as he looks fantastic... when he isn't looking terrible.
Enough said.

 

[cocorico]

Rust, nerves, no time to gel, pipes, average goaltending, no goals from a forward?

Monday and Tuesday will clarify our situation.

Stay positive and stay tuned!

 

[Prot]

I was at the game, and then I watched it on the PVR afterwards.

An incredible environment.... which could only be squashed by a 4-1 loss.

BOTH teams looked rough. I knew there would be players that would not be firing on all cylinders after this long layoff.

IMHO the game was LOST before it started. I thought Paul McLean did the smart thing. He played an extremely trappy style of hockey, extremely conservative, and tried to kill the '7th man'.

While we (the fans) were extremely fired up, it was VERY hard to keep cheering for a car wreck that couldn't seem to right itself.

So personally I saw NO adjustment by our coach Noel. I can't tell you how frustrating it was to watch player, after player, after player try to stick handle through a 3 man neutral zone.

Not only that but after they got the lead (and sometimes before that depending on the line match up) the Sens were playing 1-3-1. Ugh. Yet there the Jets are, trying to stick handle through it.

Noel never adjusted to this all game. Also, as much as I love Noel we have the very same issues with breaking out of our zone again... AGAIN. Same as last year.

Individually, Schief still gets knocked off the puck WAAAAY too easily. Although he shows me he does have puck sense. But I feel he should be stronger than he is showing.

Maclean handled the hostile environment like a pro. In a situation where both sides are under pressure, he did the right things. I did not see the Jets respond in a tactical manner... it literally was like watching a street hockey pick up breaking out on our end of the ice.

 

[broinwhyteridge]

It does kind of seem like the Jets are unable to change strategy in-game when things aren't working... everyone else manages to do it, I wonder why we don't/can't.

 

[Lynk]

Agreed on the points about Noel and the lack of adjustments (or lack of good adjustments) made during the game.

This was my biggest issue with Craig Ramsay in Atlanta's last season. He was a great teacher and decent coach, but he had no idea how to adjust during the game and that was one of the main reasons for the Thrashers' downfall.

Last night (albeit it was just one game) I saw some of the same issues. Things clearly were not working and yet there was absolutely zero adjustment to try and switch things up. Although the one change I saw was the splitting up of Poni-Burmi-Antro which made no sense whatsoever as they were the only line consistently playing in the oppositions end.

Don't even get me started with Kane playing on the PP, although I think on the Jets last opportunity he was on the bench.

Let's hope looking at the tape shows them what many of us saw.

 

[truck]

Didn't get to watch it all, but I thought Postma actually looked decent - as an offensive D-man. He skated very well, and showed an offensive edge - plus his shots were accurate. He's not physically strong but could be an asset with the
right partner.

Also thought Schiefele wasn't that bad - earned another start. Burmi looked good.

Have never been a buff fan at his current salary level. Yes, a goal but minus one and the same big, lumbering presence on the ice. He looks a little slower to me (although that goal shot was a laser).

To me, this is precisely the kind of game where they needed to have Peluso on the ice - neutralize Neil and keep the peace. As an old Thrasher fan, I well remember Neil playing havoc around the net, taking extra shots and the Thrash doing nothing about it.

Biggest concern coming out of this game - lack of team speed.

I thought Buff was the best player on the ice for either team last night. He made some great plays in both ends. If he comes out like that every night he is a bargain IMO.

 

[tbcwpg]

What bothered me the most about the game yesterday was how little effort there wa from players who were caught out of position to get back and make a play.

First goal was a poor Postma clearing play and then when Michalek got the puck, Postma was not trying too hard to get it back. Same on the second, Neil had time to knock the puck in because Scheifele was lax on his stick and didn't play the man or the puck.

Some definite rust out there but the defensive problems were glaring. Granted, a lot of it was personnel based, but there wasn't much effort there a lot of the time either.

Thought Buff was our best player, though. Didn't look slow or out of position pretty much all night, and that goal was a smart move to one time it instead of stop it first as the pass was a bit behind him.

 

[Duke749]

Really? I thought he looked terrible defensively myself. He kept getting beat to the outside, and didn't seem to control the puck well either. I counted several times when he was got stripped of the puck in his own zone, and got bailed out by Anderson. He still finished the game with three points though...

I have the game PVR's so i will have a look again but I thought he was better than when we played him last year but I was drinking a bit so perhaps i need a fresh set of eyes on the subject.

Yeah you're gonna want to go back and watch that. Karlsson was pretty bad defensively. The one time time Scheif made a move on someone going into the zone to get an open shooting lane, that was Karlsson. Karlsson is a great skater, going forward. But his backwards skating leaves a lot to be desired. A lot of mistakes I saw tonight were the same things that happened to him last year. Although, he didn't look that bad on a regular basis, but I've seen 3rd liners skate wide and beat him.

 

[Zhamnov10]

What bothered me the most about the game yesterday was how little effort there wa from players who were caught out of position to get back and make a play.

First goal was a poor Postma clearing play and then when Michalek got the puck, Postma was not trying too hard to get it back. Same on the second, Neil had time to knock the puck in because Scheifele was lax on his stick and didn't play the man or the puck.

Some definite rust out there but the defensive problems were glaring. Granted, a lot of it was personnel based, but there wasn't much effort there a lot of the time either.

Thought Buff was our best player, though. Didn't look slow or out of position pretty much all night, and that goal was a smart move to one time it instead of stop it first as the pass was a bit behind him.

Scheifele was playing rw his job is to watch his point man he reacted when he saw the puck loose but couldn't get there not even close to being his fault if it was anyone's faut it was Stuart's,but it was a bouncing puck that no one could locate.

 

[Grind]

I thought Buff was the best player on the ice for either team last night. He made some great plays in both ends. If he comes out like that every night he is a bargain IMO.

I agree. I thought buff was, like you said, the best player on the ice.

Good speed, good offensive opportunities, and made some big defensive plays too. I probably saw him stop more 2 on ones in that game then all of last year (ok i kid, but you get it)

Very excited for THIS Dusty Buff.

 

[tbcwpg]

Scheifele was playing rw his job is to watch his point man he reacted when he saw the puck loose but couldn't get there not even close to being his fault if it was anyone's faut it was Stuart's,but it was a bouncing puck that no one could locate.

Not saying the goal was Scheifele's fault, just commenting on the slow reaction time. I don't think he played badly but there were some issues and I thought he didn't do enough on that play alone. Not close to his fault alone though

 

[ps241]

Really? I thought he looked terrible defensively myself. He kept getting beat to the outside, and didn't seem to control the puck well either. I counted several times when he was got stripped of the puck in his own zone, and got bailed out by Anderson. He still finished the game with three points though...

Yeah you're gonna want to go back and watch that. Karlsson was pretty bad defensively. The one time time Scheif made a move on someone going into the zone to get an open shooting lane, that was Karlsson. Karlsson is a great skater, going forward. But his backwards skating leaves a lot to be desired. A lot of mistakes I saw tonight were the same things that happened to him last year. Although, he didn't look that bad on a regular basis, but I've seen 3rd liners skate wide and beat him.

If two of you saw it that way then I will hold out the possibility that the drinking got the best of me

 

[tacogeoff]

Yeah you're gonna want to go back and watch that. Karlsson was pretty bad defensively. The one time time Scheif made a move on someone going into the zone to get an open shooting lane, that was Karlsson. Karlsson is a great skater, going forward. But his backwards skating leaves a lot to be desired. A lot of mistakes I saw tonight were the same things that happened to him last year. Although, he didn't look that bad on a regular basis, but I've seen 3rd liners skate wide and beat him.

I think its a moot point. Karlsson recorded 3 points to pretty much win the game for Ottawa. The kid is a beast and a great offensive tool which would be amazing to have. He is not the most physical player or best in the defensive zone but that is not his role.