GDT: FSC Presents: Canes at Leafs

[tarheelhockey]

I really, really doubt that Muller makes those comments unless he is backed by the knowledge that Ellis will most likely get the start on Saturday.

That would be a disastrous mistake.

That's really the only way that it makes any sense. Throw the intern under the bus, since he'll be gone soon anyway, and set up Ellis to be the cavalry coming over the horizon.

Otherwise...

 

[Carolina]

That's really the only way that it makes any sense. Throw the intern under the bus, since he'll be gone soon anyway, and set up Ellis to be the cavalry coming over the horizon.

Otherwise...

I think Muller was at least half-way satisfied with the players tonight, and wanted them to gain confidence from tonight's game. Considering the final score was 6-3 blaming Peters was about all he could do.

 

[rocky7]

Peters may or may not have been at fault for the game winner, but the guy just isn't an NHL caliber goalie. He's gotten the call up for the last 3 years now and I have yet to see anything that shows me he can play full time in the NHL.

This game unlike the other 6 is just painful. They atleast came to play and actually tried. They battled back from 2 down rather than sulk and pout.

Somehow they didn't lose ground, but they didn't gain ground either. Saturday will determine if they can make their tee times or if they actually have some fight left.

No Peters isn't an NHL caliber goalie but he's all there is right now of course. IMO, Ellis isn't either and just an o.k. back-up. What with everything else that's needed, another goaltender is as well sadly enough.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

This is the team that we're going with next year. Only difference is Murphy, Levi, Lowe, Biega Welsh, Dalpe, di Giuseppe and Rask will all be contenders (to significantly varying degrees, from 'locks' to 'no way in hell') to make the roster.

If we can get 3rd line production from one of those, 2nd line production from another and decent minutes from a defenseman (I'm thinking Murphy), then the rebuild will be complete. Contenders? Doubtful. Depends if we can get a encore from the Sweet TEA and improved chemistry from Skinner and J. Staal. Playoff team? I like our chances.

But Muller needs to figure out what caused everything to go to ****, so quickly. We had the 4 best periods of the year, and everything collapsed.

EDIT: Also, on the PP goal, and after the EN goal against, Semin was talking to Skinner, explaining something (second time, he was pretty PO'ed). Wish I could read lips.

Having a guy who has all the talent in the world, who has played that "complimentary" role, who has heard all the criticism possible and has certainly evolved his defensive game by leaps and bounds since he took the NHL is invaluable to the development of Skinner.

Just like Harrison helped Murphy, maybe Semin can mentor Skinner. Interesting dynamic. Semin is the FA gift that keeps on giving.

 

[rocky7]

Seriously? Trade Skinner because he's not what this team needs? I agree with Bleedgreen, Skinner isn't the problem here.

This board is incapable of discussing Ruutu without someone chiming in about how terrible a trade it was for us, how Ruutu is useless and Andrew Ladd is awesome, how we gave up on Ladd too early and he turned into exactly what was projected (30-30 power forwards).

And now we want to do the exact same thing with Jeff Skinner? Give up on a player we drafted while he's still young. Let's do it again, after it worked so well the first time!!

I wonder how long it would take for the people who called to trade Skinner to call for JR's head once he finds success elsewhere.

To me it wouldn't matter if he found success elsewhere. All the power to him. What matters is what the returns brought to this team. If good and much needed returns couldn't be obtained, you keep him, work with him, and hope that his game improves. I am sure some team would take him, being young and talented and figure that they could improve his play and fit him into their system. He just isn't working out here and is a valuable trade asset. If this team didn't need other spots filled and had more depth, perhaps he could be retained. He is certainly not working out on #2 with J. Staal.

 

[rocky7]

I really don't understand how calling Peters out like that helps our team at all. I think Muller is starting to feel the heat a little bit and is looking to pass the torch.

You are joking surely. Don't want to be rude at all but are you really just noticing that now?

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

To me it wouldn't matter if he found success elsewhere. All the power to him. What matters is what the returns brought to this team. If good and much needed returns couldn't be obtained, you keep him, work with him, and hope that his game improves. I am sure some team would take him, being young and talented and figure that they could improve his play and fit him into their system. He just isn't working out here and is a valuable trade asset. If this team didn't need other spots filled and had more depth, perhaps he could be retained. He is certainly not working out on #2 with J. Staal.

And Skinner doesn't have enough trade value to get a player who will help us win hockey games without blowing a major hole in our depth.

Without Skinner, this is a 1 line team. It's a very good top line, but Jordan Staal can't carry a 2nd line by himself (at least, what I have seen in his stint here). When he was out with a concussion, the 1st line suddenly became a lot less productive, as teams were focusing on locking them down. After Skinner came back, the TEA line was absolutely on fire.

Interestingly enough, now that the 2nd line isn't producing points or offensive pressure, the 1st line is suffering.

Say we trade Skinner for Marc or PK Subban. Our defense gets better, but our offensive depth gets torn apart. We'll spend the next 10 years of Jordan's contract trying to get him a winger and reclaim our lost depth. If we part with Skinner, we suffer a blow to our offensive depth that is can not be filled by anyone currently in the organization.

Why should we give up on Skinner now? He's a gamebreaking talent, with excellent hands, good hockey sense, good shot, amazing skating and piss poor defense. Hell, the Andrew Ladd trade used this exact kind of thinking, in that we were getting Andrew Ladd's future upside now, in trading for Ruutu. And here we are 5 years later, Ruutu becoming less effective by the year and Ladd leading his team into the playoffs.

I'd rather this org. make Jeff Skinner the hill they die on than give up on him while he's under the age of 25. And the long term, lucrative contract that JR gave him shows that they share this assessment.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

I'll tell you one thing: If Skinner doesn't learn how to utilize his teammates, we will regret not trading him. Even when his teammates aren't there, it's better to dump it in than attempt to "one man" it and wind up on the ice.

How many times (in the 3rd period alone, in fact) did he attempt his little "skate backwards, 10-2 figure-skating bull"...only to be stuffed along the boards, over and over again?

He's got to learn that defenses have figured that out. It worked his rookie year, because there was very little info on him. Now? It's obvious the word has gotten out. Play the body on him, and 90% of the time, he'll be completely ineffective and end up whining to the ref/taking a stupid retaliatory penalty.

He was really lucky tonight, because he could have easily been demolished by Phaneuf a couple times. And with his injury history, the next one could be it.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

Also, we're 6 points behind Winnipeg for the division lead. We're also 6 points ahead of Florida for the #1 overall pick.

Given the way we're playing lately, a Top 5 pick may not be out of the question. Sad to think about considering where this team was a couple weeks ago, but a silver lining to a really ****** collapse.

I think this streak would bother me more if I didn't watch Minnesota do the exact same thing last year.

 

[FolignoQuantumLeap]

Just why Ruutu didn't play? Is he still having complications from the surgery?

 

[Novacane]

Just why Ruutu didn't play? Is he still having complications from the surgery?

He played. He got an assist. 15:22 ice time. I thought he played a really good game.

 

[FolignoQuantumLeap]

He played. He got an assist. 15:22 ice time. I thought he played a really good game.

Well thanks Yahoo fantasy... lol. I'm glad, one of my favourites.

 

[DougieSmash]

We're also 6 points ahead of Florida for the #1 overall pick.

Given the way we're playing lately, a Top 5 pick may not be out of the question.

Way to go. Lose next five, please.

 

[NorthStar4Canes]

And Skinner doesn't have enough trade value to get a player who will help us win hockey games without blowing a major hole in our depth.

Without Skinner, this is a 1 line team. It's a very good top line, but Jordan Staal can't carry a 2nd line by himself (at least, what I have seen in his stint here). When he was out with a concussion, the 1st line suddenly became a lot less productive, as teams were focusing on locking them down. After Skinner came back, the TEA line was absolutely on fire.

Interestingly enough, now that the 2nd line isn't producing points or offensive pressure, the 1st line is suffering.

Say we trade Skinner for Marc or PK Subban. Our defense gets better, but our offensive depth gets torn apart. We'll spend the next 10 years of Jordan's contract trying to get him a winger and reclaim our lost depth. If we part with Skinner, we suffer a blow to our offensive depth that is can not be filled by anyone currently in the organization.

Why should we give up on Skinner now? He's a gamebreaking talent, with excellent hands, good hockey sense, good shot, amazing skating and piss poor defense. Hell, the Andrew Ladd trade used this exact kind of thinking, in that we were getting Andrew Ladd's future upside now, in trading for Ruutu. And here we are 5 years later, Ruutu becoming less effective by the year and Ladd leading his team into the playoffs.

I'd rather this org. make Jeff Skinner the hill they die on than give up on him while he's under the age of 25. And the long term, lucrative contract that JR gave him shows that they share this assessment.

Skinner's "talent" right now is turning the puck over to the opposition, being a step behind the play, and playing smaller than the smurf he is. Having blinders on, being completely lost or thinking it's beneath him when it comes to defense, and not realizing his one move stopped working sometime early last season vs NHL defenders nullifies any of these "skills" you think indicators of greatness. Right now what he's been pulling is hurting the team. Turning the puck over repeatedly every game is a bad thing. Teamates depending on him to do a job defensively, and he shies away from a board battle or can't be bothered to get back is a bad thing.

"The hill this team should die on"?...jeezuz man, it's not just this game. The guy is looking more like a boy among men the older and more experience he gets. So I don't think so, his new-toy flash is well and truly over at this point and if he doesn't adjust his game in a radical fashion nobody will remember Jeff Skinner except around here and as a blip by the time he reaches 25. He's a guy who can't find any middle ground between playing scared and leading with his head, and there is no future in either.

 

[DougieSmash]

Kirk Maurice about our useless netminder:

“He’s confident, and he’s excited,†Muller said of Peters. “The two things I love about him is his competitive edge that he wants to be in net. He’s not looking at this going, ‘Wow, how did I get here in this position?’ He wants to be in net tomorrow. And secondly, the guys love playing in front of him.â€

Paul Muller about our dreamy smile:

"He's one of those guys that everybody likes to play with,'' coach Paul Maurice said. "He's excited about playing. He's going to go work his butt off, so he's going to make you look good. He gives you chances to score. He's going to compete and say a few funny things on the bench. ... As we're moving the lines around, 'Guys, you're playing with Chad today,' (the reaction is), 'All right, I'm playing with Chad today - that's a good thing.'''

 

[Drivebytrucker]

You should really take down Corvo's mug shot as your picture.

We all make mistakes in life. He owned up to his drinking problem and he's extremely sorry about that incident.

Plus that was like a decade ago.


It's in the past man!

 

[Identity404]

You are joking surely. Don't want to be rude at all but are you really just noticing that now?

I don't want to be rude, but do you understand the concept of context or do you just have poor reading comprehension? I was specificity talking about Muller's post game quote. Pretty sure last night was the first time Muller directly blamed one player for a loss since he became coach. It was a little classless IMO, especially considering it is debatable if Peters was even at fault for the game.

 

[SeaBasstian]

I don't want to be rude, but do you understand the concept of context or do you just have poor reading comprehension? I was specificity talking about Muller's post game quote. Pretty sure last night was the first time Muller directly blamed one player for a loss since he became coach. It was a little classless IMO, especially considering it is debatable if Peters was even at fault for the game.

apparently muller doesnt think its debatable.

and frankly, neither do most of us

 

[Sasha Cares]

a) Peters sucks... At least were absolutely sure of that now
b) Skinner may not be the only problem but he's one of our few valuable trade pieces... Staal, Staal, Ward, Semin, and Faulk can't be traded, so who's up next? Skinner and Joni... 4th straight year without the playoffs so it needs to be blown the **** up

 

[Joe McGrath]

I was about to write about why I think the post game comments weren't that bad, but after I wrote it out I thought about it. The message he's sending is that if they play as well as they did they'll win games. That's ******** because they didn't play all that well. Sure it appeared they played a pretty good game since they had previously been attrocious, but this still wasn't a complete game. They gave up 3 partial breakaways at least, covered no one in front on multiple occasions and really didn't do anything at even strength until after Staal's shorthanded goal. I get the idea of throwing the intern under the bus as someone suggested, and if the team played a complete game and lost I really wouldn't mind it. Fact is, it still wasn't a very well played game.

 

[Joe McGrath]

a) Peters sucks... At least were absolutely sure of that now
b) Skinner may not be the only problem but he's one of our few valuable trade pieces... Staal, Staal, Ward, Semin, and Faulk can't be traded, so who's up next? Skinner and Joni... 4th straight year without the playoffs so it needs to be blown the **** up

I'm not a Joni basher, and don't think he's the problem, but someone will give up a ton for him at the deadline. Unfortunately I fear JR would trade him for a 3rd line center and a worse version of Harrison causing my head to explode.

 

[StormCast]

trade skinner?

you guys are nuts. whiny little wee nancy or not we are as tied to him as we are the staals. regardless, he could be an amazing player when he grows up. thats the downside to riding an 18 year old because he has the skills. doesnt mean he has the head. all the growing pains he wouldve gone through in more juniors or the ahl is playing out in front of us.

this isnt his fault regardless. if your team needs two 20 year olds to win you arent a winning team.

Ditto. Some of those posts teeter between absurdity and hilarity.

Now, I haven't read all the comments here (my head would explode) but has anyone blamed Dwyer and Nash for that boneheaded change or Bowman for somehow letting Lupul go?

 

[geehaad]

has anyone blamed Dwyer and Nash for that boneheaded change

I noticed that Tripp commented on that. I thought that, if the puck was in the offensive zone and there was a winger covering the far boards, it was perfectly reasonable for the other two forwards to change. In fact, I thought that was how it was supposed to be done.

I also noticed that Tripp made many comments about Ruutu's penalty not really being a penalty, but last I knew, that was textbook interference. At least it was coming out of the lockout...

 

[caniac247]

The Canes were outshot and outchanced badly tonight, if not for Peters the game would have been over after the first period...

And if it weren't for the post saving 4 goals, we wouldn't have been in the game to start the 3rd. He has gotten progressivly worse. He wasn't good Tuesday nor was he good tonight.

The team is now 3-7-1 since Cam's injury. Where are the 'trade Cam' folks now.

 

[Joe McGrath]

I noticed that Tripp commented on that. I thought that, if the puck was in the offensive zone and there was a winger covering the far boards, it was perfectly reasonable for the other two forwards to change. In fact, I thought that was how it was supposed to be done.

I also noticed that Tripp made many comments about Ruutu's penalty not really being a penalty, but last I knew, that was textbook interference. At least it was coming out of the lockout...

I agree with everything you said. With the line change, I think at worst they waited a little too long to change, but when the puck is 200 feet from your net is the time change.