Someone still should have taken my free ticket tonight. It ended up just going to waste.
I would have taken it if I wasn't still here in California.
Someone still should have taken my free ticket tonight. It ended up just going to waste.
11-3-2.... ....
Remember when some of you wanted to fire Tippet after games 1 and 2? Where you at
didn't watch the game. How did Stone do paired with OEL?
didn't watch the game. How did Stone do paired with OEL?
I don't consider it an ideal pairing but it's not the worst pairing we can conjure up with our 9 defensemen on 1-way contracts.
My carpool buddy I was sitting next to tonight and I were talking about D pairings through the end of the 3rd and OT. Defensemen are always a tricky thing to balance with the 3 pairings you'll usually have (assuming you're doing 12 forwards and 6 D-men instead of possibly 11/7). We both agreed that OEL pairs best with Morris, but that Yandle also pairs best with Morris. Obviously a D-man can't do double duty at the NHL level, so some compromise has to be made.
As contrasting examples, a pairing of, for example, OEL-Rundblad or Yandle-Rundblad, as potent in the attacking zone as it would be, would induce heart attacks in the defensive zone. Not to say that OEL isn't responsible in his own zone, but he needs a more defensive-minded D-man to pair with to remain balanced, such as Morris, Michalek, or Klesla.
In the midst of typing this, I kind of lost my train of thought, but the long story made short is, is Michael Stone the more defensive-minded blueliner to balance out pairing with a top offensive D-man like OEL or Yandle?
No, probably not.
11-3-2.... ....
Remember when some of you wanted to fire Tippet after games 1 and 2? Where you at
I think Stone has been struggling a bit so far this year. Perhaps it's a kind of wake up call to him from DT, playing with OEL, first pairing, heavy minutes - maybe he will get his act together.
what?! holy over reactions batman
Our defense really is an interesting carousel.
OEL-Morris
Yandle-Michalek
Klesla-?????
????? could be one of Stone, Schlemko, Summers, or Rundblad.
I would never split Morris - Yandle considering the chemistry they are showing, aswell as Z - OEL.
Too bad I live in Florida. At least with daylight time ending, I can go to sleep a little earlier.Someone still should have taken my free ticket tonight. It ended up just going to waste.
From his presser Tippet said he was looking to "balance" things out. I think he's saying some defenseman are working too hard compared to others. That may be fine, now, but we don't want our best defenseman tired and bruised come playoff time.
didn't watch the game. How did Stone do paired with OEL?
I think pretty much every D pair looked discombobulated out there. Klesla was rusty (haha), OEL and Stone did not have chemistry and seemed to spend a lot of the game figuring each other out. Once Morris went out the pairs were jumbled up constantly and it wasn't consistent at all just to get the minutes spread around.
Yes we are, because we really have to do something with Korpi...complete and utter offense killer, let's put Ribs back w/Boedker and Moss. They seemed to work.
Korpi has lost his speed, thank goodness he can still play defense...but for 2.5m for the next 4 years including this one...that is a lot to pay for 1pt on the season in 16 games.
11-3-2.... ....
Remember when some of you wanted to fire Tippet after games 1 and 2? Where you at
Yes, but i still wouldn't split the two great pairings we have in Z-OEL and MO-YANDS. I would instead trust the third pairing more. Any of Schlemko/Klesla/Rundblad/Stone can handle bigger minutes, of that i'm sure. And balancing things out that way, I just don't see the point in splitting up maybe the best top 4 in the league so far.
But they won, so who am I to argue really...
I thought Stone played very solid last night. Easily one of his better games this year.
12. One NHL exec on Phoenix Coyotes defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson: "If he played for a Canadian team, he'd have won the Norris already."
One NHL exec on Phoenix Coyotes defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson: "If he played for a Canadian team, he'd have won the Norris already."
Someone still should have taken my free ticket tonight. It ended up just going to waste.