Man, that was fun.
Certainly the most fun I’ve had a game this year, maybe the most fun I’ve had at a Yotes game ever.
About the game:
1) Atmosphere was amazing, lots of people there which was pleasantly surprising, fans were pretty evenly split. There were entire upper deck sections that were completely full, I’ve never seen that at GRA before. Maybe some of it was military appreciation night (which now includes the space force smh), the crowd was vocal and into the game. The NYI game was well attended too which makes two well attended Saturday night games in a row.
2) The system we play is a lot of fun to watch too. All the players have full ability to move anywhere in the ice. In the offensive zone, our wings often switch sides (incl sometimes lining up on their off wing on the faceoff), defensemen routinely pinch deeply while forwards cover for them. In our own zone we use this weird man / zone combination where we send multiple people in the corner while keeping another player hanging a few feet back to take up any potential passing lane… which means we leave the weak side completely uncovered half the time. When it works it means no heavy minutes in our D-zone, when it doesn’t work it looks like the other team is running a PP. Fun to watch either way, but this is very different than the defense Scott Allen ran.
2 cont) Another note about coaching, I really like what Tourigny and his staff are doing. In this game in particular, the doorstep was open every time they had the puck below our goal line (e.g., 1st and 3rd goals against), by the 3rd period we adjusted our centers and completely took away that option. To me, the staff's Xs and Os make sense and I hope we keep him around beyond the rebuild.
Player reports:
1) Wedgewood. Wedgewood is clearly our best option in net right now – meaning he is an NHL goaltender and doesn’t need any further seasoning. He plays kind of like Fleury -- he’s athletic and challenges shooters, reads plays well, covers pucks as appropriately etc. For those who missed the game, in the first two minutes of the 3rd period he made a couple of outstanding / highlight reel saves -- another good sequence at about 5 mins into the 3rd and of course in the final few seconds of the game as well. Also, Wedgewood is extremely flexible which I'm impressed by because it means he’s put in the work in the yoga room (which is certainly a positive).
2) At this stage, I do not believe Vejmelka is an NHL-level goaltender. I don’t really want to do a deep dive on it, but on the second goal against his actions prior to the shot effectively prevented him from saving the shot -- at a high level he basically read the play too slowly (it was not a quickly developing play) which forced him to guess where the shot was going, he guessed wrong. Either way let’s see what he can do after half a season or so getting used to the pace of play, in the meantime Wedgewood should be starting most games for us. Another compliment to the coaching staff for pulling Vej after 2 goals and not waiting for the 3rd.
** My comments re: Vej are based on the home games where I’ve seen him in person. I haven't really been paying attention to the away games other than the highlights and box scores, I do know his stats have been good this year.
3) Crouse had a GAME. Another game, actually -- he was great last time I saw him live also. He’s always been physical but now I feel he’s not only brought that up a notch, he’s also driving the play offensively which I’ve never really seen him do before. If he keeps this up he’s a 25-30 goal scorer who plays with an edge, this is what people envisioned when he was drafted in the 1st round whatever year that was.
4) Other forwards – Boyd, McCartney, Roussel, Hayton (Ladd and O’Brien were scratched).
Boyd I thought had a terrible game other than that goal, he looked lost out there for long stretches. McCartney I thought was great – he’s fast and forechecked / battled hard, made the right simple play over and over again but I barely saw him in the 3rd so maybe the coach disagrees with me. Roussel had a goal (?!) but what surprised me is how average a build he has for someone who plays such a physical game. To be clear though he’s not as noticeable physically as O’Brien, but he did score which obviously matters too.
4 cont)
Hayton. Left Hayton for last because… well, there’s so much there. He definitely has potential offensively (more below), but he loses every single 1-1 battle, whether it’s a puck battle or a jostling for position in the front of the net – the example I’m thinking of re: physical battle was one against Jordan Eberle who was set up for a deflection in front of the net, Hayton couldn’t move him at all even though he tried for a good 10-15 seconds. Which was very strange to see, Jordan Eberle is not known for being especially strong on his skates.
Offensively Hayton shows patches – for instance on Phil’s goal Hayton set the perfect screen on a timing play which is
incredibly hard to do – watching the replay I’d even argue that he’s the main reason that goal goes in because it was such a good screen. He was also noticeably dominant in the faceoff circle (officially 10 for 14) which I really don’t understand because I thought faceoffs were mostly a strength skill…?
Anyway Hayton would be a much better player if he hit the gym and put on another 10-20 pounds or so, hopefully he does that next year or two.
5) Defensively Mayo was great again (this is his 2nd game I’ve seen), he’s always in position and makes the right play every time with no drama. Perfect D partner for Ghost which was probably part of the reason Ghost played free and got 3 As. The only thing Mayo doesn’t do it hit, but we have guys like Bush for that (or O’Brien when he draws back into the lineup hopefully soon!). I didn’t notice Cam Dineen either way but it’s probably a good thing if he gave us 15 mins of low event hockey.
Anyway though -- great game! Also a quick favor --
please someone who played center jump in here regarding how a weak person can win faceoffs, I honestly don’t understand it WRT Hayton. Thanks in advance and go Yotes! Will sleep well tonight hope you all do too
