Player Discussion Jackson LaCombe

[Doothpick]

2010-2011 was easily my favorite regular season.

It really was a good one, though that playoff series with Nashville was.. f*** the preds. '11, 13, 14 and 15 were also equally memorable, but man those playoff losses hurt. Luckily there are plenty good memories as well - march and april of 2011 especially. I don't have the numbers, but they had to have great powerplay then, because I was always expecting a goal (I looked it up, 23.8% and 2nd in the league). Nowadays opposing team penalty has me doing sudokus or crossword puzzles.

For me, personally, '06 through '09 hold a special place in my heart since my fandom got me through some tough shit. At the time watching the team play felt like safety blanket. I wonder what it would be like to watch some future HOF player again. They had so many, and I guess I took it for granted. I wish I would've get to seen more of prime Niedermayer, Pronger and Teemu.

I kind of stepped away after COVID, and it hasn't been the same for me anymore, but maybe one day I'll get visibly excited again. I'm in no hurry, but Sabres like forever rebuild is not it, so I really hope there are some good times ahead. Making the playoffs would be fun, and maybe it would ignite some passion for this sport again. Until then, nostalgia it is.

Maybe thread to reminisce could be fun?

 

[Anaheim4ever]

It really was a good one, though that playoff series with Nashville was.. f*** the preds. '11, 13, 14 and 15 were also equally memorable, but man those playoff losses hurt. Luckily there are plenty good memories as well - march and april of 2011 especially. I don't have the numbers, but they had to have great powerplay then, because I was always expecting a goal (I looked it up, 23.8% and 2nd in the league). Nowadays opposing team penalty has me doing sudokus or crossword puzzles.

For me, personally, '06 through '09 hold a special place in my heart since my fandom got me through some tough shit. At the time watching the team play felt like safety blanket. I wonder what it would be like to watch some future HOF player again. They had so many, and I guess I took it for granted. I wish I would've get to seen more of prime Niedermayer, Pronger and Teemu.

I kind of stepped away after COVID, and it hasn't been the same for me anymore, but maybe one day I'll get visibly excited again. I'm in no hurry, but Sabres like forever rebuild is not it, so I really hope there are some good times ahead. Making the playoffs would be fun, and maybe it would ignite some passion for this sport again. Until then, nostalgia it is.

Maybe thread to reminisce could be fun?

Fowler was my favorite player on the 2010-11 regular season team. He was flying all over the ice with speed and jumping into the attack and he looked like his offense was gonna turn him into a 1D.
Fowler and Selanne on a breakaway was fun.

 

[GermanRocket7]

Lubo in 2011 was Lights Out. Such an awesome player to watch.

 

[ohcomeonref]

It's good energy to have people discussing Lubo in the LaCombe thread. ABSORB THE VIBES JACKSON

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

I wasn't surprised for a second that he didn't win, but it still sucks that the voting was so out to lunch on that one. As they usually are.

One the best season ever for Ducks defenceman, right there with Nieds in '06 and Pronger '07. Probaply one of my favorite seasons, actually; that late season run with MVPerry, old man Selanne still going strong, Getzy being Getzy etc was fun as hell. I miss watching that power play, they could score at will.

I loved that OT hattrick game obviously, but I always think to his first goal here. He was an easy player to root for, for sure.

Kinda disappointed Johnny didn't note Lubo got that off, FROM THE LADIES TEES!

 

[MMC]

I remember thinking WTF when articles were being written right before this season about how LaCombe was going to be the 1D, I guess they saw the vision

 

[AvalancheSpeedsters]

Avs fan coming in peace . I’m playing fantasy hockey on Yahoo in a keeper setting and so far Lacombe has looked great, picked him up Saturday and may just keep him. What does he project to be? Someone said like Duncan Keith ? Stats look good but haven’t watched a lot of ducks games, could this be more than just a good « stretch » during his season ?

 

[ScarTroy]

Avs fan coming in peace . I’m playing fantasy hockey on Yahoo in a keeper setting and so far Lacombe has looked great, picked him up Saturday and may just keep him. What does he project to be? Someone said like Duncan Keith ? Stats look good but haven’t watched a lot of ducks games, could this be more than just a good « stretch » during his season ?

I think he elevated his play in the latter half of last season. @Hockey Duckie posted his splits from last season and he turned it on in the second half. I don’t think this is just a good stretch, you can see his confidence gaining every game. Him, Terry, and our goalies are the reasons we’re winning most games we do win.

 

[anezthes]

Apparently, the capital 'C' is for 'captain'.

 

[DaGeneral]

I remember thinking WTF when articles were being written right before this season about how LaCombe was going to be the 1D, I guess they saw the vision

I now refer to him as #1D Lacombe

 

[MCB]

Avs fan coming in peace . I’m playing fantasy hockey on Yahoo in a keeper setting and so far Lacombe has looked great, picked him up Saturday and may just keep him. What does he project to be? Someone said like Duncan Keith ? Stats look good but haven’t watched a lot of ducks games, could this be more than just a good « stretch » during his season ?

He went from a toss in on fantasy trades to one of our best future d pieces (in my opinion) if I was in a keeper league I'd definitely hold on to him.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

The development of LaCombe and Dostal are far and away the two best things about this season.

 

[slippingsloth]

The development of LaCombe and Dostal are far and away the two best things about this season.

All hail Dostwal

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Here is another Ducks' Reddit board find to share: LaCombe's rating from JFresh Hockey and EP's Z-score ratings. LaCombe's Z-scores are popping off in his NHL sophomore season. And he's making under $1 mil AAV for this year and next as our best defenseman.

 

[ScarTroy]

Here is another Ducks' Reddit board find to share: LaCombe's rating from JFresh Hockey and EP's Z-score ratings. LaCombe's Z-scores are popping off in his NHL sophomore season. And he's making under $1 mil AAV for this year and next as our best defenseman.

That second chart how do I interpret those stats? For example on shot assists/60 he has 0.99. Does that mean he gets 0.99 shot assists per 60 more than the average, or is the 0.99 some kind of score?

 

[Hockey Duckie]

That second chart how do I interpret those stats? For example on shot assists/60 he has 0.99. Does that mean he gets 0.99 shot assists per 60 more than the average, or is the 0.99 some kind of score?

The second chart uses the Z-score rating at 5v5. Z-score measures a player's performance relative to the league average. 0, or zero, rating is the average. Thus, LaCombe gets 0.99 shot assists per 60 more than the average.

 

[Trojans86]

This kid is so impressive. He is working his way into a legit top pairing d. I love his size, skating, intelligence, and ability to handle the puck and shield off attackers. The sky is the limit for him because he has great tools. He is a great example of prioritizing drafting high level tools and hope they pan out.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

This kid is so impressive. He is working his way into a legit top pairing d. I love his size, skating, intelligence, and ability to handle the puck and shield off attackers. The sky is the limit for him because he has great tools. He is a great example of prioritizing drafting high level tools and hope they pan out.

LaCombe played like this in college. He already knew he had offensive skills in high school, but truly focused on working on his defense when he got to college, making blocking shots one of his forte as he was always in the top-3 in shot blocking. Good thing he spent all four years developing in the NCAA.

 

[ff8]

Anyone with better editing ability and more time want to improve on this

 

[57special]

LaCombe played like this in college. He already knew he had offensive skills in high school, but truly focused on working on his defense when he got to college, making blocking shots one of his forte as he was always in the top-3 in shot blocking. Good thing he spent all four years developing in the NCAA.

I didn't see that, and i watched a lot of Gopher's games. I thought Lacombe made huge strides in his last year in college. He went from being a talented one way D to a two way Dman in his final year, especially in the last half, when he really stepped it up. Hard to believe that the Gophers didn't win with the talent that they had.

Put another way, he always had the physical tools, but there were doubts about his decision making. He seems to be one of the rare ones who figured it out.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I didn't see that, and i watched a lot of Gopher's games. I thought Lacombe made huge strides in his last year in college. He went from being a talented one way D to a two way Dman in his final year, especially in the last half, when he really stepped it up. Hard to believe that the Gophers didn't win with the talent that they had.

Put another way, he always had the physical tools, but there were doubts about his decision making. He seems to be one of the rare ones who figured it out.

The set play to win in OT in the Championship game was the sole reason for the loss. Surprisingly, LaCombe figured it out the trick play and used his speed to try to stop the cross-ice pass. Unfortunately, none of his teammates figured it out. That was a great set play against Minny!

As for strides and growth, LaCombe's offense didn't take off until the second half of the season in his freshman and sophomore years. That WJC-20 experience truly opened his eyes offensively, despite having his confidence rocked against team Russia. The WJC-20 could have broke LaCombe, but it did not. It served as the offensive springboard for his final two seasons with Minny, being more of a complete player. The difference between his junior and senior season was being more active offensively down low to score more goals in his senior season. Anaheim was trying to sign him after his junior season. I am glad he stayed because I don't trust the Ducks' coaching staff.

That shot blocking has been there all four seasons for LaCombe.

Source: Minnesota Hockey

---

Many Duck fans believe this season LaCombe came out of nowhere. Which is false.

A lot of Duck posters didn't realize LaCombe's potential in his rookie season as there was bias for the other young, rookie defensemen in Mintyukov, Zellweger, and Luneau. He was forced into a top-pairing situation last year as a rookie to shelter the other young, rookie defensemen. As the season progress, LaCombe was able to adjust to the NHL speed and play because his offense and defense improved. Ducks' head coach stated LaCombe was the most improved player for the season. Again, many Duck posters didn't realize or want to accept LaCombe game was there.

To start this season, LaCombe got terribly sick that he missed the first four games of the season. It took him seven games to get back into NHL game shape and play. We can track his offensive progression from late last season from 0.35 ppg to his middle 14 games of this season at 0.50 ppg to being the last 28 games post-Fowler trade at 0.68 ppg. That trade gave LaCombe another audition as a top-pairing D and to secure permanent ice time. He was put into a rotation with the other youths prior to the Fowler trade and after acquiring Trouba. Did I mention that I don't trust Anaheim's development program?

 

[ReptilianQuack]

Is he as good as he is now cause we didnt shelter him?