All those poor people who cried when O'Byrne was traded
Markov re-broke his ACL about 2 days later, and Gorges went to undergo surgery about 2 weeks later.
The timing was disastrous.
I like what I see from him and boy we sure need it, him and Pleks were born to play together and that's just the way it is for some players, they just click. Go Bournival Go!!!!!
I really like how Bournival is turning out so far. Though, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Everyone remember that really hot start D'Agostini had when he first started? I hope Bournival manages to keep up this pace and improves on it.
I'm glad he's capable of jump starting the Pleks-Gio line. I believe that Bourque's a good player, but maybe his style wasn't meshing as much with those vets as much as Bournival is.
He's been impressive and a great new addition to the team so far. I'll still reserve my judgement on this kid for quite some time though.
So was Ryan O'Byrne
D'ago had a good first year, 12 goals in 53 games isn't bad at all.
Then this happened.
I remember how excited the fanbase was when D'Agostini scored 4 goals in his first 5 games. Rookies often start hot, I'll wait and see on Bournival.
Nevertheless, O'Byrne could have helped our D in a very difficult time.
Can't say, after years have passed, that I am sad at the trade. But I remember being mad to lose 2 Ds right after trading O'Byrne.
It wasn't just D'Agostini, we saw the same thing with Perezhogin, Hossa and a ton of other players. When a young guy first makes it to the NHL he's playing on adrenaline, after a few weeks that wears off and then you see the real player.
What I've noticed is that he uses his speed to put a lot of pressure on the defence and causes them to rush their play. Plekanec and Gionta are cerebral players who can anticipate those rushed plays and suddenly it's a turnover.
Blog on how Bournival became a Hab:
http://thereuschblog.com/?p=27048
Let's just make Timmins GM and get it over with.
Nobody would have said D'Agostini sucked at the start of his NHL career either, though.
Let's say Bournival keeps his spot alongside Plek and Gio because he keeps playing well, it certainly mixes things up when the injured players all return.
In no particular order,
Plek-Gio-Bournival
Eller-Gally-Galchenyuk
DD-MaxPac-Bourque
Prust-Briere-Moen
White, Parros
That's a pretty strong 4th line. This is all assuming that Bournival keeps the spot, the injured players all return and a guy like DD finds his game a bit.
With everyone healthy, it sure creates a lot of possibilities. Maybe Briere looks good between Patches and Bourque. Maybe DD is sent to Hamilton if he doesn't find his game. Maybe they have a look at Galchenyk at center. One thing - don't put DD and Briere on the same line.
D'ago had a good first year, 12 goals in 53 games isn't bad at all.
Then this happened.
Does anyone think Bournival could somehow turn into a Gallagher-type of steal? By that I mean that he could become a viable top 6 option in the near future?.
There's a lot to like about the way this guy plays. Insane speed, quite possibly the best skater on the team already, doesn't shy away from contact, has hands decent enough to control the puck through traffic, isn't afraid of going in front of the net AND a pretty strong two-way play, especially for a guy his age.
He reminds me of Plekanec, actually.
What a pleasant surprise even he's only played 7 games so far. His pre-season was an eye-opener. Against Anaheim, received 16:15 minutes' worth of ice time, similar to what Galchenyuk has been getting since the beginning of this year. But, it's only one game.