Several things have contributed. Ekholm/Bouchard have gone backward. Brown has not upgraded top six. McLeod is not the rising star we anticipated. We won’t be cup contenders with one line!
Exactly.
That sounds like it would be worth listening to.
I have no idea how lol. Check out the 1440 podcast I guess. Usually they are pretty good at showing guests so you can pick the right hour.
Can’t help notice Ralph Intranouvo & Jason
Unless of course it kinda screws you over this season. You don’t want that.
My goodness, even on a team with Brown and Laraque, the guy gets over 500 PIM. Way to set the tone boys. Run em up and fill em in.
That’s an unfair evaluation of Kane’s season to date. He’s third on the team in shots despite getting half the PP minutes of others. He’s second in the entire league in hits. I’ve watched all the games and see no evidence whatsoever that he ‘took games off’. People are just mad that he didn’t come out of the gate firing goals and then he said something vaguely disrespectful to Woody on national TV (which was totally overblown). Let’s face it, a segment of this board is just waiting for Kane to fail in any way because they dislike him and never wanted him here in the first place. I know you aren’t one of that crowd which makes your post above all the more puzzling. This team would get bitch slapped every night of the week without Kane imo.
I thought that he started slowly much like the rest of the team, but then he came out and started playing physical and trying to impact the game. He's been solid ever since.
You don't have to use 4 or 5 firsts in one deal. And you definitely don't have to do that out of panic right now. You use assets when opportunities arise. Last year Ekholm cost the team the equivalent of 2 very late firsts. In fact Schaefer was a 32nd pick. A couple of years ago that was a very ealry 2nd rounder. At this point last season Ekholm was not an option.
That's why i find some fans obsession with losing Kostin funny - he has 1/10th the skill of Kane and isn't anywhere near as intimidating. I honestly like the identity of the team when it comes to VD, Nurse, Kane. If they can find a way to play on the edge and take less penalties, I think that will be a very dangerous combination. The Flames were rattled, if you can find a way to do that but not take eight penalties, it can be a big part of the game.
Eight penalties. Haha. Yeah, we don’t need that. Just as an aside since you mentioned VD, I thought I noticed several instances where Flame ‘tough guys’ seemed to be targeting Desharnais in scrums and after whistles (from behind the refs or in two on one type situations of course). It’s possible that he may already have a reputation as a bit of a loose cannon who can be goaded into taking bad penalties. I may be reading too much into it, but I thought I could notice him start to react and then visibly restrain himself. I thought it was a bit of a positive sign, even though I’m not much of a fan of the player.
I agree 100%.
Kane is absolutely an important part of this team.
AS you know I'm not any Kane critic. That said I wanted him to take a bigger leadership role on the team. I just felt he was slow arriving to that this season and he showed up in the Heritage Classic bigtime and was rumbling a game or two before. Didn't like his first 5 games much.
He has less skill than Kane but a comparable shot. I also find it funny that you think that he's less intimidating. The guy just went toe to toe with one of the league's toughest non 4th line role players in Gudbranson and took the decision. Just because he might clown around a bit doesn't mean that he isn't tough.
What identity does Nurse bring now? A guy that cheap shots punches to the face twice taking a braindead penalty in a sorely needed game which was close at the time? Or the guy that gets suspended in playoffs being an idiot when Drai told the whole bench NOT to react?
How anyone can look at our dogs breakfast of a bottom 6 and act like Kostin wouldn't be an upgrade is beyond me. I get that some don't think that he's worth his deal but neither is Nurse and a number of other players based on their play this year and most of them don't have the new team excuse.
Yeah. lb per lb Kostin is a beast and goes with anybody. I respect a player like that anytime. No fear. Its a bit easier for Kane who is gigantic in comparison and has reach and strength advantage as well.
This team would be so much better with Bjugstad and Kostin in our bottom 6 right now.
Because of salary.
