Injury Report: Pacioretty ruptures his Achilles again - placed on season ending IR

[hblueridgegal]

Without their number #1 goaltender and #1 center (for which they don't even have a true #2 to back him up), they went on a franchise-record winning/point streak while being unable to handle change and adversity.

And the previous games? Which was the topic and not just this year - re: handling change? They’re doing better than the past but I still don’t see the mental toughness of a champion yet. Case in point the last game..Big stage big opponent..same result.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

We see things differently. I have always thought of it as a weakness of the team similar to their lack of killer instinct. I have attributed most of it to their youth in the past. Along with the coach's anxiety (panic button behavior) at times being passed on to the team. I think it is more prominent in high pressure situations such as high stakes, big stage games or in the playoffs.

JMO, there's still an emotional and confidence divide between them and Tampa, Boston, Colorado, even the Caps, etc...teams that roll with the punches and adapt more quickly to change and adversity.

Putting Tampa on list is funny, because right before Tampa was a Cup winning juggernaut, they were the emotionally fragile team that got swept by Columbus in the first round of the playoffs after winning the President's Cup.

Aho is 25. Necas is 23. Svech is 22. Jarvis is 20. They all continue to grow and mature. It's pretty impossible to tell whether they have "killer instinct" in regular season games, so I'll just watch this argument bemusedly until April.

 

[A Star is Burns]

Putting Tampa on list is funny, because right before Tampa was a Cup winning juggernaut, they were the emotionally fragile team that got swept by Columbus in the first round of the playoffs after winning the President's Cup.

Aho is 25. Necas is 23. Svech is 22. Jarvis is 20. They all continue to grow and mature. It's pretty impossible to tell whether they have "killer instinct" in regular season games, so I'll just watch this argument bemusedly until April.

Or the Caps team that notoriously couldn't make it out of the second round. Or the Avs team that notoriously couldn't make it out of the second round. Until they did.

Not many teams make it far in the playoffs each year. Drawing too many conclusions based on that is a bit silly to me. I've said the same about production for players over those incredibly small samples.

Also, we're one of the few teams that has won some sort of postseason series (the classification of the bubble series win is murky in my mind, but we won a playoff type series) each of the past four seasons. What this team has accomplished is impressive even if it isn't the Cup.

 

[hblueridgegal]

Putting Tampa on list is funny, because right before Tampa was a Cup winning juggernaut, they were the emotionally fragile team that got swept by Columbus in the first round of the playoffs after winning the President's Cup.

Aho is 25. Necas is 23. Svech is 22. Jarvis is 20. They all continue to grow and mature. It's pretty impossible to tell whether they have "killer instinct" in regular season games, so I'll just watch this argument bemusedly until April.

I attributed my concerns to their youth for the most part but at some point, the excuses have to stop.

Sure it's a long "regular" season but if you can't bring the killer instinct to a game against a team that mopped the floor with you and killed your dream season...

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

Putting Tampa on list is funny, because right before Tampa was a Cup winning juggernaut, they were the emotionally fragile team that got swept by Columbus in the first round of the playoffs after winning the President's Cup.

Aho is 25. Necas is 23. Svech is 22. Jarvis is 20. They all continue to grow and mature. It's pretty impossible to tell whether they have "killer instinct" in regular season games, so I'll just watch this argument bemusedly until April.

And Boston hasn't won sh*t since 2011, the Caps have 1 good playoff year in the last decade pretty much, and they weren't listed in that post you replied to but the Pens even with 3 Cups have had 4 straight first round losses with a second round loss the year before that. I think it's really as simple as it is damn hard to go deep in the playoffs in this league and a lot of things have to align for it to happen. Being one of the top teams and making the playoffs every year (like we have been under Rod) is all you can really ask for to have a chance at making a deep run in those years.

Yes with that success comes higher expectations but it's not like we're a complete disaster in the playoffs. Made the ECF, won against the Rags in the play in round before both times running into an experience Boston team that along with the refs easily handled us. Then beat Nashville in rd 1 and run into a dominant back to back Cup winning Lightning team. And last year while missing our Vezina caliber we beat Boston and run into a hot NYR team who we lose to in 7. Disappointing as fans with higher expectations but really considering the big picture we've had tremendous success the last 4 years and now this year so far. Can't really ask for much more, just need the stars to start aligning in the playoffs.

 

[tarheelhockey]

(the classification of the bubble series win is murky in my mind, but we won a playoff type series)

Side note, I find it strange that those series aren't considered playoffs. It's a 5-game elimination series that is part of the tournament bracket... that's indisputably part of the playoffs. Having a "qualifying round" is no different than the NFL's "wild card round", those are just words to describe parts of the playoff bracket.

Not attacking your comment, btw. The NHL even put a seal on the idea that the qualifying round wasn't playoffs, which is just bizarre and implies that the 16-team bracket is a sacred cow of some sort.

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

Side note, I find it strange that those series aren't considered playoffs. It's a 5-game elimination series that is part of the tournament bracket... that's indisputably part of the playoffs. Having a "qualifying round" is no different than the NFL's "wild card round", those are just words to describe parts of the playoff bracket.

Not attacking your comment, btw. The NHL even put a seal on the idea that the qualifying round wasn't playoffs, which is just bizarre and implies that the 16-team bracket is a sacred cow of some sort.

Those qualifying games are considered playoffs officially by the NHL:

NHL Stats

The official source for NHL Stats including skaters, goalies, teams stats and more.

www.nhl.com

 

[Navin R Slavin]

I attributed my concerns to their youth for the most part but at some point, the excuses have to stop.

Sure it's a long "regular" season but if you can't bring the killer instinct to a game against a team that mopped the floor with you and killed your dream season...

No one wins every game. To accuse this team of not having "killer instinct" after they literally did not lose a game in the entire month of December is just... nutty to me. Like, what do you expect?

 

[tarheelhockey]

Those qualifying games are considered playoffs officially by the NHL:

NHL Stats

The official source for NHL Stats including skaters, goalies, teams stats and more.

www.nhl.com

I don’t know why I thought otherwise.

No one wins every game. To accuse this team of not having "killer instinct" after they literally did not lose a game in the entire month of December is just... nutty to me. Like, what do you expect?

AFAIK our opponents from the month of December are still out there, waiting to play us again. A stronger killer instinct would have prevented that.

 

[robbieberns]

The zoomed out bigger picture perspective/context really helps when you start getting frustrated when comparing this team to other top teams. The youth thing is really important though, if the front office can keep playing things smart we can genuinely be a contender for the next decade or close to at least. I think I’d always rather us be a team with a really long window of contention even if it means we’re never a true behemoth of a number one seed presidents trophy multiple 100 point guys kind of team.

 

[The Faulker 27]

I attributed my concerns to their youth for the most part but at some point, the excuses have to stop.

Sure it's a long "regular" season but if you can't bring the killer instinct to a game against a team that mopped the floor with you and killed your dream season...

I wouldn't say they didn't have a killer instinct. I think they were playing a solid game and unfortunately the PP fell flat, and Kooch let in a couple of soft goals. It happens. The softies sort of killed the momentum, but It still came down to an empty net situation. My guess is, we look a little different in the next game. You remove the soft goals and we likely win that game or at least take it to OT.

 

[WreckingCrew]

And Boston hasn't won sh*t since 2011, the Caps have 1 good playoff year in the last decade pretty much, and they weren't listed in that post you replied to but the Pens even with 3 Cups have had 4 straight first round losses with a second round loss the year before that. I think it's really as simple as it is damn hard to go deep in the playoffs in this league and a lot of things have to align for it to happen. Being one of the top teams and making the playoffs every year (like we have been under Rod) is all you can really ask for to have a chance at making a deep run in those years.

Yes with that success comes higher expectations but it's not like we're a complete disaster in the playoffs. Made the ECF, won against the Rags in the play in round before both times running into an experience Boston team that along with the refs easily handled us. Then beat Nashville in rd 1 and run into a dominant back to back Cup winning Lightning team. And last year while missing our Vezina caliber we beat Boston and run into a hot NYR team who we lose to in 7. Disappointing as fans with higher expectations but really considering the big picture we've had tremendous success the last 4 years and now this year so far. Can't really ask for much more, just need the stars to start aligning in the playoffs.

Special teams have been though...and not winning a single road game last year was. But overall, we've probably had more success in the past 4 years than most teams get in 6 years...or the Leafs in 10 years

 

[The Faulker 27]

The zoomed out bigger picture perspective/context really helps when you start getting frustrated when comparing this team to other top teams. The youth thing is really important though, if the front office can keep playing things smart we can genuinely be a contender for the next decade or close to at least. I think I’d always rather us be a team with a really long window of contention even if it means we’re never a true behemoth of a number one seed presidents trophy multiple 100 point guys kind of team.

Tom Dundon likes this comment.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

To put recent seasons in perspective:

20-21: first 10 games: 7-3, .714 final winning % (1st in Central)
21-22: first 10 games: 9-1, .707 final winning % (1st in Metro)
22-23: first 10 games 7-2-1, .737 current winning % (1st in Metro)

Seems like no matter what changes in the roster that gets thrown at this team, they keep chugging along in the regular season.

Sure, there will be ups and downs within any season so it's key not to look too narrowly. Even before this points streak started, the Canes had 20 games, got points in 14 of them, had the 12th best winning % in the NHL and were on pace for 99 points while having a grueling travel trip without key players. Not their best hockey by any means and there were a few clunker games in there as well, but they weren't exactly dying on the vine either.

It's fair to ask what the team needs (mental toughness? maturity? more talent? more physical toughness? better PP? better goaltending? etc..) to take the next step in the playoffs though. That's probably a good topic for its own thread.

 

[Svechhammer]

Ho-lee-shit

 

[A Star is Burns]

Ho-lee-shit

Man, they're really setting you up for when he's still day to day tonight. I appreciate their dedication to the bit.

Side note, I find it strange that those series aren't considered playoffs. It's a 5-game elimination series that is part of the tournament bracket... that's indisputably part of the playoffs. Having a "qualifying round" is no different than the NFL's "wild card round", those are just words to describe parts of the playoff bracket.

Not attacking your comment, btw. The NHL even put a seal on the idea that the qualifying round wasn't playoffs, which is just bizarre and implies that the 16-team bracket is a sacred cow of some sort.

I've heard they counted before and I've heard they didn't. That's the murkiness. Even if they didn't count, they were playoffs in all but name.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

22-23: first 10 games 7-3-1

Team so cheap they have to fit 11 games into their first 10 games

 

[The Faulker 27]

To put recent seasons in perspective:

20-21: first 10 games: 7-3, .714 final winning % (1st in Central)
21-22: first 10 games: 9-1, .707 final winning % (1st in Metro)
22-23: first 10 games 7-3-1, .737 current winning % (1st in Metro)

Seems like no matter what changes in the roster that gets thrown at this team, they keep chugging along in the regular season.

Sure, there will be ups and downs within any season so it's key not to look too narrowly. Even before this points streak started, the Canes had 20 games, got points in 14 of them, had the 12th best winning % in the NHL and were on pace for 99 points while having a grueling travel trip without key players. Not their best hockey by any means and there were a few clunker games in there as well, but they weren't exactly dying on the vine either.

It's fair to ask what the team needs (mental toughness? maturity? more talent? more physical toughness? better PP? better goaltending? etc..) to take the next step in the playoffs though. That's probably a good topic for its own thread.

I'd say the most obvious is special teams specifically the power play. We've been in the bottom half in terms of PP% since the 2019 post season. Now we did make it to the ECF with an abysmal 9.6% so I guess there's room for debate but we all know that it has to be better if they're gonna take the next step.

 

[LakeLivin]

Team so cheap they have to fit 11 games into their first 10 games

Dundon so cheap he used a "Play 10 games get one free" coupon.

 

[Tryamw]

I don’t know why I thought otherwise.



AFAIK our opponents from the month of December are still out there, waiting to play us again. A stronger killer instinct would have prevented that.

Saberwulf time?

 

[surfzone365]

‘retty to roll!

 

[Derailed75]

I don’t know why I thought otherwise.



AFAIK our opponents from the month of December are still out there, waiting to play us again. A stronger killer instinct would have prevented that.

Yeah we kinda had a "knock em out instinct" just a hair below killer

 

[chaz4hockey]

Makes sense to add some bulk plus given TT’s mediocre play he’s a 4th liner this year. Noesen now on the infamous day to day though.

 

[Evgeny Oliker]

Any more updates on Andersen?

I thought he was supposed to play this week?

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Any more updates on Andersen?

I thought he was supposed to play this week?

Where did you hear he was supposed to play this week? I haven't seen that reported anywhere, but in fairness, I don't follow all of the news religiously.

He's practicing but there's been, as far as I know, no targeted return date.