Low Effort GDT Senators in La Belle Province to beat up some scrubs | Tuesday October 1st, 2024, 7PM

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

Fantastic, the angle which hides what he was doing with his elbow and cuts out before you see the follow through which obviously shows he was lifting it to make contact with Stu's face.

I look at this similarly as Cooke's cheap shot on Savard that ended his career. Not as egregious and this one didn't connect the same, but I see no argument that he wasn't head hunting an unsuspecting player with a blindside hit and the likely end game being a head or neck injury. It's got clear intent to injure imo.

 

[HSF]

My understanding of having a winning culture is you always compete, whether it's practice, pre-season, regular season or playoffs. It needs to become a habit, just the way you play.

It was a re-occurring theme last year where they started slow against the other bottom-feeder teams. We'll find out soon in the regular season if they've actually changed that or not. I was just hoping to see more of it during pre-season, not only from the AHL players but from the vets too.

vast majority of vets don't care about preseason and aren't going all out so that they don't get injured. Even in winning programs

 

[Mark Stones Spleen]

I'd like to have a plug willing to go hard after one of their skilled players, rather than only fight the big dumb oaf. It would be great if a guy like MacEwan just clobbered someone like Caufield.

 

[DueDiligence]

Hate to admit the Wifi hit on Stu was clean and not a headshot. Because of his dirty history, I'm fine with any of our players just going after him.

Well you've had delusional takes before and here is another doozy!
Stu is nowhere near the puck and Xhekaj comes from the side and leads with his elbow. Clearly interference and if AX connects solidly like he meant to we are talking a sit down hearing with the NHL.
Xhekaj is a head case as demonstrated in 2 straight games who clearly doesn't care if he injuries other players or not. He's bad for the game.

 

[Micklebot]

Hate to admit the Wifi hit on Stu was clean and not a headshot. Because of his dirty history, I'm fine with any of our players just going after him.

I mean, it wasn't clean, it was interference, and retaliatory at that. He didn't catch him in the head, if that's what you mean,

 

[NyQuil]

I mean, it wasn't clean, it was interference, and retaliatory at that. He didn't catch him in the head, if that's what you mean,

They aren't similar at all, aside from the fact that they were both late and both did not connect with the head.

It's pretty obvious that Xhekaj was targeting the head, while Greig was targeting the body.

Greig's hit has more in common with Struble's late hit on him than it does with Xhekaj's attempted chicken wing.

 

[DackellDuck]

The shit eating grin that Greig wears after games like these is amazing. "Who me?"

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[SpezDispenser]

Classic Montreal is just have one tough guy who always has to answer and have all the pressure to be that guy alone when they really aren’t that guy to begin with, you see the last two games Wifi can’t handle that roll and he’s totally reaching for it. His brain seems scrambled to me, he doesn’t know what he is as a player and being a tough guy that turtles isn’t going to cut it in the NHL

I mean, it's better than nothing though - and like it or hate it, he's sent a clear message not to f*** around too much. Although, him turtling was a little sad.

 

[Korpse]

Can't wait to call up players from belleville for the Oct 5th game to see Montreal collectively lose their minds once again.

 

[Blotto71]

I'd like to have a plug willing to go hard after one of their skilled players, rather than only fight the big dumb oaf. It would be great if a guy like MacEwan just clobbered someone like Caufield.

I don't want MacEwan on the ice with Caufield.

 

[aragorn]

Staois addressed most of Ottawa's problems in the off season.
1. Addressed Goaltending by acquiring Ullmark, a legitimate #1 NHL goaltender.
2. Addressed the weakness at RD by trading Chychrun for Jensen RD.
3. Drafted a big tough offensive RD in Yakemchuk to address a big need in the prospect pool.
4. Addressed the veteran leadership for the team to be harder to play against with the acquisition of Cousins, Amadio & Gregor & two have cup rings.

- what he didn't address was finding a big tough good fighter on their 4th line C spot to answer the bell when required as it was last night. Both Kastelic & Imama would have been in the middle of it while Jenik was invisible & MacEwan didn't respond.

 

[NyQuil]

4. Addressed the veteran leadership for the team to be harder to play against with the acquisition of Cousins, Amadio & Gregor & two have cup rings.

I'll need a larger sample size for this one.

 

[jbeck5]

Can Stützle become a consistent 90-100pt guy?

Can Sanderson take another step and become a top 10 D who’s in the Norris conversation?

Can Yakemchuk become close to as good as Evan Bouchard, as fast?

If those 3 things happen, we’ll be in a good spot. If not, we won’t be.

Even that won't be enough.

When we were at our best, we would have things like redden and Chara being top 10 for Norris...having things like Alfredsson and Hossa both being contenders for best two way winger in the game... Or Alfie Spezza and Heatley being all top 10 scorers. Or we had potentially the best shut down pairing in Phillips and volchenkov.

We need to somehow have like 5-6 of the best 100 players in the game too...

We can just have a couple good players...we need to have a couple of the league's bests while also having depth like ppg wingers on the third line.

We need an abundance of talent that it's overflowing.

 

[aragorn]

I'll need a larger sample size for this one.

I think Cousins will be a good player for them, but you're right the jury is out on Amadio & Gregor, I would have preffered the acquisition of a legitimate tough guy who is a good fighter on the 4th line who can play. We need Chris Neil.

 

[NyQuil]

I would have preffered the acquisition of a legitimate tough guy who is a good fighter on the 4th line who can play. We need Chris Neil.

I don't think these guys are that easy to find. The Leafs would have had one by now if they were.

 

[jbeck5]

If we're going with realistic odds, we have no shot at the Cup this year. We haven't made the playoffs in 7 years and will have to learn how to lose in the playoffs like everyone else (Tampa, Edmonton, Colorado and even Florida did)

I like our potential regarding star power at G + D but F is a question mark

G : Ullmark (if he extends) + Sogaard/Merilainen/???

D : Sanderson + Chabot + Yakemchuk

F : Stutzle + Tkachuk + Batherson

So the problem might be at F going forward. Giroux and Perron are too old now and will only be stop gaps. Norris could be in that group but due to his shoulder injuries, it's unpredictable at this point. I love Pinto and Greig but I think they are luxury support players and not stars. Guys like Halliday and Ostapchuk are nice but they are support at best too.

So I agree, in the next few years we'll need to find another star forward and at least another Top-6 guy to replace Giroux

Another brief analysis that shows how inept Dorion's management was. We should be stacked at all positions with still a good prospect pool considering the time we rebuilt and the wealth we started with.

I generally agree here for sure.

I will say ullmark resigning is a big question mark.

I will say defense has potential, but how good is Chabot when yakemchuk enters his prime... And will Sanderson and yakemchuk be as good as Chara and redden? And will we have a top shut down pair in the league behind them?

I agree forward depth is lacking, especially once Giroux and Perron are old or gone...way less depth than when we were good 2000-2007.

So like, we have to hit the jackpot or consistently hit on every 1st and 2nd round draft pick.

I agree we aren't winning the cup this year...but let's say our goal is to win in the next 5 years, how do we realistically achieve that? Or atleast be one of those 3-4 teams that has a realistic shot over a 3-4 year window?

 

[aragorn]

I don't think these guys are that easy to find. The Leafs would have had one by now if they were.

The Leafs have Reaves, wish we would have gotten Lawson Crouse LW or Tom Wilson RW or both.

 

[Loach]

Staois addressed most of Ottawa's problems in the off season.
1. Addressed Goaltending by acquiring Ullmark, a legitimate #1 NHL goaltender.
2. Addressed the weakness at RD by trading Chychrun for Jensen RD.
3. Drafted a big tough offensive RD in Yakemchuk to address a big need in the prospect pool.
4. Addressed the veteran leadership for the team to be harder to play against with the acquisition of Cousins, Amadio & Gregor & two have cup rings.

- what he didn't address was finding a big tough good fighter on their 4th line C spot to answer the bell when required as it was last night. Both Kastelic & Imama would have been in the middle of it while Jenik was invisible & MacEwan didn't respond.

We need a Matt Carkner. Forward. Defence. Don't matter. Carkner played 80 games in his first season with us, I think, and than his knee went wonky or something. It was 50 the next.

 

[NyQuil]

The Leafs have Reaves, wish we would have gotten Lawson Crouse LW or Tom Wilson RW or both.

You don’t want Reaves playing a regular shift.

 

[aragorn]

You don’t want Reaves playing a regular shift.

Not any more I guess unless it gets ugly as it did last night, he is still quite feared as a fighter. I would love to get Crouse though.

 

[DackellDuck]

Even that won't be enough.

When we were at our best, we would have things like redden and Chara being top 10 for Norris...having things like Alfredsson and Hossa both being contenders for best two way winger in the game... Or Alfie Spezza and Heatley being all top 10 scorers. Or we had potentially the best shut down pairing in Phillips and volchenkov.

We need to somehow have like 5-6 of the best 100 players in the game too...

We can just have a couple good players...we need to have a couple of the league's bests while also having depth like ppg wingers on the third line.

We need an abundance of talent that it's overflowing.

There are multiple ways to win. You can have a couple of really high-end players that drive your success (see Edmonton or Colorado), or you could build a roster with less top-end star power but more depth.

Look at Dallas right now. Who are their top-end guys?

You have Heiskanen, Robertson, Johnston, Hintz and then a lot of good depth (Benn, Marchment, Duchene, Lindell, Stankoven, etc). But none of those players scored over 80 points last year.

There's not a lot of wow factor on that team, but they're one of the top contenders for the Cup. If you look at the most recent TSN top 50 list, they have 3 guys on it (Heiskanen at 25, Robertson at 33 and Johnston at 50). Not exactly blowing the doors off the elite.

When Vegas won the cup, they didn't have a single PPG player in the regular season. Neither did St. Louis when they won.

 

[Big Muddy]

To be clear, a regular shift for a guy in that spot sees him getting 5 - 8min per game...

Well, how many minutes did Chris Neil get? To be clear, I recognize that there aren’t many that can contribute via a regular shift and be good at fighting. We happen to face a couple of teams (Toronto & Montreal) that I can think of that have one of those guys in their lineups (haven’t looked up their TOI/G).

Anyhow, getting back to the main & most important point, when a retaliatory scenario unfolds like we saw last night, having Brady drawn into the melee and getting knocked out of the game due to penalties helps our opponent because the opponent's goon isn’t going to be missed as much as we would miss Brady. Injuries are another possibility. Just trying to analyze and understand consequences. Mea culpa for doing that.

Maybe it would be good to quote the expression: Be careful what you wish for.

There aren’t that many guys in the league who can.

We can laugh about 4th liners and dilution of talent with expansion but realistically the quality if hockey expected from 4th liners is much more than it used to be.

Yes, this is true, and I recognize this. See above for additional info.

 

[NyQuil]

Anyhow, getting back to the main & most important point, when a retaliatory scenario unfolds like we saw last night, having Brady drawn into the melee and getting knocked out of the game due to penalties helps our opponent because the opponent's goon isn’t going to be missed as much as we would miss Brady. Injuries are another possibility. Just trying to analyze and understand consequences. Mea culpa for doing that.

Consider that on 99% of the teams in the league, there would be no one playing with Stutzle that could take on Xhekaj.

So instead, like with Dach, everyone would just be skating around instead while the fans wonder why no one is stepping up to defend their player.

Ideally it would be MacEwan out there, but why would he be on the ice at the same time as Stutzle?

4th line enforcers spend most of their time fighting other 4th line enforcers, which is why they are often useless.

 

[Loach]

Not any more I guess unless it gets ugly as it did last night, he is still quite feared as a fighter. I would love to get Crouse though.

You want early Reaves

 

[Cosmix]

Well, how many minutes did Chris Neil get? To be clear, I recognize that there aren’t many that can contribute via a regular shift and be good at fighting. We happen to face a couple of teams (Toronto & Montreal) that I can think of that have one of those guys in their lineups (haven’t looked up their TOI/G).

Anyhow, getting back to the main & most important point, when a retaliatory scenario unfolds like we saw last night, having Brady drawn into the melee and getting knocked out of the game due to penalties helps our opponent because the opponent's goon isn’t going to be missed as much as we would miss Brady. Injuries are another possibility. Just trying to analyze and understand consequences. Mea culpa for doing that.

Maybe it would be good to quote the expression: Be careful what you wish for.


Yes, this is true, and I recognize this. See above for additional info.

We need at least one player who can address the physical aggression of other teams. It should not be Tkachuk; we need him on the ice for his offensive skills. I agree we need a tougher team overall instead of some of the softies we have now.

Consider that on 99% of the teams in the league, there would be no one playing with Stutzle that could take on Xhekaj.

So instead, like with Dach, everyone would just be skating around instead while the fans wonder why no one is stepping up to defend their player.

Ideally it would be MacEwan out there, but why would he be on the ice at the same time as Stutzle?

4th line enforcers spend most of their time fighting other 4th line enforcers, which is why they are often useless.

I have watched a lot of hockey over the years including original 6. If the going gets rough, teams can place a big bruiser on the first line to address the threats being made. The Oilers did it with Gretzky, having McSorley and Semenko to address those who targeted G. It can be done.