So what happens if this team is actually bad?

[Mr Misty]

That's one way of looking at it. Another way is to realize that scoring was always expected to be top heavy on this roster and that Hemsky had options of playing with either Spezza or Seguin, both of whom have good numbers. Dallas is 16th in the league in goals per game, so pretty average rather than really bad. I'm not willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for much longer.

I don't agree with this. If we round up Roussel and Cole's 29 point seasons, there are 5 forwards who scored 30 points last year on the roster, plus Benn and Seguin in the top 10 in league scoring, plus however much you expect out of Spezza and Hemsky. A real second line with 40 point guys and a 3rd line with 30+ across the board is what I expected from this year.

 

[StarsTx]

I agree with Misty, I thought Seguin Benn and Nuke would be a top 3 line in the league. I thought Spezza Hemsky would give us a second scoring line equal to some teams top line, and I still think we have the best 3rd line in the league. Then with guys like Horcoff and Sceviour or Cole on the fourth you expect them to chip in a little as well. Last season we knew we were top heavy but I the most thought this team would be in high scoring games pretty regularly. What we are missing is Nuke and a big time sniper in he top 6 to make this team reach the potential we (I) thought it had from an offensive standpoint.

 

[MetalGodAOD*]

I agree with Misty, I thought Seguin Benn and Nuke would be a top 3 line in the league. I thought Spezza Hemsky would give us a second scoring line equal to some teams top line, and I still think we have the best 3rd line in the league. Then with guys like Horcoff and Sceviour or Cole on the fourth you expect them to chip in a little as well. Last season we knew we were top heavy but I the most thought this team would be in high scoring games pretty regularly. What we are missing is Nuke and a big time sniper in he top 6 to make this team reach the potential we (I) thought it had from an offensive standpoint.

As someone else mentioned in the Trade thread, it's more than just being down two top 6 options. The team is being outpossessed badly and is in the bottom 3rd of the league in shots per game. That's indicative of the systems play and the lack of smart transition hockey that's being played.

 

[StarsTx]

As someone else mentioned in the Trade thread, it's more than just being down two top 6 options. The team is being outpossessed badly and is in the bottom 3rd of the league in shots per game. That's indicative of the systems play and the lack of smart transition hockey that's being played.

No argument from me, I totally agree. I was more agreeing with Misty that before the year started this team appeared to have the players to be much better than an average scoring team and not completely reliant on 1 line like last year.

 

[glovesave_35]

We're only 16th in the league because we used to be much higher and have dropped because of our recent terrible play. If we'd started out with average scoring we'd be at the bottom of the league right now. Jamie Benn has 2 points in the last 5 games. Daley has 0. Eakin has 0. Goligoski has 0. Hemsky has 1. In fact the only players with 3 or more points in the past 5 games are Seguin, Spezza, Roussel and Cole.

I don't know why everyone is choosing to scapegoat Hemsky as though he hasn't been noticeably improved since being benched, was one of the few players that looked like they gave a **** in the 3rd against Chicago and also is no worse than anyone else on this team. He's also only been a top 6 player for the last 2 games and he collected a point in one of them.

Everyone is acting so ****ing alarmist and picking players to blame instead of accepting the fact that the entire team sucks right now. All of them. The defense is bad. The offense is bad. You can blame individual players if you want but even if those players are gone the team will still be bad unless the entire team plays better. Jordie Benn isn't the reason we lose. Hemsky is not the reason we lose. No individual player is the reason we lose. And once the team gets their **** together and starts playing the way we all know they can then all this dramatic **** and blaming players is going to look short-sighted.

If I implied anything other than my disappointment in Hemsky then that would be incorrect. I never said Hemsky is THE reason we lose, etc. And that he only recently has been playing with top 6 guys is complete BS. He started the season with Spezza and had his shot up with the dude bros.

I'm not scapegoating anybody. I'm pointing out a player who has been a massive disappointment THUS FAR. You can even hear it in the voice of Razor during games, a guy who is typically quite measured in his criticism of the guys in green.

 

[beepeearr]

If I implied anything other than my disappointment in Hemsky then that would be incorrect. I never said Hemsky is THE reason we lose, etc. And that he only recently has been playing with top 6 guys is complete BS. He started the season with Spezza and had his shot up with the dude bros.

I'm not scapegoating anybody. I'm pointing out a player who has been a massive disappointment THUS FAR. You can even hear it in the voice of Razor during games, a guy who is typically quite measured in his criticism of the guys in green.

He had four games with Spezza with either Cole or eaves as the LW before the super friends line was put together, since then he has had a few additional games with spezza but mostly with fiddler, just got put with Jamie and Seguin for the first time the last couple of games. There has been scoring chances just no finish. Hopefully with some weaker competition coming up our guys can get some confidence again, but if we have an abysmal homestand these next five game no clue where we go from their

 

[OttMorrow]

Unfortunately for our draft placement, I don't think we're as bad as the cellar dwellars that we are about to play in this homestand. I think we win today.

 

[glovesave_35]

He had four games with Spezza with either Cole or eaves as the LW before the super friends line was put together, since then he has had a few additional games with spezza but mostly with fiddler, just got put with Jamie and Seguin for the first time the last couple of games. There has been scoring chances just no finish. Hopefully with some weaker competition coming up our guys can get some confidence again, but if we have an abysmal homestand these next five game no clue where we go from their

So your take on his numbers boils down to some tough luck?

 

[beepeearr]

So your take on his numbers boils down to some tough luck?

No, but yeah there has been some tough luck in their at times, poor linemates too. Just saying he hasn't been playing with our top finishers all that much is all

 

[phil7488]

As someone else mentioned in the Trade thread, it's more than just being down two top 6 options. The team is being outpossessed badly and is in the bottom 3rd of the league in shots per game. That's indicative of the systems play and the lack of smart transition hockey that's being played.

+1. Our offense can be overly passive at times and it kills our shot totals. It's a systematical thing IMO. A competent D corps is vital to breakouts and possession and ours obviously isn't cutting it. Our transition game is awful especially between the blue lines. I was at the Wild game on Saturday and when Minn. went trap on us, we had no response. We just capitulated and quit trying.

 

[glovesave_35]

No, but yeah there has been some tough luck in their at times, poor linemates too. Just saying he hasn't been playing with our top finishers all that much is all

I would be inclined to agree with you on the linemates argument if he were setting up plays that went unfinished. That really hasn't been the case for most of the season.

 

[beepeearr]

I would be inclined to agree with you on the linemates argument if he were setting up plays that went unfinished. That really hasn't been the case for most of the season.

There have been times, especially when Cole was with them. The whole team just feels so out of sync, on offense, on defense, in goal. He's not helping at all though.

 

[VanPatten]

Is this how teams win games Ruff?

Having Spezza and Lehtonen in a pool I much preferred the start of the season where the Stars would win the odd game in high scoring games rather than losing every game while scoring two or three goals per game. I hope this is a jinx thread where the Stars prove me wrong by scoring five goals in the last half of tonight's game.

 

[Cin]

I wasnt a fan of the Ruff hiring to begin with but he got us into the playoffs so he still gets a pass from me.

Fire the **** out of the support staff though.

 

[M88K]

I wasnt a fan of the Ruff hiring to begin with but he got us into the playoffs so he still gets a pass from me.

Fire the **** out of the support staff though.

He didn't though. His record was no better than Gulutzan's full season.
Nashville lost Rinne and Phoenix lost Smith, we fell ass backward into the playoffs. We were a 8th-12th team before ruff got here, we just got some lucky breaks last season.
No free pass, the team is playing like **** and he's done nothing to improve things. His system isn't working, for that matter Fraser needs to GTFO too.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Thread title adjusted for clarity.

 

[Satan]

Thread title adjusted for clarity.

Thank McDavid

 

[piqued]

Titled re-adjusted because my titles don't get adjusted.

 

[Satan]

I see a power struggle developing

 

[Dr Pepper]

Thread title allowed to remain unadjusted, in order to maintain presence of calm in face of meltdown.

 

[piqued]

Yes, it's important that we don't panic in times like this. For God and Queen and all that.

 

[Satan]

Struggle averted for now.

 

[Mr Misty]

Is this how teams win games Ruff?

Having Spezza and Lehtonen in a pool I much preferred the start of the season where the Stars would win the odd game in high scoring games rather than losing every game while scoring two or three goals per game. I hope this is a jinx thread where the Stars prove me wrong by scoring five goals in the last half of tonight's game.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

[HiEverybody]

So I drafted Lehtonen in a fantasy league based on pre-season projections. Is he playing poorly, or is the Dallas defense around him? He's been terrible (number-wise) of late.

 

[Elysian]

No body cares about your pool/fantasy in this thread.