Player Discussion - Stuart Skinner | Page 50 | HFBoards - NHL Message Board and Forum for National Hockey League

Player Discussion Stuart Skinner

I gotta say though, the entertainment factor of being in the final 4, showcasing the Skinner we had to deal with for half a decade, and all the endless memes, jokes and laughs that has spawned from it, kinda makes up for the terrible feeling of losing. Pure comedy

Now the nhl fanbase knows our crutch. Our sterotype is a team that doesn't defend, all offense and rush attack, hence why we always fall short. But now, the light has shone the truth, that we have a joke of a starter, with a shtty unaccountable attitude that would've had us golfing after round 1 if not for Pickard
 
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Remove the 80's goalies when save percentages hovered around .885 and your left with 2020's Stuart Skinner.
 
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When they mention the below stats on the radio yesterday and said if you had to pick who would have those numbers going into game 4, there probably weren't a lot of people betting on Skinner having the .930. Just some already around impressive play from Skinner as of late. Can even see the bench has such a positive vibe now when they realize they made a mistake and Skinner was there to back them up

.930 2.01
.842 4.02
 
He is showing he is a good system goalie, which makes sense. Big guy who can square up in the net when shots are coming from expected areas. And the Oilers are playing a good defensive system right now. Totally a harmonious pairing right now.

I don't think he will ever be a good goalie in a wide open back and forth, particularly with his lack of side to side mobility. When the Oilers play to his weakness, he will continue to be weak.,

This may make him a better PO goalie than a regular season goalie, since I don't think any team can play this system the whole season. Nor do I want the Oilers to play this system the whole season, since it is hard work.

Or a bad team goalie, who steals wins from team like the Oilers, during the regular season since those are their PO games.
 
Coming in here as one of Skinner's critics who has said several times that I hope Skinner never plays another game.

To eat some crow, Stuart Skinner since being pulled in vs. Vancouver last year has gone 14-10 in his last 24 starts with a 2.22 GAA and 0.912 Save Percentage while putting up a quality start rate of 0.708 (Quality Start being games with .900 save percentage or better) .

Still don't love that he's averages a Really Bad Start (<.850 save percentage) once every four games, but really the above numbers are good enough to win.

A lot of the credit needs to go to the players executing in ways to limit what he struggles with and forcing the available plays to becomes ones he's more capable of saving, but really a 24 game stretch of hockey with those numbers exclusively against really great hockey teams deserves some credit, and I'd even suggest a little bit of a leash from us that he shouldn't be crucifed the next time he has a bad game or two.
 
I'm not gonna eat Skinner crow until I see this against a team other than Dallas. He ate Dallas last season and this one. Dallas have zero scoring confidence in playoffs and its invariably how they die every postseason. Just can't score. Against any goalie. Been a lot of pad stuffing and missing nets outright from Dallas. Duchene, Rants etc also missing nets or hitting posts on wide open looks or D are saving goals.

The mirage is that Skinner is suddenly excellent. It has to do with the two teams on the ice. Not gonna overlook either that the Oilers would already be cup winners in previous season had they had better goaltending. Hopefully it lasts this time.
 
I'm not gonna eat Skinner crow until I see this against a team other than Dallas. He ate Dallas last season and this one. Dallas have zero scoring confidence in playoffs and its invariably how they die every postseason. Just can't score. Against any goalie. Been a lot of pad stuffing and missing nets outright from Dallas. Duchene, Rants etc also missing nets or hitting posts on wide open looks or D are saving goals.

The mirage is that Skinner is suddenly excellent. It has to do with the two teams on the ice. Not gonna overlook either that the Oilers would already be cup winners in previous season had they had better goaltending. Hopefully it lasts this time.

That's certainly fair with 10 of the 24 games being vs Dallas, but he really wan't a problem vs. Florida and was solid closing our Vancouver and Vegas in the final 2 games each year. Keep in mind all we've been asking for is .900 goaltending. Even excluding the Dallas games since that pull vs. Vancouver last year, he's 2.49 and .899 despite there being a few absolutely atrocious performances buried in there.

No way am I saying he's a superstar, but I'm saying he's earned at least a little bit of slack and while I agree we may already have a cup had we had a better goalie, that's not really Skinner's fault.
 
That's certainly fair with 10 of the 24 games being vs Dallas, but he really wan't a problem vs. Florida and was solid closing our Vancouver and Vegas in the final 2 games each year. Keep in mind all we've been asking for is .900 goaltending. Even excluding the Dallas games since that pull vs. Vancouver last year, he's 2.49 and .899 despite there being a few absolutely atrocious performances buried in there.

No way am I saying he's a superstar, but I'm saying he's earned at least a little bit of slack and while I agree we may already have a cup had we had a better goalie, that's not really Skinner's fault.
You're more readily forgiving than I am. heh. Takes me a bit more time. Thats comedic understatement on my part.

But yeah. I really do feel like we would've had two cups already. Important, crucial, to at least get this one.

He's a strange guy though. Hard to peg. People have asked with his anxiety background how does he get better as the pressure amps up? Just because the latter is in my wheelhouse I'll surmise he doesn't suffer from an actual anxiety disorder (as some have mentioned) but more he just developed calming measures to deal with the stress of the position Sometimes it works for him and sometimes I feel it could cost him too. Being zen state is non evaluative. Its more about acceptance, and its atypical applied to some extent with the fastest sport in the world. On the other side Skinner has learned to use it to reset That aspect appears to work well for him from game to game, but not within games.

I'll credit Skinner for at least learning, knowing and using these approaches. Whatever works.
 
I'll credit Skinner for at least learning, knowing and using these approaches. Whatever works.
I’ll credit Skinner with not completely imploding like Campbell did. He may avoid SM etc, but he had to have known what the fans were saying about him. The pressure taking the ice must have been enormous. Yet he somehow sucked it up and turned it around. I don’t care if it’s team defense, or luck, or an actual reset of his brain. We just need it to continue for about five or six more games.
 
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I’ll credit Skinner with not completely imploding like Campbell did. He may avoid SM etc, but he had to have known what the fans were saying about him. The pressure taking the ice must have been enormous. Yet he somehow sucked it up and turned it around. I don’t care if it’s team defense, or luck, or an actual reset of his brain. We just need it to continue for about five or six more games.
I think the rest of the games including tonight will be tough. Dallas went out last time throwing everything at us and not getting anything in the elimination game. Something tells me tonight they get goals. Oilers will have to dig for this one.
 

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