Player Discussion The Slaf Thread - Parabolic Growth Edition

[Ozmodiar]

Slaf lost an edge and fell when trying to change angle to block the pass that went to Miller.

He didn’t lose an edge. lol

He was pivoting one way, realized he was moving the wrong way, tried to stop mid pivot and go the other way … and fell down. It happens.

If he “lost an edge”, just call every fall “lost an edge”. Make them synonymous.

 

[JustAHabFan]

Where is the Slaf from last year?

 

[morhilane]

Where is the Slaf from last year?

Going by MSL saying last game was one of Slaf's best game, looks like he's not as far away as you believe he is.

 

[Thomas Sowell]

Demidov = Kane
Suzuki = Toews
Slafkovsy = Hossa
Caufield = Sharp
Hutson = Keith
Reinbacher = Seabrook
Guhle = Hjalmarsson

Laine = Panarin ?

 

[Canadienna]

Love the attitude. No defensiveness, no evading the question, just being honest about his struggles, despite being decently productive on a team on a run of wins.

People think it's just a switch to turn on, but "skating better" and driving the net also involves executing on a number of other things to be successful. He's figuring it out.

Youngest player on the team still...

 

[ReHabs]

Love the attitude. No defensiveness, no evading the question, just being honest about his struggles, despite being decently productive on a team on a run of wins.

People think it's just a switch to turn on, but "skating better" and driving the net also involves executing on a number of other things to be successful. He's figuring it out.

Youngest player on the team still...

How interesting, the player himself points to precisely what has changed in his game for the worse. I love his candour and self-awareness and it seems he knows precisely what he has to work on.

Meanwhile the commentator chorus have been consistently insisting that 1) nothing was wrong, 2) nothing changed, 3) if anything changed, his decline was normal and expected, 4) it was impatience and bad fandom to blame for his decline, and 5) he's actually in fact having a good season and bad fans just don't appreciate it.

Thank goodness Slafkovsky has more integrity and disagrees with the chorus.

 

[sampollock]

KH said as well. more is expected in the presser

 

[Canadienna]

How interesting, the player himself points to precisely what has changed in his game for the worse. I love his candour and self-awareness and it seems he knows precisely what he has to work on.

Meanwhile the commentator chorus have been consistently insisting that 1) nothing was wrong, 2) nothing changed, 3) if anything changed, his decline was normal and expected, 4) it was impatience and bad fandom to blame for his decline, and 5) he's actually in fact having a good season and bad fans just don't appreciate it.

Thank goodness Slafkovsky has more integrity and disagrees with the chorus.

If you're at all interested in some advice, advice that I've been given and needed on HFBoards:

Worry less about convincing people of perfectly rational things. If it seems like someone is trolling, they probably are. If someone is claiming something completely illogical, then be confident in knowing most rational people will see it as such.

Also, not to say those opinions haven't been expressed, but I don't feel like it's been "the chorus", and I doubt their proponents would describe them as such.

Slaf is one of the most important parts of the rebuild imo, and he knows, Kent Hughes knows, and I think most Habs fans know that he can play better.

 

[ReHabs]

If you're at all interested in some advice, advice that I've been given and needed on HFBoards:

Worry less about convincing people of perfectly rational things. If it seems like someone is trolling, they probably are. If someone is claiming something completely illogical, then be confident in knowing most rational people will see it as such.

Also, not to say those opinions haven't been expressed, but I don't feel like it's been "the chorus", and I doubt their proponents would describe them as such.

Of course they'd deny they're a chorus -- they're probably trolling, after all.

Thanks for your words of advice, I appreciate it actually.

Slaf is one of the most important parts of the rebuild imo, and he knows, Kent Hughes knows, and I think most Habs fans know that he can play better.

Well said

 

[Sorinth]

How interesting, the player himself points to precisely what has changed in his game for the worse. I love his candour and self-awareness and it seems he knows precisely what he has to work on.

Meanwhile the commentator chorus have been consistently insisting that 1) nothing was wrong, 2) nothing changed, 3) if anything changed, his decline was normal and expected, 4) it was impatience and bad fandom to blame for his decline, and 5) he's actually in fact having a good season and bad fans just don't appreciate it.

Thank goodness Slafkovsky has more integrity and disagrees with the chorus.

A lot of the nothing's wrong, be patient commentary is precisely because Slaf is a guy who will work on and fix the issues as they arise.

 

[River Meadow]

Love the attitude. No defensiveness, no evading the question, just being honest about his struggles, despite being decently productive on a team on a run of wins.

People think it's just a switch to turn on, but "skating better" and driving the net also involves executing on a number of other things to be successful. He's figuring it out.

Youngest player on the team still...

There you have it folks,

Slaf himself says he's playing badly.

 

[waitin425]

There you have it folks,

Slaf himself says he's playing badly.

And I love the awareness he has about it. Shows maturity beyond his years.

 

[Egresch]

There you have it folks,

Slaf himself says he's playing badly.

Sure, but there is a huge difference between playing badly and being bad player. What you and bunch of others have been saying is that he is not a good player.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Going by MSL saying last game was one of Slaf's best game, looks like he's not as far away as you believe he is.

Expecting break out from Slaf is a reach at this stage. It's going to be modest gains season/season as he heads towards age 23+ which will be his prime start IMO.

His development is deeper than just goals and assists and it's going to be a process. Expect up/down movement several times before he reaches his prime.

Sure, but there is a huge difference between playing badly and being bad player. What you and bunch of others have been saying is that he is not a good player.

Those same fans were on the back of MSL a month ago as well. Created a "coaching is a serious problem" thread.

We are always searching for the next target to devalue

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

I think Cooley and Hutson are ahead of Slafkovsky but I'm never going to rip the pick because I wasn't a big fan of Cooley in his draft year.

Would've hated to spend the #1 pick on an undersized center who played like a hot dog and had a good but not historical season on a very good USDP team. I also thought he was getting carried by Hutson who I was a big fan of in his draft year.

A lesson to me not to discredit elite puck skills just because the player is a showoff vs weaker competition, same reason I didn't like Will Smith

 

[Tabarouette]

There you have it folks,

Slaf himself says he's playing badly.

I hope his defense force slams him for not knowing what he's talking about

 

[Andy]

I hope his defense force slams him for not knowing what he's talking about

I honestly haven't seen many people say he's playing well overall this season.

In fact, most people have been saying he's lacked the intensity that made him successful last season.

What his defenders are defending against are notions of low-IQ, wrong draft pick, and bad fundamentals for an offensive forward. They are also defending against those doubting he is a top 6 player and doubt he has 1st line potential.

The defenses aren't saying he's playing great. The defenses are against a narrative that is using his bad play to say he is a bad player, the wrong pick, and his future is doomed.

To summarize what the defense force is saying: yeah, he hasn't looked good this year. The biggest issue is lack of intensity. But we are not too concerned right now because he showed that he can play with intensity and great physical strength. There isnt a reason right now to think he can't return to that form considering what he showed.

 

[Shutdown]

There you have it folks,

Slaf himself says he's playing badly.

I hope his defense force slams him for not knowing what he's talking about

no one's saying he's playing to the standard he set as of November of last year. this isn't the gotcha that some of you guys think it is.

as fans, it's still ok to want him to do well and to look for the positives in his game.
good for him for being hard on himself and holding himself accountable, but he's not a net negative on the team and he shouldn't be treated as such - as some continuously do.

 

[Rapala]

I hope Slaf was taking notes on Kirby Dach's play on that PP in OT.
Made himself a big target on that left post for the tap in and then took away Lankinen's eyes with movement form left to right on the game winner. Just the other day it was suggested that Suzuki needs to shoot more when cruising in from that right point position. I pointed out that Suzuki will rarely shoot if the goaltender sees it all the way. His shot was timed perfectly thanks to Kirby Dach's play. Slaf has not yet grasped these finer offensive details IMO.

 

[boompuffboom]

i just want to say it again-

he needs to shorten his stick, and better tape job.

 

[BLONG7]

The organization knows that his progress is not linear............the kid is still going to be a beast of a player. Very smart in realizing what he needs to do on a more consistent basis.
Mature beyond his years............

Go back to draft day..............they said they took Slaf because they felt he may not be the best player that day, but he would become the best player drafted in the top of the draft.

Lane Hutson going in the 2nd round, in a draft do over, may now be the #1 guy and now we have em both!!

 

[Team_Spirit]

i just want to say it again-

he needs to shorten his stick, and better tape job.

Why

His stick is already too short and it's the same tape job as Jamie Benn and Pastrnak.

 

[boompuffboom]

shorter stick = lessen the blind man's cane syndrom = better positioning defensively.
also, shorter stick = harder on puck on boards, better center of gravity, because knees bent a few degrees more, thus summoning more strength from the core + legs. = better absorb hits and keep puck on stick, which would be even better if he had a better tape job.

also shorter stick = more control, better tape job = better control.
better 1 timers, less bouncy puck, easier to snapshot (vibration absorbed by tape), lessen the % of puck hopping over blade while u sweep, pass.

basically get more of the player's body involved in the whole process of playing hockey.

=D

sometimes it feels like he wants to play banda rather than play hockey in the nhl.

just my 2 cents, still love the kid, hope he keeps developing.

 

[ahmedou]

Hater media: “Individually, what were some of the good things that you did…”

Juraj Slafkovsky: “Good?! Oh f***…”

 

[DAChampion]

shorter stick = lessen the blind man's cane syndrom = better positioning defensively.
also, shorter stick = harder on puck on boards, better center of gravity, because knees bent a few degrees more, thus summoning more strength from the core + legs. = better absorb hits and keep puck on stick, which would be even better if he had a better tape job.

also shorter stick = more control, better tape job = better control.
better 1 timers, less bouncy puck, easier to snapshot (vibration absorbed by tape), lessen the % of puck hopping over blade while u sweep, pass.

basically get more of the player's body involved in the whole process of playing hockey.

=D

sometimes it feels like he wants to play banda rather than play hockey in the nhl.

just my 2 cents, still love the kid, hope he keeps developing.

I think that if it were that simple he would have already shortened his stick.