I think Luff is let go or sits. He's cooled off. Dickinson has played well and his speed is an asset. I wouldnt be opposed to Laferriere being loaned out to the Everblades.
Good question. Lots of bodies.
Thunderbirds 2024-25
- Thread starter execwrite1
- Start date
-
Work is still on-going to rebuild the site styling and features. Please report any issues you may experience so we can look into it. Click Here for Updates
Good question. Lots of bodies.
ChicagoBlues
Terraformers
- Oct 24, 2006
- 16,942
- 7,565
Totally. Dickinson and Laferriere have not differentiated themselves from the others.
I keep wanting to give him some grace missing a year, but the window is closing on Dickinson.
ChicagoBlues
Terraformers
- Oct 24, 2006
- 16,942
- 7,565
Same. The grace is running out and the Blues have supported him all the way. He is what he is. It’s all good, Tanner. Hopefully, he can carve out an AHL career and make some decent money doing so. Any guy of his caliber has a chance of playing his cup of tea in the NHL when he’s like 27 y/o. If he can be more than an A/E tweener, then that’s good for him. That’s a win.
Memento
Future Authoress.
Dickinson was a fourth-round pick who was drafted in the Covid year and had a bad leg injury the following year, costing him almost three years in total (the OHL didn't really play during the Covid year). Laferriere was a sixth-round pick a while back.
Even being career AHLers with a lone cup of coffee in the NHL is a win for them as players, and it shows just how hard it is to be an NHL player.
Even being career AHLers with a lone cup of coffee in the NHL is a win for them as players, and it shows just how hard it is to be an NHL player.
ChicagoBlues
Terraformers
- Oct 24, 2006
- 16,942
- 7,565
Totally! It's no knock on these guys at all. It's just really hard to make the NHL. Dickinson is fast and has some puck skills, so maybe he can build on that.
Stupendous Yappi
Idiot Control Now!
Best possible outcome = Dvorsky is a Black Ace in a few months.
Stenberg is in the line up! Going to skate with McGing and Robertsson.
Bridgeport came to play this time. Very tight checking first with excellent pace. Not much room out there. Outside of some D turnovers by the T birds, not many chances.
My initial impression is a good one for Otto. He can really skate. Plays 200 feet. He will do well at this level and probably pretty quick. He and Robertsson will be fun to watch together. Great pace.
Feel sorry for Peterson as he goes to the 4th line, but Bitten and Dickinson were really putting on the heat and getting that offensive zone faceoff. Fun game to watch.
My initial impression is a good one for Otto. He can really skate. Plays 200 feet. He will do well at this level and probably pretty quick. He and Robertsson will be fun to watch together. Great pace.
Feel sorry for Peterson as he goes to the 4th line, but Bitten and Dickinson were really putting on the heat and getting that offensive zone faceoff. Fun game to watch.
Stenberg goal!!!! Wow what a play. Watch for that highlight!
ChicagoBlues
Terraformers
- Oct 24, 2006
- 16,942
- 7,565
Stenberg's 1st T-Birds goal!!
His pass to McGing was a beauty and then he crossed back over for the return from McGing.
His pass to McGing was a beauty and then he crossed back over for the return from McGing.
TheOrganist
Don't Call Him Alex
- Feb 21, 2006
- 4,708
- 2,509
LGB
Registered User
- Feb 4, 2019
- 2,399
- 2,578
AHL site is showing it unassisted now. I think it may change as Robertsson and Stenberg both should get assist.
LGB
Registered User
- Feb 4, 2019
- 2,399
- 2,578
bleedblue1223
Registered User
- Jan 21, 2011
- 53,176
- 16,928
A few observations from the game.
1sr shift someone runs Ellis and Robertsson goes right after them. I like seeing that. 2 minutes or not don’t touch our goalie. Another strong game for Robertsson. Watch for a 3-4 goal explosion with the McGing Simon Otto line. It will happen. Otto is a NHL player.
Kessel has just seemed to have lost his way. He showed some promise and now the puck and pressure are just too much? Skinner in my eyes has passed him at right D.
The first PP needs to be a little less obvious. Dvo is going to shoot and the goalie is cheating badly. He did make one of the best saves this year on Dvo, but they need a fake give and go or something. Dvo has a laser but the goalie isn’t worried about any other shots coming. Need to let Kaski shoot as well on the other side.
Mac Mac is just a good 4th line player and no doubt he could still do it in a pinch for the Blues. His skills are limited but just a good hockey player to learn from at this point.
1sr shift someone runs Ellis and Robertsson goes right after them. I like seeing that. 2 minutes or not don’t touch our goalie. Another strong game for Robertsson. Watch for a 3-4 goal explosion with the McGing Simon Otto line. It will happen. Otto is a NHL player.
Kessel has just seemed to have lost his way. He showed some promise and now the puck and pressure are just too much? Skinner in my eyes has passed him at right D.
The first PP needs to be a little less obvious. Dvo is going to shoot and the goalie is cheating badly. He did make one of the best saves this year on Dvo, but they need a fake give and go or something. Dvo has a laser but the goalie isn’t worried about any other shots coming. Need to let Kaski shoot as well on the other side.
Mac Mac is just a good 4th line player and no doubt he could still do it in a pinch for the Blues. His skills are limited but just a good hockey player to learn from at this point.
taylord22
Registered User
- Mar 30, 2009
- 1,589
- 477
Didn’t watch last night’s game - always appreciate your observations.
The games I have seen lately though, I completely agree. He’s getting the Ovie treatment from both his teammates and the opposition.
In addition to putting a righty opposite, I’d like to see them throw Otto out there and let Dvorsky roam toward the goal line when Otto is threatening 1T. They did this in Sudbury last year and Dvorsky consistently surprised goaltenders with how sharp of an angle he could shoot from.
Zherenko hasn’t shown up yet in goal. Kessel won’t let him see the puck anyway. 2-0 providence 1st period.
Uh…3-0. Bitten with a good fight
Uh…3-0. Bitten with a good fight
- Jul 4, 2014
- 8,170
- 8,893
For those who are able to watch, Springfield is playing Lehigh Valley at 6:00 CT on Friday on NHL Network.
Brian39
Registered User
- Apr 24, 2014
- 7,729
- 14,695
To be clear, I'm not in favor of rushing him to the NHL or bringing him up now. The only way I want him up later on this year is if he continues taking steps forward and finds a level above his current level of play.
With that said, I really, really, really don't think that the fanbase is going to run him out of town and make him the new whipping boy based on anything he does (or doesn't do) at the NHL level this year (or next year if you're referring to hopes/plans of having him as the 3C out of camp in the fall). Neighbours was an exceedingly incomplete player as a 20 year old through 43 games in 2022/23 and the fanbase in general overlooked tons of his deficiencies in part because of his age. Kyrou wasn't a generalized whipping boy during his first couple NHL stints when he was 20 and 21. Thomas was far from a complete player through 70 games in his D+2 season and he wasn't remotely a whipping boy even in the first half of the season that was an outright disaster. I think the fanbase here in general gives a good amount of leash to rookies when there are obvious holes in their game.
Additionally, while Dvorsky is far from a complete player at this stage of his career, I do think that his current offensive ability will translate to modestly successful NHL production whenever he gets here. I'd expect him to score at a higher rate than the 11 goal, 20-25 point paces that Neighbours/Kyrou had in their first 50ish career NHL games. His shot might be currently better than anyone currently on the roster and he's got the size/strength to not get killed at the NHL level. Our current 3C and 4C are both currently playing at a 7 goal and 20 point pace. Warts and all, I don't believe that Dvorsky would be an overall downgrade from what we currently have. Worse defensively, but with surplus offensive ability to help make the 3rd line somewhat of a threat to score.
Again, this is not a call to bring him up now. I think that the AHL is currently the best place for him to develop and unless he takes a step (or more) in the next 6-8 weeks then I think that will remain true all season. But I don't have any real concerns about the fanbase turning on him based on what he does in the NHL as a rookie. I have seen enough NHL skills to convince me that he won't be an outright disaster of an NHL player (in a limited role) whenever he does get here and I think outright disaster is the line where the fanbase would start to turn on him.
I don't watch nearly as much AHL as you do, but when I have watched I certainly haven't seen a completely invisible or deeply flawed player. He has bad nights and bad shifts for sure, but he has also had more than his fair share of good shifts and good nights. He's not lucking into his production or converting exclusively on plays that won't translate to the NHL. At 19, he is his team's leading scorer in the league that is closest to the NHL in terms of talent and playstyle. For all the 'NHL negative' aspects to his game at the moment, there are absolutely a good amount of 'NHL plus' aspects too. I'm not expecting him to jump into a 3C role and immediately score at a 25 goal, 60 point pace while being an NHL average player off the puck. But I do think that he could come in and play at a 15-20 goal, 40 point pace while being below average but not disastrous off the puck.
I think right now, there is a pretty reasonable chance that on merit, he is better suited to play a 3C role than Sunny or Faksa. I also think that he has the shot to be among the 8 best forward options to put on a PP unit. Because let's face it, the bar for being the 3rd best center and good enough to be the last forward earning PP time on this team is pretty low. We only have 2 centers with 4+ goals and only 6 forwards with 3+ PP points. Barring an acquisition that changes our center depth chart, I would not expect him to riding the pine if he were to be called up and I think that would be a merit decision and not a 'play the prospect' decision.
Last edited:
