Tomáš Plekanec: Mr. Everything

[SOLR]

Kostitsyn-Plekanec-Kovalev was a fantastic line

*Short memory

 

[417]

*Short memory

probably because it was so long ago...neither of those 2 players are even in the NHL anymore.

 

[habtastic]

probably because it was so long ago...neither of those 2 players are even in the NHL anymore.

Which has nothing to do with the question of who did Pleks EVER have chemistry with.

Since, he's been used in a decidedly defensive role and we've never really had top end wingers for him to play with, like Kovalev and Kostitsyn. Then, Cammy came along and the two were dynamite.

When he's played with Pacioretty, I've found them to have good chemistry -- They like scoring off the rush. There's a pattern. Problem is when he either gets put with grinders or Gionta prototypes. I love Gally, but he fits that mold. They both put up goals, and Pleks does get points, but they're not his ideal linemates.

Same goes for Eller. I thought he, AK, and surprisingly Moen were great. Then they got separated (it wasn't THAT long ago). Then the EGG line was awesome. Got separated.

Put skill guys together and things will happen. Only exception is Chucky, though I think his skill is still raw/better suited to what Pleks would do on that line, i.e., as a centre.

 

[phoque taupe]

 

[Team_Spirit]

Pleky is in town for the Grand Prix.

Haters gonna hate.

 

[Richiebottles]

Pleky is in town for the Grand Prix.

Haters gonna hate.

Cleaning out his house and retrieving Peggy no doubt.

 

[Nynja*]

But I thought Plekanec spends his entire offseason in Kladno with his family sucking down the popular local beers?

 

[yianik]

Pleky is in town for the Grand Prix.

Haters gonna hate.

That his wife ? Didn't know if he was married.

 

[Ezpz]

That his wife ? Didn't know if he was married.

Doesn't look like his wife. Could be store employee.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucie_Vondráčková

that's his wife.

 

[Kriss E]

Parasuco still exists?..

 

[habtastic]

That his wife ? Didn't know if he was married.

His wife is about as famous (if not more) that he is in the Czech.

 

[waffledave]

Pleky is in town for the Grand Prix.

Haters gonna hate.

Did Parasuco not close down? I thought they went out of business.

 

[Foltronic]

I think he gets 70ish points if he plays top line mins all year alongside Pacioretty. He has to be the most underrated Habs player I've ever watched. I'll cry if he's traded lol.

 

[habdynasty]

If only he had played with Mario Lemieux he would be a 100 point player . So over rated .

 

[groovejuice]

If only he had played with Mario Lemieux he would be a 100 point player . So over rated .

Especially playing with Gionta all those seasons. He should have been a point a game player.

 

[Foltronic]

If only he had played with Mario Lemieux he would be a 100 point player . So over rated .

I think he'd at least have 200 points maybe 300

 

[Big Lurk]

maybe 300

Bang bang.

 

[Big Lurk]

Especially playing with Gionta all those seasons. He should have been a point a game player.

Gionta still put up 29 goals.
We need a deflection specialist! Badly.

 

[groovejuice]

Gionta still put up 29 goals.
We need a deflection specialist! Badly.

No-one goes to the paint except Gally. And he's always too close and therefore tied up for the deflection. He needs to be in the slot a bit higher. He can always move in with a push.

 

[habtastic]

I think he gets 70ish points if he plays top line mins all year alongside Pacioretty. He has to be the most underrated Habs player I've ever watched. I'll cry if he's traded lol.

Dunno if you were being sarcastic, but I agree with you in terms of a fluctuating opinion on this board. Beginning of the season, he was a golden god. Now he's ready to be put out to pasture. He was another reason we had such a good season, but also a player who didn't have a great playoffs -- again something I chalk up to a system that is just not suited to our players. Gallagher fought tooth and nail to produce (who was centering him for the most part again?) and it was always garbagy-type goals (though absolutely credit to Gally - that's what you need). Everyone else was lost offensively, and our best chances came from him. Maybe if we generated more chances, the missed ones wouldn't be so damning.

Because we're set up to score so little, we have such a low margin of error for missing scoring opportunities. I would like to see at least 1 season with DD gone, and with Galchenyuk and Eller being put into solid C positions, or keeping Eller where he is and having Pleks play with Patch from the start. I really think we'd see a very productive Plekanec. Give Eller the tough shutdown minutes that he's shown to be great at, leave the development of Chucky on the 2nd line.

If only DD had the bowels of BB.

 

[habtastic]

Gionta still put up 29 goals.
We need a deflection specialist! Badly.

So you're saying that Pleks Centered even slap happy Gionta to 29 goals, and that's a...bad thing?

Please tell me who has been excelling in the last two years at C. Just who?

He's scored 20 goals every season since being a regular except in tank year when he scored 17. The only legit winger we've given him since Kovalev is Cammy, and the two were very good together. The years where he was given an offensive role, he's been a 60-70 pt guy. Since then, he's been deployed as second fiddle to Gomez/DD in a defensive role. 26g, 60pts, this year, the year of the scoring drought...

 

[Foltronic]

No sarcasm, Pleky is our number one C. With Patches and whoever else on RW, the guy will produce at a 1st line clip, 70ish pts.

 

[Cole Caulifield]

Dunno if you were being sarcastic, but I agree with you in terms of a fluctuating opinion on this board. Beginning of the season, he was a golden god. Now he's ready to be put out to pasture. He was another reason we had such a good season, but also a player who didn't have a great playoffs -- again something I chalk up to a system that is just not suited to our players. Gallagher fought tooth and nail to produce (who was centering him for the most part again?) and it was always garbagy-type goals (though absolutely credit to Gally - that's what you need). Everyone else was lost offensively, and our best chances came from him. Maybe if we generated more chances, the missed ones wouldn't be so damning.

Because we're set up to score so little, we have such a low margin of error for missing scoring opportunities. I would like to see at least 1 season with DD gone, and with Galchenyuk and Eller being put into solid C positions, or keeping Eller where he is and having Pleks play with Patch from the start. I really think we'd see a very productive Plekanec. Give Eller the tough shutdown minutes that he's shown to be great at, leave the development of Chucky on the 2nd line.

If only DD had the bowels of BB.

I guess MT's system was preventing Plekanec from being a good playoffs player before MT even got here.

I guess MT's system prevented Plekanec from being a "golden god" in the regular season.

I guess MT's system made Plekanec do these awful awful unforgivable giveaways in game 3 and 6 against the lightning, or miss those empty nets in game 6 ?

So much easier to blame MT...

Plekanec had a really good season and disappeared in the playoffs as he usually does... and it has nothing to do with MT.

 

[Ohashi_Jouzu*]

I guess MT's system was preventing Plekanec from being a good playoffs player before MT even got here.

That would be a horrible guess, obviously. In any event, Plekanec is the franchise's leading playoff scorer of the entire decade following the '04/05 stoppage. Make of that what you will. If he's not the guy to lean on in the post season, maybe, despite being an excellent player, the franchise shouldn't have leaned on him for so long in the post season...

I guess MT's system prevented Plekanec from being a "golden god" in the regular season.

This guess is a little bit better, so you're improving. But the reality is that MT's system prevents EVERYONE from being a golden god, not just guys like Plekanec who aren't to begin with (though his biggest critics love to play him up as one pretty often, when it suits the commentary).

I guess MT's system made Plekanec do these awful awful unforgivable giveaways in game 3 and 6 against the lightning, or miss those empty nets in game 6 ?

Best guess so far! Bumps you up to a passing grade. The gap between defense and forwards under Therrien was such that stretch passes were relied on, and puck carriers quickly found themselves on an island without support, leading to ill-advised passes and rushed decisions. Eller was one of the worst for basically clearing opponents' zones for them by throwing pucks back between trailers on the rush or defensemen inside the offensive zone. No support + tenacious pressure = turnovers and poor passing decisions.

So much easier to blame MT...

So much harder to absolve him of any blame, though. He's the coach.

 

[habtastic]

I guess MT's system was preventing Plekanec from being a good playoffs player before MT even got here.

I guess MT's system prevented Plekanec from being a "golden god" in the regular season.

I guess MT's system made Plekanec do these awful awful unforgivable giveaways in game 3 and 6 against the lightning, or miss those empty nets in game 6 ?

So much easier to blame MT...

Plekanec had a really good season and disappeared in the playoffs as he usually does... and it has nothing to do with MT.

I'm not sure what you want from your 2nd line checking centre who plays big minutes and works the PK, but the system has gotten worse over time. Has Pleks really been that bad in the role I just described?

Since being put in this role:

GP G A PTS
09-10: 19 4 7 11 (I think he was terrific that year with Cammy. Nobody else could feed him the way that Pleks did)

10-11: 7 2 3 5 (The ill-fated boston series. Decent points for a 7 game series and were it not for Ryder, would have probably been a series win, and another goal of course)

12-13: 4 assists. Not good by any means, but that was a horrible series for a broken down team.

13-14: 17 4 5 9 (Might not reflect huge totals, but his savvy was crucial to beating Tampa, and if that "doesn't count", then Boston at least)

14-15: 12 1 3 4 (I'll admit he was poor, mainly cuz he missed 2 huge chances in the Tampa series. He wasn't the only one, and again, this puck of the glass then retreat sht, I can't believe we scored at all)

I guess MT's system prevented Plekanec from being a "golden god" in the regular season.

He was much more effective towards the beginning, scoring and otherwise. Remember that NHL.com article. It was going pretty well for him. As the year went on, I felt like it was a combination of both him not finishing as much, DD preferential treatment, and us 'transitioning' closer to a 'Pricer stop da puck' mentality. I just don't think he's optimized in MT's system whether he scored or didn't. I thought he was really effective offensively under Carbo, who used him as such and with pure skill wingers.

I guess MT's system made Plekanec do these awful awful unforgivable giveaways in game 3 and 6 against the lightning, or miss those empty nets in game 6 ?

What Ohashi said. EVERYONE was throwing stuff up the middle. It was...systemic. I can't fathom that given his veteran instincts, he would have made those plays unless trained to do something as stupid as that. He wasn't known for it before, and then you had Subban, Eller, Patches, everyone seeming to do it.

The empty nets is what I meant by him being defined by the very few good chances we got that were flubbed. It really stands out when the team has 3-4 of those a game. Maybe less

Agree to disagree on him "disappearing". I thought there were many players who he played better than, but overall our offense was just depressing. Pacioretty will get a pass because (perhaps deservedly) the concussion, but he still didn't show up for game 6 after apparently having shook it off, and he's the guy we're supposed to be leaning on. I understand that we need more concrete production from him (pleks), not just creating chances, but I don't think it's indicative of him naturally being incapable of production. And again, unleash this team and I guarantee it is better than the way it's being coached.

If we're going to depend on him for scoring, then put him in a position to do so, with Eller having developed nicely as a 3C (though with room to grow). Unfortunately everything does lead back to DD.