Laval Rocket: Utica Comets at Laval Rocket 7:00 pm - Watch on RDS.ca
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Sorry, I completely hadn’t noticed that Kidney was benched the last little while?
What happened?
Sean Farrell started out playing him.
I wonder what the lines will be surely Kidney isn't jumping into Roy's slot.
Tuch or Davidson graduate to that top line?
Yikes. That says a lot about his future here.
Wasn’t expecting much but at least some signs of progression... another Timmins special.
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habsprospects
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- Jul 21, 2022
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Its so stupid how Mesar is by far the most prolific offensive player with the best hands, the best vision and he's getting so little usage on the PP.
Just before the third goal for the comet, his line was on the O-zone the whole time then they changed and got scored immediatly.
So annoying
Just before the third goal for the comet, his line was on the O-zone the whole time then they changed and got scored immediatly.
So annoying
DAChampion
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There's no reason to prioritize Boulette's development.
ChesterNimitz
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Unfortunately I was able to watch the game last night and all I can say it was Laval's worse performance of the season. They were out skated, outworked and out-skilled by a rather mediocre Utica team. I've learned a few things in my long association with this game including: don't read too much into games that you win handily nor from those games where you lose badly. It was an overall poor/flat team performance and I will leave it at that. For what it's worth, I will provide, as I usually do, comments on the performance of our prospects, noting that no player, even our strongest prospects had a particularly strong game. But there were some positives, but far more negatives..
The two lines that obviously interested me most were the top line of Beck, Mesar and Davidson and the notionally fourth line of Florian Xhekaj, Tuch and Kidney. Both of these lines showed chemistry and hopefully the coaching staff will keep them together in order to see if that chemistry can be translated into production. Beck benefited with Mesar on his left wing as he now had a player who could read the play and pass to a zone into which Beck could exploit with his superior speed. Beck skated well in the game, made several rushes that created scoring opportunities, was effective on the forecheck causing turnovers and made several excellent passes in the offensive zone that provided his linemates with scoring opportunities. For whatever reason, Laval didn't use Beck on the first power play unit until the dying minutes of the game. His absence showed as Laval's power play was putrid principally because they had no one who could effectively transport the puck into the offensive zone. Beck was again just average on face offs. While Beck's line was easily Laval's most dangerous line last night, the bottom line is that they didn't score when such scoring was really needed in a game where the rest of the team largely played an uninspired game.
The two lines that obviously interested me most were the top line of Beck, Mesar and Davidson and the notionally fourth line of Florian Xhekaj, Tuch and Kidney. Both of these lines showed chemistry and hopefully the coaching staff will keep them together in order to see if that chemistry can be translated into production. Beck benefited with Mesar on his left wing as he now had a player who could read the play and pass to a zone into which Beck could exploit with his superior speed. Beck skated well in the game, made several rushes that created scoring opportunities, was effective on the forecheck causing turnovers and made several excellent passes in the offensive zone that provided his linemates with scoring opportunities. For whatever reason, Laval didn't use Beck on the first power play unit until the dying minutes of the game. His absence showed as Laval's power play was putrid principally because they had no one who could effectively transport the puck into the offensive zone. Beck was again just average on face offs. While Beck's line was easily Laval's most dangerous line last night, the bottom line is that they didn't score when such scoring was really needed in a game where the rest of the team largely played an uninspired game.
Davidson, who is showing increasing mobility, had another effective game doing what Davidson is quickly becoming known for: skating hard, playing physical, forechecking effectively having a strong net presence and never taking a shift off. Davidson complemented Beck and Mesar on what was Laval's best line last night and with a little puck luck could have had a couple of goals.
Mesar played an effective game skating well, making clever plays and competing hard. He's one of the few Laval players that has this creativity, skill and mobility to keep up with Beck and make plays that will take advantage of Beck's explosive speed. Mesar sees the play developing, anticipates the opportunities and can place a puck to an area that Beck can skate to it. Mesar has to get stronger, but if he is kept on a line with Beck, Mesar should flourish at this level.
Xhekaj had a mixed game, where he showed excellent straightforward speed without the puck, showed strong play along the board, displayed good net presence and made some clever passes in the offensive zone. Xhekaj and his linemates (Tuch and Kidney) had several effective shifts where they displayed speed, good puck movement ,physicality and an element of offensive spark and energy that was sorely missing from most Rocket players. However, unless he gets quicker, he has little chance of playing center effectively at the next level and his future with the Canadiens may well be limited to being a power forward who brings some skill.
Xhekaj had a mixed game, where he showed excellent straightforward speed without the puck, showed strong play along the board, displayed good net presence and made some clever passes in the offensive zone. Xhekaj and his linemates (Tuch and Kidney) had several effective shifts where they displayed speed, good puck movement ,physicality and an element of offensive spark and energy that was sorely missing from most Rocket players. However, unless he gets quicker, he has little chance of playing center effectively at the next level and his future with the Canadiens may well be limited to being a power forward who brings some skill.
Tuch had a fair game as he skated well and was a physical force. This kid will play in the NHL, but his offensive contributions will be limited. But he is, without question, a step faster than most players he is playing against in the AHL.
Kidney like his linemates played an effective game. Kidney's skating and strength along the boards is improving notably. Kidney has surprising skill and goes to the net fearlessly and was almost rewarded with a goal on several occasions as he charged the net. If this kid continues to improve he bares watching over the coming months.
Farrell was largely invisible in this game despite being granting playing time on Laval's first power play unit. Aside from a couple bursts of quickness, Farrell was largely irrelevant in this game as he was easily pushed off the puck.
If he played like an all-star in the previous game against Utica, Mailloux played like an ECHL player in this game. Frankly, Mailloux was horrible in this game. Slow, cumbersome, ineffective and a complete lack of effort were some of the notes I took describing Mailloux's play last night. Everyone's entitled to have a bad game, but this was a really bad game for Mailloux. He couldn't or wouldn't transport the puck on the power play and was beaten wide repeatedly during the game including a disastrously embarrassing play in the third period that led to Utica's third goal. Mailloux was caught out of position several times leading to odd man rushes against Laval. It was just a bad, bad game for this enigmatic player.
With Trudeau leaving the game with an injury, Engstrom was the only mobile defenceman Laval had. Engstrom played solidly, but couldn't supply enough dynamic push from the backend that Laval needed to change the flow of play in this frustrating game for the Rocket and their fans. He was steady in the defensive zone, transported the puck effectively when required and made several good passes in the offensive zone. If Trudeau is out long term, Engstrom, and the skating ability he brings, will become ever more important in Laval's chances for success.
Trudeau did not play during the last half of the game. I suspect it was as a result of an injury sustained when he delivered a huge open ice hit on a Utica forward. Trudeau is, in this writer's opinion, the most underrated defenceman/player on the Rocket. The absence of his dynamic skating, offensive flair and physicality was sorely missed as the game proceeded. With Jacobs already gone long term, if Trudeau is out of the line-up for any length of time, Laval will struggle. Their defence, even with Engstrom, is way too slow.
Farrell was largely invisible in this game despite being granting playing time on Laval's first power play unit. Aside from a couple bursts of quickness, Farrell was largely irrelevant in this game as he was easily pushed off the puck.
If he played like an all-star in the previous game against Utica, Mailloux played like an ECHL player in this game. Frankly, Mailloux was horrible in this game. Slow, cumbersome, ineffective and a complete lack of effort were some of the notes I took describing Mailloux's play last night. Everyone's entitled to have a bad game, but this was a really bad game for Mailloux. He couldn't or wouldn't transport the puck on the power play and was beaten wide repeatedly during the game including a disastrously embarrassing play in the third period that led to Utica's third goal. Mailloux was caught out of position several times leading to odd man rushes against Laval. It was just a bad, bad game for this enigmatic player.
With Trudeau leaving the game with an injury, Engstrom was the only mobile defenceman Laval had. Engstrom played solidly, but couldn't supply enough dynamic push from the backend that Laval needed to change the flow of play in this frustrating game for the Rocket and their fans. He was steady in the defensive zone, transported the puck effectively when required and made several good passes in the offensive zone. If Trudeau is out long term, Engstrom, and the skating ability he brings, will become ever more important in Laval's chances for success.
Trudeau did not play during the last half of the game. I suspect it was as a result of an injury sustained when he delivered a huge open ice hit on a Utica forward. Trudeau is, in this writer's opinion, the most underrated defenceman/player on the Rocket. The absence of his dynamic skating, offensive flair and physicality was sorely missed as the game proceeded. With Jacobs already gone long term, if Trudeau is out of the line-up for any length of time, Laval will struggle. Their defence, even with Engstrom, is way too slow.
I wish I had a better report.
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