Player Discussion Zac Rinaldo II

[Bruwinz37]

I chuckle a little when I read some of these posts about the B's not having guys that are "tough" in the fighting sense. When are people going to understand that's not what it's about? I love gritty, physical hockey, but having a fighter or two doesn't make you a "tough" team. It's a mentality, an attitude, where every guy on the roster 1-22 is willing to do whatever it takes to win, and stands up for one another whether they are fighters or not. If a guy can fight AND play AND has that attitude, I'm interested, otherwise pass. That's what the B's need to get back to, not more goons that can't play.

I'm selfish, I want "tough" guys that have skills too.

They don't have enough of either toughness.

 

[Michel Beauchamp]

There are lots of tough players out there who can both fight and play.

Randell: 6 goals in 27 games.
Acciari: 0 goals in 19 games.
Talbot: 2 goals in 38 games.
Kemppainen: 2 goals in 44 games.
Ferraro: 5 goals in 58 games.

Maybe if they let him play more he could develop. It's easy to sit here and say that he's this and that, but when a guy doesn't get much of an opportunity, how can he grow? He produced much more than any other 4th line player this year in less minutes per game, and less games in total. Obviously he wouldn't keep up the pace, that's a given... He wasn't any worse than Kemppainen.

Randell has 17 goals in 170 AHL games and 2 goals in 22 ECHL games.

Is that enough evidence that his 33.3% shooting percentage this season was a gigantic outlier?

 

[BruinDust]

Randell has 17 goals in 170 AHL games and 2 goals in 22 ECHL games.

Is that enough evidence that his 33.3% shooting percentage this season was a gigantic outlier?

True, but the way Randell was shooting this year he was a 20-goal scorer. Which most would agree he's not a 20-goal guy.

But to believe he can pot 5 to 10 on a regular basis is fair. Which is still a heck of a lot more than Rinaldo or Kemppainen.

 

[Sheppy]

Randell has 17 goals in 170 AHL games and 2 goals in 22 ECHL games.

Is that enough evidence that his 33.3% shooting percentage this season was a gigantic outlier?

I said that his shooting percentage was unattainable.

If they gave him 50-55 games and he ended up with 8-9 goals, would you say that's pretty solid for someone in his role?

 

[Tampbear]

I said that his shooting percentage was unattainable.

If they gave him 50-55 games and he ended up with 8-9 goals, would you say that's pretty solid for someone in his role?

Assuming he isn't also at fault for 8 or more goals.

 

[Dr Quincy]

Assuming he isn't also at fault for 8 or more goals.

I can't tell you that he was at fault for 8 or more goals. I can tell you that he was on ice for a lot of goals, but just like the goals he scored, that could be a flukey sample size thing.

 

[Over the volcano]

Randell has 17 goals in 170 AHL games and 2 goals in 22 ECHL games.

Is that enough evidence that his 33.3% shooting percentage this season was a gigantic outlier?

Hell you could say his NHL games last year are the outlier

 

[Tampbear]

I can't tell you that he was at fault for 8 or more goals. I can tell you that he was on ice for a lot of goals, but just like the goals he scored, that could be a flukey sample size thing.

The poor possession numbers would indicate goals being scored against is the more likely of the two to continue. He did score a lot in limited ice time, but is that enough to keep playing him when all other evidence points to it being an aberration, from his personal scoring history, to his absurdly high shooting percentage. It is hard to improve when playing sporadically though. I wouldn't bet money on Randell reaching 8 goals annually.

 

[Sheppy]

The poor possession numbers would indicate goals being scored against is the more likely of the two to continue. He did score a lot in limited ice time, but is that enough to keep playing him when all other evidence points to it being an aberration, from his personal scoring history, to his absurdly high shooting percentage. It is hard to improve when playing sporadically though. I wouldn't bet money on Randell reaching 8 goals annually.

Nobody thought Lucic would be a 30 goal scorer either.

 

[GloveSave1]

I wouldn't take anything away from Randell. Maybe playing with better players put him where he needed to be to finish? He finished well, that's what we saw. I don't recall too many cheap-ies.

But I also won't discount the way he was handled, which certainly lends a lot to him not being a reliable defender.

It took a lot to force his way into the line-up...and he had a very short leash each time. If he wasn't scoring, Clode got him right out of there. He was def not a Clode pet.

 

[BruinDust]

I wouldn't take anything away from Randell. Maybe playing with better players put him where he needed to be to finish? He finished well, that's what we saw. I don't recall too many cheap-ies.

But I also won't discount the way he was handled, which certainly lends a lot to him not being a reliable defender.

It took a lot to force his way into the line-up...and he had a very short leash each time. If he wasn't scoring, Clode got him right out of there. He was def not a Clode pet.

I've said it before in other threads, but the ideal Claude line-up has only two forwards who he doesn't trust defensively. One on Krejci's wing, another on the 3rd, none on the Bergeron line, and none on the 4th. This year it was Pastrnak and Spooner. Leaving no room for Randell, or Koko, Griffith, etc. as regulars if Julien had more defensively responsible options like Talbot, Kemppainen, Ferraro, Acciari, etc.

Makes it pretty hard for any young player like a Randell or a Koko whose questionable defensively to break in on a Claude Julien team on that 4th line, meanwhile that's where they likely should be.

 

[Bruinsfolife]

Anybody would be better than Rinaldo.

 

[GloryDaze4877]

They don't have enough of either toughness.

I'm more concerned with the mental/game toughness than the fighting part.

 

[ODAAT]

I'm more concerned with the mental/game toughness than the fighting part.

with you there, fighting, each year, becomes less and less part of this game for better or worse. Unfortunately, I find far too many here think dropping the mitts is = toughness

So much more to it. A number of years ago I was invited to participate in a summer camp run by the Ottawa 67`s, Brian Kilrea didn`t have much to do with it but every year, he came in, spoke to the boys at the camp and I recall vividly him talking about toughness ,and this was at a time when scraps were very much part of the game.

He mentioned that Junior teams will be looking for players who displayed mental toughness, guys who knew when and where the time was most beneficial to drop the mitts if need be, but mostly, which players were or are willing to do the little things for the better of the team, drop down to block a shot, up 6-1 or down 6-1, who`s going to stand in front of the net and get pummeled trying to create havoc, who`s going to stand in there long enough to make a pass knowing he`ll be tasting the ice after they do so.

Funny sidenote, somewhat off topic, that year, Bruce "Butch" Cassidy was one of the instructors