Pre-Game Talk: The All Purpose Off Day Thread | Simon Recalled

[MtlPenFan]

I prefer Archibald over at least two guys on this roster right now.

 

[RizzleMcRib]

I prefer Archibald over at least two guys on this roster right now.

While Archibald was nothing spectacular, he did add a little bit of energy that seems to be missing.

 

[MtlPenFan]

While Archibald was nothing spectacular, he did add a little bit of energy that seems to be missing.

He was fast and disruptive and played a tenacious game. He was a useful player that was lost for nothing because Ryan Reaves had to be a thing.

 

[DesertPenguin]

OK real talk time.

Sheary, over the past two seasons, has produced at a high level. He isn't doing that now, but if there's any way to kickstart him before the playoffs, Sully should be doing it. Guentzel was down for a long time too, which lead to him spending time on the 3rd and 4th lines until he figured his game out. No issues with what Sully is doing there, as long as he cuts bait when the POs come if Sheary still sucks.

Rowney is playing because he's a RHS C who PKs. There are no other RHS faceoff guys on the squad, and Brassard hasn't PKed much in his career. We are likely stuck with him until Brass shows he can PK well and/or Jooris replaces him.

Kuhnhackl is not one of Sully's favorites. The amount of time he has spent benched the last two seasons is proof of that.

Hunwick, that's a problem. Again, it's in the teams best interest to get Hunwick going, and I'm willing to give him a little longer to do that. If not we bring Ruh back online, but have 0 confidence in any of our bench D.

Simon is up, and that's a start. After that we are getting low on callups already so a call will have to be made on whether to bring up a D like Pedan to help the D or a F like Sprong to help the Fs. Tough call there.

In any case, Sully took this team to the top of the mountain twice. He's a top 5 coach in the league. We aren't firing him.

 

[NeedleInTheHay]

I don’t care if Sully puts Rowney instead of Malkin on the power play, I’m still saving my criticism until he loses a single damn playoff series.

 

[RizzleMcRib]

He was fast and disruptive and played a tenacious game. He was a useful player that was lost for nothing because Ryan Reaves had to be a thing.

I am in the minority of fans that actually liked Reaves on the team. Kuhn dressing over Archibald though just flustered me. The lineup now makes me wish Archibald was still here for sure.

 

[MtlPenFan]

I don’t care if Sully puts Rowney instead of Malkin on the power play, I’m still saving my criticism until he loses a single damn playoff series.

That's where I am.

Sully can be stubborn and frustrating without actually being the lovechild of Dan Bylsma and Mike Johnston.

 

[RizzleMcRib]

OK real talk time.

Sheary, over the past two seasons, has produced at a high level. He isn't doing that now, but if there's any way to kickstart him before the playoffs, Sully should be doing it. Guentzel was down for a long time too, which lead to him spending time on the 3rd and 4th lines until he figured his game out. No issues with what Sully is doing there, as long as he cuts bait when the POs come if Sheary still sucks.

Rowney is playing because he's a RHS C who PKs. There are no other RHS faceoff guys on the squad, and Brassard hasn't PKed much in his career. We are likely stuck with him until Brass shows he can PK well and/or Jooris replaces him.

Kuhnhackl is not one of Sully's favorites. The amount of time he has spent benched the last two seasons is proof of that.

Hunwick, that's a problem. Again, it's in the teams best interest to get Hunwick going, and I'm willing to give him a little longer to do that. If not we bring Ruh back online, but have 0 confidence in any of our bench D.

Simon is up, and that's a start. After that we are getting low on callups already so a call will have to be made on whether to bring up a D like Pedan to help the D or a F like Sprong to help the Fs. Tough call there.

In any case, Sully took this team to the top of the mountain twice. He's a top 5 coach in the league. We aren't firing him.

I wouldn't really call Sheary's first season "high level production." He was outscored by none other than... You guessed it... Tom Kuhnhackl.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Seemed like whoever we inserted in the lineup the last few years did well in the playoffs. Archie added a spark with his speed..even some grit. Won the cup last year with scott wilson on the 2nd line. Kuhn and Rowney even played well. Seemed like everyone upped their game when it mattered. So its tough to judge these guys in the regular season. Even guys like bonino and hagelin werent regular season performers.

Interested to see if Simon can follow suit and be a difference maker come playoff time. ZAR as well depending on the injury.

When so many guys step in and do as well as they did it shows its the system. No idea why anyone would want sullivan fired after what hes done the last two years in the playoffs. While winning the division and getting home ice is important i still think our staff uses the regular season to figure out what will work best come playoff time. Theres a reason we look like a completely diff team when the playoffs start. Seems like we get the most out of every player in the lineup.

With that said, even tho its important for the depth guys to play well...its still going to come down to our best players. They have to continue to be the best players on the ice in every series. And at this deadline we added another great talent in Brassard to go with Crosby, Malkin, Kessel, Guentzel, Hornqvist, Rust, and Hagelin. Thats 8 players who have proven to be great playoff performers ( Rust had 6 and 7 goals the last two years if you dont think he should be included, Hagelin was great two years ago and was hurt last year..with the way hes playing now it looks like he will repeat his 2016 performance). So for those who are hoping our first pick is lottery protected after these last 3 losses...be patient and wait to see what this team looks like once the playoffs start.

After those 8 we have Sheahan, Sheary, Simon, Kuhn, Rowney, ZAR, Jooris , and maybe Sprong. Thats a pretty good list to have as your "bottom 4 "group of players to fill in the rest of the lineup. With Sheary already having two years of experience. Didnt include him with the 8 because we dont know which Sheary we will get. As for Sheahan, i have high hopes for him in the playoffs. Hes recently shown glimpses of talent..nice shot/hands. And expect him to up his intensity when it matters most.

Simon has more upside than wilson and Archie imo. Hopefully hes ready to contribute and be one of the x factors in the playoffs. Also need ZAR to come back asap because i think he would do well and adds a different element than most of our other players.

We lost 3 in a row, but when you take a look at the lineup and what they did the last two years in the playoffs and who we added(Brassard, Sheahan, Simon, ZAR, and maybe Sprong) theres no reason people should be counting this team out.

Murray wont be letting in 4 goals in 2 minutes each game , throwing the team off from "getting to their game".

Sit back and enjoy.

 

[Corvidae]

Seemed like whoever we inserted in the lineup the last few years did well in the playoffs. Archie added a spark with his speed..even some grit. Won the cup last year with scott wilson on the 2nd line. Kuhn and Rowney even played well. Seemed like everyone upped their game when it mattered. So its tough to judge these guys in the regular season. Even guys like bonino and hagelin werent regular season performers.

Interested to see if Simon can follow suit and be a difference maker come playoff time. ZAR as well depending on the injury.

When so many guys step in and do as well as they did it shows its the system. No idea why anyone would want sullivan fired after what hes done the last two years in the playoffs. While winning the division and getting home ice is important i still think our staff uses the regular season to figure out what will work best come playoff time. Theres a reason we look like a completely diff team when the playoffs start. Seems like we get the most out of every player in the lineup.

With that said, even tho its important for the depth guys to play well...its still going to come down to our best players. They have to continue to be the best players on the ice in every series. And at this deadline we added another great talent in Brassard to go with Crosby, Malkin, Kessel, Guentzel, Hornqvist, Rust, and Hagelin. Thats 8 players who have proven to be great playoff performers ( Rust had 6 and 7 goals the last two years if you dont think he should be included, Hagelin was great two years ago and was hurt last year..with the way hes playing now it looks like he will repeat his 2016 performance). So for those who are hoping our first pick is lottery protected after these last 3 losses...be patient and wait to see what this team looks like once the playoffs start.

After those 8 we have Sheahan, Sheary, Simon, Kuhn, Rowney, ZAR, Jooris , and maybe Sprong. Thats a pretty good list to have as your "bottom 4 "group of players to fill in the rest of the lineup. With Sheary already having two years of experience. Didnt include him with the 8 because we dont know which Sheary we will get. As for Sheahan, i have high hopes for him in the playoffs. Hes recently shown glimpses of talent..nice shot/hands. And expect him to up his intensity when it matters most.

Simon has more upside than wilson and Archie imo. Hopefully hes ready to contribute and be one of the x factors in the playoffs. Also need ZAR to come back asap because i think he would do well and adds a different element than most of our other players.

We lost 3 in a row, but when you take a look at the lineup and what they did the last two years in the playoffs and who we added(Brassard, Sheahan, Simon, ZAR, and maybe Sprong) theres no reason people should be counting this team out.

Murray wont be letting in 4 goals in 2 minutes each game , throwing the team off from "getting to their game".

Sit back and enjoy.

That's a lot about forwards, which I don't worry about at all.

It's all moot with Hunwick in. Oleksiak and Ruhwedel are OK 5/6ish guys but not good enough to overcome for how bad Hunwick is, and how bad Letang sometimes is. Buckle up, baby. That GAA is going North. The best you can do is replace Hunwick with Ruhwedel but is Oleksiak/Ruhwedel a pair you'd put money on? And if someone gets hurt, you have Hunwick, Ruhwedel, and Oleksiak making up 50% of your D. That's a preseason lineup.

 

[Coach Travis]

OK real talk time.

Sheary, over the past two seasons, has produced at a high level. He isn't doing that now, but if there's any way to kickstart him before the playoffs, Sully should be doing it. Guentzel was down for a long time too, which lead to him spending time on the 3rd and 4th lines until he figured his game out. No issues with what Sully is doing there, as long as he cuts bait when the POs come if Sheary still sucks.

At this point, I'd throw Sheary on the 4th line, hiding him deep in our depth. He'll get much weaker competition (as opposed to the defensive monsters Sid has to tangle with) and he and Sheahan have actually been decent together (~54% Corsi For). I think you do that, and you'll see him score some really timely goals these playoffs.

Actually, a 4th Line of Sheahan, Sheary and Simon or Sprong would probably be pretty deadly.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

That's a lot about forwards, which I don't worry about at all.

It's all moot with Hunwick in. Oleksiak and Ruhwedel are OK 5/6ish guys but not good enough to overcome for how bad Hunwick is, and how bad Letang sometimes is. Buckle up, baby. That GAA is going North. The best you can do is replace Hunwick with Ruhwedel but is Oleksiak/Ruhwedel a pair you'd put money on? And if someone gets hurt, you have Hunwick, Ruhwedel, and Oleksiak making up 50% of your D. That's a preseason lineup.

I didnt like our defense going into the playoffs last year either(after letang going down) and most them upped their games as well. They had their mistakes of course...and Murray/Fleury were there to bail them out. Something we havent seen these last 3 games with Jarry (let in a quick 4 against florida and 5 filling in for Desmith against boston) and DeSmith who cant track a puck.

 

[PensandCaps]

He was fast and disruptive and played a tenacious game. He was a useful player that was lost for nothing because Ryan Reaves had to be a thing.

Well...we got Tobias Lindberg for Reaves...6'3 and fast. So we possibly upgraded on Archibald because of Reaves.

 

[pistolpete11]

I don’t care if Sully puts Rowney instead of Malkin on the power play, I’m still saving my criticism until he loses a single damn playoff series.

Me too. I think Sully has a good grasp on and plays the long game. When it comes to the playoffs, he's not nearly as stubborn. He'll scratch guys, demote guys, etc. So as painful as it can be to watch guys like Rowney, Hunwick, etc., I'm not going to worry too much until they are in danger of missing the playoffs or losing a playoff series and he's not making any changes.

 

[imouttahereEdWinger]

I wouldn't really call Sheary's first season "high level production." He was outscored by none other than... You guessed it... Tom Kuhnhackl.

He doesn't do anything in the playoffs either. He has 6 goals in 45 games.

 

[Nakawick]

So we are using fancy stats like +/- to make a case for Sheary? Does Sheary have more intangibles than Toews now?

 

[Jules Winnfield]

Carter Rowney is a terrible NHL player. For as tight as they call games in the playoffs with each team maybe getting 2-3 PPs at most is it really that f***ing important to play this turd?

This team needs a spark of energy like Sprong. I really don’t understand how you can give up 8 goals in a game and say the star offensive weapon in WBS needs to work on his defense.

The Pens winning the cup the past two years had their 4th line playing 10-12 minutes a game. Can we really trust Rowney on the ice that much? He’s f***ing terrible.

Teach Sid how to take face offs right handed for f***s sake if that’s the reason why Carter “Craig Adams” Rowney is in the lineup.

 

[BHD]

I'm sure Sullivan plans to do something about this.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

I'm sure Sullivan plans to do something about this.

Stupid other players for letting Carter down,

 

[Ogrezilla]

Carter Rowney is a terrible NHL player. For as tight as they call games in the playoffs with each team maybe getting 2-3 PPs at most is it really that ****ing important to play this turd?

So I agree about Rowney, but the idea that they call less total powerplays in the playoffs just isn't really accurate. Over the last two seasons we averaged 3.17 powerplays per game in the regular season and 3.16 powerplays per game in the playoffs. Refs do let more go, but players cheat more to compensate. So the number of powerplays stays pretty much flat.

But I do agree that I'd sit Rowney regardless of his PK role.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

So I agree about Rowney, but the idea that they call less total powerplays in the playoffs just isn't really accurate. Over the last two seasons we averaged 3.17 powerplays per game in the regular season and 3.16 powerplays per game in the playoffs. Refs do let more go, but players cheat more to compensate. So the number of powerplays stays pretty much flat.

But I do agree that I'd sit Rowney regardless of his PK role.

PP numbers could be misleading with the refs feeling the need to equalize things. Some of those could be penalties with a 6-1 lead or evening up the calls with 20 seconds left, or a meltdown from one team. A PK could also be more important in the playoffs so who knows.

I’d get this more if Rowney was a FO wiz or an amazing PKer. He’s neither. Ironically, Cole was good in the PK and now we have our precious Hunwick on it.

 

[Dey so soff*]

I'm sure Sullivan plans to do something about this.

PK specialist!!!

 

[Tom Hanks]

I'm sure Sullivan plans to do something about this.

13 healthy forwards up now. No excuses.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Players like kuhn and rowney will never look good in the regular season. Guys arent going to risk injury by sacrificing their bodies blocking shots...like we see in the playoffs. Id rather have players who can do that and provide some offense like bonino did, but we dont really have that other than those two. Rest of the players are offensive minded...other than Sheahan.

The lineup id like to see ..

Guentzel - Crosby - Sprong
Hagelin - Malkin - Hornqvist
ZAR - Brassard - Kessel
Sheary/Simon - Sheahan- Rust

Would be great offensively, but if they are in a game where they spend alot of time in their own end..theyd be in trouble. So if we go that route, we would have to repeat the 2016 performance rather than what we did last year.

Id try a combo of both. Go with the lineup above..if its working keep going..if it goes stale switch it up. Prevent teams from getting comfortable with our style of play.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Tomter Rownhackl is officially the new Gladams.