Blues 5, Islanders 1: In Emergency Start, Montoya Led to Slaughter

Nino looked fine in this game. He was making some good plays.

I would agree that his confidence is shot. Call it confidence or decision making, whatever it may be, but he seems to be thinking too much instead of just reacting. When i watched him play at the Isles prospect game a couple years ago he was a head and shoulders above the development of all the players around him. He seemed highly skilled with good hockey instincts and he was nasty. Even in those 9 games last year he seemed to play nasty and just really piss the other team off. I see a lot less of that this year. I really havent seen any of it at all outside of a few nice body checks. He will come around, hopefully sooner rather than later. But if i had to pick one thing i would just say that he is thinking waaaaaay too much on the ice. He just needs to relax and play a power type game.

cap mule?

The defensive part (in coaches’ eyes, I’m sure) is that he knows where to go and coaches trust him for that. They’re probably wrong — or the rest of his game doesn’t justify that small level of comfort in “veteran”/“defensive” savvy.

But I don’t think it’s a mystery why coaches tend to do this. Watching Nino’s defensive reads away from the puck last night underlined that point for me.

I guess it depends on the playoff team needs. In theory, this sounds right, but an “experienced defensively responsible grinding depth forward” can have a ton of value. I guess it really depends on how much other teams recognize that PAP has that in his game too. But the couple of deal that went down yesterday gave me hope.

If that’s the going rate, and PAP can land a bit more, I honestly am not sure it makes sense to even re-sign him at all.

Last night SNY called Carter ‘one of the most popular athletes in Montreal history’. Sorry, SNY- if you had said he was the most popular baseball player in Montreal history, no argument from me. But with all due respect, the most popular athletes in Montreal history are hockey players. See, its this whole other sport… they play it on ice… with a puck… nothing?

The second and third line have to put some pucks in the net! Oh wait just to be clear put pucks in the opponenent"s net! Can’t assume anything!

I’ll never underestimate the importance of finishing though

And yes, on the deflections his timing was off, delayed, too late. One or two, that happens — even on Nabby’s best days — but you could see on those and even with some awkward saves that he’s just not in form. I wonder if that is one of the things keeping him out lately, too (Capuano says he talks to the other coaches on the decisions … maybe they’ve seen the same things in practice.)

Ah, goalies.

any takers? AS IS sale

any offer willingly accepted

but in the organizational approach it’s a matter of having adequate talent to support each smaller sub-group.
Team 1
tavares… what can’t he do?
Moulson.. utilizes space created, and gets pucks to the net.
Okposo… he’s got to carry the mail, create turnovers in the D zone, and use his strength to obtain and retain possession in the offensive zone.
Team 2
Bailey… he needs to be a jack of all trades, even if takes some more time to master one. Bailey has shown that he can handle the puck, distribute it, and shoot it with above average skills… but none of these skills are what we might call “outstanding”. He also is not tavares/okposo when it comes to possession. But the aggregate of his skills should make him the number two OFFENSIVE center.
Ullstrom… David Ullstrom is going to be a goal scorer in the NHL. He can skate with it, he uses his size to obtain and retain possession, and he can skate. He will be the second line Matt Moulson because he knows how to utilize space and get pucks to the net.
Parentau… PA is a pass first, shoot second guy, who can carry the mail and has a very good sense of what is going on around him. Those are the skills of an NHL playmaker. He’s the second best one we have… he needs to be on a line that can help him by creating space, getting to it, and putting the puck on the net.
TEAM 3
Nielsen. frans is first an foremost the gatekeeper of the defensive zone. He is there to defend against speedy entrance to that zone, or entrance with confidence. He does his job superbly. By doing this, Frans is a turnover factory. this is the number one way this line should be creating offense.
Grabner. Grabner is not much when he is stationary. But when in motion he is one of the most dangerous forwards in the league. He doesn’t need to get to space and have somebody find him (parentau) he needs to be given the puck and allowed to dominate his opponents with speed. turnovers are the best way to do that, and this is why he needs to be with Frans.
Nino… nino needs support. With support will come confidence, with confidence will come productivity. Nino will work well with frans und Grabs because they don’t need him to catching the stray cats… they will need him in the offensive zone with Grabner, and Nielsen after the initial break out is unsuccessful. Nino needs to be the guy that trails the play, and swallows up rebounds or helps turn the afterglow into a deep cycle until he can get a shot off. One of themost impressive of nino’s skills is that he can get a powerful shot off from aqkward spots. You don’t see that too often when you’re playing with jay Pandolfo or tim Wallace. You’ll see a lot of it when defenders let are in emergency mode becauese they let grabner slip through the cracks, or nielsen has just stolen the buck at the redline.
Team 4
Reasoner: Marty was brought here to improve the offensive profile of the fourth line… then he was given Jay pandolfo and a rookie as his linemates. Marty reasoner is better than he has played, and once he is put in a consistent role with competent players we will reap the benefits of the dynamic that was intended in the off-season.
Rhett Rakhshani: Rhett is ready for a fourth line role. He should be part of a team that wins face-offs, applies an aggressive forecheck, and wears down the opposition. he will do it with speed and tenacity. he can also put the puck in the net.
Matt Martin: this is not intended as a demotion. Matt has played very good hockey in a third line role, but that third line needs to be the second line, and he just doesn’t have the offensive upside right now to be productive at that level. This is an upgrade of the fourth line to a 3B line. this is what they needed from game 1, shift 1. Matt Martin brings the physical side of the game, but he also knows how to utilize time and space in the “dirty areas”. This line will be more in line with their individual expectations when used on the PK as well. Martin has been a very good partner with bailey on the PK, maybe that needs to shift to a Martin – reasoner combo.

but you really don’t have the depth to get rid of them both, and deal with injuries for the rest of the season. Neither of them can be counted on for the full 25 as it is.

Id rather play a man short than have him[Brian Rolston] on the ice.

Bailey’s last two goals were on a line with Matt martin where they were killing a penalty. So somebody else definitely agrees.

but what do I know

You can’t use this as a rationalization in february…

But I assume that’s why they have stopgaps from the vet bargain bin anyway.

don’t bother reading below this line if you’re tired of reading it————————————————

I didn’t want to see those guys in October, I don’t want to see them now, and i definitely don’t want to see them next October. Eaton, Mottau, Staios, Jurcina are all stop gaps.. but what are they stopping and in what gap. I don’t like it, but I understand that the organization has a huge hole.
But Rolston and Pandolfo were just a huge waste of everybody’s time.
By stating that they helped win games early while Rhett was hurt, and Ullstrom was a possible question mark is absurd in hindsight. one word… NOVEMBER!
Haley should have been in the opening night lineup instead of Pandolfo, and you know where I think Rolston should have been on opeing night. that would have left a pool of Hunter, Ullstrom, Dibo or colliton to fill out hte NHL Roster.

I know the Post has zero conscience, but you wonder if even they questioned this one.

Why are we talking about basketball on a hockey site?

But we have to remember the reason behind the trade, and that was to clear things up for next season,. That part hasnt changed.

them plus a second should net us Komiserik!