Take a Deep Breath
One week ago I proclaimed that us fans should not doubt this team after I had witnessed a tremendous effort against the Ottawa Senators. Today, I'm going to stick by that notion. This team proved for a long period of time that it could compete with some of the best teams in the NHL. We are 3-0 against last year's conference finalists, and 6-1 against the Rangers and Devils, two of the best teams in the East. Now it's easy to jump on the wholesale change/fire Nolan bandwagon, but as fans it would be time better spent if we continue to point out the flaws in the Isles' system. The Isles are in a state of extreme lack of confidence--they resemble a group that seemingly doesn't expect to score more than twice on a nightly basis. The lack of goal scoring has a lot to do with the fact that the Isles don't really have any legitimate high scoring players, even though this group should be able to concoct an average of three goals per game. The question still remains: why can't this group start scoring?
First, Mike Comrie needs to be benched. He is the only player on the Isles who is constantly rewarded with more ice time each time he turns over the puck. If there was ever an example of Nolan playing favorites, Comrie certainly fits that mold. In addition, Trent Hunter should be (1) removed from the power play, and (2) demoted to the fourth line. Hunter took TWO absolutely inexcusable penalties in the game last night, the second of which was an immature retaliation penalty taken in the offensive zone with 4 minutes left in the game (when the score was still 2-0 and within reach). Hunter attempts to cycle the puck on the power play, so while he and Silinger move the puck around the boards and around the perimeter, the penalty clock ticks away until we can add another missed opportunity to the nightly power play stats. Hunter has proven this season that he's too slow for the new NHL, and his duties should be restricted to PK duties and 3rd/4th line action a la Andy Hilbert.
I tried counting how many times Silinger turned the puck over on the PP last night, and I stopped after I reached about 5 times on the first 3 PPs. Why Vasicek does not play the PP is beyond me. It's very strange to see a coach stick with something that has not worked for quite some time.
Tambellini added some edge to the first line, and they had plenty of opportunities to score early on. However, as the game progressed, I saw Tambellini's ice time reduced in favor of players like Simon and Hilbert. Now we all know how loyal Ted Nolan has been to Simon, but it's come to the point where this blind loyalty needs to be questioned. This whole "I would go to war with Chris Simon" mentality isn't helping the Isles on the ice. I personally would not go to war with an under-skilled aging slow-footed warrior.
The defense has not really been a problem, and DP has been consistently good thus far. Boston netted its first goal on a weird bouncing puck, and netted a second goal on a weird giveaway by Sutton. For the most part, the Isles outplayed the Bruins. But hard work won't translate into wins unless we start scoring some goals. The Isles need one game to break out (a solid 5 goal effort) and this streak could be put to rest. In reality, this streak of 13 games of scoring 2 goals or less has highlighted that the Isles are probably going to be a middle of the pack team at this rate, and will hope to squeeze into the 7th or 8th seed. Some don't even believe the Isles have the potential to endure this season at that level. But let's remember the Isles still have a winning record of 13-11-1 and will have every opportunity to right this ship.
On that note, I couldn't agree more with those of you who have suggested infusing this group with some youth and passion. The Hilberts, Simons, Parks, and Bates of the world are boring us to sleep, and with our inability to score, there doesn't seem to be much harm that could come from bringing up Walter as well. I don't know if it was just me, but I was excited every time Tambellini was on the ice. I would love to see what Walter could do with significant ice time.
All is not lost yet, but these things have a way of snow balling out of control if these flaws are not addressed very soon.
Posts
31 comments:
[Bill's post from the last thread]
Bill said...
Bruins 3 Isles 1
So much for the crystal ball !!!
You guys who don't think that this team needs wholesale changes have finally convinced me.
After watching this thrilling display of hockey prowress, why would anyone want to change this powerhouse line up?
Ted Nolan is an absolute genius. His resovle to stick with the same players who pump in goals at a 2 goals a game pace is simply brilliant.
Simon, Hilbert, Park, Sillinger, Hunter and Guerin are all "Nolan type players." Who could ask for anything more?
Ted's decision to keep Vasiceck off the PP because it may put too much pressure on him to score is pure logic. I don't know why other coaches don't keep their top goal scorer on the bench more. Hey, hockey players are fragile.
If DP would have pitched a shutout we would have won 1-0. How long can we carry this guy?
Even though the Islanders let kids under 16 in for free, a lot of those kids looked like empty seats tonight. Must have been the camera locations.
Great to see the PP score again. And with two minutes to go ! That's coming through under pressure. So we didn't score on the first 5 trys. Who's counting?
This team is gangbusters. Let's not spoil a good thing by bringing up kids who may ruin the chemistry
by scoring.......Bill
I agree with you about Comrie. He put in absolutely zero effort last night. We would have been better off if he didn't show up.
I agree with you about Sillinger not being on the powerplay, but the sad thing is, his unit is far better than the first unit. They actually get shots on goal once in a while. I actually disagree with you about Hunter. The problem with Hunter is they are using him wrong. They should just put him in front of the net. There is no reason a goalie should be able to come out 2-3 feet out of the crease to block shots from the point, like Thomas was last night. Bergeron and Berard can shoot until there arms fall off, but they aren't going to score very often if nobody is in front of the net.
Tambellini didn't really impress me. My first impression is that he's not good enough to play on the first line. I'm not sure how much of that was due to Comrie not showing up. He'd probably be better off playing on the second line.
I agree about the defense too. I thought Bergeron was the Islanders' best player last night. He's played his best hockey of the season since returning from his last "benching".
Bill - if the Islanders' actually had anyone in Bridgeport that could score, I would agree with you. Tambellini was leading the team with Regier with 7 goals (the league leader has 16). Bridgeport is the second lowest scoring team in the AHL.
Regarding the PP, I agree with Skinkdew about Hunter being used ineffectively. He's not in front of the net, where he should be. He's on the boards because the other two players are weak on the puck, and of anyone on our team, Hunter is the strongest getting pucks out of the corner. I've honestly never seen someone with a stronger base than Hunter in the corners. He can go in there a good 3-4 seconds after the D secure the puck and still come out with it.
Thats fine and all- we do have puck possession after that of course- but the problem is Hunter is not a passer. He's then stuck on the halfboards with the puck, and cradles it for 3-4 seconds, then tries a bad pass, after the D have gotten back into position. This is why we have our own point men essentially blanketed by the PK. MAB, Berard, and Campoli have literally half-seconds to receive then pass/shoot the puck. How many times did we see our D play the point with their bodies out of the zone and the puck barely inside the blue line?
We need someone else who can dig the puck out like Hunter can, so Hunter can sit on the top of the crease, and MAB can bomb away. Unfortunately, we have no one else. Given that, I guess we can't blame Hunter for feeling the need to go in and help out with the cycle. Its just sad that it requires all 3 of our PP forwards to dig the puck away from 2 PK D.
I'm now 100% convinced our PP power outage is the entire reason for this 'slump'. The Isles now have 18 PP goals, most of those occurring in the first few games of the season as we all know. In total, we have been scored on 17 times on the PK. 5-5 the Isles, the Isles have scored 34 times, and been scored against 43 times. Take away those 2 blowout losses (Toronto's 8, Canes' 8, and even Alt' 4 last week if you must), and we're essentially even on 5-5 (hence the massive amounts of 1 goal games the Isles have played). DP & Defense are able to neutralize anyone in this league 5-5.
If we are able to bump up our PP simply to the league average (18% as opposed to 16%), that means we should have scored about 4-6 more goals this season so far. Thats all.
However, 4-6 goals means we would have WON (or at least came back and gotten 1 point when losing) an estimated 3-4 more of those games we lost.
So, the way we're playing, 4-6 extra goals over 25 total games, we'd be sitting pretty with a record of 15-9 instead of 13-11.
I don't know about you guys, but I'm fine keeping EVERYTHING the way it is right now if we can bump our PP up 2 extra percentage points over the course of the season, and we'll be sitting among the league leaders in points.
If I'm the coaching staff, I run entire practices playing 5-4, 4-3, 5-3. For a week straight. They won't forget how to play Nolan's system- thats gotta be ingrained in them at this point. Get our PP lines out there against one of the league's best PK's (our own), and run plays for an entire week.
Justin, This team is exactly as was predicted at the beginning of the year. Fortunately for the Islanders, they happened to catch 3 teams who were in disarray and were able to beat them before they got it together.
Buffalo had to deal with the loss of their two best players and their best defenseman. They had trouble in the beginning of the season but certainly righted the ship. Do you feel we could beat them 2 straight now?
The Rangers imported a new group of star players and it took them a while to mesh. It seems that they have and they are above us in the standings now. Those first 3 games mean nothing. Look for the next four games against them to be more like last weeks defeat.
The Devils have a new coach and it took them some time to play Sutters system. Once again, we were lucky to catch them early and often before they settled down. They are now the hottest team in the league and winners of 7 straight. We'll see how the next game goes.
So, my point is that you can't judge this Islander team by those games. If we had to play those 8 games over again we would be lucky to be 3-5.
I would compare this team to the baseball rookie who comes up to the big leagues and hits 5 home runs his first week. The pitchers learn his weakness and he hits one for the rest of the season. By the end of the year he is back in triple A. And this team is full of triple A players.
I keep reading that we have no one in Bridgeport who can score. WAKE UP. WE HAVE NO ONE ON LONG ISLAND WHO CAN SCORE !!
Ben Walter is averaging a point a game. We have players averaging a goal a season.
What does it take for some people to face reality? When the Bruins scored their first goal last night the game was over. Did anyone here really believe the Islanders would come back? And then 58 more minutes of boring, scoreless hockey punctuated by 5 gruesome power plays.
NYISLES SAID
"the Isles have scored 34 times, and been scored against 43 times. Take away those 2 blowout losses (Toronto's 8, Canes' 8, and even Alt' 4 last week if you must), and we're essentially even on 5-5"
WHAT???
Those games against Toronto, Carolina and Montreal ALL COUNT. You can't pick and choose to make fuzzy math fit what you want to believe. We have 34 even strength goals in 25 games. That's about 1.35 goals a game. That is the worst in the league. It' stinks and something needs to change.
On a night when you give away tickets and you can't draw a full house, the fans have spoken.
Are you listening, Garth?....Bill
To put things in perspective. The Rangers are in first place, have played two more games than the Islanders and have only scored 5 more goals than the Islanders.
I don't hear Ranger fans screaming for the team to blown up.
Also, to correct Bill, the Islanders do not have the fewest 5 on 5 goals scored, the Rangers do with 33. And like I've said, they've played two more games than the Islanders. Again, I don't here Rangers fans demanding the team be blown up.
As a matter of fact, Anaheim and the Rangers both average fewer goals per game than the Islanders. The league average is about 2.70, the Islanders are at 2.24.
But I think Bill's point has more to do with what we see happening on the ice, and not in camparison to other team's offensive woes. The Isles have not looked hungry to score goals at any point this season.
You can't try to win every game 1-0 or 2-1 as the Isles have tried to thus far. The Isles play like they hope they can get a lucky 1 or 2 goals, and then try to hold the other team off for the rest of the game. Well when the Isles score first, that seems to be an effective plan. The Isles usually win when scoring first and have not lost when leading in the 3rd period.
The problem is that the Isles NEED to enter a game with the mentality that they need to score first. Not try to hold off the other team for as long as possible while hoping to get a lucky goal. While the Isles have been fantastic in terms of holding a lead, we have been anything but fantastic recently when we are down by a goal or more.
I bet Al Arbour is glad he got to coach his game in early November, because there is no way this team today comes back down by 2 goals in the third period.
Shink, as usual you leave out half the story. You forgot to mention that the Rangers have 15 goals less in the scored against column. Which is better than a half a goal a game than the Islanders.
You also failed to mention that we are DEAD LAST in goals scored.
Also the Ducks have scored 11 more goals in 3 more games. At this rate, it will take 6 more games for the Islanders to score 11 goals.
I'll take your word that the 5 on 5total is 33 to 34. So that leaves us in 29 th place. Wonderful!!
Now let's add in the other goals and once again the Islanders are behind the eight ball.
Another point worth mentioning is that the Rangers have had some very good players injured this season. Straka, Callahan and Avery have all been out for extended lengths of time.
The Islanders, on the other hand have been injury free except for Sim, who really never got started.
Besides if we were counting on Jon Sim to lead us to the Stanley Cup....well then what can I say?
So let's recap Shink:
Last in goals scored.
29 th in 5 on 5 goals scored.
Yup, this team is a powerhouse...Bill
Why would you look at total goals scored when every team hasn't played the same amount games?
I never said the team was a powerhouse, it's just nowhere near as bad as you claim. Lucky for us, you aren't the GM.
Do you really believe that Comrie, Tank, Guerin, Satan, Hunter and Sillinger aren't going to score another goal this year. And while you mocked them for scoring a PP goal last night, scoring that goal will do wonders for their confidence on the PP.
SHINK Buffalo has played 24 and Carolina 28. Everyone else in the East is within 3 games. Thats's close enough for me.
Not so BAD. They are LAST in goals scored. How much worse can they be?
I never said that any of those guys wouldn't score another goal this year. I just don't think that they will score enough of them to be a winning team.
In any case, those players you named are not the players that should be replaced. I have consistantly said that Simon and Hilbert should sit and that Walter and Neilsen or Comeau should take their place. I noticed that you avoided mentioning them.
I still don't understand this aversion to bringing up new players. The 1993 Isles had a kid line of McInnes, Greene and Dalgarno and they did pretty well.
None of them was a star, but they played well together.
I would love to see a new kid line that might inject some life into this dead team.
What are you so afraid of? That Hilbert might miss another open net? That Simon would be missed for the one goal and few minutes that he plays?
Scoring a meaningless goal when you are losing by three with 2 minutes to play is no cause for celebration. Campoli didn't ever raise his stick, that's how much it meant to them......Bill
I'm not afraid of anything, I just to don't see the point of bringing kids up to play 5 minutes a game, when they can be in Bridgeport playing 20 minutes a game. God forbid the Islanders actually develop prospects the right way. Not to mention they are barely cutting it in the AHL. If those guys were dominating at the AHL level, I'd be calling to bring them up too. But they're not, they're not even close. Denis Hamel is the leading goal scorer in the AHL and he was a marginal 3rd liner in the NHL. He has score more than twice as many goals as any of the kids you mentioned, so why would you believe they would be able to contribute on the 3rd or 4th line of an NHL team?
Now to be fair to the likes of Tambellini and Walter, you can't compare their poor stats with the rest of the league. If Bridgeport is as poor as you claim, then that should inflate their "minimal" production, and not vice versa. Tambellini averaged a point per game after he was sent down to a "bad" team, which is more than enough reason to bring him in instead of Hilbert.
As for Walter, I don't care what he's doing at the AHL level, he proved in his brief stint that he can play at the NHL level. He is quicker, smarter, and way more skilled than Simon. But heaven forbid we demote Simon.
Robin Figren and Steffan Ridderwall were named to Team Sweden for the World Juniors. I expect Kyle Okposo and Rhett Rakhshani will be named to Team USA.
Shink You can't have it both ways. One one hand you say you want the kids to stay in Bridgeport to develop and on the other hand you say that they are not good enough to play in the NHL.
So which is it????
I don't want them to come up here and play 5 minutes. I want them tested at a 10-12 minute a game clip.
Nolan is really doing the team and the fans and the Islanders in general, a disservice by not cutting ties with the dead weight on this team.
Simon is no longer an NHL level player.
Hilbert never was.
Bates is finished.
It's time to cut ties with these guys and move on.
I can't imagine Joe Torre or Willie Randolph sticking with a player who had one hit in 25 games. Can you?
I am not a big Nolan fan.
He hasn't done any better than Sterling or LaViolette did here.
Loyalty is a good thing, but there comes a time when reality has to set in. That time is now.....Bill
Bill,
I agree, I would love to see a kid line get 10-12 minutes a game. Lets throw Tamby-Walter-Bergs together and see what happens.
That would make the lines...
Tank-Comrie-Guerin
Hunter-Vasicek-Satan
Hilbert-Silinger-Park
Tamby-Walter-Bergs
Why would you want to stunt Walter's development by having him come up and play five minutes on the 4th line? It doesn't make sense, he's not going to get any better riding the pine. Walter would probably be a pretty solid 3rd line center right now, but unfortunately, we all know Sillinger isn't going anywhere.
The Islanders are going back to the original lines:
Fedotenko-Comrie-Guerin
Tambellini-Vasicek-Satan
Hilbert-Sillinger-Hunter
Bergenheim-Park-Simon
I'd rather see Bergenheim on the third line in Hilbert's place. He has stonehands too, but I think he's stronger on his skates in the corners. I also think Hilbert and Park play pretty well together.
Bill - how am I trying to have it both ways? I want them to stay in Bridgeport and develop because they are not good enough to be productive in the NHL right now. If they were, you wouldn't be putting them on the fourth line. Although, I think Walter may be good enough to center the third line.
Shink A wise man once said that
stupidity is the art of repeating the same mistake over and over again.
That's what Nolan is doing.
Walter is well past the age of "developing." Walter, Tambellini and Neilsen are all 23 years old. How old do you have to be to get a shot at the NHL?
They are all past the age of "developing" and are ready to get a shot.
I find it absolutely stunning that the pitiful Islanders are the only team that never works it's younger players into the line up. A team that has not won a playoff series in 14 years should be full of young blood......Bill
So there you have it. Cut Silinger and replace him with Walter. Cut Simon and replace him with whoever.
Bill,
I saw a similar situation this past summer. One of Willie Randolph's team favorites was the aging Julio Franco. He was a good team player and could provide good defense off the bench. However his offensive production declined to the point where he was no longer serviceable. Omar Minaya swept in and cut Julio Franco.
Snow might be too closely tied to this team to make such a decision. Remember he was a player less than two seasons ago. In addition, he would have too eat the contracts that he proposed to both Hilbert and Silinger. (Or did Neil Smith sign Silinger?) To me, neither can can compete an the NHL level on a nightly basis and should be replaced within. This has nothing to do with the Isles recent struggles, and I have been asking for Silinger's departure from the first 2 weeks of the season.
"NYISLES SAID
"the Isles have scored 34 times, and been scored against 43 times. Take away those 2 blowout losses (Toronto's 8, Canes' 8, and even Alt' 4 last week if you must), and we're essentially even on 5-5"
WHAT???
Those games against Toronto, Carolina and Montreal ALL COUNT. You can't pick and choose to make fuzzy math fit what you want to believe. We have 34 even strength goals in 25 games. That's about 1.35 goals a game. That is the worst in the league. It' stinks and something needs to change."
Bill, re-read my post, and you'll see I'm in entire agreement with you. You have an amazing tendency to read things as you want to see them- you come up swinging without actually reading what is written...is your blood pressure high? Even when people are in agreement with you, you argue!
My point was that aside from those 3 horrible games, which added a total of 20, yes 20, goals against, we're even (actually ahead, but I'm not going there with you for now) for goals scored and goals against. Do you agree?
Now I'm not a math-e-magician, but if my team is scoring on average the same (or more) goals than the team I am playing for, I am tied up (or winning). If the Isles scored an extra 4-6 goals this year via the PP, they would be sitting pretty with a 5+ games over .500 record. Thus, my argument in the post was our PP, which was solid, can be the deciding factor in future games, IF we play the way we've been playing defensively. And if the PP begins to click again (see the last part of my post for what I would do if I'm Nolan), we're a dangerous team no one wants to play. The PP hasn't been marred by people not finishing, it has been marred by bad set-ups, passes, shot-selection, and no one in front of the net.
That was my point. Nothing else. Nothing about the fact that I am happy with 1.35 goals/game average. Read, Bill, READ before the blood pressure blows your lid.
The games where we got 8 goals dunked on us were not pretty, but they happen. I'm not discounting them; I'm just calling them an outlier. If they happened every night, I'd be worried, but as we all know by now because everyone has been pounding it into our heads, on average, we win or lose by 1 goal. Detroit, Ottawa, and Dallas, the top 3 teams in the league, have lost by 3, 4, and 5 goals multiple times this season. Not a proud moment for anyone, but it happens. Good teams find a way to score more than their opponents every night. The Isles keep their opponents to low goals scored, and if they fix the PP, stand a very strong chance to go on a tear through the standings. The problem, as everyone here AGREES with, is we have no one who seems to have the skill to put it in the net, or run a sound PP.
Mark Recchi on waivers...
An offensive PP specialist on waivers...
A top-6 forward on waivers...
Yes he's old, but we have the cap space to experiment here...
This is a no-brainer to me.
Justin- was wondering the same. He's making 1.75 million this year, which would be prorated obviously. Not a bad deal finanicially.
He's turning 40 this season however, and with 2 goals on this season (playing w/ Crosby) and 24 last year with the Pens, I have to wonder if he's cashed. We're not happy with Sillinger on the PP...is Recchi an answer?
That said, I see no harm in brining him in ala Berard..see what he can do. We can always waive him ourselves, correct? This might be interesting.
Nyisles,
Exactly. Bring him in and see if he can right this ship. Addind a new face, especially a future hall-of-famer, might shake the locker room up just enough to break the Isles out of this offensive drought.
If he's not the answer, we can simply waive him as well. It's worth this risk, and it won't cost the Isles any prospects. And Simon/Hilbert would have to be removed, although I'm sure Nolan would demote Tambellini.
NYISLES:
My blood pressure is 120 over 84 as of last weeks check up. Thanks for asking.
As for coming out "swinging", do you often have the feeling that people are swinging at you?
(Just a little psychological joke there, NYI)
Actually, it could be my writing style. However, since I have co -authored two published novels, that sold extremely well, some people seem to find it worthwhile.
Most of your points are valid except for discounting the 3 blow- out games. If ignoring reality makes you happy, then who am I to rain on your parade.
As I understand it, one of you points is that we would win more games if the PP scored more.
Can't argue with that. Genius in simplicity.
Another point is that all teams have bad games.
Absolutely true. The good teams just have less of them.
My blood pressure is still 120 over 84. Thanks for asking, again.
I did re read your posts and actually do have trouble following what you are trying to say. Maybe it's your handwriting or perhaps I need new glasses.
So essentialy, you agree with me but were concerned about my blood pressure. Did I get it right?...Bill
JUSTIN Your analogy of the Mets and Julio Franco is spot on perfect. I just wish Snow had more Omar in him...Bill
As for Recchi.....do we really need another over the hill forward?
If he couldn't score playing with Malkin and Crosby, I really don't see him doing any better with anyone on the Islanders.
I have advocated that the team get younger NOT older, so I guess I don't want him to take the roster spot of a younger player.
However if it meant cutting Hilbert, I would have to think real hard about that one....Bill
Robert Nilsson was always a kid who I felt had a lot of talent. As with a lot of younger players, he was shuffled around and never could win a roster spot on the Island. Snow traded him in the Ryan Smyth deal, at Nolan's urging, I am sure.
Last I saw here, he was demoted to an AHL team. Edmonton recalled him and I see that he has one goal and 7 assists and is a plus 2 in 20 games.
His 8 points would place him 3 rd in scoring on the current Islanders team.
No, he is not tearing up the league
but he seems to be on his way to becoming a solid NHL player.
To me, he is just another example of the Islanders not giving their youth a solid chance...Bill
I'm confused. The Isles have 8 players with more than 8 points. He has just as many goals as Hilbert, but is on his way to being a solid NHL player? I'll believe that when I see it.
Justin, your right about the stats. I was looking at a page that had not been updated in a while.
Still, he has 8 points in 20 games while we have players like Sillinger who has 9 points in 25 games. He also has more points than Park, Bergy, Hilbert and Simon
most of whom have played more games than him.
Lets see what his total is when he hits 25 games. Or at th end of the season....Bill
He is a defensive liability, has a questionable work ethic, and was the key figure in landing the Isles Ryan Smyth at last year's deadline. While Smyth has since moved on, I was not sorry to see RN go.
Justin Every point you make is true. I was just very impressed by his pure talent. It is a shame that he does not seem willing to make the sacrifice neccessary to
realize his potential.
Who knows, he may becoame a late bloomer al la Todd Bertuzzi...Bill
Here's hoping for a blow out win tonight. We need a laugher........Bill
THRASHERS 4 ISLES 3 SHOOTOUT
I really don't know what to say about this game. On one hand, it was nice to see the team rally and comeback from 2 goals down.
On the other hand, anytime you get outscored on your PP you should be embarrassed.
Great PK, but we still took 8 penalties which is absurd.
Nice to get a point on the road, but we gave away two points to a team that will probably be fighting us for the last playoff spot.
Three goals is hardly an outburst but it is better than what we have been averaging.
Great to see Gerard Gallant screaming at MAB on the bench. As the coach responsible for a godawful PP, perhaps Mr. Gallant should be looking in the mirror.
Mike Comrie is still making ridiculous, soft, low percentage passes. This guy really needs to get back to basics.
DP let in another soft goal on Hossa's shorthander.
Justin, J., Shink et al-- I have a suspicion that DP is beginning to lose confidence in the team in front of him. I believe that he is putting too much pressure on himself and that it is finally getting to him.
I think he feels, that unless he pitches a shutout, he can't win.
Have you guys noticed how much he is flopping around. How hesitant he is when he has the puck behind the net? How many soft, bad angle goals he has given up lately?
DP is definately gripping the stick way too tightly. He looks like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders in the net.
He certainly does not look like the cocky, confident player that he has been in the past.
It appears to me, that the lack of offense has caused him to take too much responsibilty upon himself and his play is beginning to reflect that.
Someone on the coaching staff better realize this and do something about it before DP loses it completely.
Any opinions on this?....Bill
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