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Friday, October 9, 2009

San Josed..

uggh, what a horrendous game... It reminded me why I was still on the fence regarding Klesla.. to be quite honest I couldn't stomach most of the third period, so I turned it off and went to bed pissed off.. I can't wait to read LTL's breakdown of the game.. here are some of the things that I noticed.. please comment and let me know your thoughts...

Klesla, was horrendous he's starting to look like the Klesla of old, I have never been a big fan and last night confirmed my believes.. he gets beaten on the outside, and pressure in front of the net always turns into a big hectic scramble when he's on the ice.. Am I the only one who doesn't like Klesla at all, imho he's a 6/7th defenseman at best...

Stralman, great poise on the blueline, it seemed like every shot he took was on net and provided a scoring opportunity, defensively so-so... but this kid has potential.. I always love to see talent on the ice, this kid has skating, hockey-sense/vision and a good shot... I just don't know if he will become wel-rounded enough to be a factor for us this year.. but I liked him a lot.

Tyutin, so much more hockeysense, poise and skill with the puck then Klesla but he seemed overwhelmed at times, we need Commie back to lessen his minutes..

Voracek, Brassard, Filatov, hardly noticed them all night. Hitch obviously doesn't trust Filatov and neither do I. Brassard was invisible.. Voracek in my opinion is playing very well, Hitch needs to utilize him more..

Vermette, didn't provide a lot to the top line, but he's an 2-plus center..

Juice, Nash, both appear to be chugging along nicely.. I really like how these 2 seem to be getting their chances..

Umberger, was a little flat this game..

Pahlsson/Chimera, pretty solid.. I can see why Hitch loves Sami.. this kid is made for the Hitch system..

Blunden, sloppy from time to time.. not as weighty as Murray... but he provided a little bit more offense and energy then Murray... Murray is definitly more defensely sound...

Dorsett, who doesn't love this kid... tons of energy.. .fights the big guys.... and is it me but he seems to create so much more on the offense then Boll.. this kid will take it to the net...

Torres, seems to be tugging along quite nicely, love this guy... more often then not he gets it done... and he always seems to in the mix of things when we get it done...when we need a spark or a timely goal Torres is there.. Torres is a hug X-factor player to me... we have to keep this guy... He's a Plus 3rd line guy...

Mason, seemed to lose some confidence after some though goals.. he'll rebound..

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section...

4 comments:

Wally said...

Torres has looked pretty good all three games. I'd get the guy's jersey if I was 100% sure he'd be around another year. Strahlman looked very competent. Wasn't his first shot a clanger off the posts?

Sadly, it looked a little like our postseason with DET. Intense pressure knocks guys off the puck... you can take risks and incur the occasional penalty. Until the CBJ polish up their offensive prowess & become a dangerous force, they won't get much room or respect.

Unknown said...

Umberger looked flat because very early in the game, Nash was having a scuffle with a SJ defenseman and ended up tomahawking RJ on the top of the head. It knocked him down. He missed a couple shifts from that.

the Jester said...

I liked what I saw from Blunden. Any year except for this one I might agree with you on Klesla but I think I'm willing to give him a shot, especially after his playoff performance and early season work. I'm not going to bunk anyone on the defensive side until Deuces is back, at least.

LTL said...

Just finished watching the game. A few thoughts:

* Noticed Pahlsson a lot more than Malhotra.

* Mase had a real tough night. Gotta wonder where this game could have been if he makes those stops at the end of the 2nd. The game was obviously lost there.

* San Jose crowd was LOUD! It's hard to sound loud on TV but that crowd was jacked up.

* "Danny Heately" chant. Yeah... we'll see how long that honeymoon lasts.

* Bad night for Klesla.

* Strahlman didn't do a whole lot for me. I wasn't even that impressed with this shot from the point. Just one viewing however so we'll see if he can step it up.

* I liked Brassard and Voracek.. the points are gonna come for Brass if he keeps playing like he did.

* Filatov's confidence looks shaken.. He's playing not to make a mistake b/c he's on such a short leash. I keep telling myself to be patient and Hitch knows what he's doing but I gotta be honest - I don't like how he's being handeled. I mean is he any less defensive than a guy like Huselius? How can anyone know what this kid's got when he's playing spot duty like he is...? I dunno.

* I'm impressed with the way Nash is gaining the zone with puck posession this season. His vision has been tremendous as well as he's setting the table for his teammates consistantly.

* Hejda somehow still managed to finish a +1.

* This team needs Commodore back in a bad way.

* Forgettable game for Klesla. The penalty shot was the right call as he didn't get the puck.

* Nabokov is there for the taking this season. He didn't even look sharp in this game but the Jackets just couldn't capitalize.

* Torres is playing some good hockey -- I especially love his willingness to get dirty in the paint.

* Dorsett needs to be in this lineup every single night.

* Chimera's shot was a absolute bomb. He actually had one of the more complete games that I've seen from him in a while.

This was always gonna be a tough game to win but it was right there for the Jackets to take. Unfortuantley Mase did his best impression of Luongo and the team never recovered.

Time to learn from the mistakes and move on.

Jackets can't overlook Phoenix tomorrow night. Another home opener and another huge challenge.

-LTL