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Post by Deer on Oct 2, 2010 0:57:27 GMT -4
The biggest difference I saw tonight was the skill level and composure of the Ramparts. The Eagles were guilty of far too many turnovers, many caused by a blatant inability to take or receive a pass. 90% of those missed passes become a turnover or negate an offensive play or breakout. Also some players stopped being as effective possibly from overuse after the halfway mark. Bang on. There's the game in a nutshell. Crazy amount of turnovers on completely routine breakouts lead to odd-man rushes for Quebec/our poor goaltender hung out to dry. CB couldn't complete routine passes out of their own zone, while Quebec was making tic-tac-toe plays and drop passes left and right. Several of our veterans are being asked to do way too much. Ellis is the most blatant. Every time he got the puck tonight he tried to go end-to-end. That's not his game, it's Bobby Orr's game, he only attempted it out of desperation because he's being asked entirely too much. Same with Viktor Hertzberg and Brad Cuzner. Trying to do unnatural things because they're being asked to do more than should be asked of them.... to compensate for how little veteran depth exists on this year's team.... especially with Horyl out. The forwards actually were much better tonight than they were against PEI last weekend. Much more conviction in the offensive zone. And despite 8 goals on 27 shots, Verroneau was not bad - in fact he made quite a few fine saves, and couldn't be faulted on more than one or two of the eight goals. Defence though was a disaster - unbelievable # of turnovers on routine plays, and unbelievable # of failed breakouts. It was nice to see the team relax in the offensive zone and snipe a couple goal scorer's goals in the first period, but the fact remains that 8-2 on home ice is one of the worst results at C200 in franchise history. On the plus side, local boy Kyle Farrell looked fine in his Q debut - good speed and was more noticeable than he was in most of training camp. He probably ends up with the team full-time before too long. And it was at least nice to see Alex Carrier try to get some emotion going after his fight when the team was down 5-2. Sad to see him get a misconduct for a minor chirp at the Quebec bench - not sure what this league is turning into, that's novice house crap to chuck a guy out for the rest of the game for minor showboating. On the Quebec side, they scored 8 goals even though the "big line" of Marchessault-Champagne-Filippi wasn't even that dominant five-on-five. Suggests that the team has solid depth. The Ryan Bourque line was probably the best. And unlike most Remp teams in the past that mostly got by on skill despite questionable attitude, this team does honestly seem pretty hard-nosed and honest. I was really impressed that stars like Ryan Bourque and Joel Champagne dropped the gloves when called upon. Champagne fought to stand up for Marchessault when MacDougall slashed him after the 7-2 goal. A lot of star players would have let someone else take care of that. I was never sure Champagne was a winner, still am not, but my respect for him went up for what he did tonight.
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Post by Y Ddraig Goch on Oct 2, 2010 6:45:17 GMT -4
[nd it was at least nice to see Alex Carrier try to get some emotion going after his fight when the team was down 5-2. Sad to see him get a misconduct for a minor chirp at the Quebec bench - not sure what this league is turning into, that's novice house crap to chuck a guy out for the rest of the game for minor showboating. Did Carrier get a major for that fight? Q site only shows him with a minor.
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Post by capergary on Oct 2, 2010 8:15:58 GMT -4
i too was at the game and could not believe the lack of good passing. even with no pressure they could not make a clean pass out of their own end!! also on the power play we had no-one in front of the net !!! last year macneil had quite a few goals from that spot. with the lack of a top scorer they better get used to scoring ugly goals. i think the days of end to end and top corner goals are not going to happen, this year anyway.
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Post by Hat Trick Swayze's on Oct 2, 2010 10:18:37 GMT -4
What would be the cost of Dion? This guy would be handy for a lot of club at x man. Trade him for a bag of un-frozen hockey pucks........ prob wouldnt be Marios worse trade
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Post by Deer on Oct 2, 2010 10:38:21 GMT -4
[nd it was at least nice to see Alex Carrier try to get some emotion going after his fight when the team was down 5-2. Sad to see him get a misconduct for a minor chirp at the Quebec bench - not sure what this league is turning into, that's novice house crap to chuck a guy out for the rest of the game for minor showboating. Did Carrier get a major for that fight? Q site only shows him with a minor. I assumed so. He should have - it was most definitely a fight, not by any means just a shoving match. In fact it was the best of the game's three fights, A Carrier has some piss and vinegar in him and can throw some solid bombs with that right hand!! Halifax fans saw this when he fought Trey Lewis in the season opener. And for a fight between two guys who normally don't drop em, Champagne vs MacDougall wasn't too shabby. Once again I really take my hat off to Champagne for jumping to Marchessault's defence like that, despite kind of being Patrick Roy's hired sniper this year. A lot of guys in his position wouldn't have wanted to get their noses dirty.
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Post by Deer on Oct 2, 2010 10:46:17 GMT -4
What would be the cost of Dion? This guy would be handy for a lot of club at x man. Trade him for a bag of un-frozen hockey pucks........ prob wouldnt be Marios worse trade I thought Dion looked pretty decent on the top line last night playing with Hertzberg and MacDougall. The fact remains that Dion and MacDougall shouldn't be on a 1st line at the Q level, they're more suited to two-way roles on a 2nd line, but it's what CB has right now so they may as well make the best of the situation. Dion seems to have trouble finishing, but was using his size to cut through their defence often enough and protected the puck well down low in the offensive zone. Created some room for Hertz/MacDougall. I think Dion looks a lot better than he did last year - I have to admit last year I wasn't quite sure why we'd acquired him. He's starting to come around IMO.
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Post by Deer on Oct 2, 2010 10:52:05 GMT -4
i too was at the game and could not believe the lack of good passing. even with no pressure they could not make a clean pass out of their own end!! also on the power play we had no-one in front of the net !!! last year macneil had quite a few goals from that spot. with the lack of a top scorer they better get used to scoring ugly goals. i think the days of end to end and top corner goals are not going to happen, this year anyway. The inability to give or receive a routine pass can't be understated - it was the single most glaring thing from last night. Like you said, quite often there were no Rempart players near - it was just routine point A-to-point B passes out of their own end. But they ended up bouncing way off of sticks, or missing by a mile. Often turning a routine play into an odd-man rush the other way.... in two cases late in the 2nd period, it turned into a breakaway the other way (see Bourque's goal, which was the backbreaker). The kids are working hard and as long as that keeps happening I think the true fans will appreciate their efforts and show some patience with the growing pains. But the missed passes we saw last night plain and simple shouldn't be happening at the major junior level - honestly not sure I've seen anything quite like it. I don't know what the guys work on in practice but these are extremely basic things.... it's human nature though to get away from the basics. The key is recognizing signs that you need to go back to basics and common sense, and adjusting accordingly. Hopefully an 8-2 loss on home ice is a big enough such sign.
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Post by hal on Oct 2, 2010 11:33:28 GMT -4
i too was at the game and could not believe the lack of good passing. even with no pressure they could not make a clean pass out of their own end!! also on the power play we had no-one in front of the net !!! last year macneil had quite a few goals from that spot. with the lack of a top scorer they better get used to scoring ugly goals. i think the days of end to end and top corner goals are not going to happen, this year anyway. The inability to give or receive a routine pass can't be understated - it was the single most glaring thing from last night. Like you said, quite often there were no Rempart players near - it was just routine point A-to-point B passes out of their own end. But they ended up bouncing way off of sticks, or missing by a mile. Often turning a routine play into an odd-man rush the other way.... in two cases late in the 2nd period, it turned into a breakaway the other way (see Bourque's goal, which was the backbreaker). The kids are working hard and as long as that keeps happening I think the true fans will appreciate their efforts and show some patience with the growing pains. But the missed passes we saw last night plain and simple shouldn't be happening at the major junior level - honestly not sure I've seen anything quite like it. I don't know what the guys work on in practice but these are extremely basic things.... it's human nature though to get away from the basics. The key is recognizing signs that you need to go back to basics and common sense, and adjusting accordingly. Hopefully an 8-2 loss on home ice is a big enough such sign. Patience is wearing thin already , just hearing some of the rumblings leaving the Rink .
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Post by reality on Oct 2, 2010 12:30:52 GMT -4
The only reason for patience wearing thin is that some fans actually believed what they were told last spring and in the preseason about this team being well set with experienced players , D and forwards, not only for this season but for next year's Memorial Cup run.
Knowledgeable hockey fans knew the difference and are willing to give this team time to develop provided they see the effort out their for 60 minute games. I'm sure they would also like to see some improved discipline and that example should be set by the veteran players. However, the younger players won't get a real opportunity to develop if a select few get skated into the ice.
For example, I was amazed to see Logan Shaw go right back out on the power play in the 3rd period, after just completing a regular full shift that drew a penalty. 95% of the players in the Q aren't capable of full 45 to 60 second double shifting, if they are giving their 100% out their on the ice and if they're not giving their 100% they sure don't deserve to be rewarded with power play time!
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Post by hal on Oct 2, 2010 16:40:06 GMT -4
I think the Knowledgable Fans are bitter which makes them even less patient .
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Post by P-O on Oct 2, 2010 17:03:52 GMT -4
''me likes the feedback''
muchas gracias.
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Post by elementz on Oct 2, 2010 17:05:42 GMT -4
Poqu....check your pm's.
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Post by reality on Oct 2, 2010 18:19:29 GMT -4
hal, I don't think the knowledgeable fans are the least bit surprised by the team's struggles and they have had 9 months to get over "THE DECISION".
However, some may get frustrated with the power play,the line changes and the way players are used. Some returning players, according to Mario had until Christmas to show that they deserved to be here. Cory MacIntosh has certainly stepped up his game so far but it's going to be harder for a player like Felix Bergeron to show that he belongs if he doesn't get to dress and play.
On the other hand if Jodoin was sat out last game because of his untimely slashing penalty against Moncton in the 3rd period, that may be a sign of trying to start improving the discipline on the ice.
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Post by P-O on Oct 2, 2010 18:20:36 GMT -4
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Post by hal on Oct 2, 2010 18:52:49 GMT -4
What I am really trying to say is that Mario's decisions last year have set this Franchise back big time and Upper Management just expect us to forget about it , while they prepare the Almighty Bid ! We don;t have enough talent , assets , money or Management Smarts to be a real factor if we land the thing ! I am pissed enough now .............so imagine what other folks are gonna be saying if we are in last place and 15 games below 500 by X-mas time ?
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