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Post by chsb on Sept 10, 2007 7:40:47 GMT -4
...And yet the Titan do not have established lines.
It appears that there is a lot of work to be done to get settled down as a team and it might take until the 4 players at pro camps are back before we get an accurate picture of the team.
Some things appear pretty good though:
1- the goaltending was very good in the last few outings of Legault and Tardif which allowed the two to improve their stats
so far:
Tardif, Antoine 3 6 2 1 178.46 9 0 0 3.02 98 0.908
Legault, Tommy 3 6 1 2 180.00 11 0 0 3.67 81 0.864
much better than last year's camp.
2- I would venture to say that the defensive play looked very good compared to this time last season at camp....even without Labrie, Sigouin and Tesink. The last 7 outings saw the Titan allow 21 goals for a GAA of 3.00
3- the emergence of Éric Faille could be an answer to our top 6 player missing after Bartos' loss. He was the best scorer for us in preseason:
Faille, Éric 5 4 4 8 2
4- in the last 7 games, our PK played for 86%
meanwhile our PP scored at 21% without its best elements.
so special teams are looking good heading into the season.
5- some rookies, like Lambke,Critchlow,Couture,Blanchard could force the Titan to make choices and cut some veterans....it is very promising for the future....a goaltender like Champion looked very good...also Lagacé.
All in all a fun camp with a lot of changes from the coaching staff down, spiced with the Bartos saga which pretty looks like over this morning.....I will forget about him from now on and focus on the season...
Have a good 07-08 season Titan team!
And fans let's enjoy it!
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Post by Captain Obvious on Sept 10, 2007 8:46:51 GMT -4
If Bartos really wanted to play in Bathurst/QMJHL I think he would be here by now. Sounds like he doesn't think it's worth the travel and effort plus staying far from home. Maybe money could convince him, but then you have a player reporting for the wrong reasons.
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Post by chsb on Sept 10, 2007 9:06:49 GMT -4
If Bartos really wanted to play in Bathurst/QMJHL I think he would be here by now. Sounds like he doesn't think it's worth the travel and effort plus staying far from home. Maybe money could convince him, but then you have a player reporting for the wrong reasons. I agree! Plus this morning Gilles said that, after talking to Sly, the Bartos stay in Bathurst was over..... |
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Post by IslandersHKY on Sept 10, 2007 9:29:26 GMT -4
Interesting comments. For starters I find it funny how on one hand you take a shot at Score and myself in another thread for penciling in Schmidt as a potential 3rd liner based on his preseason performance of 6 goals in 6 gms but then turn around and identify Faille (4 goals in 5 gms) as a potential replacement for Bartos based on his preseason performance. Don’t get me wrong I like Faille and think he could be a very good third liner I just find your comments about him kind of hypocritical. As for your other comments I actually enjoy preseason (at least a couple of games) because it can give you a sense of various players development but your wasting your time if your putting much stock in win/loss records and stats. Specifically in respect to your defense and goaltending especially given the Titan’s preseason schedule where you played primarily against weaker offensive teams like a rookie Lewiston squad or Saint John. If your defense and goaltending looked overmatched against them you would have been in big trouble. And in preseason most teams give rookies and other players PP and PK time which they normally wouldn’t get much of during the season. That is why your PK is likely looking pretty good because your stopping 16 & 17 yr old rookies and bubble players. And if you are using top guys regularly on the PP that would explain the strong PP average. Again not knocking the Titan’s defense or goaltending just trying to introduce some reality to your comments. Finally I'm looking forward to watching Bathurst and seeing Critchlow and others play although I don’t think that Bathurst plays on PEI until late November  |
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Post by SteveUL on Sept 10, 2007 9:34:16 GMT -4
And to add to HF99's comments ... Coaches also don't do any line matching in pre-season ... forcing younger players to show what they can and can't do in certain situations. Plus ... players might get a few shifts with the more elite players on their team due to roster limitations (other regular linemates sitting out) while once the regular season starts they may never get that opportunity again. Pre-season stats are meaningless. Wins and losses and goals and assists don't always translate to similar results once the real hockey starts.
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Post by chsb on Sept 10, 2007 9:43:38 GMT -4
Interesting comments. For starters I find it funny how on one hand you take a shot at Score and myself in another thread for penciling in Schmidt as a potential 3rd liner based on his preseason performance of 6 goals in 6 gms but then turn around and identify Faille (4 goals in 5 gms) as a potential replacement for Bartos based on his preseason performance. Don’t get me wrong I like Faille and think he could be a very good third liner I just find your comments about him kind of hypocritical. As for your other comments I actually enjoy preseason (at least a couple of games) because it can give you a sense of various players development but your wasting your time if your putting much stock in win/loss records and stats. Specifically in respect to your defense and goaltending especially given the Titan’s preseason schedule where you played primarily against weaker offensive teams like a rookie Lewiston squad or Saint John. If your defense and goaltending looked overmatched against them you would have been in big trouble. And in preseason most teams give rookies and other players PP and PK time which they normally wouldn’t get much of during the season. That is why your PK is likely looking pretty good because your stopping 16 & 17 yr old rookies and bubble players. And if you are using top guys regularly on the PP that would explain the strong PP average. Again not knocking the Titan’s defense or goaltending just trying to introduce some reality to your comments. Finally I'm looking forward to watching Bathurst and seeing Critchlow and others play although I don’t think that Bathurst plays on PEI until late November First off, I excluded the two first games which were 18 out of 20 roster players filled by rookies. Second, regarding Faille, he has been the steadiest offensive player from the start and it is no hazard that he is leading in that department. Third, our special teams missed Perreault, Messier(who is supposed to be excellent on PK), Labrie and Sigouin for the major part of training camp. Their absence actually enhances what I was pointing. Finally I guess that I will have to tell you that, contrary to you, I actually saw our team play....meaning that I actually saw the different players and am actually able to establish comparisons. Faille has been very good at camp..... The point now is to find a spot for him..... He is a centerman and we got 3 centermen already on the first two lines....Perreault, Messier and Clendenning. However Faille was listed as a winger before coming to the Titan and Clendenning also played on the wing. One poster suggested the possibility to have Messier go to the first line in Bartos' replacement but Messier would have to play a new position. No doubt though that he got some offensive skills. Massé was the one I mentioned from the start of camp as the best possibility...I never thought of Faille on first line, but rather as a possibility of replacing Massé or Messier on the 2nd line.Joly is also a possibility of course. Faille actually made a case for himself in that regard in camp and IMPO Titan management will have to consider him very seriously. |
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Post by chsb on Sept 10, 2007 9:45:16 GMT -4
And to add to HF99's comments ... Coaches also don't do any line matching in pre-season ... forcing younger players to show what they can and can't do in certain situations. Plus ... players might get a few shifts with the more elite players on their team due to roster limitations (other regular linemates sitting out) while once the regular season starts they may never get that opportunity again. Pre-season stats are meaningless. Wins and losses and goals and assists don't always translate to similar results once the real hockey starts. I will agree with that. However when we speak of Faille, we are speaking about a player who actually showed what he could already last season and showed so far a strong improvement over last season. |
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Post by SteveUL on Sept 10, 2007 10:15:25 GMT -4
And to add to HF99's comments ... Coaches also don't do any line matching in pre-season ... forcing younger players to show what they can and can't do in certain situations. Plus ... players might get a few shifts with the more elite players on their team due to roster limitations (other regular linemates sitting out) while once the regular season starts they may never get that opportunity again. Pre-season stats are meaningless. Wins and losses and goals and assists don't always translate to similar results once the real hockey starts. I will agree with that. However when we speak of Faille, we are speaking about a player who actually showed what he could already last season and showed so far a strong improvement over last season. 99% of returning players show improvement over last season ... the Titan don't have the market cornered on that. I'm not saying Faille won't suddenly show to be a solid offensive contributor ... I'm saying the "facts" you are using to sell your case aren't really facts ... give the kid time to prove himself in real Q hockey before you set him up to fail. |
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Post by IslandersHKY on Sept 10, 2007 10:27:37 GMT -4
First off, I excluded the two first games which were 18 out of 20 roster players filled by rookies. Second, regarding Faille, he has been the steadiest offensive player from the start and it is no hazard that he is leading in that department. Third, our special teams missed Perreault, Messier(who is supposed to be excellent on PK), Labrie and Sigouin for the major part of training camp. Their absence actually enhances what I was pointing. Finally I guess that I will have to tell you that, contrary to you, I actually saw our team play....meaning that I actually saw the different players and am actually able to establish comparisons. Faille has been very good at camp..... I think you are missing the point that all teams are in a similar situation with some returning players showing a big jump in production in preseason which is because of players getting an opportunity to play in situations they normally wouldn't. Just look at the Rocket top scorers: Schmidt - 7 gms / 6 goals / 7 pts Cliche - 7 gms / 5 goals / 5 pts Latal - 5 gms / 5 goals / 6 pts DesRoches - 6 gms / 3 goals / 6 pts Kana - 7 gms / 3 goals / 6 pts Notice the absence of Morrison, Walker, Lessard in there. On the Rocket PP those guys are getting lots of time which they likely wouldn't during the season. Also add in Clow, Deighan and Main on defense to that list which I believe is where most of their points have come from. Not to take anything away from Faille but it is not unusual for some depth players to put up great Preseason numbers but that doesn't mean that they will during the season. One example from the Rocket was Devon Praught 2 yrs ago who was right up there with Bosclair and Esposito scoring 11 pts in 6 gms in preseason and went on to score 1 goal and 4 pts. Not knocking Praught just saying it doesn't automatically translate. Having said that if you want to argue that preseason stats really matter I did notice that Bathurst was actually among the worst in Goals Against and in the bottom half in goalie stats. Actually PEI's stats were much much better Just for comparision PEIGoals For - 4.13 Goals Against - 3.25 BathurstGoals For - 3.67 Goals Against - 4.00 GoaliesLafleur - 1.59 GAA & 0.944 sav per Gelinas - 2.01 GAA & 0.947 sav per Tardif - 3.02 GAA & 0.908 sav per Legault - 3.67 GAA & 0.864 sav per So using your logic of using the preseason does that mean that PEI looks to have significantly better goaltendig and a stronger team? Or do you jump back and forth depending on what makes the Titan look the best? |
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Post by chsb on Sept 10, 2007 10:44:20 GMT -4
First off, I excluded the two first games which were 18 out of 20 roster players filled by rookies. Second, regarding Faille, he has been the steadiest offensive player from the start and it is no hazard that he is leading in that department. Third, our special teams missed Perreault, Messier(who is supposed to be excellent on PK), Labrie and Sigouin for the major part of training camp. Their absence actually enhances what I was pointing. Finally I guess that I will have to tell you that, contrary to you, I actually saw our team play....meaning that I actually saw the different players and am actually able to establish comparisons. Faille has been very good at camp..... I think you are missing the point that all teams are in a similar situation with some returning players showing a big jump in production in preseason which is because of players getting an opportunity to play in situations they normally wouldn't. Just look at the Rocket top scorers: Schmidt - 7 gms / 6 goals / 7 pts Cliche - 7 gms / 5 goals / 5 pts Latal - 5 gms / 5 goals / 6 pts DesRoches - 6 gms / 3 goals / 6 pts Kana - 7 gms / 3 goals / 6 pts Notice the absence of Morrison, Walker, Lessard in there. On the Rocket PP those guys are getting lots of time which they likely wouldn't during the season. Also add in Clow, Deighan and Main on defense to that list which I believe is where most of their points have come from. Not to take anything away from Faille but it is not unusual for some depth players to put up great Preseason numbers but that doesn't mean that they will during the season. One example from the Rocket was Devon Praught 2 yrs ago who was right up there with Bosclair and Esposito scoring 11 pts in 6 gms in preseason and went on to score 1 goal and 4 pts. Not knocking Praught just saying it doesn't automatically translate. Having said that if you want to argue that preseason stats really matter I did notice that Bathurst was actually among the worst in Goals Against and in the bottom half in goalie stats. Actually PEI's stats were much much better Just for comparision PEIGoals For - 4.13 Goals Against - 3.25 BathurstGoals For - 3.67 Goals Against - 4.00 GoaliesLafleur - 1.59 GAA & 0.944 sav per Gelinas - 2.01 GAA & 0.947 sav per Tardif - 3.02 GAA & 0.908 sav per Legault - 3.67 GAA & 0.864 sav per So using your logic of using the preseason does that mean that PEI looks to have significantly better goaltendig and a stronger team? Or do you jump back and forth depending on what makes the Titan look the best? I did not make a case for the Titan at all in my first post...I made a case for some players in their development and I excluded willingly the first two games which were not representative of the actual team. In Faille's case, I actually compared the player to last year's and in Faille's case he is actually bigger and stronger....and much more efficient in his one on one battles. Comparing Tardif's camp ot last year's camp is actually seeing his progress...not comparing him to the rest of the Q. Comparing our GAA to last year's camp is actually checking if the team as a whole so far is faring better against pretty close to the same defense last season. Comparing our PK to last year's preseason or last year's is actually compoaring the Titan to the Titan...it has nothing to do with the other teams. I guess that this is a topic which is much more specific to the fans who have watched camp than to you looking at our preseason stat sheets.... |
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Post by whatif2 on Sept 10, 2007 10:49:57 GMT -4
Here we go again! It is a good thing that chsb does post. Otherwise some guys would have nothing or not know what to post. I do not agree with some or much(you choose) of what chsb does post but have discovered long ago that you will not change his mind nor will you be able to put him off by insulting him. Carryon as I know you guys plan to do. (this thread if done for me)  |
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Post by Porkchop on Sept 10, 2007 11:50:44 GMT -4
Interesting comments. For starters I find it funny how on one hand you take a shot at Score and myself in another thread for penciling in Schmidt as a potential 3rd liner based on his preseason performance of 6 goals in 6 gms but then turn around and identify Faille (4 goals in 5 gms) as a potential replacement for Bartos based on his preseason performance. Don’t get me wrong I like Faille and think he could be a very good third liner I just find your comments about him kind of hypocritical. I think the big difference between Schimdt and Faille is that Schimdt is on his 3rd team in one calender year and has yet to prove anything........Faille was called up part way through the season, did very well, forced the team to keep him and had a very solid playoffs for us...........the only thing that chsb did with Schimdt was show you that he also had a strong camp last year and faded into nowhere......is it a habit, dunno......Faille proved that he can play in this league and had a spot on the team before camp even started, which wasn't the case with Schimdt........ |
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Post by Captain Obvious on Sept 10, 2007 11:53:45 GMT -4
Interesting comments. For starters I find it funny how on one hand you take a shot at Score and myself in another thread for penciling in Schmidt as a potential 3rd liner based on his preseason performance of 6 goals in 6 gms but then turn around and identify Faille (4 goals in 5 gms) as a potential replacement for Bartos based on his preseason performance. Don’t get me wrong I like Faille and think he could be a very good third liner I just find your comments about him kind of hypocritical. I think the big difference between Schimdt and Faille is that Schimdt is on his 3rd team in one calender year and has yet to prove anything........Faille was called up part way through the season, did very well, forced the team to keep him and had a very solid playoffs for us...........the only thing that chsb did with Schimdt was show you that he also had a strong camp last year and faded into nowhere......is it a habit, dunno......Faille proved that he can play in this league and had a spot on the team before camp even started, which wasn't the case with Schimdt........ The point still applies that just because he has a big preseason doesn't mean he will have a breakout offensive year. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2007 12:01:27 GMT -4
I think the big difference between Schimdt and Faille is that Schimdt is on his 3rd team in one calender year and has yet to prove anything........Faille was called up part way through the season, did very well, forced the team to keep him and had a very solid playoffs for us...........the only thing that chsb did with Schimdt was show you that he also had a strong camp last year and faded into nowhere......is it a habit, dunno......Faille proved that he can play in this league and had a spot on the team before camp even started, which wasn't the case with Schimdt........ The point still applies that just because he has a big preseason doesn't mean he will have a breakout offensive year. It doesn't mean he won't either  |
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Post by SteveUL on Sept 10, 2007 13:01:57 GMT -4
The point still applies that just because he has a big preseason doesn't mean he will have a breakout offensive year. It doesn't mean he won't either Correct ... but what it does mean is that the pre-season results should not be used for making regular season predicitions ... and that is the entire point being made. |
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