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Post by SteveUL on Oct 14, 2007 19:41:13 GMT -4
...When you have 5 on 3's for 2 whole minutes, you GOTTA score on that... The problem they have outside of talent is that they are god awful slow in their execution, each time they pass they hold on to it too long before they move it again enabling the opposing players to get themselves into position. On a side note, Zach Sill seems to be one of the few players that gives 110%, in my opinion he should be Captain, I know it's only his first year but he has the feel of a captain, leading by example. I've been saying that all along about the PP ... too slow and very poor passing. On your Sill comment ... I'd normally jump on someone for a comment like that ... but its hard to argue with. Sill is our Gaudet ... too bad we didn't have him for 2 yrs previous to this. |
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Post by senators19 on Oct 14, 2007 19:42:10 GMT -4
Does Pianosi not know how to shoot? Or does he just like to fool around with the puck all powerplay? He NEEDS to be off the powerplay. I wish he would shoot more. But when he does shoot, he waits to long and it just gets blocked. There was one exhibition game this year where he shot the puck, a lot.. and he ended up getting two goals. Not saying that will always happen, but if you get the shot off right away, better chance it has of getting to the net. I wish Barberio would shoot more too. He got a goal today. ( Still thought someone tipped it ) That goal was deflected in by the CB defencman Prokopetz but the fact that Barberio took the shot was a vast improvement over the past weeks. |
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Post by Sébastien on Oct 14, 2007 19:45:19 GMT -4
Nah, I don't think we're at that point yet. Also, we could definitaly see some improvement this game over the last couple. Keyword being "yet".. I don't know what has to be done, but something definitely has to change, because what they're doing is NOT working. I don't know what it is .. but somethinggg.. anythinggg! I partly disagree with that. Now is not the time to try anything. That's what you do when you're panicking and have no idea what to do anymore. That's when you're at a point of puting Morehouse on the 1st unit powerplay. I believe there are a couple of things to change. I agree with those who say Magnan should be paired up with Mardquart. I also agree that Pianosi should be taken off the powerplay. I think that Herr should be given some ice again. He's not the most talented out there, but he's able to get the puck out of the zone without necessarily getting an icing call. Who to take out though? Easy call for me, Gomes. To me, the two scratches on defense should be Boyle and Gomes. Sit Brenton. I know what some people say (he's quick and good on the pk, etc.), but when you look at the big picture, he goes quickly nowhere and well, our pk sucks. MacLellan is injured, so that's an easy decision. Bring Labelle back in. He had a solid game against Baie-Comeau and we need some offense. Doing those kind of things are simply doing anything, they're attempts and doing something constructive for the team. |
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Post by CatsFan on Oct 14, 2007 19:50:23 GMT -4
...When you have 5 on 3's for 2 whole minutes, you GOTTA score on that... The good news is they have a week to work on special teams and their next opponent is having a worse year then them, could be a possible game to use to get the players back on track. Not quite a week, but a few days off to get some good practices in. Just looked at the schedule. We play a 3-in-3 next weekend. We're in Cape Breton on Friday night, then come home to play the next night against Rimouski, then again Sunday afternoon against Gatineau. Could be a rough weekend if we don't play better. |
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Post by hockey1981 on Oct 14, 2007 19:53:41 GMT -4
I Could see Cats going 0-3 very easily...
might beat Rimouski but I can't see it
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Post by senators19 on Oct 14, 2007 19:55:33 GMT -4
I thought the Cats played better this game but still not good enough. I think they had 1 shot on goal in each of the first 8 power plays and none on the 5 on 3 got through to the net. Pianosi is a waste on the PP he will not shoot and makes bad decsions with the puck. His back hand pass along the boards is very weak and intercepted almost every time and out it goes. Marquardt still looks like he is out for an evening skate. I don't think he threw a hit all night. MacAusland threw the best hit of the night but he is way too small to play that way every night. Sill was once again the most effective forward on the team. Riopel had another good game but I thought the goal that got by him just after the 5 on 3 took the life out of the team. He had to make that stop IMHO. I thought Baca was our best D. He and Eastman are the only two that seem to be improving as the season goes on.
One thing I noticed was that CB were running a pick on our D all night with no calls for interference but the refs are not the problem.
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Post by senators19 on Oct 14, 2007 20:11:30 GMT -4
That makes 78 PP with 6 goals and 78 PK with 16 goals against. Which would mean 26 goals for and 20 against even strength which would seem to bear out the observation that the boys are playing well 5 on 5.
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Post by sec21critic on Oct 14, 2007 21:20:37 GMT -4
Where to begin....
CB... like the Drakkar... came in and played a very good road game today. I'd say they probably won 80% or more of all battles and races for the puck. They work very hard and get results... much like seemingly every Eagles team in this millenium does (postseason not included, of course).
The team is lacking the skill needed to produce consistantly on the PP... however, it takes no skill to keep one's legs moving. Why does it take so long for the Cats to react to every pass the execute (or attempt to execute) on the man advantage? IMO, it's because they have no decent scoring options at their disposal once they DO have the puck.
Our PP currently consists of: Man down low passes to man on right point who waits... passes to man on left point... he waits... attempts to pass down low and is picked off because there is no decent passing lane (or the pass in itself is poor)... or passes back to opposite point man who cannot handle the pass because it is either too soft, too hard or just not in a viable spot to execute a one-timer... or one of the point men SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTS (btw, shut up people) and it's easily blocked. It happens every time. The lack of skill is a big part of this... but at the same time, I don't care how skilled a player is, the others around him have to be finding open areas and attempt to be as creative as the most skilled player on the ice.
As of right now, I would like to see the following players as point men on the PP.... Magnan, Eastman, Barberio, Pianosi (say what you want.... he's still got more raw skill than Gomes)... perhaps Baca is an option?
Why was Labelle sitting today? I thought he had a decent game Thursday night? Wonder if it stems back to occurances in practise that we may not be aware of.
Zach Sill was the best player on the ice for Moncton today for my money... bar none.
I can appreciate Flynn trying to mix up the lines... but sometimes I wonder if he's just throwing shit against the wall to see what sticks. Case in point... to begin the third, MacAusland started the period on the top line with Eagles and Cameron... and Lessard went from the first to the fourth line, playing with Matt Brown and Matthew Brenton... now, don't get me wrong... putting MacAusland on the first line wasn't THAT bad an idea, IMO... the kid merited the promotion better than any number of other players out there today... but if I'm the coach of this team and I'm starved for goals I try and keep my most skilled guys on the top lines at any and all times (unless they don't deserve it)... the only line that constantly stays together is Sill, Brannon , Moorehouse (and they are highly effective)... other combos kind of make me scratch my head. Could Flynn be panicking just a bit? Just a thought...
I'd scratch Marquardt if I had the power to do so. Put his talent with Sill or Moorehouse's work ethic and he scores 60 in this league easy... or he isn't in this league this year to begin with.
Last year, alot of teams took the Wildcats lightly... especially early on in the season... and they got outworked and defeated as a result. Could it be that teams around the league have finally caught on to our dirty little secret... that more skilled teams that also work hard will almost always beat Moncton? Based on the past few games, I think the answer may be yes. I said at the beginning of the year that this team could finish top four or bottom two... and either option appears to be a distinct possibility thusfar... but a nagging thought in the back of my mind is that this Moncton team is finally being exposed, once and for all. What we were SUPPOSED to experience last season around this time is happening now.
The biggest saving grace to this theory is that the younger players on this team should become more comfortable with this level of play as the season progresses... and perhaps this in itself could prevent the team from going through the meltdown it experienced last February/March.
In the meantime... it's only October, people... alot of games left to be played. If anything, this is the perfect remedy for those who got overly spoiled and dissallusioned by the Mem Cup run and the teams's surprising results of last season.... after all, what goes up, must go down.
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Post by senators19 on Oct 14, 2007 22:16:50 GMT -4
One thing I do find worrying is that the team has lacked size for the past two seasons but they keep drafting small, fast players instead of upgrading to bigger players. I know kids at 15 or 16 are not done growing yet but you can get an idea by looking at the parents or siblings and most of them at that age are going to fill out not up.
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Dugger
Blue-Chip Prospect
Posts: 445
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Post by Dugger on Oct 14, 2007 22:20:59 GMT -4
The thing is when was the last time we drafted someone higher than the third round?
Reality has finally caught up to us, we don't have a very talented team bar a couple of players. We also have a small team, a small team of not the most gifted players spells big trouble. We have a team of (small) third and fourth line grinders being expected to act like first and second line goal scorers, we can hope all we want but it's not going to happen. We can surmise all the possible line combinations but it won't matter, our only hope is that this team can magically get the work ethic of the past two seasons and maybe just maybe we could salvage some portion of this year.
There is no panic button to be pushed it wouldn't do you any good if you could, time is the only thing that is going to help this team.
One other thing, with the scouting staff we have which seems on paper to be second to none, is this really the best we could do for impact Europeans, and wasting a pick on a defensemen to boot? Our impact European has 2 more points than our goaltender after 13 games and our import defenseman sees limited icetime. Even when we have a chance to get some much needed talent we manage to scr**w up, surely with this vast network of scouts and a seemingless endless amount of money we could do better.
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Post by crashthenet on Oct 14, 2007 22:23:39 GMT -4
Bezak was given assist on Barberio goal.
Then when I got home , assist was changed to Cameron.
Watched the Telus replay, Bezak is last Wildcat to touch puck before Cape Breton player turns it over to Barberio.
What would cause scorer to change assist. Usually they would announce something at the game.
I was impressed by Devon tonight........I disagree that he is too small....looks like he can take care of himself and his speed is impressive
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bikerboy
Blue-Chip Prospect
i am french so sorry for my English
Posts: 427
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Post by bikerboy on Oct 15, 2007 12:13:02 GMT -4
i do not understand why Labelle did not play , he played a very good game agains BC and now bench while other players on the team did not do nothing ........ that guy has patient , but like any other players patience should be running smaller by the day , i am pretty sure if he does not play again the kid is gone and wildcats would of lost a very good player .
and yet again we say it over over and over again . bring someone to take care of player that rush riopel and or High stick morehouse or suckerpush Devon , no body is stepping up .......
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2007 12:16:51 GMT -4
Keyword being "yet".. I don't know what has to be done, but something definitely has to change, because what they're doing is NOT working. I don't know what it is .. but somethinggg.. anythinggg! I partly disagree with that. Now is not the time to try anything. That's what you do when you're panicking and have no idea what to do anymore. That's when you're at a point of puting Morehouse on the 1st unit powerplay. I believe there are a couple of things to change. I agree with those who say Magnan should be paired up with Mardquart. I also agree that Pianosi should be taken off the powerplay. I think that Herr should be given some ice again. He's not the most talented out there, but he's able to get the puck out of the zone without necessarily getting an icing call. Who to take out though? Easy call for me, Gomes. To me, the two scratches on defense should be Boyle and Gomes. Sit Brenton. I know what some people say (he's quick and good on the pk, etc.), but when you look at the big picture, he goes quickly nowhere and well, our pk sucks. MacLellan is injured, so that's an easy decision. Bring Labelle back in. He had a solid game against Baie-Comeau and we need some offense. Doing those kind of things are simply doing anything, they're attempts and doing something constructive for the team. What would the chances that you unload some of your good players and your #1 goalie at christmas and build for the next years? |
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Post by catnut on Oct 15, 2007 12:19:29 GMT -4
I partly disagree with that. Now is not the time to try anything. That's what you do when you're panicking and have no idea what to do anymore. That's when you're at a point of puting Morehouse on the 1st unit powerplay. I believe there are a couple of things to change. I agree with those who say Magnan should be paired up with Mardquart. I also agree that Pianosi should be taken off the powerplay. I think that Herr should be given some ice again. He's not the most talented out there, but he's able to get the puck out of the zone without necessarily getting an icing call. Who to take out though? Easy call for me, Gomes. To me, the two scratches on defense should be Boyle and Gomes. Sit Brenton. I know what some people say (he's quick and good on the pk, etc.), but when you look at the big picture, he goes quickly nowhere and well, our pk sucks. MacLellan is injured, so that's an easy decision. Bring Labelle back in. He had a solid game against Baie-Comeau and we need some offense. Doing those kind of things are simply doing anything, they're attempts and doing something constructive for the team. What would the chances that you unload your #1 goalie at christmas and build for next year? I say the odds are 0.000001% that Rio gets traded. |
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Post by digitalman on Oct 15, 2007 12:30:43 GMT -4
I've changed my opinion on Brenton since training camp. I used to think it was a good idea to keep him around cause he could breakout anytime and become another Ian Girard. But with Eagles and MacAusland, the cats already have enough small speedy players and MacAusland will most likely be better than Girard anyways. It showed more than ever against CB that the cats are too small. Flynn said he wasn't going to keep 15 forwards all season. With MacLellan out for a few months, the cats could drop Brenton and then have 13 forwards. Stephens and Brown could then alternate with Labelle and everybody would be happier.
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