So, the team picked up a win Monday night and all was right in the world.
Or was it?
First, let's look at the positives in the game, shall we? The second line of Burmistrov, Antropov and Wellwood played like a top line all night. I've tweeted before about how Wellwood has been looking hungry, and he continued to keep the pressure on. Combined with some nice puck handling by Burmistrov and Antropov (who even threw his body around), the line is really clicking.
The fourth line of Glass - Slater - Thorburn played like they have all season: aggressive and smart. They're giving opponents fits and generating a lot of chances.
The nominal first line of Ladd - Little - Wheeler wasn't as effective as the 2nd or 4th, but you could see they were starting to click, and they had some good shifts that generated some pressure.
The defense? They played some solid D. Even "Free Pizza" Oduya played a sound game and personally swept a puck out of the crease. Byfuglien backchecked. Bogosian cut loose for a beautiful end-to-end rush.
Lastly, Ondrej Pavelec. Wow. He made the saves he should have been making, but more importantly, made saves that he had no business making. Hard to believe this was the same goalie as opening night. He saw everything and stopped it all.
That being said, let's be honest here. Pittsburgh was missing Crosby. And Malkin. And Orpik. And Kennedy. Just about $30 million in salary was missing from the lineup, and that's a lot of talent to go without. Could Sid or Gino have made a difference? Almost certainly. Would it have affected the score? We'll find out in December.
The other glaring issue is that Pavelec had to come up with those big saves. It's nice that he did, but the fact that he was put in that situation means that the team was giving up solid scoring chances, and that needs to change. Teams won't be sitting their top offensive players every night, and top scorers will feast on defensive mistakes. It doesn't help that Ron Hainsey is now out for an extended period with a separated shoulder. He's been a steady presence on the blue line, sporting a +2 in 4 games (second best on the team), and it'd be nice if the rest of the defensive corps could show the same steadiness in their own end.
Overall, though, the team looked good. They were playing fundamentally sound hockey Monday night and were rewarded for it. They didn't try to force plays, they didn't make many bad passes. They were breaking out well and getting some good pressure in the offensive end. They need to build from here and pick up some more points on their road trip to Toronto and Ottawa.
And as an aside, I'm pretty sure Claude Noel is a fan of British humor. The man can deadpan one-liners with the best of them.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Define "fan"
"Once we don't have the unlucky charms like PM Harper and Bettman there to jinx us and take up valuable seats for real fans ... all will be good." said vbmanitoba in a comment published at the Winnipeg Free Press.
Now, I may not be his biggest fan, but lets get one thing straight here - PM Harper is a fan of hockey. He is no stranger to the game, and regularly attends them. I'll go one further and commend him for actually watching the game. He could have spent the game sequestered in a suite, nibbling at the nachos, and talking politics in the back. He didn't. He sat down with everyone else and watched the game. He wasn't a big part of the ceremonies, but, as would be expected, his presence was noted.
Yes, it probably helps that he's the PM and can ask about (and get) tickets much more easily than you or I could. However, if he hadn't shown up, what would people say? That he only cared about Alberta and Ontario? That it showed his indifference to Manitoba? You can spin his appearance (or not) either way. I'm looking at it from a (strangely) positive light - he came out to Winnipeg for something that we, as Winnipegers, considered a hugely important day. As a city, it enhances the level of importance given when our PM is there for the event.
As for Bettman, i'm willing to bet that even if there was a seat there for him, it was likely in a suite (quite likely the TNSE owners box), and that he probably had enough going on that he didn't get to take in too much of the game. Feel free to correct me, though - maybe he had a regular seat and I haven't heard about it. I suspect, though, with the season starting, multiple sales pending (Dallas and St. Louis, in particular) and the multiple media requests he would have had to deal with, I think Gary would have been a bit too busy to kick back with a beer and watch the game.
Now, I may not be his biggest fan, but lets get one thing straight here - PM Harper is a fan of hockey. He is no stranger to the game, and regularly attends them. I'll go one further and commend him for actually watching the game. He could have spent the game sequestered in a suite, nibbling at the nachos, and talking politics in the back. He didn't. He sat down with everyone else and watched the game. He wasn't a big part of the ceremonies, but, as would be expected, his presence was noted.
Yes, it probably helps that he's the PM and can ask about (and get) tickets much more easily than you or I could. However, if he hadn't shown up, what would people say? That he only cared about Alberta and Ontario? That it showed his indifference to Manitoba? You can spin his appearance (or not) either way. I'm looking at it from a (strangely) positive light - he came out to Winnipeg for something that we, as Winnipegers, considered a hugely important day. As a city, it enhances the level of importance given when our PM is there for the event.
As for Bettman, i'm willing to bet that even if there was a seat there for him, it was likely in a suite (quite likely the TNSE owners box), and that he probably had enough going on that he didn't get to take in too much of the game. Feel free to correct me, though - maybe he had a regular seat and I haven't heard about it. I suspect, though, with the season starting, multiple sales pending (Dallas and St. Louis, in particular) and the multiple media requests he would have had to deal with, I think Gary would have been a bit too busy to kick back with a beer and watch the game.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Game 1 - Crash landing
Tonight was the night we've all been waiting for - the home opener. The Big Game. The fabled Return of the Jets.TNSE did a really great job of setting the stage - the crowd was raucous when the history clip brought up Hawerchuck, but exploded when Teemu appeared. It'll be interesting to see what happens when The Finnish Flash comes by. Also, how classy was it to let Rick Rypien's mom drop the puck? Just about anyone from Jets history could have been chosen, and TNSE chooses to honor a player who never even played in a Jets uniform.
As with most everything TNSE has done with the franchise, it was a classy, stand-up move.
Which brings us to game time. To say that the crowd was ready for this game is an understatement.
It would have been nice if the players were as ready as the fans. They played tight. It really showed up in the passing: passes were missed, made poorly, or worse, made when they shouldn't have. Captain Andrew Ladd said it best - they weren't making good decisions with the puck tonight. That's bang-on, and the Jets got spanked for those decisions. Turnovers led to Habs goals, and it put the visitors up early. The crowd got taken out of the game quickly, and only really got back into it early in the third when Nick Antropov scored the new franchises first goal, making it 2-1.
And that's when the refs took things back into their own hands. Dustin Byfuglien got called for interference soon after Antropov's goal. To say it was bad is being kind. It was a crap call, and not the first time Buff had been on the receiving end. If a player runs into you and falls down, you are not interfering with them. You're playing hockey. On the first call, Big Buff was chasing his man behind the net - someone steps in front of him, and it's #33 off to the sin bin. The second time was similar - player bounces off Byfuglien, and Byfuglien heads off.
It killed any momentum the Jets had, and the resulting PP goal took the crowd right back out of the game and put the game out of reach.
What could have been a really exciting finish was instead decided by poor officiating. Byfuglien didn't risk the fine by saying it, but it was written all over his face. He was pissed off about the calls, and rightly so.
While we're talking about #33, though - has anyone noticed that although he's eager to join (or lead) the rush, he's slow to get back? When you're playing D, you shouldn't be coasting back when the play goes the other way.
Other notes: Scheifele looked solid with Kane and Wellwood. Wellwood was looking good, too, actually, chasing the puck down and maintaining possession well. Burmistrov also showed some real skill at playing keep-away when he had the puck. Pavelec looked... well, as much as you can't say all those goals were his fault.... you need your #1 goalie to steal some of those. That's the kind of thing that can turn around a game, or make the difference between golf and hockey in April. Mr. Oduya - repeat after me: "I will look where I'm passing."
It was a tough situation for the Jets to be in. The pressure here, tonight of all nights, was immense. I get that. Maybe Buff is right when he said that the road would help build some chemistry. It better. Right now, this team looked lost and woefully unprepared for the season ahead.
As with most everything TNSE has done with the franchise, it was a classy, stand-up move.
Which brings us to game time. To say that the crowd was ready for this game is an understatement.
It would have been nice if the players were as ready as the fans. They played tight. It really showed up in the passing: passes were missed, made poorly, or worse, made when they shouldn't have. Captain Andrew Ladd said it best - they weren't making good decisions with the puck tonight. That's bang-on, and the Jets got spanked for those decisions. Turnovers led to Habs goals, and it put the visitors up early. The crowd got taken out of the game quickly, and only really got back into it early in the third when Nick Antropov scored the new franchises first goal, making it 2-1.
And that's when the refs took things back into their own hands. Dustin Byfuglien got called for interference soon after Antropov's goal. To say it was bad is being kind. It was a crap call, and not the first time Buff had been on the receiving end. If a player runs into you and falls down, you are not interfering with them. You're playing hockey. On the first call, Big Buff was chasing his man behind the net - someone steps in front of him, and it's #33 off to the sin bin. The second time was similar - player bounces off Byfuglien, and Byfuglien heads off.
It killed any momentum the Jets had, and the resulting PP goal took the crowd right back out of the game and put the game out of reach.
What could have been a really exciting finish was instead decided by poor officiating. Byfuglien didn't risk the fine by saying it, but it was written all over his face. He was pissed off about the calls, and rightly so.
While we're talking about #33, though - has anyone noticed that although he's eager to join (or lead) the rush, he's slow to get back? When you're playing D, you shouldn't be coasting back when the play goes the other way.
Other notes: Scheifele looked solid with Kane and Wellwood. Wellwood was looking good, too, actually, chasing the puck down and maintaining possession well. Burmistrov also showed some real skill at playing keep-away when he had the puck. Pavelec looked... well, as much as you can't say all those goals were his fault.... you need your #1 goalie to steal some of those. That's the kind of thing that can turn around a game, or make the difference between golf and hockey in April. Mr. Oduya - repeat after me: "I will look where I'm passing."
It was a tough situation for the Jets to be in. The pressure here, tonight of all nights, was immense. I get that. Maybe Buff is right when he said that the road would help build some chemistry. It better. Right now, this team looked lost and woefully unprepared for the season ahead.
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