March 16, 201511 yr You're a strange fella. Trust me, I'm not the type to think this team looks like a playoff team Mr. R, but try to be mathematical at the very least. Count how many games this team has versus Boston. Yes, Ottawa just jumped us. No, we are not in the green for making the playoffs, but I like to count a team out when the odds have run through the floor. The Panthers are still with reasonable odds.
March 17, 201511 yr The H2H excitement is a bit weird to me. This team is not going to beat Boston three times. I'd be shocked if they beat them twice actually. Plus, as you mentioned, they are also chasing Ottawa now. And, in the unlikely case of a tiebreaker, the Panthers have no chance there either so every time someone says they're 6 points back, that # is actually 7. They could actually beat Boston 3x and still be behind them. The odds don't seem reasonable at all to me.
March 17, 201511 yr Also, this Roberto Luongo injury is looking like the typical Panther DTD injury where it's actually week to week, perhaps season to season. He's not playing again tonight. So much for being close to returning. The Dan Ellis magic can only last so long. He stinks.
March 17, 201511 yr The H2H excitement is a bit weird to me. This team is not going to beat Boston three times. I'd be shocked if they beat them twice actually. Plus, as you mentioned, they are also chasing Ottawa now. And, in the unlikely case of a tiebreaker, the Panthers have no chance there either so every time someone says they're 6 points back, that # is actually 7. They could actually beat Boston 3x and still be behind them. The odds don't seem reasonable at all to me. And, much like a couple of nights ago, those teams all play each other head to head. Meaning, Ottawa will face us. They will face Washington. Boston will face them. It's statistics, and it's calculus based. Until that number of games N starts to drive down, the odds still exist in a realistic but unlikely manner. Whatever value they're going to converge at... we will see. Doesn't look good, but I tend to just be the type to sit and watch until I can say they're mathematically highly improbable (no I'm not the type of person to wait until they're mathematically eliminated...).
March 17, 201511 yr Of the remaining 13 games (tonight included), they'd probably need to win 10 or whatever combination gets them another 20 points. I'd have some more confidence if this franchise wasn't allergic to winning streaks.
March 17, 201511 yr Brandon Pirri has such a strange stat line. 15 G 2 A. I also wonder if anyone realizes how damn good he is.
March 17, 201511 yr Of the remaining 13 games (tonight included), they'd probably need to win 10 or whatever combination gets them another 20 points. I'd have some more confidence if this franchise wasn't allergic to winning streaks. Definitely true haha. 3 games in a row is something the broadcasters would make a huge deal about. What's strange is we've had so many different teams, so to say... and somehow we are just in love with the OTL. This team hasn't been too bad in the shootout this season, but they've always been bad in OT and the SO otherwise.
March 17, 201511 yr Yup. He should be considered a part of the core at this point. He has me convinced this past month or so. We still need to bring Jagr back next year. I'll be happy when we re-sign him.
March 18, 201511 yr A lot of depth at C, I like Pirri as a winger. I was excited when we traded for him last season.
March 18, 201511 yr It's a shame we didn't have Jagr from the beginning. This new first line we have looks pretty legit. Even when they're not scoring, they possess the puck and put great pressure on the opposing team.
March 18, 201511 yr Barkov is a big reason for our lack of success this season. Not to say he's responsible at 19 years old, but he was a big, unrealistic expectation. This team reminds me a lot of early Chicago though, so that's a very good thing. Pirri, minus December and minus injuries... he looks like a real... scorer. Like... real. This is what this looks like?
March 18, 201511 yr Pirri scores to tie the game. About a minute later, Dan Ellis remembers he's Dan Ellis. Trying to catch up in the standings is tough as it is. We definitely won't get there with Dan Ellis in net.
March 18, 201511 yr This team still needs more finishers. It's amazing how much trouble they have to score. It's rather pathetic actually.
March 18, 201511 yr This team still needs more finishers. It's amazing how much trouble they have to score. It's rather pathetic actually. Yeah but my point was like... watch Barkov's goal and watch Pirri's every god damn goal. Pirri is the definition of a scorer. He's a sniper. He shoots to score. Barkov's goal was an example of how skill and knowledge can score you a crap goal. There was nothing Barkov did in terms of accuracy though, he just got lucky that the goalie didn't see it coming. With that being said, of course we need more than just Brandon Pirri. Also, the amount of 6-on-4 ice time this team has had is tragically sad.
March 18, 201511 yr I think the core itself is real solid, better than we've seen in forever. That being said, look what the addition of a talented veteran like Jagr did for Huberdeau and Barkov. Trade picks, trade prospects to get a guy who's not 43 to round out the top 6. Give Bjugstad a real winger to play with, not Jokinen or Boyes who should be nowhere near top 6.
March 18, 201511 yr Even if we don't catch Boston, I hope we beat them. I'd rather see Ottawa make the playoffs. This Hamburglar story is unreal at this point. 11-0-1...
March 18, 201511 yr Even if we don't catch Boston, I hope we beat them. I'd rather see Ottawa make the playoffs. This Hamburglar story is unreal at this point. 11-0-1... Sadly, I agree. That being said, Ottawa is probably going to make Hammond the starter next season and he'll regress HARD.
March 18, 201511 yr I think the core itself is real solid, better than we've seen in forever. That being said, look what the addition of a talented veteran like Jagr did for Huberdeau and Barkov. Trade picks, trade prospects to get a guy who's not 43 to round out the top 6. Give Bjugstad a real winger to play with, not Jokinen or Boyes who should be nowhere near top 6. It's not that they don't belong anywhere near the top 6. Jokinen has been a career top 6 player, he's just a supplemental guy. It's a matter of how many leaders versus supplementers you have. Jokinen's been great. Boyes has been questionable (although I wouldn't unload him simply for the fact that he's a shootout hand). You just need MORE. That's just it. Teams like Chicago have Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp and Jonathan Toews... AND then they have a Marian Hossa. Granted, our youngsters simply aren't as good as Kane or Toews, but we absolutely are the Hossa away from being a playoff team (offensively).
March 18, 201511 yr Author I too would rather see Ottawa make it over Boston. These last two games have been simply agonizing. This team has a great core and even if Jagr doesn't do much, just having him around Huberdeau and Barkov is worth bringing him back. Eliis has been solid but he was left out to dry on two of those horribly timed goals. We definitely need more scoring and to keep Pirri healthy. But yes, he is the definition of a scorer and amazes me how he scores sometimes. The goalie just doesn't see it coming. Guys like Jokinen and Boyes have been great but they need to score more. In fairness to Jokinen, he has been extremely snake bit for goals this year but his assist numbers are great. If he can put up another 35 next year with 12-15 goals, that a very solid player. With Boyes, I would just like to see 15 and 25 or some combination of that. Hayes needs to continue to develop into the net-front presence and eliminate the streakiness in his game. If he does that, you are talking 20-25 goals easily. Kulikov, to me, is a 40 point defenseman and after his first 3 years he was well on his way to being that with the 28 points he had in 2012 even with missing time. He has improved his defensive game dramatically and I hope he takes the next step as a scorer. Perhaps 10 and 25 or 10 and 30 is not out of the question for him. Some changes need to made but we have a really solid foundation and the young guys have had time to learn, now its time to prove it.
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