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Post by blaise on Dec 21, 2004 1:02:35 GMT -5
Edmonton defeated Hamilton 3-2 in a shootout . Plekanec, Locke, Milroy, and Kostitsyn failed to bury the puck, while Edmonton put 2 past Danis. The goals were scored by Kostitsyn and Ott. Higgins returned to action but took another shot on the foot or ankle and left the game in pain. This time, more than just a bruise?  |
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Dec 21, 2004 10:46:01 GMT -5
The Good
Kostitsyn - This is not the same guy whom I saw get 4 minutes a game at the beginning of the season. Jarvis has taught this young man, and he has learnt and is still learning. His confidence is strong, he is getting top line ice time, and so much has improved in a short two months. He is a lot more physical along the boards, which is great to see for a young 19 year old playing against older opponents. He is also seeing the ice better and passing more, while still demonstrating those good puck skills. The biggest improvement is clearly in his play in his own end...it now is a part of his game, and every game (at least the last three on TV), he is seen coming back to help in his own end and even behind his own net. When a winger is helping out D behind the net, coaches like Jarvis are happy. Good luck in North Dakota, young man.
Danis - Okay, the Dogs were a few short minutes away from Danis stealing them two points. As it was, he still was the biggest factor in getting away with one point. You don't win when you only get 7 shots in two periods, but your goalie gives you a chance to win when the score is still 1-1 at that point. He is technically sound and has good reflexes, and that breakaway save on Stolly was superb.
Hainsey - It is too easy to bash him, and lots of folks on numerous boards make a career out of it, but I like what I saw from him last night. He is the best D out there, is getting top ice time, is playing better on the boards, is making good first passes, and is skating well when he sees open ice. Jarvis is tinkering with the PP to try and kick start it, and he has Hainsey doing two things: sneaking in the back door to the far post (a set play and he sometimes has the other D try it), and going to the front of the net to get a big screen in front of their goalie. The PP still sucks, but Jarvis is placing more responsibility on Hainsey and he is responding IMO.
The Bad
Higgins - Just when the Higgins-Locke-Milroy line gets some momentum going, he gets a puck of the foot Friday night and misses a game. Well, it happened again last night and let's just hope he isn't out too long. He is such a vital part of this team, and this on a team that just doesn't score a lot of goals.
The Game Plan - Hanging on hoping for stellar goaltending, a late goal, and the win just plain sucks. They were much more aggressive, and entertaining, in the two weekend games in the 'Peg. Jarvis, get them skating again instead on just dumping/icing the puck.
Torres Goal - How does he get that far behind Daley, when the puck is stopped at the blue line. Where was Daley going? Did he forget his defensive assignment (a rhetorical question)?
The Ugly
The PP - Can you decline penalties under the new AHL rules? Man, 0 for a billion, and counting. How can you not get a shot on net until your 5th PP of the game?
Late Penalties - Okay, so you play 57 minutes and not give up a PP goal, and then you decide to test your luck and take two bad penalties in the last three minutes of a 2-1 game, in which you lead. First a dumb hit from behind, right behind your net. Those always get called. Second, a holding the stick (Pleky) right in front of your net at the start of that PK. So, that doesn't always get called late in a close game when you are already shorthanded, but it was blatant and there for all to see, so you can't really blame the ref.
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Post by mic on Dec 21, 2004 12:03:25 GMT -5
Great to see Kostitsyn getting better. Will he have a Perezhogin-like season ? Perezhogin had the luck to play for a good team which made things easier for him. Plekanec, Higgins and a strong (sic) defense with Traverse, Dyhuis,... allowed Perezoghin to go his way. Kostitsyn was quickly under pressure and the team not getting good results made that even tougher.
A good season for Kostitsyn would be a nice thing in an otherwise tough season for Hab fans : Chipchura injured, Perezhogin suspended (which can be a good thing in the long run as the Russian League is currently very strong), the Dogs struggling, Urquhart in the ECHL, Yemelin not playing much, etc. Not the funniest season prospect-wise for a long time.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Dec 21, 2004 14:42:39 GMT -5
Great to see Kostitsyn getting better. Will he have a Perezhogin-like season ? Perezhogin had the luck to play for a good team which made things easier for him. Plekanec, Higgins and a strong (sic) defense with Traverse, Dyhuis,... allowed Perezoghin to go his way. Kostitsyn was quickly under pressure and the team not getting good results made that even tougher. Still pretty early and tough to say. Perezhogin ended up with 50 points in 77 games after going on a tear in the second half. He ended up with a .649 points per game ratio for the whole season. Kosty is at .310 currently with his 9 points in 29 games, but he has a few things going his way right now: he is playing with more confidence, and he is getting top line ice time with Wardo and Pleky. To get 50 points with the future games he will lose now because of the WJC, he will have to produce at close to a point a game. This team does not score lots, so that is where your observation about supporting cast is so true. Overall, I guess I see good progress after two months, and he is one full year younger than Perezhogin was at this point last year. Also, Alex had the benefit of regular coaching and ice time in the RSL with which to work, something of which Andrei has not had the benefit due his bouncing around from team to team last season. Alex was also a better two-way player coming into Hamilton last season, a challenge that has taken a lot of Andrei's time as he has had to insert a defensive element to his game that was generally null and void. I think a "Perezhogin-like" year in terms of overall improvement in all elements of his game, including an adjustment to the North American game and culture, is clearly within his reach. He is heading down that path now IMO. |
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Post by M. Beaux-Eaux on Dec 21, 2004 20:55:32 GMT -5
Still pretty early and tough to say. Perezhogin ended up with 50 points in 77 games after going on a tear in the second half. He ended up with a .649 points per game ratio for the whole season. Kosty is at .310 currently with his 9 points in 29 games, but he has a few things going his way right now: he is playing with more confidence, and he is getting top line ice time with Wardo and Pleky. To get 50 points with the future games he will lose now because of the WJC, he will have to produce at close to a point a game. This team does not score lots, so that is where your observation about supporting cast is so true. Good coverage of AK-17's status guys. As I noted in the Kostitsyn thread just a little while ago, being 2 goals behind the team leader while being short-shifted, ordered to focus on defense and receiving next to no PP time, forebodes an explosion in the best hockey sense of the word. The key thing is that Kostitsyn seems to be following his coach's dictums to good result. This just speaks to his overall skill level, as well as to his native hockey sense. Apparently Kostitsyn is a pretty outgoing young guy (Perezhogin was much more shy) and has plunged into mastering English with enthusiasm. Without a doubt. I shall stick to my prediction that Kostitsyn will take off in the second half of the AHL season. Hopefully the WJC will be a stage whereupon he can unleash some of his pent-up creative juices, and he can ride that wave of energy back into the AHL and compound it with his newfound defensive game. |
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