Wow, almost forgot about this blog. I think it was getting too depressing writing about the team for a while, but things are giving us some hope now at least.
Not going to rehash the changes since 2016--no doubt if you're reading this you know what's new and what is hopefully improved. Want to look at the current team situation though, after the hot start, the current slump, and the nice comeback with two goals with Demko pulled late in the 3rd last night to tie it up against the Avs, only to lose it on OT.
1. Gaudette is showing more and more that he should be at centre and not on the wing--he seems more comfortable and has more offensive looks there.
2. The power play is best when it's moving around, Hughes-driven, and dynamic. It seems to fairly quickly revert to a static "pass it to Petey in his office" but the passes aren't crisp and accurate enough to allow him to get off a one-timer, so then he has to send it either back to the point or down low to try to set up for yet another try to get him that perfect pass. Teams have figured this look out.
3. If Bo gets hurt, they're screwed--same with Miller. Both of them are more at risk getting the amount of ice time they are now, and if either go down we could be back to worrying about Tampa getting a first overall when they are granted the pick traded for Miller.
And on a non-game-related topic--Ron McLean needs to just live with what's transpired now. His lengthy monologue trying to position himself as the woke guy who's also Don's best friend wasn't really necessary. Nobody thinks what Cherry said is Ron's opinion, and people understand that he probably needed to distance himself from the comments that he didn't really seem to listen to (if the "thumbs-up" he gave at the time indicates) and now that he's solidified his job security with Sportsnet/HNIC, he can let this fade. It all seemed a bit self-indulgent last night.
Elsewhere--nice to see the Leafs self-destructing and the Babcock torches out. Dubas will sacrifice his coach and hope that someone else can get past the issues in that team's construction and get them more success.
In a bit of a Canucks-related spin, the dissatisfaction with Tyson Barrie there is clear, and he doesn't seem to be working out. It's early, but I wonder if this continues might his price point as a free agent next summer drop a bit nearer to what the Canucks might be able to free up to sign him. I'm not convinced he's a problem there--that whole team looks broken right now.
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