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Gale Force ... You're On the Clock ... Post Season Changes Thread

Ehlers is 6' tall (some list him as 6', some as 5-11"...have to assume he'll grow into the 6' mark though)....but makes Brandon Sutter look chubby at his lean 163 pounds! He'll need to put on a few pounds before he's NHL ready. I'm sure Friesen thinks he could stand to lose a few though. ;)
Watch some highlight film on this kid and HOLY COW, he blows by everybody! Fast is an understatement! And on top of that, he can stickhandle through the danger zone and has great hands too! Think no less than Skinner level hands with unbelievable speed.

There's some stuff being said about Ehlers that make him attractive though.

"Statistically, Ehlers is probably the most impressive player in the draft. He's got the most PPG of any player in the CHL and has a ridiculus +/- of +56 which, with no other information, would seem incredible. Like I said, given the fact he plays with Drouin, however, you have to look to more of what he can do."

From http://www.ontheforecheck.com/2014/3/7/5482186/nikolaj-ehlers-nhl-draft-profile-2014
 
We should strongly consider trading back a couple of notches if Kapanen is the target and let someone behind us cut the line for their favorite big body before the others can pick.

Doubt we have the savvy to bluff Toronto that we might pick big, but even they might talk about a preemptive strike to keep someone else from jumping ahead of them.

Might could drop as low as tenth before I would even begin to worry about losing our shot at Kasperi.

What one gets for such acts of kindness, I have no idea. But surely it's something. More pick's? Does one get bodies for such generosity?

Surprise me...well, whoever you are doing the wheeling and dealing this off-season. Which began for us on Monday, by the way.
 
I think that there's some automatic logic going on here. I don't disagree that Carolina's trend when drafting in the 6-7-8 area is to lean towards skill, which often pushes you into smaller players as the bigger ones go first. Kapanen the younger fits that bill, but I think a lot of the commentator types see that name and the Canes and figure it's an automatic and I just don't think anything's an automatic right now.

Let's get through what ever's going to change in the front office before we get too far ahead of ourselves.
 
Whew, no Mo 3.0.

Draft is still more than 2 months away and all we can do is speculate until then. At least give us official GM announcement this week so we have something concrete to chew on.

Muller apparently said that with injuries to Eric Staal, Semin, and Tlusty in training camp and extra work on limiting goals against there was less time to focus on the PP (you probably shouldn't say that Kirk, I expect that most NHL teams find a way to work on the complete game). Oh and he also said that his 'system' doesn't really need a lot of change....play an aggressive style is what he is looking for.

Also Chip shared a tweet from Chantel McCabe, looks like she got a playoff gig on NHL network....
 
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Okay, that's one huge unknown off the table.

That variable, in fact, was our nickname for the due diligence period we were "buying" with our deferred STH renewal..."Mo 3.0 insurance". :laughing
 
cmaleski2 said:
Whew, no Mo 3.0.

Draft is still more than 2 months away and all we can do is speculate until then. At least give us official GM announcement this week so we have something concrete to chew on.

Muller apparently said that with injuries to Eric Staal, Semin, and Tlusty in training camp and extra work on limiting goals against there was less time to focus on the PP (you probably shouldn't say that Kirk, I expect that most NHL teams find a way to work on the complete game). Oh and he also said that his 'system' doesn't really need a lot of change....play an aggressive style is what he is looking for.

Also Chip shared a tweet from Chantel McCabe, looks like she got a playoff gig on NHL network....
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What a load of bs. That's on par with PK's interview.
 
In his N&O article today Chip caught me off guard by stating:

"Odds are, both will continue to be Hurricanes. Next season will begin, and Staal will be at center, wearing No. 12 with the “C,” and Ward in No. 30 and back in net."

Link to article here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/04...-staal-cam-ward-know.html?sp=/99/103/400/120/

Where does Chip get his odds from? If Cam Ward is still here when next season begins I will be stunned. Does Chip really think this team is going to pay 2 goalies $8.7 million next year and have them share the #1 role?
 
I am not amused by the revisionist-history injury narrative that seems to be developing as the org's spin control on this season's disappointing results.

That was not the problem, guys. You know it. We know it.
 
Right now, pretty much everybody aside from Jim Rutherford is blowing smoke up our backsides .... and he's bloody leaving. And all he really said was that he was disappointed and fully understood why we were disappointed. I mean, he's right, but that's a pretty sturdy limb.

The only other person who has expressed anything that has a ring of authenticity? Cam Ward. When asked if he thought Muller was "getting through" to the guys in the room, Cam started to say something negative and then backed into a "I'm just not touching that" ... which speaks volumes. At least he's being honest ... if guarded.
 
A great coach will work to the players strengths rather than try to impose his style and system on players.
 
And what, just out of curiosity, would you say this team's (and I use the term loosely) strengths might be?

If there was something there to work with, I might agree. But, this is a team that appears to need structure and some kind of identity installed upon it.

We look, to me, like a hobbyist's collection of great character guys with no real vision as to what kind of team is being built...other than the softest one in the league, that is. What identity it might have is not the good kind...like you want.
 
jeffbear said:
Cam Ward. When asked if he thought Muller was "getting through" to the guys in the room, Cam started to say something negative and then backed into a "I'm just not touching that" ... which speaks volumes. At least he's being honest ... if guarded.
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My jaw droppped when I watched this. After the question was asked he had a very uncomfortable look on his face, paused for more then a few seconds, mumbled a few 'ums', paused again looking straight ahead and then finally said the above quote.
 
dwind said:
When in doubt, trap.
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The "I give up" of hockey strategy.

I've watched enough seasons of no-talent Canes hockey to wish for a return to that mechanism.

And even that's no identity...other than "we suck".
 
I don't think you make any coaching change until JR has officially been removed as GM. Otherwise, who's making that decison - the GM who is leaving?
 
So when is JR supposed to make the announcement that he's stepping down, and when will they unveil his replacement? I know it's not something that's highly urgent, but I wouldn't want to wait until few days before the draft. Unless of course the whole "JR is stepping down" was a publicity stunt aimed at getting STH deposits at the time the fans were hugely disenchanted with the team and the org. I mean in the last week or so everyone's been pushing this happy and optimistic vibe, from the owner, to the players and the coach. You know, everything's good, we like our group, we have some great players, next season our stars will shine, the young players will get older and better, the old players will get younger and better, the injuries won't happen, the training camp will be a success, the stars will finally align for this team to make the playoffs. All we have to do is have some patience.
 
GlenwoodAvenueHooligans said:
So when is JR supposed to make the announcement that he's stepping down, and when will they unveil his replacement? I know it's not something that's highly urgent, but I wouldn't want to wait until few days before the draft.
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Yeah ... I think you just have to wait until all the year end stuff is done and they have the replacement GM all worked out. You may as well kill both birds at the same time so you don't have to endure a bunch of idle speculation. I think it will get sorted sooner rather than later, unless Francis is balking at taking the GM job.
 
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