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Bench Kovalchuk


halfsharkalligatorhalfman

  

92 members have voted

  1. 1. Bench Kovalchuk?



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The PP at the end of the game was one of the best in a long time. Keep Tally and Fayne on the points with Elias/Kovy/Parise/Zajac/Sykora/Clarkson/Zubrus down low. It forces them to play simple rather than load the gun to Kovy at the point all the time. Run the PP through Elias at the half boards - it has worked great in the regular season.

Maybe the best part tonight was escaping without a PP goal. They are going to need one soon. And they are due.

So are we. If we get ours working, we can beat them.

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Why would we scratch him when he can still shoot better then 95% of this team. Now with that said he doesnt need to be QB'ing the PP or have to be on the ice so much.

Limit his ice time especially on the PP. That or can we get Mr. Miyagi to work some magic on his back/groin/leg.

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Also... I'm really not sure it will help the team.

That's what sucks. Never underestimate you teach best what you most need to learn. I'm pretty sure I have ZERO idea what a strong influence he's having on the bench. He's so ... in his element. He's so happy and he wants so badly to be there.

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kovy was dreadful for most of that game

+ 1

I thought he was hurting the team by mishandling the puck so much and at times practically being immobile.

After Game 3, I had hoped PDB would've sat him a game, just to let him get some rest or give him a shot or some drugs or whatever it is that they could do for him.

But now that the game is over and the Devils won and he scored the emtpy-netter, I guess they should keep him in. Just limit his minutes a litle bit -- like a lot of others have already stated.

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Minutes getting reduced and being scratched are horses of a totalllyyy different color!

Yeah i do agree possibly with minutes reduced but even then you would want to be careful. At this point the whole team is beat up so you don't want to over work some guys even though they could possibly take the extra shifts take it.

Edited by MoKovy
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I think this team has really good depth for the first time I can remember. We have the luxury of sitting Harrold, Larsson, and Josefson who are all really effective players. What's the point of having depth if you don't take advantage of it when your starters are so clearly hurt?

At the very least the Devils need to give up on 2 minutes straight of Kovy on the PP. I think we can all agree on that. But the question then becomes, if you can't trust Kovy on the PP, where can you trust him? And why are you putting him out there anyway? You should put your best team out there and not worry about things like "He's the face of the franchise" or "He's come this far."

If you guys seriously think Kovy at his current health is better than Harrold (or Josefson) then fine, but I don't agree (However, it's not an easy decision to make in the slightest).

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Josefson is certainly more mobile than Kovy is at this point..but Kovy brings leadership to the room/ice that a relatively young player like Josefson doesn't.

That's my opinion, at least. You could tell after his eng that Kovy really wants this. It must be killing him (maybe a little bit literally? :noclue: ) to play with this injury during the SCF

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It worked in the Florida series, you guys might still think kovi was hurt.. I say he was benched for that one game and come back hot.. after that he went on fire.. if youre really injured that extra 1 day isnt going to do sh1t for you.. he was benched and as much Id like to see it again.. you just cant !!

but you can change things up... this full 2 minutes on PP has got to stop !! and work him down low not on the point

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Despite not being able to skate, shoot, or turn, Kovy is still garnering attention from the other team(which is stupid of them) and he's one of only 2 forwards that can envision and make a creative pass to create offense.

I'd still play him, but take him away from Parise and Zajac, cut his minutes, and use him as a forward on the PP.

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Creates passes? To whom? The skates of the Kings, right?

He is clearly hurt and clearly not playing like he wants to and should be. It's been a pretty big liability. Almost cost us a goal last night, but Marty came up big. I'd sit him. They won't, but I'm not sure if he should sit. I pray that the extra day of rest does something for him.

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Despite not being able to skate, shoot, or turn, Kovy is still garnering attention from the other team(which is stupid of them) and he's one of only 2 forwards that can envision and make a creative pass to create offense.

I'd still play him, but take him away from Parise and Zajac, cut his minutes, and use him as a forward on the PP.

I think maybe splitting time between the 1st line with Zach and Zajac and maybe the 3rd line with Henrique and Clarky might work. That way you still get to have your big guns out together at certain points, but you might also catch the Kings off guard by having two skilled guys like Henrique and Kovy out there together, with Clarky there to get to the front of the net to get his hands dirty.

Edit: I also agree that he needs to be removed from the point on the PP. I like him down lower on that left side anyways, whether he's hurt or not. I think he fools some people when he moves down low like that because with that many guys down low, it's hard to cover all the passing lanes.

Edited by ATLL765
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Creates passes? To whom? The skates of the Kings, right?

Kovalchuk is still arguably the most dynamic passer on the team. He's always made some passes that cause turnovers, because he makes more high risk passes than anyone, so that happens. Elias turns the puck over a fair amount as well, due to riskier passes, they're a function of each other.

While most Devil plays are very static, dump it in, ring the puck around the boards to near side point man, Kovalchuk is still finding players skating through the neutral zone, finding players in the slot, and the far side point men, at times.

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Yeah I think this is what they did to him during the PHI series.. Not all to knowledgeable with them, but can you do two in a close period of time?

I had a shot every 3 weeks for going on 4 months. They would work fine but they wore off too quick. They really help the inflammation subside. They aren't fun to get though, not at all.

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Creates passes? To whom? The skates of the Kings, right?

He is clearly hurt and clearly not playing like he wants to and should be. It's been a pretty big liability. Almost cost us a goal last night, but Marty came up big. I'd sit him. They won't, but I'm not sure if he should sit. I pray that the extra day of rest does something for him.

I have to agree, he not only gives the puck away but cant hold a puck in on the blueline that he covers for the whole 2 minutes..

only part I dont get is this "being hurt" .. all I see is a typical Russian forward, its like with OV late playoffs, the more he sat the better the club did .. lol

sorry sounds to me like a big excuse.. if hes hurt but willing to play is one thing, if hes hurt why the f^ck is he playing full 2 minutes on the PP

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