Jump to content

Around the League 15-16 Edition


devilsrule33

Recommended Posts

I actually think Tortorella will do good things with that Columbus roster. I thought they'd be scary good at the beginning of the season, and that didn't happen. But Columbus is set up like a Torts dream team. Good goaltending, decent defense, gritty forward corps.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I actually think Tortorella will do good things with that Columbus roster. I thought they'd be scary good at the beginning of the season, and that didn't happen. But Columbus is set up like a Torts dream team. Good goaltending, decent defense, gritty forward corps.

 

The weakest part of their team is defense. It'll be a challenge for Tort.

With Torts back, I put up a post on a coach who knows it's probably his final chance.

 

Torts Reform: Jackets replace Richards with Tortorella

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The weakest part of their team is defense. It'll be a challenge for Tort.

With Torts back, I put up a post on a coach who knows it's probably his final chance.

 

Torts Reform: Jackets replace Richards with Tortorella

 

I won't compare Blue Jackets' defense with the Rangers' in 2012, but I will say the Rangers then weren't what they were in 2014-2015 (or now, still, imo, pretty elite despite a slow start). He got the best out of Dan Girardi and a young Ryan McDonaugh, and had Del Zotto, a recovering Staal, Bickel, and Eminger to work with: not exactly world class. But he put a rough system in place (and shot-blocking) that got them 1st in the East and a pretty good playoff run, they were hard to play against.

 

Flash to Columbus' roster: potential for extremely good goaltending, the right mix of young skill and grit (not unlike Callahan, Boyle, Kreider, even Fedotenko being big contributors for him in the 2012 playoffs) within their offense, and their weakest link being defense; but you can't say they're toooo much worse than some of the guys he coached in 2012 (Bickel, Del Zotto, and Eminger two wins away from going to the Finals?!?!?!). I think the pieces are there for Tortorella to turn them into a pretty good team. We shall see....

Edited by DJ Eco
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I won't compare Blue Jackets' defense with the Rangers' in 2012, but I will say the Rangers then weren't what they were in 2014-2015 (or now, still, imo, pretty elite despite a slow start). He got the best out of Dan Girardi and a young Ryan McDonaugh, and had Del Zotto, a recovering Staal, Bickel, and Eminger to work with: not exactly world class. But he put a rough system in place (and shot-blocking) that got them 1st in the East and a pretty good playoff run, they were hard to play against.

 

Flash to Columbus' roster: potential for extremely good goaltending, the right mix of young skill and grit (not unlike Callahan, Boyle, Kreider, even Fedotenko being big contributors for him in the 2012 playoffs) within their offense, and their weakest link being defense; but you can't say they're toooo much worse than some of the guys he coached in 2012 (Bickel, Del Zotto, and Eminger two wins away from going to the Finals?!?!?!). I think the pieces are there for Tortorella to turn them into a pretty good team. We shall see....

 

 

You see Tort for who he is. That team overachieved. Tort used the personnel for that defensive system. And Del Zotto excelled in it. A more offensive coach like Vigneault had no use for MDZ. He barely played him. They were able to pry Klein from Nashville, who also had Trotz who soured on Del Zotto quickly. It took him 2-3 years to rebound with the Flyers.

 

Torts leaned heavily on his top guys. He shortened the bench when necessary. But also made the careers of Boyle and Prust. Fedotenko too. But he also dropped Dubinsky from top line to checking line. Hence their relationship which needs repairing. Eminger was hot garbage. Yet somehow played. And Bickel was a regular for a time. That's insane. 

 

They were able to play it due to the goalie. They were in every game. For all the gripes about how badly Tort mishandled Richards (his horse) against the Bruins with Nash doing zilch, the Rangers came back from 3 down to tie the Devils in Game 5. A game I was at and predicted they would come back in. And they rallied from 2 down to tie Game 6. Those teams were resilient. They just didn't know how to win.

 

Columbus it depends a lot on the psyche of Bobrovsky. Tort wants them to play with arrogance (confidence). But it's going to take a while. I don't see the Jackets improving much.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Watching the Preds-Ducks game and they're talking about Khudobin and how he's from the USSR, which got me thinking, in the next few years, there will be very few players whose place of birth will end in USSR...

 

hope there will be no political in sports journalism

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fifteen shots on goal, it doesn't matter what your shooting percentage is. Unless you're putting a quarter of your shots in the net, you're gonna lose.

 

I said they were bad in that game. They've averaged 29.6 in their previous six, so it's not like they forgot how to get shots on goal. They'll be fine when the percentages even out. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.