Anybodyhome

There are plenty of issues with this team right now. And, believe it or not, more than a few of us on this board saw them all coming before the season started. 1. July signing of Orlov. Needed to fill the roster with the UFA departures of Ghost, DeHaan, Gardiner and LaJoie. But the guy's getting paid $2.5 more than Slavin and his ice time is with the 3rd pair? He's only played a full season 3 times during his 11 year career and, imagine this, those were the seasons he exceeded 25 points. I'm not sure what the thought process here was, but it caused more problems than it solved. The D is extremely suspect at best and there should never have been any expectations for offensive production. 2. July signing of Tony DeAngelo. As if the Orlov signing didn't create more problems than it solved, the Canes thought they could resuscitate TDA from life supports after he was all but fired from the Flyers last season. I get it, he was good his last go-round in Carolina, but rarely do things go well when trying to rekindle an old affair. We all saw it coming and what happened next wasn't a surprise to me- I won't speak for anyone else. The defensive pairings are a nightmare after Slavin and Burns. Sure, Pesce and Skjei will be their usual, consistent selves. But let's not forget, the Canes tried to move Pesce because, lo and behold, TDA, Chatty, Pesce and Skjei are all UFAs after the season. The Canes may be able to retain the services of 2 of these guys- preferably Skjei and Chatfield. Chatfield and Orlov do not skate well together. Chatty is playing exceptionally well this season, but RBA continues to pair him in difficult situations on his off side with Orlov or covering for the defensive liability that TDA can be. At least Chatfield has a history and on-ice knowledge and experience of playing with TDA. Anyway, just as much of us called in a few months ago, it's certainly playing out as we thought it would. With respect to the forwards, it's this easy- find out what's working with your top 2 lines and stop juggling every other game. Regardless, here are the issues: 1. Svech should continue to have his minutes limited and not be on the top line. Not until February or so. Let him get a few goals and get his knee up to game strength. He's not fully there yet. 2. Jarvis is always better on the second line with KK and he seems to play a lot better at center, at least from what I've seen. So maybe put him on the 4th line C. 3. Drury does not fit on this roster. Both Noesen and Fast are playing well, but would be a lot more productive with Jarvis or KK at center. Drury needs to be traded (can he play on the wing?). My lines would be: Bunting - Aho - Teravainen Svech - KK - Necas Marty - Staal - Fast Noesen - Drury (or ?) - Jarvis The team is a mess right now. More talent on the roster than they've had for the last 3 seasons and playing like an average team, getting beat by average teams. I would submit for your consideration that both Orlov and Drury are both trade deadline moves, if not before. But Orlov will be a difficult trade given the disparity between his salary and his productivity, unless he has a major breakthrough. And, do you really want to get into the goalies? Not me. I don't trust either of them. Zero consistency in either of their games. On one game, no-shows the next. No expectations for these guys- just hope for the best whoever shows up in the crease that night.

Checking out guys. I'll catch the highlights on YouTube if they come back and somehow win.

Listless, uninspired, sloppy.

Sloppy tonight. No set offense. Looks like street hockey.

Guy has shown me nothing. At this point, he's not even trade bait.

Because Orlov and Chatty are not a good pair and Orlov is getting a lot more money than Chatty. I can only guess that RBA is still waiting for Orlov to figure it out.

And Koochie lets us know early how this is gonna go.

On TNT tonight. Gotta listen to the Philly lovers... uh...

Who isn't?

Rags were on the road a lot the first couple weeks of the season as well. Not like the Canes, who went 11 out of 15 of their first games on the road, but the rags fared much better on the road than the Canes. It'll all come together in the end. No worries.... except for the goalies.

Watched the replay this morning. I was wrong with my assessment, not giving enough credit to RBA for ripping the team's ass after the Florida loss. That being said, a solid effort from everyone who suited up last night. I still have my reservations about Kochetkov- he'll just as easily have a boner game as he will stand on his head like he did last night. Not comfortable with him any time he's in net, not knowing which Kochetkov is going to show up. Like the line changes RBA made- more energy, more chemistry. The blue line will be a season-long issue, I think. The right combination still needs to be discovered on the 3rd pair and I think it'll involve shking up the 2nd pair to get there. Again, I'd like to see what a Skjei-Chatty and Orlov-Pesce pairing would look like. Orlov and Chatty have a long way to go, but Skjei and TDA worked well as do TDA and Chatty. But Orlov is getting paid too much to be a healthy scratch too often and Chatty is playing too well to be left out of the lineup. Now, if it's okay with you guys, I'll go finish my humble pie for breakfast.

I'm taking the night off. If the Canes win, I can be both happy and surprised. I don't believe the Canes can win against the upper tier teams with the current pair of goalies. Coupled with the Orlov-Chatty blue line that has yet to gel... well, they have issues. They'd be better off putting Orlov and Pesce as the second line and put Skjei and Chatty on the 3rd. Both of them (Skjei & Chatty) are playing very good D and it would negate some of the last change matchup issues. Bottom line- I'm expecting a loss, so anything else is a good thing.

Canes were out-muscled, out-played and weren't ready to meet physicality with physicality. The Orlov-Chatty pair was rough when the season started with it and it's rough the second time around. I said before the season started that the blue line pairings after the top 4 were going to be difficult. The 3rd line is producing nothing and Bunting is a waste of money if he has nothing around him. Guy will get you 30 goals, but he'll be lucky to pot 15 alongside Drury, who is a liability.

Horrible call. Tough to win when it feels like you never get a call.

Noesen has been a pest in front. Like how RBA put Marty 48 out there on the Aho goal.

Don't see them coming back in this one unless they score on a couple PPs.

Yeah. He started finding his way when Pesce went down.

3 Canes all went to the puck side- nobody had the off side. Easy pass, easy goal.

Nor can he read defenses, see over his own linemen or routinely throw the ball more than 10 yards with any velocity. Spoken by someone who doesn't play special teams.... and they were the only reason the team even scored. Dalton played the most offensively productive game of the season for the Panthers, but if he's washed up... well.... what about the first overall pick?

Tepper doesn't need to do anything if all he wants to do is make money. The NFL TV contracts, revenue sharing and creative financing (no hard cap), make any NFL franchise a study in voodoo economics. Do nothing, have a bad product and still make money hand over fist. Can't survive in the NHL doing the same thing.

The NFL should schedule these 2 teams to play each other every week in London, Frankfurt, Mexico City,

No dude. The Firebird with the Phoenix decal on the hood.

Fitz said Young is a flat line....lol... as in "dead?"

TV guys reaching for anything to make this game watchable... and they're getting paid to watch.

It was both highlights of the season, they just used different camera angles...lol.