It’s been often said that defense is the key to winning. It’s the opinion, of most, that the team with the better defense always ends up with the victory. Defense is supposed to jump start its own team’s offense and shut the oppositions’. But that wasn’t the case on Sunday. It was the all-defensive team vs. an offensive juggernaut. The defense for the dark team held its own, but could only hold on so long.
Game 1: 5-2 White team. It was a complete mess. The defense for the Dark team was constantly on there heals. The White Team had an offense of Griff, Brett and Johnny up against and offense of a doubled teamed Jared, Mike De Mayo and an injured Brendon. It was a hard fought game, it seemed like Joe and Nick limited the shots but the White team’s offense leaped on every opportunity. Chris and Dale showed up toward the end of Game 1. Johnny had 4 goals, including the game winner.
Game 2: Ok so we have established that the White Team has the weaker defense; the Dark Team has the weaker offense. So what team would you put Chris and Dale on? Logically, we put Dale on the White Team. Great idea. Though, it worked out for the Dark Team in Game two. I’m still amazed they won. The Final Score was 5-4. Jared had 3 goals and two assists. Joe had the game winner. Brendon and Josh played fantastic. Nick played awful. Chris was ok. (No Chris you weren’t beastly!)
Game 3: You must be shocked we got a full third game in, huh? The Dark Team went back to rolling all over the white team. The final score was again 5-2. It should have been 5-0 nothing though. The dark team couldn’t sustain any offensive play and the defense had no one to pass. It was so bad that Jared asked his defenseman to get “creative”. Not something you want to do when Johnny is fore-checking, Griff is hovering and Brett is running circles around everyone. The defense had a lot to handle. I felt bad for Steve. He played fantastic despite all of the pressure.
Game 4: Yeah, we did get in a 4th game but I’m going to agree with Jared and say this game shouldn’t count. It’s mostly, because I don’t want to write about a 4th game.
My Weekly Chat with the Scout:
Scout: Hey Nick, it’s been a while.
Nick: It has. Have you gained weight?
Scout: Nice greeting. Surprisingly rude.
Nick: The truth hurts…where is your bathroom scale? Let’s compare your weights.
Scout: In the bathroom. Don’t set me up with a Seinfeld joke. It’s been played.
Nick: You know me too well. Creepy.
Scout: It’s almost as creepy as you knowing what my body weight was.
Griff: Debatable
Nick: Griff?
Scout: Where is he?
Nick: Is it possible to miss him?
Scout: I don’t see him!
Nick: He’s behind Dave, Lenny, Reggie, Jimmy and that guy from Austin Powers.
Scout: Oh yeah, you can see his hips hanging out the side of the group.
Nick: Nasty. I bet Griff shops at big and tall.
Scout: That’s your store!
Nick: Moving on…how did you think Griff played with Dale?
Scout: That was something there. How about the irony in that, huh? Did you notice that Dale didn’t have any goals though? But Dale assisted Griff 3 times.
Nick: Only three times? It felt like more.
Scout: Nick, you were so overwhelmed and terrible, of course it felt like more.
Nick: Now I remember why it’s been a while. I’m out of here. I’m going to ramble instead.
Nick’s Ramblings
I’m trying to get this post up by half-time. I’m already done watching this game. What a joke. Who thinks the Pats can win two road play-off games? Reggie we missed you. Matt Davis bails every other week. Matt S only makes posts saying he will show and never does. Matt P said he would be there. Did I forget a Matt? Without his cheering squad will he ever show again. Jack we missed you but Darren made us forget about you quick. Steve nice work this week, you didn’t deserve that much trouble. But I’m calling you out on the play where I yelled cover the ball and you chose not to, they scored. You admitted that it was your mistake and that you heard me, so I don’t really have to call you out I guess. No worries. I applaud both goalies for playing a 4th game. Jimmy needs to invest in a bike. Josh you showed solid hockey sense. That’s half the battle. Danny where is Shane? Danny you run so fast that you make yourself trip at least 3 times a night. I heard Kazez was going to make an appearance. Oh yeah! Matt Joyce! Hey Buddy! Why was Petzold nominated for the anonymous poster who couldn’t spell? That seems like a Brad Dearden thing to do. A reminder to all: when given the opportunity always cover Johnny behind the net and leave Dale open in front of the net all alone (I know Jared was by the point...he was close to covering him.). Chris you showed some rust but you were solid overall. I expect a great week coming up. The return of Ron? Will he have a tan?
164 comments:
didnt disappoint nick. good read. better than the pats i guess.
11-29-09
Nothing else to do on Monday Night
10 Steve - Played well. Gave up a few soft goal. Came up with a few big saves. Over all I’d say he broke even. Even Steven
9 Mike D - Welcome back Mike….now cover Johnny. Didn’t work out too well but the effort was there. And obviously it wasn’t all his fault.
8 Chris Y - Seeing him battle on the board with Lenny was scary to see, but Chris played solid defense and was one of the few bright spot on the dark team.
7 Dahrrynne - I might have to start giving goalies the exception for missing a week cause if he keeps playing like he did, then he has a great chance at reaching #1. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such incredible play in net. Plus he wasn’t too tired for a 4th game.
6 Dale - He missed many many opportunities to bury the ball in the net, but he was creating his own chances. That coupled with his fore checking and passing gave the white team the edge they needed.
5 Danny (+2) - He recreated the Bobby Orr goal by diving after he scored. But again his hustle resulted in many scoring chances.
4 Brett (E) - You could definitely see how his hand is still effecting his game play(especially when he tried to shoot from the point) but he still contains the ability to set up his teammates.
3 Jared (-2) - Enough is enough (losing that is). While scoring on the only penalty shot in the history of Saugus, the constant complaining about his defense is uncalled for especially from someone who doesn’t play defense.
2 Griff (+1) - He did everything you would hope your defenseman would do. All his shots seemed to find their way through to the net and his defense was great.
1 Johnny (+1) - 4 goals in the first game. But even more impressive was the fact that he won even with a team that Jared picked. Which begs the question…..is Jared the problem?
Off The Radar:
Brendon - Time to think long term, have surgery!!
Nick - Everyone has bad nights, but they aren’t usually as bad as yours
Reggie - Just when you think he turned the corner….
Mike M - He wasn’t gonna last another week on the list anyway
Jack - It’s gonna be tough for a goalie to climb the list seeing as there’s a revolving rotation in net.
Dahrrynne only number 7?! Dhareighn plays at a lever better than that! Derenn is a really good goalie and deserves to be at number 5 at least. Keep up the good work, Daghrrienne.
darrin needs to prove it over a few weeks
wpr, how can you blame jared if 6 of the top 7 players were on white team? and then you criticize him for criticizing his defense, then you criticize them!
Danny number 5? He came late and other players did more than he did that night.
I believe it was sugery that causes his Hamstring problem to begin with
When he had his ACL surgery he went with having part of his hammi used, which makes it shorter and more prone to being pulled
Stretching it on a regular basis would help it
Jared had top players like Joe and Nick. But they all under performed Sunday night.
As far as Brendon goes, have surgery to fix his new problem. They have new procedures now. But remember....NO BLOOD!
As far as Danny goes, he's been coming every week even though he has to come late cause he has his priorities in order. So to me that actually works in his favor.
so all you have to do is run around like a nut to get on wpr? Show some sort of great "effort" like Mike to make the list. What a joke.
Why is Mike D on the list? The guy had 1 goal and two assists. He was the center, he counted on to produce points and he didnt. 3 points in 4 games? Crazy. And dont say he did well on defense because Johnny rapped him all night. Mike D was the reason they struggled against us.
Well what do you expext out of Danny each week? what would you say an average week for Danny would be?
danny can make the list but 5 is too high.
and centers aren't REALLY counted on to produce the most points. We're just use to Johnny doing it.
Beastly.... Nick You don't always have to be beastly to help your team win!!!
Team concept is best. That means that defense doesn't argue about offense doing its job!!!
Just concentrate on your position and be a standout example!!!
I think you played well by the way so this is constructive criticusn.
WPR is losing credibility
criticism
Everyone below him were off the list the week before. They have to earn a high ranking. But that's not to say that Danny didn't benefit from some good timing of people having bad weeks
i just don't think you understand how the rankings work Mr. Anonymous
Oh I agree with your ranking for the most part. But, your commentary is why you seem like someone who has no clue.
my commentary?
just to remind you, there are many writters for WPR so you'll have to be specific about what commentary you find ill written
Well ...let me see...um...all of you!
Can someone please step aside for a moment, collect your thoughts, and forget about all of this nonsense, and please EXPLAIN TO ME why Jared picked John's team and vice versa? Did Jared really go through all of his picks and then say, 'Hey, I think I like your team better?' REALLY?? Because Jared would have killed with that team. Why did he not just go with his picks? I didn't even know we could do that. Have we done that before? Can someone else please pick them up next week? Will anyone answer any of these questions???
In my defense when we picked the teams dale and danny were not part of the teams, so you guys got them when they showed up and they played great, and I also didn't trade for a brendon with a pulled hamstring.
well now anonymous lost credibility for not being specific
Jared is the problem!! He doesn't play defense and he's out there alot. so it's like a 5 on 4 and then you have a hurt brendon that won't sub and now its 5 on 3. The other top players play D why can't jared?
You still didnt answer the question: WHY THE SWITCH???
Jared did play some D. The team was best served by his offensive ability. The problem I think was that there was not enough offense on the team to really put pressure on the white teams d-fense.
Which puts more pressure on Black teams D.
We really needed another solid winger to compliment Jared and Mike, which proved to be tough to get!
Good games though!!!
Just my observations, overall good games. My new goal is to get more than 1 assist and 1 goal each week!!!
Because Jared didn't like the team he picked.
johnny stressed that point through out the night.
Jared is Phil Kessel. Hates defense but can score at will. I think Jared played good defense compared to his usual lack luster effort.
It is very difficult to play defense on wing without simply covering the point. If you do play aggresive D while on the wing you will have a very difficult time transitioning to offense.
Jonny is a freak of nature. He can seamlessly transition from defense to offense with what appears to be little effort. Because Jonny is so good at this it makes people like Mike D (who focuses primarily on D) and Jared (who focuses on offense) look worse in comparison.
Jared mainly gets scoring opportunities on the rush. He is not very good at setting up the offense in the zone. Jonny is very good at this. With that being said, Jared has difficulty getting opportunities once the defense is in good position.
Believe it or not Jared plays equal if not more defense than Ron plays. Ron gets back on occasion but is not usually a defensive force. He seems to be exempt from defensive talk but I think him and Jared are more comparable than Jonny and Jared.
I want to hear from TPJ himself on this one. Why woul dyou pick an entire team that you didn't like? That just doesn't make any sense!!!! Why Jared, WHY?
Jared, thanks for looking at the stats before trying to call me out. Not sure if Griff had scored the other goal or not, but since it was written down I counted it for him. However, I did not count the game as a win for us.
I thought Mike D played pretty well last week, whether or not he actually scored a lot. I agree that Brendon could have played much better. And Danny gave us much needed energy and speed for games 3 & 4.
As for the teams...we picked up the teams, and once they were picked said that he gets Dale if he comes. After that, I gave him the option to either keep the teams as they were, or if he liked my team better to trade himself for me. To my surprise, he did just that.
Looking at it though, it wasn't necessarily a crazy decision on his part. The dark team had the top 3 D, and a solid offense. The White team had Brett and Griff at forward, but were pretty thin on D. To be honest, when the game first started I thought we might have been in trouble. Our team came together though, and the arrival of Dale and Danny definitely helped.
good point about Ron. That's why i think ron should be on D. Great shot from the point.
And is Johnny really that great on D? or getting back?
Brett plays wing and he gets back alot, why can't jared?
We need new people to pick teams. Jared STINKS at it.
I would have put Dale ahead of Danny on the list because of his defense. And both goalies ahead of Danny because Steve got peppered all night and he kept the dark team in the game when they were getting outplayed. Both goalies did more than Danny.
It's amazing how one play that looks like an "Orr Goal?" can influence and warp someone's importance to a team. Danny played pretty good, but, number 5? I didn't see that one coming.
Forget about WPR. This is all he said:
I am Brett. I love myself. I am the greatest.
People on my team are just OK compared to me with one hand. My teammates get some brownie points.
Everyone on the losing team STINKS. They deserve no credit, even if they played well.
I just sprinkle in the goalies here and there to make for conversation.
Now argue for me, I command you!
I think that one flashy play influenced where Danny ended up on the list.
the fact that the whole dark team had trouble stopping me even though i only have one hand does show that they didn't play as good as they could have.
That's just how i feel and just happens to be how WPR feels too.
Danny had a good week last week and a good week this week. where as Dale and Steve didn't do good last week or didn't show.
I think you've all forgotten that WPR goes on the performance of the whole season from someone. And each week just slides a person up or down on the list. Do you think Danny should have dropped in the rankings for his play Sunday? It's based on what you expect from someone too. Dany exceeded expectations where as Dale and Darrin played good but not out of this world good. WPR has higher expectations for them than he does for Danny
the fact that the whole dark team had trouble stopping me even though i only have one hand does show that they didn't play as good as they could have.
That's just how i feel and just happens to be how WPR feels too.
Danny had a good week last week and a good week this week. where as Dale and Steve didn't do good last week or didn't show.
I think you've all forgotten that WPR goes on the performance of the whole season from someone. And each week just slides a person up or down on the list. Do you think Danny should have dropped in the rankings for his play Sunday? It's based on what you expect from someone too. Dany exceeded expectations where as Dale and Darrin played good but not out of this world good. WPR has higher expectations for them than he does for Danny
thanks for keeping it clean translator.
Does Clark Kent and Superman feel the same way about Lois Lane? Just wondering.
if it were just based on this past week Danny wouldn't be #5.
I think people are failing to grasp the new concept that is WPR
I'm still working on the concept of up and down.
I'm still working on the concept of Brett and WPR being two different identities.
you'll get it eventually
Just don't give Brett's secret identity away or Superman and Batman will kick him out of the Justice League of America.
SO then a number 8 ranking with solid D and some offensive skills ( 1 goal 1 assist)rank lower than a guy who scored a goal and fell down!I knew there was something I was missing.
Danny no offense you did play well, and maybe would have played better if I didn't trip you up. My Bad!
Brett you are an excellent hockey player, I give you that! However, the Defense of the opposing team to you is not better or worse depending on what you do. You are a good hockey player.
Great players make there teammates better! Haven't seen too much of that in Saugus! ( i know its not me...this isn't even my sport!
Has anyone found my shot anywhere? I can't seem to find it and I would like to get it back before the next game. If you see it anywhere can you give it back to me when you see me? Thanks.
Chris, don't sell yourself short...you've played pretty well so far.
I think people are missing how WPR is laying out his list. It isn't strictly about how they played that particular week.
For example...let's say Lawrence Maroney runs for 200 yards in a game. Would he be at the top of ESPN's power rankings of 20 players simply because he had twice the yards of Adrian Peterson? Obviously not - he probably doesn't even crack the list. Yet if he follows it up with weeks of 130, 110, 150, etc he is going to get ranked higher and higher each week. Now let's say he becomes the 10th ranked player and rushes for 30 yards with 2 fumbles. He's sliding down the list for that week, and players under him that had good weeks will move up.
So using that logic, if Danny was on the list last week, and played well this week, then he could move up. Someone else might have played better, but maybe not enough to jump ahead of him.
thank you Johnny. But i think some people on this site just like to argue. I hate arguing. What's the point? It's not entertaining at all.
TPJ, if you ever trade your team away agin, you deserve every loss you get. I hope that is a lesson to you.
I think Jared would have lost either way. Anyone could score as much as him if they just waited at the red line for a break away. He's way over rated
like i said dale and danny were major difference makers who were not part of those teams and brendon got hurt.
Plus I don't like picking teams! I've tried to get brett to do them and he won't, ron doesn't seem too interested. If anyone wants to volunteer to pick teams i will be happy to hand over the reigns.
And i've been over defensive assignments before so i won't bore the group again. Can someone be specific on what they would like me to do specifically on defense when i'm a winger. If you say go down low more and help out i say look at what griff did sunday. He scored a bunch from the point cuz whoever was on wing was not covering.
Jared be better at life. O ya you suck at life too not just hockey.
I think the so called "best players" (jared johnny brett) are all over hyped. johnny stays in the slot and can't create his own chances, jared cherry picks and plays zero defense and brett has no shot (hand or no hand), doesn't win one on one battles and only plays defense when he's a defensemen.
I really don't think Jared is bad defensively overall as a wing.
Wingers do not have much defensive responsibility in the first place, unless the center is deep in the offensive zone. That to me is where Brett is excellent defensively as a wing - he is one of the best at covering for the center when they are deep.
From a purely technical level though, Jared is not a liability as a wing - he covers the guy he is supposed to (point man) and is not usually out of position. Unfortunately wingers do not have much impact defensively in the first place, so unless Jared played more of a team style defense and cover for the center, his impact defensively will not be felt.
By no means though is Jared the only wing that plays like that. The only wingers I've seen consistently cover for the center are Brett, Griff (when motivated), and guys that normally play D that are on the wing for a few shifts (Nick, Chris, Danny, etc).
stink.
When you use the word suck in that contect it has a crude sexual meaning to it.
So it would be better to use the word stink
anonymous your not nearly as good as Brett at starting arguements on this blog. That's one thing Brett is good at
Personally, I like having Jarod on my team. I have never seen him as a MAJOR defensive liability. He is a very good player who puts a lot of pressure on the other team's defense. Most importantly, he hustles. I will always want players on my team who hustle over players who don't.
I want to add that I agree with John. Jarod seems to usually be where he is supposed to be. He is good at getting open for a break out on the wing.
but should jared be covering the point when the d-man is someone like Jimmy or Brad? Someone who isn't a thread from the point?
Everybody that plays has things to work on. I always leave the rink wishing I did some things differently or made a better play or in the case of last Sunday night actually put the puck in the net. I think the worst thing some people do is just stand around. Jarod always tries. He does a lot of running aaround. At least I think so.
to answer the question anonymous, yes, he should still cover the point. Should a defensemen still play defense if the guy coming in on him isn't very good? Or should he let him go figuring the goalie will save it anyways? What kind of moronic statement was that?
that's a totally different situation.
The eqivelant situation would be if Brad and Johnny were coming in on a 2 on 1 you would take johnny cause he's better.
no in your scenario we're assuming it's 5 on 5 in zone with jared covering the point. And your saying he shouldn't bother if it's not a good player and go cover someone else. So it's like a two on two rush with johnny and a bad player rushing in, and you want both defensemen to cover johnny because no one cares about the bad player.
Once again it's bad hockey on many levels. Now if he leaves the point goes and breaks up johnny deep in the zone, he has no outlet pass because he was the winger.
what are these comments getting deleted?
Like John said: Jarod usually covers the point man. Not everybody does. Mike does it well, also. I think the major reason the dark team struggled is because we had open pointmen all night. It seems like everytime I had the ball down deep in the dark team's end, and I looked back, Griff or some other defenseman was wide open for a shot. So I passed it to them. That's part of the reason I had 5 assists Sunday night. Guys were wide open.
I just deleted and restated my last comment. It wasn't written correctly. My bad.
yeah Mike D is a pain when he's covering the point he's about as annoying as Avery is
I find it interesting that the guys with the best slapshots who have the best chance of using it from the point don't play defense where they could use it more often
Who would you like to see play defense. Name Names since you are anonymous.
nick and joe have almost no control over their slapshots, but they both have very good ones. There are defenseman with solid shots. Anyone see nick's face when he hit the post? Hilarious.
Ron/Dale/Brett/Griff/Billy/Bobcat
if you had them on the point they'd be as much of if not more of a threat because at the point their bound to "get lost" or find that open lane where someone could whip it out to them (their skilled enough to take a pass) where they could then rip a slapshot or quickly pass it to someone down low
Brett's shot isn't good enough to be a great point man.
ya no brett not strong enough down low too, billy would make me nervous on D. I like the idea of Ron on D, but goal scorers are tough to come by so keep him up on wing.
Ok, so then here's a hypothetical:
You can pick only one player,
1.) Plays solid defense
2.) Consistant point scorer
3.) Comes through in the clutch with a crazy goal.
4.) Has a lot of intelligence and heart, but is injury prone the more he plays.
How would you rank them? Who do you take?
2,1,4,3
"Has a lot of intelligence and heart, but is injury prone the more he plays."
man I hope you werent trying to decribe brendon.
so basically nick jared danny or brendon
how can someone with no control of their shot have a great one?
Their shots are no faster than Jared or Brett, and they are less accurate.
Griff has a better shot than all of them combined. And it showed this past week
if #4 was refering to Brendon, does he have a lot of hockey intelligence?
Dont worry about who the numbers correspond to, I'll reveal that later.
I just want to see who people think is the most valuable and who is the least valuable.
I will reveal the injury I believe I sustained later. For now, I would like to know what body part most people believe i think I injured.
Don't worry about the level of blood glucose right now. I will reveal those numbers to my doctor later. I just want to see what most of you think the most dangerous food I could eat to become a full-blown diabetic is and what the least dangerous food is. ( I hope it's chocolate cake!)
I don't get the point. Are you trying to needle someone.
Me think Brendon very smart. He make fire by rubbing 2 sticks together. ARRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!
1,3,2,4
points first, then intangibles, then defense, then smarts
To me the 5 most valuable players that I would want if I was captain are:
1-A)Ron ( The definition of a true sniper. He can score from anywhere and is a great stickhandler.)
1-B) Brett ( What can I say about Brett that hasn't already been said... by Brett!! SORRY BRETT, I COULDN'T RESIST. Seriously, he is the all-around good player who doesn't really have a weakness in his game. Him and Ron are both a number one pick. 1-A and 1-B like Manning and Brady.)
3) John Riley ( Even though his shot is not overpowering, somehow he scores a lot of goals. He backchecks and is good at making others on the team take responsibility for their play. If you aren't trying hard he lets you know. Sometimes it's annoying, but, many times it's needed.
4) Jared could easily be my 3rd pick also. He constantly puts pressure on the other team. He is a good positional player and playmaker and he can score and stickhandle better than most.
5)Joe ( He hustles and puts it all out there on the floor. Plays good defense and blocks a lot of shots.)
I may have missed somebody, but, those are the 5 I thought of on a late night. HONORABLE MENTIONS: Mike ( Good Positional player) Griff ( Getting better all the time, Especially his shot.) Matt S. (Reminds me of Joe. Plays very similar. Hustles and blocks shots.) Chris( consistent and level headed. A very strong man that's hard to get around.) Brendon ( I will say this much: The team he is on usually wins according to statistics. He tries hard to play well and can sometimes make some great plays when you least expect it.)
I won't mention the least valuable players and I hope no one else does. That isn't really necessary. Besides, I think there are a lot of steady players I didn't mention like Nick and Danny.
The answer is...
Numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 were all Bobby Orr!
See, the point is that all of this bickering is pointless!
Ha, Ha, Ha!!!
I think I'm going to be sick.
Bobby Orr reminds me of when I eat a twinkie. They both can give you a good rush. Can you guess which one gives you a sugar rush. I will tell you later.
WHAT!! No more pointless bickering? Okay Boys, Start shutting down this blog! We've all come to our senses.
The criticism could be a little more positive. Sometimes a player may play their heart out and not have it yield any positive results on the stat sheet. But that doesn't mean they need to hear their failings recited back to them.
I'd rather play on a line with people that give 100% effort every time. If that means we lose, oh well. I don't think any NHL scouts are watching.
How about more compliments.
Oh, we're watching alright. And we're even taking notes.
I have to take a week off due to my hand.
therapist's orders
It's amazing that with all this talk about defense, no one mentioned Joe. I just want to add that I would give more credit to both Joe and Dale. I mean Dale should be ranked higher and Joe should be ranked.
Another thing, Chris should also be a lot higher on the rankling. He and Joe kept it closer on a night that Steve wasn't his best. I'd want him on my team.
It's amazing that with all this talk about defense, no one mentioned Joe. I just want to add that I would give more credit to both Joe and Dale. I mean Dale should be ranked higher and Joe should be ranked.
Another thing, Chris should also be a lot higher on the rankling. He and Joe kept it closer on a night that Steve wasn't his best. I'd want him on my team.
How about these teams?
Chris, Ron, Mike, Joe, Dale, Matt, me, Lee
Vs.
John, Jared, Brendan, Nick, Darren, me, Griff
questions...
How much of a teams success or failure can be attributed to the goalie? Or is it mostly based on the offense and defense? How important is their role in Saugus?
We could always do these teams too:
Johnny, Jared, Ron, Dale, Griff, Nick, Joe, Brett and Brendon
vs.
Bradley and Jimmy
Those seem fair :)
I'll be on Bradley and Jimmies team!
If you guys really want to make a true ranking system, leave John, Jared, Brett and Ron out. Clearly they are the four best players there. Make a ranking system of Tier 2+3!
And my feelings are hurt that no one wants me on their team. :(
Lenny you are always on my team my brother!
Salmagundi
The funny thing is WPR & BB are basically just opinions and people get all bent over them. We all know WPR is Brett & BB is Jared. They do it for fun and to make this blog interesting. if someone wants to do other rankings go ahead. do you value their opinion of your skill level that much that they have to be the ones to rank the other tier guys?
"How much of a teams success or failure can be attributed to the goalie? Or is it mostly based on the offense and defense? How important is their role in Saugus?"
I don't know who posted this, but it was EXACTLY what I was thinking earlier. (and no, this isn't a conversation with myself)
Goalies can be a wash most of the time. Yes, you have some weeks where they make outstanding plays, but consider this:
Hypothetically, let's say Steve and Darrin are in net (this is not a reference to last week -it's purely hypothetical). Let's say that Steve's team wins 2 games 5-3, and then 5-3 again. Who is going to be remembered as playing best? Does Darrin have a shot at being higher on any ranking system than Steve? Not likely.
But now consider this: Steve's team had a great defense, but all 6 of the goals that went in on him were weak, slow rollers or plays where he was out of position. Conversely, all of Darrin's 10 goals against him were because he had a terrible defense and every single goal was an incredibly good shot - picking corners, etc. and he played positionally better than Steve all night but got the raw end of the deal.
So, who was better? Who got the wins? Whose defense was better? The better goalie doesn't always get props for being better, especially when he's on the losing team. With some of these games this year, I would have put in a cardboard cutout in net and take a better offensive player rather than keep a bad goalie in net.
Personally, I think that goalies are less of a factor than the team around them. If you have a good defense, then there will be less of a need for great saves. If you have a good offense, then your defense will be less pressured into making mistakes.
I think it starts top-down. Offense first, then defense, then goaltending.
To take Lenny's suggestion, here is where I would rank players after the top 4. I am not going to include goalies. I am also not ranking this based on what I feel the talent level of a person is. This is simply how I would pick them if I was picking teams this week (similar to Big Board).
1. Joe - Consistency puts him higher on the list than the other top defensemen.
2. Griff - Pretty good at D, very underrated as a forward. He tires out and is lazy at times, but when he's hustling he can be a force.
3. Nick - On some nights he's the best defenseman out there. Still a little inconsistent though, and still needs to round out his offensive game a bit. Still, he's made great strides.
4. Chris - Quite a few things still to work on with the offensive side of his game, but you can't coach size, and he's got it. Big strides from last year, and IMO the third best defenseman in Saugus.
5. Dale - Last year he would have been much lower on my list, but he's looking for teammates much more this year. He'll never be confused with Craig Janney, but that extra element helps his game. Can still be a bit lazy at times at wing once he tires, but can be very effective on D.
6. Brendon - Consistency is not his trademark. Great hustle when there is a scoring chance at stake, but that disappears when he tries to cover on D. For all of the goals he's scored, there's very little scoring touch - vast majority would fall under "garbage goal" category. Hey, there's nothing wrong with garbage goals, but it hurts his scoring consistency. Is a liability on D due to very poor hockey sense.
7. Danny Hall - Still makes some mistakes, and needs some improvement offensively, but has tons of speed and effort. That alone makes him a valuable pick.
8. Reggie - When talking about Reggie's game, you always start: "If he ever got in shape". Not talking about physical shape specifically, but hockey shape. He's got very good hands, and a surprising wrist shot. Just needs to show up consistently.
9. Matt Shumali - Always my pick for player I think will break out. Can do everything pretty well, offensively and defensively. It all just hasn't come together for him yet.
10. Mike D - I'd love to have Mike up higher on the list, but he is more inconsistent than Brendon. Back when he used to play D he was very dependable and consistent. He almost only plays forward now, and I honestly never know what to expect. When at center, he has the skills to be a very good shutdown center. He hustles, and can play physical. He's also gotten pretty good at faceoffs. If he tries playing wing though, he tries turning into a sniper and he's very out of place. His hustle and physical play seems to disappear, and his passing and puck handling need a lot of work still. Mike is a case where if I were ranking on skills he could be higher, but that's not how this list is built.
11. Matt Davis - I pick him over Lenny only because I was very impressed by how he played when I was in net.
12. Lenny - Has the skills to be a higher pick, but that endurance level needs to go up! Almost forgot - :)
13. Jimmy - He does a pretty decent job keeping the ball in at the point. Doesn't have the speed to keep up with forwards trying to run past him, so he needs to work on positioning and technique so that he doesn't get caught. Sticks with his guy in the defensive zone, but needs to do better tieing that guy up.
14. Brad - Doesn't have the skills of everyone else, although has pretty decent hockey sense and puck skills in front of the net. Needs to hustle constantly so as not to be a liability.
So that's how I'd pick them, right or wrong, just my opinion. If someone's not on the list it's probably because they haven't played enough yet.
anonymous i couldn't disagree more. To me goaltending is the most important position in any sport. the whole flow of a game changes with a goalie.
Sunday for instance darrin was playing great which started frustrating me and the other forwards into trying to pick corners instead of just hitting the net.
Or when steve turned it on after the first game it makes you want to play harder for a goalie making great saves.
Goalie, defense, center, wingers...that's the order of importance.
I Agree 100 % with the last 2 comments. Except I would put Dale ahead of Chris. Dale is definitely the no. 2 defenseman behind Joe stressing though a pretty big gap between them.
I really think if he was on the black team it would have been closer.
Dale is not a defenseman.
And Joe can also play offense.
TPJ, there is not a big enough gap in talent between goaltending to make a difference. If you have a better team, you can most of the time just pick a goalie and win.
Imagine if he was!
If you think that goalies make that much of a difference, then you should be picking them pretty high in the draft, and if you do already, no wonder why you lose so much.
I don't think goalies matter much in saugus. I mean its not a traditional 3 period game. Their basically sitting ducks out there.
so you'd take jimmy over Darrin?
Me and Johnny have lost games cause of bad goalies. Up 4-0 and then 2-3 bad goals and it deflates your team. then you stop playing your game.
TPJ was exactly right.
Maybe there's not enough difference between Darrin and Dave. But between one of them and anyone else there's a big difference. That's usually why we give an edge to the team with the lesser goalie when picking teams
Maybe we should stop doing that and see what happens
So your telling me that dark had the better team? Come on now!
> so you'd take jimmy over Darrin?
Yes. IF, IF: I had the vastly superior offensive team. YES. Every day of the week, yes.
YES, point made. ..thanks anonymous.
I vote for new captains to pick teams this week. Johnny and Jared are out as captains, but obviously pickable (is that a word?) in the draft.
They want a break, so let's get two other people to choose em up.
Any volunteers? I nominate the next two scoring leaders: 3) Ron and 4) Brendon, unless Ron does not make it. Then it would be 4) Brendon and 5) Mike D. Unless they are too chicken to pick the teams :)
Also, forgot to mention: Mike D is a stat-pumper and does drugs. :)
Nah, let the goalies pick
Yeah, you know what? I'm kinda sick of all this. You guys don't know how to start controversy. So I took the names of all the people who are on the stat sheet and I assigned one word to each of them that I thought best describes them:
John: yells
Jared: STINKs
Ron: disappears
Brendon: hammy
Mike D: steroids
Ryan: fat
Brett: awesome
Nick: horrible
Dale: backhand!
Joe: knee-slide
Joel: forgotten
Chris: linebacker
Danny: squirrel
Brad: mentally-retarded
Reggie: black
Matt S: quack
Matt P: smack
Mike M: old
Mike P: young
Lee: older
Jimmy N: younger
Jack: oldest
Lenny: treadmill
Jeff S: WHO?
Shane: Shane
I challenge you to come up with a funnier list. GO!
Throw sticks
How about the two oldest?
so you'd take jared and johnny and brett with mike kases in net over Ron and all the best d-men with Dave?
jared and johnny and brett have the better offense? but have brad, ronnie and cindy on d.
I'd take Rons team
I say all the anonymous play against the names.
the two best are suppose to pick.
That's why Johnny and Jared are captains every week, cause if they were on the same team then it would be slaughter.
I think we already tried that and they got slaughtered
well when Ron gets back the games will be better. And then him and jared can pick teams
True Team Captain should be sure that he does not offend anyone before he puts this list out!!!
LOL. I just peed my pants again.
Ryan: fat
Danny: squirrel
Brad: mentally-retarded
Lenny: treadmill
Ha ha ha!
What are you talking about? We never offend anyone on this site!
ya not funny really, calling people mentally-retarted? come on guys use your head
Hmmm, I wonder if that was Brad who posted that? :)
he was nice to me
Maybe I got offended by someone else's nickname!
Seriously...not funny
Oh come on Brett - we all know YOU posted it! It was funny though!
Who did you get offended by?
nope. promise i didn't.
i would never use some of those insults. I only insult peoples hockey ability, not them personally.
although it did look like someone was trying to frame me
then post your own list. Make it better.
And I'm not so sure that you only insult people's hockey ability. Didn't you accuse Mike D of doing steroids? Even if it was a joke?
is that really an insult? Wouldn't you take it as a compliment? implying that he's muscular.
Plus i already had joked about it with him before hand and i knew mike could take it.
But i'm gonna say you didn't check with everyone before you made this list.
lol @ treadmill
I didn't make the original list either, but here my nicer take:
John: a cool dude
Jared: smart
Ron: funny, in a good way
Brendon: great, just great
Mike D: true to himself
Ryan: an overall great guy
Brett: smells like animal feces
Nick: has the skills
Dale: there for his teammates
Joe: nice
Joel: a good person
Chris: much appreciated
Danny: valuable
Brad: a winner
Reggie: virtuous
Matt S: always kind
Matt P: there to help, always
Mike M: never short of kind words
Mike P: supportive
Lee: a friend to all
Jimmy N: loyal
Jack: very helpful
Lenny: continues to amaze
Jeff S: everyone's bff
Shane: benevolent
which animal feces do i smell like?
reggie says: god help whoever put up the offensive list..when i find out...
Yeah well Mike went from the size of Jared (possibly smaller) to the size he is now pretty quick so it's easy to say that and the fact that he just laughs it off so you know he doesn't care if your serious or not
who ever put up that first list is a complete tool and should be asked to not come back to hockey
What I got from reading these posts is the following:
1) Jared stinks and always will
2) Brett thinks a lot of himself
3) Jared stinks and always will
to think goalies aren't that important is the stupidest logic I've ever heard. Just because a guy is covered doesn't mean he's not going to get a shot off toward the net. Look at how many times it's just chucked at the net, not really aimed, just chucked - even in real hockey. Goalies have to be good enough to be in right position to make what is called a positional save - you hear it all the time when you wathc hockey. This Sunday Darren did this better than Steve. They both played great considering the peppering they took, but Darren was better. Do I think the dark team was the better team - Absolutlely not, but I do think the dark team was MUCH better than the scores showed. Darren had alot more positional saves, which like Jared said made him, Mike, & Brendon have to aim more for the corners instead of just chucking it in and since they can't just chuck it in, they have to aim more - which takes a split second more to do, which in turn gives the defensive team more time to react. How can you say or even think goalies don't have a impact in Saugus?
well, if you switched the goalies around last sunday. Still the white team would have won.
Ouch, point made again.
thanks anonymous
If we had switched the goalies I actually think Daren would have been able to keep his team in the games more. 3 of the 4 games we played, even though only 3 were counted, he only allowed 2 goals or less. And he'll probably get into a groove if he starts playing more.
Goalies can definitely make a difference.
How could you say that?? The white team had lie 8 shots on net and got 5 goals. After that first game the dark team had as many shots on net as white. again your an idiot
I'm fine with Mike & Bredon picking teams, but they won't know that until Sunday since I don't think either one of them reads the blog any more
People on this site amaze me!!! Nobody can say anything nice about someone with out ripping them down at the same time. How many people have to stop reading/posting on the blog or stop coming to hockey before it sinks into people heads that stuff on this site is taken seriously. Wether you want to admit or not, some people do. Instead of realizing that people are getting aggrivated and stop people just keep drilling people because apparently they think it's funny, well it's not. Then a few threads ago someone posts something about suicide and then all of sudden the joking was over. It shouldn't have taken a comment like that for what was going on that thread to stop. Really think about it, how would you have felt if 1 he wasn't kidding or 2 he didn't write that comment, but really did because of what was being said. Some of you guys really should stop and think before you post stuff or at least realize some people might not appreciate getting ripped on a blog. It's easy to sit and post anonymously or even if you put your name because you don't have the person right in front of you. Dale was right about how wordly guys are and some witnesses really don't get it when it comes to just keeping their mouth shut. I think a few of yah could use a good punch to head for shooting your mouth off or at least someone to get up in your face so you realize what you say has consiquences and that can include really ticking someone off.
Something about insulting people and doing it anonymously seems a bit cowardly to me. I think we are all better than that.
well anonymous, we all show up to saugus every week so if you want to confront anyone then do it. Stop complaining about it and do something about it.
OK I will!!! see you Sunday!!!
Confront people? why bother?
Brett, Nick and TPJ will laugh in your face. Especially brett.
Atleast when Nick and big board write a comment about someone they do it in a joking manner (though neither are kidding, believe me, both are very sarcastic) Brett just doesnt know how to say his opinion without sounding like a jerk. They usually all say the same thing but Brett doesnt know how to express his viewpoints nicely.
I think the point that anonymous was saying is that we should act like our actions have consequences. So don't do something or say something you know is going to get someone angry. I don't think he was saying he wanted to hit someone. He just thinks people get away with things that worldly people wouldn't let them get away with. In other words, do we say things just because we think we can get away with it? Don't call him out, that's not going in the right direction.
How is being "very sarcastic" nicer than simply just coming out and saying it??
Strong sarcasm can sometimes be much worse
Post a Comment