Commandant

Gomez draws a penalty.

Big kill needed with Plek in the box.

If we can maintain this intensity, we'll get a few goals.

There is 12 days left in October, not really surprising. And no different from what JM said last week,, "he should be practicing by the end of the month." He's gonna need at least a couple weeks of practice before he can play, given how long he was off.

Considering what a 20 goal 50 point player is worth in UFA.... see Cole and Leino.... AK at 3.25 is a bargain. He's gonna get more than that next year.

Don't worry, he'll go on a 10+ game goalless streak at least two or three times during the season. Like most goal scorers, he runs hot and cold.

if we are gonna read into the lineups, what about the fact that Nattinen was put on the first line? As for Delmas, I hope he steals Mayer's spot, but I don't see him challenging Lawson. Stranger things have happened though.

Its all about Trotter continuing to play well and he'll get a shot with the habs this season. He has to make the most of that opportunity when it does come (like desharnais did last year). At the end of the day its up to him.

I hope DeSimone is ahead of Masse, Lefebvre and Bishop even if his is an AHL deal and they have NHL/AHL deals.

Lets also remember Wiz has had 3 ACL reconstruction surgeries, where Markov just completed his 2nd.

1) Spacek was already under contract (a 35+ contract) at that, explain how you get rid of it. 2). Gill and spaceks contracts expire at the same time that gorges, subban, eller, and price all need raises... How were you gonna handle that after giving wiz 5 or 6 years?

Cammy might be back thursday, and the team scored 5 goals last game. I don't think Palush is gonna get a chance in the top 9 to be honest. I really like how Palush has played though, but he has very limited icetime and noone to pass to on the fourth.... but even with that said, Moen is producing points right now, so how do you switch him with the rookie?

The way the injuries are going, if he continues to play well he'll get his shot. Palushaj won the first shot just because it came so close to training camp. Hopefully Cammy returns sometime this week, and Palush goes back down..... and our next callup isn't needed for a bit. At that point it will be whoever is doing best in the AHL between Palush, Trotter, Leblanc, Dumont, etc...

The thing with the cap hits are that yes its fine this year.... next year with Subban, Price, Eller, all due for raises, and gorges needing to be re-signed or replaced (either way a top 4 d will cost more than the 2.5 he's currently getting).... the cap is tighter next year than it is this year with Spacek.

I like letting Emelin, Diaz, and Weber play... but ideally we'd be rotating them, playing 2/3 and they'd all play 55-60 games, rather than have a defence with 4 youngins out there every night. I'd rather see each of them play beside and learn from a veteran, than have to see an Emelin-Weber or Emelin-Diaz pairing. Even if it hasn't really cost us yet, it will eventually.

Campoli (while not as good as Hammer) was supposed to help with that depth. We could have signed Hammer, and if he had a similar fluke injury, we'd be in exactly the same spot.

Dany Kristo 2 goals, 1 assist for North Dakota who tied Maine 3-3. Morgan Ellis a goal in a losing cause for Cape Breton. Magnus Nygren 1 assist in helping his Swedish team to a 2-1 win

Agreed, playing together is important, and some of the guys are still learning JM's system. However at least Markov, Spacek, Cammy are familiar with the system, which is at least half the battle going forward so the learning time shouldn't be as big as it was in 2009-10 Hamrlik would have been great on a one year deal. Did you really trust him for two years, because thats what he insisted on.

Two days off... I put price back in there again. Knowing his personality, he's the type of guy who when he falls off the horse he wants to get right back on and make up for it. Also the next game is a genuine 4 pointer vs Buffalo. I think we over emphasize how bad Spacek is. Lets remember most of what we have seen and complained about with Spacek, has been times we've seen him playing a) on the wrong side b) as a shutdown pair with Hamrlik. Obviously he's overpaid, obviously he's not a top pairing dman.... but as a number 5/6 dman I still think he can do that job. Also on the third pairing he can be a stabilizing influence beside one of Diaz, Weber, Emelin... and a positive veteran presence. I do think we are missing him more than we give him credit for. I don't want to see him on the right side, and I don't want to see him against other team's best line, but he can still be useful. Calgary game... absolutely. He had a really rough night that night. Tonight.... I saw one catastrophic mistake that needs correcting.... but for the rest of the game, I didn't have issues with Subban's play. Agreed on that... the defensive game (as a five man unit) needs a lot of work and improvement, but it can be done.

Chris Clark isn't a centre..... You need a centre if you are gonna replace Engqvist. Also I think Engqvist has been fine in the regular season, for as much as i hated him in preseason. Hes the fourth line centre.... not flashy, but he's not costing us defensively, which is all we really need out of him.

The D, I don't really have a problem with. Of all the goals tonight.... I can only lay one at the hands of a defenceman, and that was PK's big gaffe. The first one i'm still not sure exactly what happened or how it went in. But lets chalk it up to Carey as he's apparently saying "3 of the goals were his fault" in the room to the media tonight. But three of the goals were the direct result of a forward losing his man. Moen (twice) and Patches (once) get the blame on those.

Quite simply this is a team game, and I know that our defence is young and inexperienced, but thats where the forwards have to help them out. They have not in the last two games.

I hate shootouts. Pleks on the shootout... .Love the guy, but penalty shots are not his thing. POST, goddamnit. Come on price, make a save. damnit nice try patches. And again.... can't stop them.... Not Price's night.

On at least three of the avs goals tonight, the defensive breakdown was by a forward, not a Dman. Only one was a breakdown by the D. Who should be trusting who? With 4 young D back there, the forwards have to tighten up.

What team isn't in tough when their goalie doesn't play good and is merely ordinary?