DON Posted November 25, 2023 Share Posted November 25, 2023 Roy had 6 shots, Mysak 4; but back to back OT loss Mysak/Kidney both get their 2nd goals of year. Kidney 3rd star of game Rocket suffer another frustrating overtime defeat - EOTP (habseyesontheprize.com) Laval Rocket @ Rochester Americans Friday, November 24, 2023 | TheAHL.com | The American Hockey League Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DON Posted November 25, 2023 Share Posted November 25, 2023 7pm game today, early golf season looking more likely as losses pile up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DON Posted November 29, 2023 Share Posted November 29, 2023 Kidney standing out bit more. Canadiens Prospect Riley Kidney Starting to Produce - The Hockey News Montreal Canadiens News, Analysis, and More “The last two games, I’ve brought my game. I wasn’t happy with my game before that. I wasn’t doing the things that I’m good at, but on Wednesday I played really well and I got an opportunity on Friday on the second line and I took advantage of that and hopefully I keep it going. It’s always fun to play in the top-six,” said the Canadiens 2021 second-round pick (63rd overall). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfredoh2009 Posted December 2, 2023 Share Posted December 2, 2023 Go Rocket Go! Formation du Rocket de Laval ce soir à Abbotsford 21h30 @BPMSportsRadio : Kidney-Condotta-Heineman Simoneau-Gignac-Roy Maillet-Davidson-Bourque McKay-Mysak-Légaré P.-Bisson-Mailloux Trudeau-Galipeau Beaudin-Keeper Mann Dobes — Anthony Marcotte (@anthonymarcotte) December 2, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DON Posted December 2, 2023 Share Posted December 2, 2023 2-2 mid 2nd 1st 4:02 Brady Keeper (1) Lucas Condotta (5), Riley Kidney (3) 12:45 Philippe Maillet (3) Jared Davidson (1), Gabriel Bourque (1) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfredoh2009 Posted December 2, 2023 Share Posted December 2, 2023 they lose 4-2, team ran out of steam as the game went on. Opposition was too strong for them to handle Marque finale Final score#GoRocket pic.twitter.com/dph1OLIOOC — Rocket de Laval (@RocketLaval) December 2, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DON Posted December 2, 2023 Share Posted December 2, 2023 Mysak/Trudeau/Davidson 3 shots each Heineman is back and had 4 shots Laval Rocket @ Abbotsford Canucks Friday, December 01, 2023 | TheAHL.com | The American Hockey League Frustrations continue to mount for Laval Rocket - EOTP (habseyesontheprize.com) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DON Posted December 3, 2023 Share Posted December 3, 2023 Another loss for Laval, 7th straight; Laval Rocket @ Abbotsford Canucks Saturday, December 02, 2023 | TheAHL.com | The American Hockey League Heineman 1g1a 3 shots Simoneau 1g Davidson 4 shots Late goal sends the Rocket to seventh straight loss - EOTP (habseyesontheprize.com) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DON Posted December 6, 2023 Share Posted December 6, 2023 7pm game today, on RDS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DON Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 Down 4-0 end f 2nd Heineman 3 shots Trudeau 4 shots Xhekaj 1 shot Roy -3 Rocket Weekly: Unlucky Seven – HabsWorld.net ..."Roy has been held without a point for six straight games as he becomes more of a focal point of the opposition defence. That’s not a criticism by any stretch either. Frankly, the fact this is happening this early in his rookie year is great." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfredoh2009 Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 it was a very uninspiring performance by the Rocket, they cam alive with about 5 minutes left in the game but looked like a te4am that had given up hope. The two bad goals to start the game may be an reason, their goaltenders have been horrible. Xhekaj looked rusted, but he played ok for a first game this season. I liked Gignac's line the most and also Simoneau. Kidney showed some good flashes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHT120 Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 9 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said: it was a very uninspiring performance by the Rocket, they cam alive with about 5 minutes left in the game but looked like a te4am that had given up hope. The two bad goals to start the game may be an reason, their goaltenders have been horrible. Xhekaj looked rusted, but he played ok for a first game this season. I liked Gignac's line the most and also Simoneau. Kidney showed some good flashes. First AHL game this season ... less than 3 weeks ago he played his 17th NHL game of the season. 😜 Couple of days ago on TSN690 a guest analytics "expert" mentioned that Xhekaj was amongst the bottom 5% in the league for allowing zone entries ... somewhat surprising for a big, physical defenceman with loonnngggg reach ... but perhaps not so much given he was surprisingly thrust straight into the NHL last season without any AHL "seasoning". I expect that in addition to getting Arber some games for his conditioning, the need to work on his defensive game may be part of why he was sent down ... harder to build confidence to challenge players at the blueline when you are doing so against NHL players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfredoh2009 Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 15 minutes ago, GHT120 said: First AHL game this season ... less than 3 weeks ago he played his 17th NHL game of the season. 😜 Couple of days ago on TSN690 a guest analytics "expert" mentioned that Xhekaj was amongst the bottom 5% in the league for allowing zone entries ... somewhat surprising for a big, physical defenceman with loonnngggg reach ... but perhaps not so much given he was surprisingly thrust straight into the NHL last season without any AHL "seasoning". I expect that in addition to getting Arber some games for his conditioning, the need to work on his defensive game may be part of why he was sent down ... harder to build confidence to challenge players at the blueline when you are doing so against NHL players. I wasn't sure when he was injured, the RDS commentators mentioned his injury that ended his last season and something about him still recovering from that... but I was fast-forwarding the commentators during breaks and intermissions. I did watch the whole game and for sure he did not play with the usual intensity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHT120 Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 15 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said: I wasn't sure when he was injured, the RDS commentators mentioned his injury that ended his last season and something about him still recovering from that... but I was fast-forwarding the commentators during breaks and intermissions. I did watch the whole game and for sure he did not play with the usual intensity First game back is never easy ... regardless of the level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfredoh2009 Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 1 minute ago, GHT120 said: First game back is never easy ... regardless of the level. yeah, and I am half-@ssing my following of the Canadiens NHL/AHL/ECHL teams this season, waiting for this season to finish so that we can move from the flushing/shedding of the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHT120 Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 Coaching change in the offing after 8 straight losses? Benoit Groulx, a veteran coach with a good track record, is available. Not saying it is Houle's fault, but logic doesn't always rule in coaching decisions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DON Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/rocket/xhekaj-makes-his-ahl-debut-recap-bel-lav 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfredoh2009 Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 😁 Basu and I agree on this : Quote And he looked nothing like the player who was able to leapfrog the AHL on his way to the NHL. Quote This is who Xhekaj is, what makes him unique and what makes him a unicorn in the modern NHL, someone who can do all that and play the game at a high level. I went to watch Arber Xhekaj’s first ever AHL game last night. I didn’t recognize him. https://t.co/QB2xzV9LGq — Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) December 7, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHT120 Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 I fear Xhekaj was in a certain sense a "victim of circumstance" last season ... the team needed young defenceman in the NHL and he provided unique attributes ... but what he really needed in terms of optimizing his career was time (a full season, maybe even more) in the AHL to develop his defence ... I mentionned elsewhere that on TSN690 the other day an "advanced stats guy" said that Xhekaj was in the bottom 5% for preventing zone-entries ... I expect that is what one (a major?) focus will be for his time in Laval ... I just hope they don't rush him back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alfredoh2009 Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 Here is a clip from l'Antichambre: C’est le cas de le dire, Norman est en feu ce soir ! 😅🔥 pic.twitter.com/EYcBnJrCtk — L'Antichambre (@Antichambre) December 7, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime Minister Koivu Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 This is why I said Struble is far ahead of Xhekaj in basic defensive development. He covers the wrong guy and puts himself out of position often. He makes terrible reads of the play during breakout and during Dzone coverage. He went from OHL to NHL so of course he isn’t defensively polished. Struble played 4 years I think it was at a higher level and is more polished because of it Xhekaj will get better and learn and I think AHL is a wise decision Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DON Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 1 hour ago, Prime Minister Koivu said: Xhekaj will get better and learn and I think AHL is a wise decision Why do you think he will get better? I hope he does but who knows. Wideman and an endless # of d-men never learn how to defend at NHL speed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime Minister Koivu Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 15 minutes ago, DON said: Why do you think he will get better? I hope he does but who knows. Wideman and an endless # of d-men never learn how to defend at NHL speed. That’s true but Wideman is an offensive Dman (pun intended) so that’s how he just barely gets NHL time. Not getting better for Wideman due to lack of skill? Xhekaj getting better because he has the skill and is now getting trained? At least that’s my hope and expectation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DON Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 He 'should' get better with more pro game time. But defending well in the NHL is a tough task, does he have the hockey IQ needed to anticipate and recognize stuff. Am just glad he didnt get involved in any fights or take any penalties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hab29RETIRED Posted December 7, 2023 Share Posted December 7, 2023 2 hours ago, Prime Minister Koivu said: That’s true but Wideman is an offensive Dman (pun intended) so that’s how he just barely gets NHL time. Not getting better for Wideman due to lack of skill? Xhekaj getting better because he has the skill and is now getting trained? At least that’s my hope and expectation I’m hoping so as well - it would be great to have a big physical dman that can actually play - even if it’s in. A bottom pairing role. I’m in the skeptic camp as well though -generally when you see a guy who makes a huge incremental improvement in their skill level, any further improvement generally tends to be much smaller and isn’t at anywhere near the same exponential rate. what I’m hopeful is that wifi’s initial improvement wasn’t just because of his size and because advantage and because for HIS SIZE he is a decent skater and can make a decent first pass. Hopefully he also has good natural hockey sense and instincts - something Wideman clearly lacks. If he does have good natural hockey sense/instinct, with experience he should start improving his decision making - something again I have zero expectations of from Wideman. But what makes me skeptical is that we had a HORRIBLE D last year - hell, I think we had what 5 rookies on D? With the low caliber of D, injuries, and his size he made the team when there really were zero expectations for him and he was an unknown to the opposition. Now other teams know him, our other young D are improving, and most of them have gone through the development steps he skipped. We have more options now and there is an expectation of continuous improvement for the young D. Hopefully he gets more ice time in Laval and shows that he is more than just a physical presence. If this was 1993, he definitely would be an NHL dman in a couple of years, because even if he couldn’t play, he could fight. Now to be an everyday player, he needs to show he is a legit everyday dman. the positive with him regardless of he pans out or not, is that unlike some of other prospects on D, he will always have value, because there will always be a team that covets his size and will think he has enough that they can develop him into an everyday player. Whats important is he gets the proper development time with us, so if he does have the ability he succeeds here and not with another team. I think even if he spends the whole year in Laval and that makes him a better player and a legit dman, I’d be all for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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