With Drew Stafford, it isn't a question of whether he can play a good game; it's just a question of him doing it with any kind of consistency.

He has yet to produce the latter........

_________________
"I'll rap you with my cane; you pencil necked geek!!"

-Bowler, imitating Freddy Blassie, at the very first M & G.

He showed tonight he can be absolutely beastly. Skill, size, speed, and physicality. Great combo, and he flashed it all tonight.

Agreed, but Howie, this is the "New" system Lindy is using. Extra time riding the bikes, celebrating Festivus and of course my personal favorite, going into the 3rd down by 1 or 2 goals.
Scoring by committee, after they feel they are down enough goals, the Sabre players draw straws to see who is going to be the hero for the night . Since Drew was a healthy scratch, the system automatically reverts to him.

Hey, if it works, it works.

_________________
Lord Stanley's Cup is what its all about.
Mr. Pegula, your destiny awaits you sir.

I was thinking during that looooong wait for the penalty shot,

"God, I hope they rule this a goal just so they get this one secured. On the other hand, I'd really like to see Stafford score on the penalty shot, maybe help him get his confidence back."

Glad it worked out the way it did.

Ham

_________________
Do you believe yet?

He might have taken a little Valtrex and got the inflammation of his vaginitus down, but the real trick is curing the disease, it's been known to go away in small spurts, but curing it is something people are rarely capable of.

_________________
"She's like plan C after an 18 pack"

Squanto 7/27/2010

Benching...good game...repeat. Not sure that's how you build consistency consistently. You shouldn't have to beat all your forwards into submission to get them to score. They should be professionals. Now, I'm not against a benching or a verbal warning, but it seems like EVERY SINGLE one of our forwards go through this "confidence" issue, doesn't it? Maybe the "new" NHL doesn't shift guys around(by trade) into systems that work for them anymore. I unno, but the punishment system seems too archaic for me.

And Safford's thoughts during the goal review:

"Please be a goal, I don't want to find out how many more days I have to spend in the press box after I miss this penalty shot.."

_________________
Miller, Myers and Greir are sick, but not Jesus Christ..

KILL OTTAWA

How about placing the responsibility with Drew?

Hope he continues to play with passion.

_________________
"I'll rap you with my cane; you pencil necked geek!!"

-Bowler, imitating Freddy Blassie, at the very first M & G.

As i was saying Howie, you have to "feed" the forwards sometimes. They all know their stats are down, but luckily they are buying into "the system"(aka Millsie). You don't want to keep Drew down on a 4th line of a defensive-minded team for too long. It would destroy him.

/not dissing the coach for Drew's minutes, but his confidence in him. He digs deep into these guys, and sometimes maybe too deep. How can ya tell the kid(maybe he's not a kid no more) to be defense first, and bench ya for no production??

Anyways, as Howie said, woot! for Drew, may it continue!

I have to think the problem wasn't just production. There are a lot of guys on this team that don't score or even get a point very often, but those players are always giving 110% and playing every last second of their shifts. The problem was on both ends of the ice. He wasn't moving his legs or working hard. When a talented player does both of those things, good things will happen as we saw last night. If they're doing neither, it's time for a benching, because they aren't helping anywhere on the ice.

Just my take on it anyways.

_________________

From NHL.com:


Helen Keller produced

_________________
Miller, Myers and Greir are sick, but not Jesus Christ..

KILL OTTAWA