Mike, what happened … Doug has 3 of the top 4 teams: Lightning, Jets, and Leafs. Mike has the Preds. The only decision to make at #3 was Jets or Leafs (presumably that’s why Doug said “this is tough”) and he took the Pens! My dark horse: Flames. Love you guys. Best podcast.
Actually it’s worse than Teddy said – Mike took PHILLY over TORONTO. Maybe this is Mike’s way to diss Patty. In which case, I like it.
Watch Mike win the bet again and have Philly v Vegas in the Cup Final. And I’m seriously laying out a bet that the Sens make the playoffs. Count on it.
I laughed so hard during the draft. Somehow Doug landed the Lightning, Leafs, Jets, and Bruins! But i cracked up when he took the Wild after how he mocked them in the last podcast. I have a hard team believing the Caps will recover from losing Trotz, but if the Pens stay healthy their window is definitely still open. I’m pulling for you Mike!
Great podcast as always. So thorough and well researched. Would like to hear the dudes discuss the forward lines after a few games. I don’t like Kane out of the top 6. Seems like he should flip places with Timo Meier.
East coaster here who did not stay up for the 3rd period, so take that into consideration. Obviously Jones was terrible again and that’s a huge problem. That’s the biggest issue.
But those lines were bad too. Someone posted here over the summer that Jumbo should start on the 3rd line to ease back in. I totally agree! The guys is still a quality player and may even make it back to top line center minutes, which at his age and with his injury history, woul be a huge accomplishment. But he’s not there yet. He looked slow against a slow Ducks team. Just imagine if we had opened against Vegas. And I don’t blame Jumbo at all – it’s amazing he’s back and playing. Those injuries could have ended his career.
I would have used my preseason centers as 1) Pavs 2) Couture 3) Jumbo 4) Suomela and see how it goes. Last year’s Pavs-Kane-Donskoi line rocked. Why did we abandon it? And also, the Sharks need a winger to replace Boedker. Labanc looked out of his depth. Based on last night, I’d have the following until a second line RW is brought in to move Labanc down to the 3rd line.
Kane-Pavs-Donskoi – awesome line from last season, fast, skilled, Kane a likely 30-goal year
Hertl-Couture-Labanc – Hertl and Couture work so well together, as we saw in the opener
Meier-Thornton-Karlsson – Meier fed by Jumbo, then Jumbo a pp specialist w/ the big boys
Sorenson-Suomela-Goodrow – admittedly weak, but maybe the fins make a love connection
The Flyers game put Kane and Pavs together and their chemistry was right where they left off. Noy sure if Labanc can consistently stay on this line, but Kane and Pavs definitely need to stay on the same line. I agree that whoever is with them should be a speedy winger, not Jumbo, who yes, should be the 3rd line center when he returns.
Going into the season, I would have said the Sharks’ success this season depended on depth, sure, but also the play of several key players who are x-factors: 1) Jones 2) Karlsson 3) Thornton 4) Burns. Those 4 players have had average to downright poor starts … and the Sharks are still .500. If those guys pick up their play, this team is going to be excellent. I’m confident Karlsson’s offensive numbers will improve dramatically. Less confident about Jumbo’s health, Jones’ inconsistency, and Burns’ lack of offense – though he has looked pretty good in his own end. It adds up to a 13% pp, which is totally unacceptable for this amount of pp talent. These guys should be in the top 5 in the league.
hate to ask but, is it possible Karlsson’s overrated? mike will mock me on the show, but i’m just being honest – i’m not impressed by his play so far. will be interesting to so how he plays against better teams.
The Dudes were right – this wasn’t going to be a #1 team overnight. All the lines are different, there’s 2 new pairings, then Jumbo goes out and it there’s another new set of lines required. Once the goalies get back to their form, this team is going to win some games.
My only criticism is, the Sharks organization seemed naive to slot Jumbo to play a full season on the top line. That was never going to happen. Now we’ve seen he couldn’t even play a full week. Pavs has been great as top line center going back to last season. But this inconsistency is almost like the Burns situation. Just tell Pavs if he’s a center or a winger and he’ll be great, but shuffling back and forth must be tough. I’m going to be very frustrated if Jumbo is in and out of the lineup all season, forcing new line combinations and Pavs can’t settle into his game.
DOH 395 – 2018-2019 Season Preview
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Mike, what happened … Doug has 3 of the top 4 teams: Lightning, Jets, and Leafs. Mike has the Preds. The only decision to make at #3 was Jets or Leafs (presumably that’s why Doug said “this is tough”) and he took the Pens! My dark horse: Flames. Love you guys. Best podcast.
Short answer: I’m an idiot.
Long answer: I screwed up my rankings and forgot Toronto. I’m an idiot.
Actually it’s worse than Teddy said – Mike took PHILLY over TORONTO. Maybe this is Mike’s way to diss Patty. In which case, I like it.
Watch Mike win the bet again and have Philly v Vegas in the Cup Final. And I’m seriously laying out a bet that the Sens make the playoffs. Count on it.
I’ll be glad to be the counterparty on that Sens bet. They are going to be appallingly awful.
You say that every year. That’s the whole point!
I laughed so hard during the draft. Somehow Doug landed the Lightning, Leafs, Jets, and Bruins! But i cracked up when he took the Wild after how he mocked them in the last podcast. I have a hard team believing the Caps will recover from losing Trotz, but if the Pens stay healthy their window is definitely still open. I’m pulling for you Mike!
* time (damn you iPad autocorrect!)
Great podcast as always. So thorough and well researched. Would like to hear the dudes discuss the forward lines after a few games. I don’t like Kane out of the top 6. Seems like he should flip places with Timo Meier.
Did Jones know preseason is over?
East coaster here who did not stay up for the 3rd period, so take that into consideration. Obviously Jones was terrible again and that’s a huge problem. That’s the biggest issue.
But those lines were bad too. Someone posted here over the summer that Jumbo should start on the 3rd line to ease back in. I totally agree! The guys is still a quality player and may even make it back to top line center minutes, which at his age and with his injury history, woul be a huge accomplishment. But he’s not there yet. He looked slow against a slow Ducks team. Just imagine if we had opened against Vegas. And I don’t blame Jumbo at all – it’s amazing he’s back and playing. Those injuries could have ended his career.
I would have used my preseason centers as 1) Pavs 2) Couture 3) Jumbo 4) Suomela and see how it goes. Last year’s Pavs-Kane-Donskoi line rocked. Why did we abandon it? And also, the Sharks need a winger to replace Boedker. Labanc looked out of his depth. Based on last night, I’d have the following until a second line RW is brought in to move Labanc down to the 3rd line.
Kane-Pavs-Donskoi – awesome line from last season, fast, skilled, Kane a likely 30-goal year
Hertl-Couture-Labanc – Hertl and Couture work so well together, as we saw in the opener
Meier-Thornton-Karlsson – Meier fed by Jumbo, then Jumbo a pp specialist w/ the big boys
Sorenson-Suomela-Goodrow – admittedly weak, but maybe the fins make a love connection
The Flyers game put Kane and Pavs together and their chemistry was right where they left off. Noy sure if Labanc can consistently stay on this line, but Kane and Pavs definitely need to stay on the same line. I agree that whoever is with them should be a speedy winger, not Jumbo, who yes, should be the 3rd line center when he returns.
Going into the season, I would have said the Sharks’ success this season depended on depth, sure, but also the play of several key players who are x-factors: 1) Jones 2) Karlsson 3) Thornton 4) Burns. Those 4 players have had average to downright poor starts … and the Sharks are still .500. If those guys pick up their play, this team is going to be excellent. I’m confident Karlsson’s offensive numbers will improve dramatically. Less confident about Jumbo’s health, Jones’ inconsistency, and Burns’ lack of offense – though he has looked pretty good in his own end. It adds up to a 13% pp, which is totally unacceptable for this amount of pp talent. These guys should be in the top 5 in the league.
hate to ask but, is it possible Karlsson’s overrated? mike will mock me on the show, but i’m just being honest – i’m not impressed by his play so far. will be interesting to so how he plays against better teams.
The Dudes were right – this wasn’t going to be a #1 team overnight. All the lines are different, there’s 2 new pairings, then Jumbo goes out and it there’s another new set of lines required. Once the goalies get back to their form, this team is going to win some games.
My only criticism is, the Sharks organization seemed naive to slot Jumbo to play a full season on the top line. That was never going to happen. Now we’ve seen he couldn’t even play a full week. Pavs has been great as top line center going back to last season. But this inconsistency is almost like the Burns situation. Just tell Pavs if he’s a center or a winger and he’ll be great, but shuffling back and forth must be tough. I’m going to be very frustrated if Jumbo is in and out of the lineup all season, forcing new line combinations and Pavs can’t settle into his game.