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Post by wgray on Feb 5, 2022 23:30:19 GMT
Very frustrating night, I thought we deserved the win but our lack of quality up front remains evident. I have to say though, the refs were very poor tonight, a clean hit from Kelsall with a couple of minutes to go called as charging, illegal equipment not called on the Clan, trip on Boivin in OT not called.
Glasgow are a frustrating team, they’ve come into the NIC and played 3 great road games, they’ve played simple and responsible, kept us to the outside and got 3 victories. In the 2 games in Breahead though, where the emphasis has been on Glasgow to be a bit more offensive, we’ve won comfortably, very strange.
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Post by wgray on Feb 5, 2022 23:19:33 GMT
Lot of effort from the forwards but as usual this year no really good chances and a very poor powerplay. First job for Whistle is to sort the powerplay out. The powerplay with Welsh and Boivin has been firing of late but that was with Lane on it. Hedberg has now taken his place on it and it looks disjointed again.
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Post by wgray on Feb 5, 2022 23:17:24 GMT
I actually thought we played pretty well tonight and were unlucky to lose. Usual problems though of not being clinical in front of goal despite the large amount of possession we had. Carr had a tremendous game,his move when he came racing out the goal was the highlight for me. Also good to see the arena with a decent crowd even if some might be free,made a big difference to the atmosphere. Funny what happens when we have a Saturday night game as well unlike these numerous Sundays afternoon fixtures we keep having! I think it’s easy to confuse played with a lot of effort with played well. If our teams of previous seasons played with the same effort as these guys we would have got bored with winning the league by now. The truth is that our forwards are completely shut down by a big defence. A defender scored our one goal and our forwards missed passes and were shut down all night. 100% agree with you about us struggling against teams with big d-men, we’re a bit too light weight to force turnovers on the fore-check, we’re good at working the puck back to the point and throwing speculative shots on net though. I can’t remember a single time tonight where we worked the puck into the slot and had a shot on goal.
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Post by wgray on Feb 5, 2022 1:02:29 GMT
I think the issue is he made the same initial mistakes again. For Jakobs and Quist, read Suoranta. Unfortunately this time there weren't the players to add late to rectify those initial errors. True Mike. The budget wasn’t there this year though to cover up those same mistakes. Doucet has stated that we’re spending to the wage cap like the other teams though…
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Post by wgray on Feb 4, 2022 19:35:09 GMT
Blimey, the refs must've been really cheating at full tilt for the opening 10 minutes in Belfast... Good to see it’s not just us they can do a number on!
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Post by wgray on Feb 1, 2022 19:37:42 GMT
I don’t live in Nottingham so we always book a hotel in the city for the play-off weekend. We decided to hold off from booking any hotels due to the way things have been and the uncertainty around all events, until now.
I understand that people like to book in advance to get the best deals possible but surely with the way things have been people could have foreseen this situation?
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Post by wgray on Feb 1, 2022 19:31:31 GMT
The problem in this instance Bob is the paying fans are the ones hurt, this is never a good idea for any business. It doesn't matter if the usual suspects here (myself included) find this abhorrent, we'll amusingly find fault in anything we can. When these actions start affecting the loyal paying fans then we're talking a whole new puck game. That's dangerous imo. Absolutely, but what would you suggest? Keep it as is? That's been laughed at long and hard on here. Fixture pile ups etc. The season has been significantly disrupted, through matters no-one could control or foresee. I get you don't like it, as many won't, but what are the alternatives? There aren’t any.
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Post by wgray on Jan 30, 2022 22:17:56 GMT
So which import sits if Domingue ever comes back ? It might never happen but here’s what I’d like to see if we ever have everyone fit😂 Boivin Welsh Domingue Carozza Lane Baillargeon Hedberg Myers Betteridge Richards Kelsall Thow Massy Matheson Norrish Brassard Lee Carr Kerlin Tousignant and Tetlow healthy scratches
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Post by wgray on Jan 30, 2022 22:13:21 GMT
Glad we’ve finally got another defence-man in! Not had much professional experience, good to see that he was leading his team in points this season. 6’4”, 102kg, right shot, if he’s willing to put him self about, lay some checks and stand up for the team then I’ll be happy. I'm not to sure i'm pleased to see he was top points scorer. We need a dman that gets a nose bleed if he crosses the opposition blue line, not another Doherty. Hopefully he does use his size and is the dman we've been desperate for. If he turns out to be another Doherty then Doucet has learnt nothing. I don’t mind him being able to contribute offensively but like you say he has to be capable of laying the body, separating the opposition from the puck. I’m praying he’s the right type of defenceman.
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Post by wgray on Jan 30, 2022 20:52:28 GMT
Glad we’ve finally got another defence-man in! Not had much professional experience, good to see that he was leading his team in points this season.
6’4”, 102kg, right shot, if he’s willing to put him self about, lay some checks and stand up for the team then I’ll be happy.
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Post by wgray on Jan 30, 2022 20:28:58 GMT
Glad we’ve managed to break our 4 game losing streak in the league. We were the better team throughout the game but I thought Dundee made it look very easy to get the game back to 2-2. As had been said, the 3rd goal from Welsh was pivotal in swinging the momentum back in our favour.
Dundee are a good team though, they were missing Haas and Desjardins as well tonight, they play physical hockey and I’d say our games against them have been the most entertaining ones this season.
In a time where there hasn’t been a lot of excitement it was nice to see some good individual performances tonight. Brassard really has been one of the few highlights out of this season, I thought he deserved a goal tonight. He reminds me of Werner in the way he carries the pack from our own zone and dances through players in the neutral zone. It was good to see Kelsall score another nice goal as well.
Hopefully we can put a run of wins together now!
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Post by wgray on Jan 30, 2022 20:16:48 GMT
What the attendance looking like for this one, still sparse? Gamesheet states 3,796, I thought there was about 4,000 when I was there earlier.
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Post by wgray on Jan 29, 2022 23:28:37 GMT
Devils are some way ahead in terms of games played - not that we'd have a hope in hell of winning all of those 4 games - but yes already needing a nine game swing with 27 left to tie up Sheffield is awful. I don't think Doucet will be sacked mid-season, not much point, but I'd expect him out the door in the summer as a first order of business. I have to agree I’m afraid. This season has been a disaster. We have to acknowledge injuries haven’t helped us and we did do well to bring in cover for the 3 injured players. However, again, the team didn’t look to be built correctly from the start and due to the circumstances with Covid it has been difficult to bring in players that improved the team like Talbot and Hansen did in 19/20 after poor initial recruitment. I recall before the season started that we were all waiting in anticipation for the final two imports and hoping that they were going to be two stars, the difference makers. They ended up being Myers and Baillargeon. If Myers was the 5th and final Brit I’d have been happy, however we already had our 5. With Baillargeon, he put up decent goals for MK but with his two year lay off from the pro game we knew he wasn’t going to be the impact player we needed. If we then look at Doucet’s decision to let Suoranta and Jokinen go, without having replacements guaranteed. The admission that we are spending up to the cap the same way as the other teams, but getting battered by them. The decision to sack a coach who had the support of the fans to save his own bacon. Letting a defender leave, whilst taking a compensation package, and then letting them team play short on defence for a minimum of 10 games. I don’t see how he hasn’t been sacked if I’m being honest.
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Post by wgray on Jan 29, 2022 22:05:08 GMT
I'm sick to death of this I think we all are. I’m amazed at how Doucet has failed in recruitment, both before and during the season. Black’s silence is deafening as well.
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Post by wgray on Jan 29, 2022 21:12:01 GMT
Fight between Richards and Brandt, at least one player’s playing for some pride.
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Post by wgray on Jan 29, 2022 19:47:59 GMT
Even first period but I thought we did well and had some good chances, Boivin looking very lively.
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Post by wgray on Jan 28, 2022 15:31:22 GMT
It was Gary's funeral yesterday, I find it a little sad that the club didn't put up anything on either the site, or Twitter at least to acknowledge it and say a final farewell. Whatever he did to upset people he was Panthers through and through and put more than any of us would know into the running of the club. It’s very disappointing that nothing was put out by at least the club. I’m worried about the state of the club at the minute, there seems to be no sense of direction, both on and off the ice.
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Post by wgray on Jan 27, 2022 15:04:56 GMT
We’ve really had no luck this season with injuries. You’d have to suspect that Domingue’s issue is related to the previous injury.
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Post by wgray on Jan 24, 2022 12:58:43 GMT
Doubt we'll see him for a few more weeks then. They've actually posted an update: Given Lee just missed his 30th game, I'd question Panthers use of "good progress". Pity they rushed him back. He was on crutches just before he came back. On the Sheffield webcast they said that Lee was going to be out for some time yet I understand that Doucet wants the right player but in our position beggars can’t be choosers. Doherty left on 6th January, meaning we’ve now played 9 games with 5 dmen, even if we brought in a player who was only going to be IR cover and did a job until Lee returned, at least it would have taken some pressure off the rest of the team. I just don’t understand the decisions that are being made.
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Post by wgray on Jan 23, 2022 21:35:39 GMT
That was an extremely tough watch tonight, home games are so important and we continue to struggle in them. The same issues that we’ve had this season under Wallace still remain, plenty of shots with no real danger, we control the puck but don’t pose any real threat, no alternative plan of attack to get us back in the game. Hedberg looks to have some skill and is a good addition, but we absolutely need something different in those forward ranks. A big bodied physical goal scorer who will drop the gloves has been missing from day 1. Pretty much every single fan has been saying we miss a player like this, someone who will get the fans going and in turn the team. This season has been a disaster, the league is done, every game is practically a dead rubber now, there’s not even any real rivalries anymore for the fans to get excited about. Doucet has got to sign a couple of players who are going to drop the gloves to bring some entertainment and excitement back to the NIC, otherwise the attendances are going to continue plummeting. And the worst thing is we havn't even made it to the half way point of the league campaign yet. 28 more games to suffer. On the plus side, only 12 of those are at home. Suffer is a good word. We shouldn’t be talking about games in this way. I class myself as a positive fan, I know many others who follow the club that are in that mould as well, but this season is taking it’s toll on people’s support.
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Post by wgray on Jan 23, 2022 21:23:09 GMT
That was an extremely tough watch tonight, home games are so important and we continue to struggle in them. The same issues that we’ve had this season under Wallace still remain, plenty of shots with no real danger, we control the puck but don’t pose any real threat, no alternative plan of attack to get us back in the game. Hedberg looks to have some skill and is a good addition, but we absolutely need something different in those forward ranks. A big bodied physical goal scorer who will drop the gloves has been missing from day 1. Pretty much every single fan has been saying we miss a player like this, someone who will get the fans going and in turn the team. This season has been a disaster, the league is done, every game is practically a dead rubber now, there’s not even any real rivalries anymore for the fans to get excited about. Doucet has got to sign a couple of players who are going to drop the gloves to bring some entertainment and excitement back to the NIC, otherwise the attendances are going to continue plummeting. I'm betting Doucet is the next one out. Who knows what will happen, Black’s anonymous, we’re pretty much leaderless right now.
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Post by wgray on Jan 23, 2022 20:50:26 GMT
That was an extremely tough watch tonight, home games are so important and we continue to struggle in them. The same issues that we’ve had this season under Wallace still remain, plenty of shots with no real danger, we control the puck but don’t pose any real threat, no alternative plan of attack to get us back in the game.
Hedberg looks to have some skill and is a good addition, but we absolutely need something different in those forward ranks. A big bodied physical goal scorer who will drop the gloves has been missing from day 1. Pretty much every single fan has been saying we miss a player like this, someone who will get the fans going and in turn the team.
This season has been a disaster, the league is done, every game is practically a dead rubber now, there’s not even any real rivalries anymore for the fans to get excited about. Doucet has got to sign a couple of players who are going to drop the gloves to bring some entertainment and excitement back to the NIC, otherwise the attendances are going to continue plummeting.
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Post by wgray on Jan 23, 2022 20:23:19 GMT
It’s a common thing throughout the season but honestly again baffled by the shot count. Astronomically high! We’re great at getting pucks on the net from the perimeter with zero traffic in front. Big, physical teams are good at keeping us to the outside.
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Post by wgray on Jan 23, 2022 11:34:57 GMT
Can someone, who actually saw the game, give a synopsis on it as per usual most of the posts are from the resident club haters / detractors who miss no opportunity to gloat on losses and aver that they no longer watch games. A very even game, which I thought could have gone either way, Sheffield scored two goals in quick succession at the start of the third period and we couldn’t claw it back, their 3rd was well worked but the 4th was poor. The final SOG were 32-24 in our favour, Sheffield had 6 SOG in the 3rd and scored 2 of them. We didn’t have that clinical touch to take the lead in the game earlier on, in the 1st Brassard hit bar after another well worked play and in the 2nd period Thow hit the post twice and the puck was scrambled away, in which doing so Sheffield did take a penalty and we did score on it. We look to have found a decent powerplay unit now though which is pleasing. Maybe my tinted specs are misleading me but I thought there were some very, very soft calls against us that weren’t called against Sheffield. But ultimately Sheffield have that little bit of quality, especially speed, which always makes them dangerous, we don’t seem to have that unfortunately.
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Post by wgray on Jan 22, 2022 23:25:16 GMT
I don’t think there was much between the two teams tonight if I’m being honest. I don’t think Carr had a great game though if I’m being critical, I thought their 1st and 4th he could have done better with but yet again both goals stem from one of our dmen being too aggressive on the attack and not being cautious enough leaving odd man rushes. We were unlucky not to get something out of the game though I feel, overtime would have been fair. Good to see us get 2 well worked PPG’s and Hedberg played really well on that 1st line.
I don’t think we’re going to have a game this season though where we get to play a team with 14 imports and 5 Brits and no injuries to restrict our selection. Ah well, I’m sure Doucet will have better luck getting players in next season.
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