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Patrick Roy Calls His D "Useless" |
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Day one of the Patrick Roy Era in Denver was an intense, uptempo first impression.
Roy broke the ice with his players on Thursday morning.He let them know how high he is setting the proverbial bar for his goalies, D, and forwards. The NHL Hall Of Fame goaltender spent the first day of his rookie coaching career laying down the law.
There's Roy's way, and then there's the wrong way.
At several points during his first NHL coaching session, Roy screamed out loud to his D-men:
"Useless!!!"
Roy said after the first practice that he was pleased with the Avs' first practice, however, he pointed out that the D is his biggest area of urgency. The forwards are going to score goals like nobody's business this season, however, the Avs will only go as far as their D will take them this season.
"Right now, the plan is to work on our D-zone coverage," Roy said. "Last year, the D-zone coverage, especially with our second defenseman in front of the net, was not quite what we liked to see."
Roy knows a thing or two about playing superb defensive zone coverage, just ask the 1993 Montreal Canadiens and the 1996 Colorado Avalanche.
Roy spoke with a couple of his D individually about their positioning. Roy said that he doesn't want to be the head coach of the Avalanche. He'd rather be their "partner'.
"What I said to the players is, there are three areas that I think are truly dangerous — there's obviously the slot area, then behind the net and the point shot," Roy said. "We want to protect our slot area. We want the (second) forward to be closer to the (second) defenseman, and then we will cover very well, the slot area.
"It's a team thing. You don't want the player to think he's the only one doing something wrong; you want the entire team to understand what we are looking for. I don't want to necessarily be the head coach of this team. I want to be their partners. I want to have an exchange with them, and feel they can have an open conversation with me on anything that we're going to do. Because, in the end, we're looking one day to win the Stanley Cup."
press play and take a journey through the mind of a perfectionist:
Roy's D corps leave s a lot to be desired. The Avs are long on middling blue liners. Their D don't strike fear in the hearts and minds of opponents.
Roy better hope that he can coach them up to his high standards. A porous D is like a leaky basement. Roy can ill afford to have his goalies Varlamov and Giguere bailing water in the early stages if the 2013 season.
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I'll preface my comments by saying that I realize that its only Day 1 of Sabres training camp.
However, veteran winger Ville Leino looked very good to me during today's scrimmage. I'm impressed with full-go, high tempo approach. His surgically repaired hip and lung ailment are fully healed to the point where the Finn looks like his old self again.
He didn't shy away from contact and wasn't one bit hesitant to enter the danger areas. He worked hard on the walls and was noticeably in the O-zone. Look below to see Leino battling with 6'8 270 pounder Big John Scott. Impressive, Ville.
Last January, I was a huge proponent of Lindy Ruff's decision to skate Leino with Grigorenko and Ott. The line looked great in the Blue & Gold scrimmage during the team's truncated 2013 training camp. Then, the injury monster reared its ugly head and swallowed up Leino for 40 of the 48 games.
I like a healthy Leino with a more robust, power skating Grigorenko and the always cantankerous Ott. They held into pucks and cycled down low for extended periods of time. Their possessions caused the Gold team D to leave their positions at times, leaving an open man from the slots to beneath the dots. Hard, heavy, smart hockey. Just like Ron Rolston likes it.
The 9-25-23 line is going to turn a lot of heads in scrimmages, however, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that they will be exceptional in exhibition games.
Leino is entering year three of his five year deal. Now would be a good time for him to remain healthy and to be a leader in all three zones on this young team.
If he can stay healthy and cash himself 15-20 goals, and add 25-30 assists this season, this team is going to be successful. The key is for Leino to remain upright and healthy.
Easier said than done.
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Poor Hank Tallinder.
During today's Blue and Grey scrimmage at training camp, the veteran Swede rear guard decided to to pinch down the wall on an entry play at the Gold team blue line. tallinder read the play correctly and took the seam down the wall that the Gold forwards and D gave him. Hank had no idea that Mike Weber and his D Rasmus Ristolainen had already surveyed the situation and were well aware of Hank's border crossing. In an instant and without hesitation, Ristolainen saw red, like a fire-breathing beast does during the "Running If The Bulls At Pamplona" engaged in the process of separating Hank from his skates. Poor Hank got CRANKED! The young Finn brought an end to Tallinder's euphoric, albeit short cruise down the half wall by gluing his entire upper body to the glass. Windex Special.
Ristolainen is not fooling around. He's dead serious when he says that he wants to do everything in his power to make the Sabres' opening night roster. If that means smoking a beloved veteran like Hank who is still on Cloud 9 after being traded to the Sabres from New Jersey in July, then so be it. Ristolainen served notice that there will be no free lunches this school year!.
kepp your heads up, boys! Ristolainen has you in his cross hairs!
Risto and Weber were outstanding in the scrimmage.
Jhonas Enroth and Connor Knapp combined efforts for the 2-0 shutout.
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Speaking of Holy Sh*t! moments:
Oh, Nikita. No you didn't!!
Gravity sucks.
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In case you missed it while you were at work...
Reggie Sekera just opened his mouth and inserted his skate.
The former Sabres D took a shot at the Buffalo Sabres organization when he said that "Everything is better than Buffalo".
Last time I checked, the Buffalo organization made Sekera a millionaire. They treated him fairly in his time as a Sabre.
Is Reggie referring to the city of Buffalo? Or, the Sabres organization?
When asked about Sekera's comments, GM Darcy Regier said that if they are true that he's disappointed by them.
"Henrik Tallinder is happy to be back", said Regier.
Regier also said:
"I know for young married couples with families, they love being a part of Buffalo."
Oh, by the way, Sekera and his Hurricanes will be playing in Buffalo September 19th.
Sabres fans should bring their "A" game on that night.
Here's the Carolina Hurricanes response:
Here's the full context of former Sabres D Reggie Sekera talking about Buffalo's weather... Cough, cough, cough....
Sounds clear to me. Reggie is a regular meteorologist. Jim Cantore better watch his back with Sekera spitting weather forecasts these days. I wonder if Sekera will be rockin' the skin tight sausage casing-like t-shirts that Jimbo has made so famous. Reggie will be a hit during evacuations in the Outer Banks.
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Check out Lindy Ruff's new 10 gallon hat. Sweet.
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In case you missed it, here's Cody Hodgson's media scrum from the morning after him signing his new 6 year, $25.5 million contract.
I love that Cody is in an upbeat, happy mood. His energy was contagious in the room this morning. Thats leadership!
Good on him!
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