Not worth it.

I play goal, so I know first hand on how a bad goaltender can kill a team. (both myself and watching the goalie on the other end of the ice)

There is nothing worse than knowing that you can't trust your goalie to make 1 save. Completely changes the way the team plays, and not in a good way.

How deflating is it to know if you give up 20 shots in a game, there are going to be 4 goals scored? When you know it is going to happen, you have lost before the puck drops.
- carcus

I agree. You cant expect to play a perfect game and not allow any quality scoring chances. It's got to be tough mentally to play a game and know that one little screw up that results in a scoring chance is going to most likely result in a goal. Then it snowballs into the offense when guys start feeling like they need to bury every chance they get if they're going to have a chance to win, only the other teams goalie is always better than theirs.

I see what Chip is trying to do here and I think we would all agree this team still has a couple issues but goaltending is killing them right now. Not only does it affect the score sheet but also gets inside the players heads, especially the defensemen who try to overcompensate, some of whom are outmatched on a good night.

I normally dont try to point the finger at the goalie right away but it's pretty obvious right now. If we've lost confidence in him at this point, imagine the players who have seen every shot he's faced including practice going back to training camp.

Tarasenko gonna be benched soon? Or is the whole team playing like poop?

Tarasenko gonna be benched soon? Or is the whole team playing like poop?
- VanFan79

The title of this article should tell you everything you need to know.

Sadly Elliott was better--sadly. Yeah there is a quality to the scoring chances but jesus aged christ every goaltender faces good shots and is always the case the cream rises. He's not even a decent back up now. He saved the team last season and it isn't unfair to ask what have you done for me lately.

I don't and have only once years ago thought Berglund was a number one center. It is clear as Steen loses nearly every draw and misses his defensive coverage too many times he is not as he proved in Toronto an NHL center. Great that he can fill in if needed. Better to play Sobotka there honestly.

Backes like Berglund is a good number two center. But this guy is hitting guys from behind and in bad positions too often. I still think the guy turned on him but he didn't let up. Then again the hit on him should have been five as that was the classic example of what the NHL has said they want to take out of the game.


We need a true number one center. My if we suck and tank the season thing is sarcasm. I use it quite often when I am frustrated by something I have absolutely no control over. I don't have a lot of empathy for men pulling down a million or nearly so playing a game for a living. You know what some of us dodged bullets were getting blown up and we were athletes--$35k for a year, not a season, unless you are a marine(6 month typical) or chair force(PJs are air force, 3 month typical deployment)(Army 1 year and honestly plus for most of us me nearly 16 months). So I feel for guys who work hard and struggle through stuff but take it seriously enough to think people are paying to watch them represent their teams. Hell it's rare enough to see a player truly be a part of a team as much as a fan is. As for owners since most of them don't last very long they are just renting the team.

While there have been defensive lapses by every Dman they are being picked up by their goaltender. I can NOT stress just how important that is to a team. How much that affects a team's psyche. You saw it last season. Some of this coverage is also caused by something we saw all last season after Hitch--back checking and forward defensive zone coverage. The centers were supporting the D men or if a winger got there first he did it and the centermen took his position. It is not hard in any way to play that style. The hardest thing is being in shape and god damn if getting paid all of that money isn't incentive enough to be in the top shape you can possibly be and play with some heart well you are a worthless human being.

One thing that drives me crazy about this team is that they don't stick up for each other when someone is struggling. We saw the exact same thing happen at the beginning of last season when Halak got off to a rough start: the defense disappeared in front of him and so did the shot blocking. You'd think they'd realize that everyone needs to step up in that department to help bail out a teammate.

Same goes for the rest of the team. No one stood up to the Kings after Backes got drilled. Wade Redden should not be standing up for Tarasenko; nice to see that he did, but no one else on the team was going to. Sobotka knew that and stood up for himself. Is Hitch babying this team too much? There is just no spark or killer instinct in them. Or teamwork when things start getting tough...
- blues31

Why would you start anything when you are going on the power play and down by a couple of goals? They stick up for each other just fine. Redden didn't need to do anything as the hit was fine.

The best message at any level is to put the puck in the net and beat the team.