Good thing you brought up Lucic. Remember when he was able to protect Savard from getting headshotted by Cooke?
- Feds91Stammer

Right, does the strategy always work? No.

But there are countless times where it does. When nothing happens. Can I cite them? Of course not. That's the point and why coaches keep employing the strategy.

Or they're "dummies" and you're not. OK.

Hey guys. .so today the pens are still! the Champs and the sky's not falling. .lol that Chicago game was the perfect storm..so to speak to have ONE of those games! It's done and filed in the shat drawer, the pens came out and played with the way we're use to seeing! And ryan. .jeez you can even troll your own players? Lol ..reaver is trying to make an impression! Players,coach,management and especially fans! was in front of the crowd basically for the first time,and possibly made a few mistakes? But the coach will settle him down and he should be fine and able to contribute! We have (leafs)fans the same conversation about Martin, we would rather have four lines of scoring or skill playing, but unfortunately you still have guys running around and the cheap shots are happening,reaver should settle down. .and if not he'll be watching from the bench or the press box! Best of luck going forward!
- MR.Hunter

Agreed, BTW. Hawk fans got a little out over their skis about that one, IMO.

Ryan, I agree that most players who are considered deterrents are a waste of roster space, I just don't feel like Reeves is one of those players. He wasn't running around chasing hits. He was finishing solid checks and making them count. He also drew a penalty because he wouldn't fight a player when the player wanted him to.

To me, atleast, Reeves is a different kind of player. Fe can skate, he has good hands, he goes after the guys that deserve it, his hits are solid, and he can get under the other teams skin. I believe that he's a good fit for this roster once everyone else finds their place.
- cranktheradio

If they can't also play at lest a little, they are

Right, does the strategy always work? No.

But there are countless times where it does. When nothing happens. Can I cite them? Of course not. That's the point and why coaches keep employing the strategy.

Or they're "dummies" and you're not. OK.
- John Jaeckel

It never works...

I don't get why everyone insists on calling Reaves a deterrent, assuming he is going to stop hits from happening. There is no player that can ever stop a hit from happening. But what he can do is provide a big body that will help wear down another team during a 7 game series. He has some talent (we're not looking at Glass, MacIntyre, Sestito or a Sill) and has some speed to go along with the Pen's style of play. Yeah it wasn't great to move down ~20 picks to get him, but it wasn't the worst thing ever.

Assuming we can swing a trade for a 3rd line C, and Horny gets healthy, I'm perfectly fine with a Reaves - McKegg - Wilson 4th line. Bring some speed and physicality and pot a few points. People love or hate Reaves, but really, he's just your typical 4th liner who will do his job with his 7 minutes of icetime and will not drastically impact many games either positively or negatively.

Right, does the strategy always work? No.

But there are countless times where it does. When nothing happens. Can I cite them? Of course not. That's the point and why coaches keep employing the strategy.

Or they're "dummies" and you're not. OK.
- John Jaeckel

Don't waste your time responding to tweedle dumb and his brother tweedle dumber

I don't get why everyone insists on calling Reaves a deterrent, assuming he is going to stop hits from happening. There is no player that can ever stop a hit from happening. But what he can do is provide a big body that will help wear down another team during a 7 game series. He has some talent (we're not looking at Glass, MacIntyre, Sestito or a Sill) and has some speed to go along with the Pen's style of play. Yeah it wasn't great to move down ~20 picks to get him, but it wasn't the worst thing ever.

Assuming we can swing a trade for a 3rd line C, and Horny gets healthy, I'm perfectly fine with a Reaves - McKegg - Wilson 4th line. Bring some speed and physicality and pot a few points. People love or hate Reaves, but really, he's just your typical 4th liner who will do his job with his 7 minutes of icetime and will not drastically impact many games either positively or negatively.
- mw630

Don't waste your time responding to tweedle dumb and his brother tweedle dumber


- all-pgh

You're such a beta male Wilson, You give snowflakes a bad name

No, you dummy. It drives people nuts because it doesn't stop anything. Sid still got slashed, got butt ended, Sid/Geno/Guentzel all got trucked, there was no protection last night, where was he when Sid skated over to the bench and got popped in the face a couple of times? Dude doesn't protect anything.
- j.boyd919

Eh, it's more nuanced than that. Reaves isn't going to stop someone from trucking a skill player, sometimes questionably, but he will sometimes make players think twice on certain plays. Like going into a corner with him. That quarter second hesitation is sometimes enough to disrupt the play, where the outcome isn't going to be what it should be. Of course, not all players think about this stuff, but some do. Especially one that may have just got trucked by him.

All that said, I find very little value in guys like Reaves, tom Wilson, etc if they aren't contributing to actual good hockey plays.

- Feds91Stammer

So he can't help wear down some players on another team during a 7 game series, has no talent, and it was the worst thing ever to move down 20 picks to get him?

So he can't help wear down some players on another team during a 7 game series, has no talent, and it was the worst thing ever to move down 20 picks to get him?
- mw630

He plays 6 minutes a night. 42 minutes over a 7 game series. That's not going to wear anyone out more than chasing around Sid, Geno, Phil, Guentzel, etc.

B-b-b-b-but you guys my chart says he sucks!


- Murphy_Dump

I think your blogger is right but man this is still hilarious

He plays 6 minutes a night. 42 minutes over a 7 game series. That's not going to wear anyone out more than chasing around Sid, Geno, Phil, Guentzel, etc.
- j.boyd919

Well I did say:

"People love or hate Reaves, but really, he's just your typical 4th liner who will do his job with his 7 minutes of icetime and will not drastically impact many games either positively or negatively."

He's not going to make a huge difference but there are different ways to wear players down and I'd like a player be sore in addition to tired legs. If he can lay 2 -3 solid hits per game, that's 14 - 21 more hits over a series that could have an impact. Look what one hit from Doan did to Letang. I don't want Reaves hurting people, but if he can lay a few big, clean hits, it can add up.

He plays 6 minutes a night. 42 minutes over a 7 game series. That's not going to wear anyone out more than chasing around Sid, Geno, Phil, Guentzel, etc.
- j.boyd919

Getting hit sucks, but playing defense takes an absurd more amount of energy, mentally and physically.

If they can't also play at lest a little, they are
- John Jaeckel

Agreed. Reeves even admitted that the players like that are being filtered out of the game. It's the reason why he's worked on his complete game the last two offseasons. Compared to most, not all, "tough guys" Reeves is a much better player.

Agreed. Reeves even admitted that the players like that are being filtered out of the game. It's the reason why he's worked on his complete game the last two offseasons. Compared to most, not all, "tough guys" Reeves is a much better player.
- cranktheradio

This is why the cost of acquisition was so high (although, I don't think it was *that* high, Wake me up in 4 years when Kostin is an all star and we can revisit)

Guys who are big, can skate, can hit, can fight and can contribute both offensively and defensively are incredibly hard to find, and when you do they cost a *premium*

Reeves ceiling will be in the 1-1.5 million per year. I'll take that over guys like Lucic who cost 6+ million

Hits in hockey happen. Using those examples Sid, Geno and JG have nothing to do with Reaves. Of course they're going to get hit it's a contact sport. They know it and accept it.

Reaves isn't there to deter hits. He's there to be physical. If there is an opposing teams player running around like an bumhole, he's there to put him in his place.

RW makes it seem like hitting isn't supposed to happen with Reaves is in the line up. He is being intentionally irrational.

Right, does the strategy always work? No.

But there are countless times where it does. When nothing happens. Can I cite them? Of course not. That's the point and why coaches keep employing the strategy.

Or they're "dummies" and you're not. OK.
- John Jaeckel

After last night I bet a lot of Nucks fans perceive value in Dorsett a little differently. Funny how some people are acting like because Pens stars still had to play a contact sport, that is somehow Reaves fault. Ryan Wilson recycles his opinions from a bunch of wanna-be pseudo-statisticians on Twitter who have an over inflated sense of self-importance while lacking the capacity for independent thought. But it's okay because they are so woke yo. Same goes for James Tanner and Matt Henderson to a degree.

After last night I bet a lot of Nucks fans perceive value in Dorsett a little differently. Funny how some people are acting like because Pens stars still had to play a contact sport, that is somehow Reaves fault. Ryan Wilson recycles his opinions from a bunch of wanna-be pseudo-statisticians on Twitter who have an over inflated sense of self-importance while lacking the capacity for independent thought. But it's okay because they are so woke yo. Same goes for James Tanner and Matt Henderson to a degree.
- RonPielep

Exactly.

Exactly.
- Thorny87

Nice avi

The self-proclaimed 'woke' hockey group on Twitter have the collective intellectual diversity of a group of feces tossing monkeys. For otherwise seemingly intelligent individuals it is astounding how they seem to think nuanced analysis begins and ends at Corsi. It's hard to imagine a world where these sanctimonious clowns could comprehend that maybe the dynamics of hockey are not entirely captured by their beloved Corsi models. Or maybe even just that their models are more biased for some players than others? But that would be asking far too much from a bunch of mathematically illiterate sheep who crave confirmation and reassurance from their like-minded bubble at the expense of critical thinking and intellectually honest inquiry.

If you're going to write a blog in a slanted way, then use facts to support your opinion because this blog was motive driven just like most of his as of late.
The facts of Ryan Reaves are he was brought here to provide toughness and could skate too. He's not a goon at all. He's going to score 10 goals and help minimize the star bashing but he can't prevent it. His forecheck is pretty good.
What's also factual is that RW is young and arrogant. He refuses to engage in blogs and thinks he's better than you and I. It's become predictable that he doesn't agree with GMJR, that Maatta is slow, DP was wasted, etc. Unfortunately, we don't have an option but I can't wait to get a new blogger that will value his audience and not think he's better than us.

It never works...
- Feds91Stammer

Link?

If you're going to write a blog in a slanted way, then use facts to support your opinion because this blog was motive driven just like most of his as of late.
The facts of Ryan Reaves are he was brought here to provide toughness and could skate too. He's not a goon at all. He's going to score 10 goals and help minimize the star bashing but he can't prevent it. His forecheck is pretty good.
What's also factual is that RW is young and arrogant. He refuses to engage in blogs and thinks he's better than you and I. It's become predictable that he doesn't agree with GMJR, that Maatta is slow, DP was wasted, etc. Unfortunately, we don't have an option but I can't wait to get a new blogger that will value his audience and not think he's better than us.
- hipcheck_goalie

The motive is that Ryan Wilson is a racist bigot. Or at least that's what I heard on Twitter.

Maybe JJ is interested in RW's gig.