Brassard has made a few plays and has played well. However offensively, he is the benefactor of some puck luck and playing with two red hot wingers. I see it as very important that Hayes gets back and up to speed as 2C long term. However if that line keeps scoring , they may do something different once Hayes gets back.
- MJL

Yes. He has a couple of snipers on his line. Those guys are playing well with a shoot first mentality. Yes, Bassard benefited with a goal off the defenders skate. His point totals through three games is a result of some of that.

I will add that he is doing the right stuff with the puck. His passes are tape to tape and makes good and quick decisions. His pass to a breaking Ellis two games ago was a beautiful set up. Shows his vision. 5 points in 3 games and a plus 6 is not a bad start. He is part of that lines success. He has surpassed my expectations for sure.

Yandle is pretty darn good with the puck. Pretty bad without it.
- MJL

He is Ghost with a different name. He is producing points right now. If that continues I am fine with him. Once the points stop coming I will have a problem with him.

I don't have issues. I look at the facts and the facts don't jive with your analysis. That simple.
- MJL

And I have no problem with you stating that, in fact I value it. Where you cross the line for me is when your discount other opinions or worse make it personal. I was very clear with everyone how much of the game I saw, and also made it clear I didn't look at much of the stats, I was only going by what my eyes picked watching the game live and then the highlights later. If what I observed does not jive with analytics, that is OK, but when you say things along the lines of "you don't know what you are looking at", that is where it crosses for me.

Yandle is completely passive defensively and quite frankly, much of it is scary. I love his play with the puck. He passes the puck on a dime and is savvy in playmaking.
- MJL

I think we have different expectations of Yandle. I don't expect Yandle to be physical and assertive, instead I expect him to be smart with his stick and positioning to gain puck possession and start the puck up ice. On the contrary, I expect Risto to play physical and win battles by separating people from the puck and start it up ice. That is why I am critical of Risto's net coverage on that Bruins 3rd goal, I felt he needed to tie up Marchand and not allow him to get a stick on that puck from the weak side.

He is Ghost with a different name. He is producing points right now. If that continues I am fine with him. Once the points stop coming I will have a problem with him.
- mickel25

Just my opinion, but so far I think Yandle is better than Ghost, especially as a PP QB.

And I have no problem with you stating that, in fact I value it. Where you cross the line for me is when your discount other opinions or worse make it personal. I was very clear with everyone how much of the game I saw, and also made it clear I didn't look at much of the stats, I was only going by what my eyes picked watching the game live and then the highlights later. If what I observed does not jive with analytics, that is OK, but when you say things along the lines of "you don't know what you are looking at", that is where it crosses for me.
- jd250

Make it personal?


I don't do that. What was the name you called me in a recent thread in a post to another poster? Have I ever done that?

The facts are the facts. If the facts offend you because it shows that your analysis is not correct, my pointing that out doesn't cross a line.

I think we have different expectations of Yandle. I don't expect Yandle to be physical and assertive, instead I expect him to be smart with his stick and positioning to gain puck possession and start the puck up ice. On the contrary, I expect Risto to play physical and win battles by separating people from the puck and start it up ice. That is why I am critical of Risto's net coverage on that Bruins 3rd goal, I felt he needed to tie up Marchand and not allow him to get a stick on that puck from the weak side.
- jd250

You don't have to be physical to play well defensively but you do have to engage. Yandle frequently does not. If he continues to put up points and stays positive, it will be fine.

So I'll ask you after all the moves were made, what is the goal? To just be better than last year? I agree completely that all 3 of those individual mistakes can be cleaned up. You have to look for trends and to this point, not enough of a sample for a trend. However you can't discount that the way they played overall last night is not playoff and Cup winning hockey. It's the same as early last season where they outscored their subpar play. If you have your top line and top defense pairing outplayed like that against top teams, what do you think is going to happen more times than not?
- MJL

The goal is to win and they did last night vs a team they have struggled against mightily. Your own words, "not enough of a sample..", so yes I'll be cognizant of last years trends, but new year, new result so far. You may want to chalk up a victory to puck luck, unsustainable shooting %, bad goaltending, etc however I chalk up last night's win to a team that wanted it more than their opponent. They won the 3rd period when it was tied going into it. 2 points!!

Did the 19-20 Flyers looks the same at game 3 vs before the pause? Just opened the bottle on the season, let it breathe a little. 5 out of 6 possible points. Smile and tackle the next test, which will be a good one with Florida.

Just my opinion, but so far I think Yandle is better than Ghost, especially as a PP QB.
- jd250

He is more experienced than Ghost. I think Ghost has a better shot. Yandle is a better playmaker. Neither are very good defensively.

The goal is to win and they did last night vs a team they have struggled against mightily. Your own words, "not enough of a sample..", so yes I'll be cognizant of last years trends, but new year, new result so far. You may want to chalk up a victory to puck luck, unsustainable shooting %, bad goaltending, etc however I chalk up last night's win to a team that wanted it more than their opponent. They won the 3rd period when it was tied going into it. 2 points!!

Did the 19-20 Flyers looks the same at game 3 vs before the pause? Just opened the bottle on the season, let it breathe a little. 5 out of 6 possible points. Smile and tackle the next test, which will be a good one with Florida.
- bgratch

The effort and intensity is certainly there. Stating that there isn't a big enough sample yet to see a trend is an example of "letting it breath" However can't just ignore all of the factors from the game. Otherwise it's making a half assed analysis. Yes, winning the 3rd period is a very good sign.

He is more experienced than Ghost. I think Ghost has a better shot. Yandle is a better playmaker. Neither are very good defensively.
- mickel25

I think Yandle is much better with facilitating zone entries, also is better at keeping pucks in the zone and stabilizing puck possession, which is key to executing a good PP. I also think he is better at facilitating offense, for example last night on the 3rd and 6th Flyers' goals.

Make it personal?


I don't do that. What was the name you called me in a recent thread in a post to another poster? Have I ever done that?

The facts are the facts. If the facts offend you because it shows that your analysis is not correct, my pointing that out doesn't cross a line.
- MJL

You're right, I shouldn't have called you that, I apologize.

The effort and intensity is certainly there. Stating that there isn't a big enough sample yet to see a trend is an example of "letting it breath" However can't just ignore all of the factors from the game. Otherwise it's making a half assed analysis. Yes, winning the 3rd period is a very good sign.
- MJL

Back before Covid they were consistently winning third periods. That is what good teams do. They close out games. So it was refreshing to see them do that last night.

It's only three games but this team can score. They are much better defensively. So good initial steps. Just need to see it over the longterm. Atkinson and Ellis have been fantastic.

You're right, I shouldn't have called you that, I apologize.
- jd250

I don't need an apology. I don't care. I'm just pointing out who has gotten personal and who hasn't.

The effort and intensity is certainly there. Stating that there isn't a big enough sample yet to see a trend is an example of "letting it breath" However can't just ignore all of the factors from the game. Otherwise it's making a half assed analysis. Yes, winning the 3rd period is a very good sign.
- MJL

What I liked about last night's game is how the Flyers played in the 3rd period, especially in the final 10 minutes. Last season, it looked like they played scared and almost waited for the shoe to drop. Last night, the Flyers controlled the puck, didn't play passive and did a great job breaking up plays in the neutral zone, thus not allowing the Bruins to pick up speed on their rush into the Flyer's zone. There was a short period of about 5 minutes between 13 and 8 minutes in the 3rd period where I thought the Flyers were passive and allowed the Bruins too much space to operate. I think what makes the Bruins top line so good is they do not need much space to hurt you.

I don't need an apology. I don't care. I'm just pointing out who has gotten personal and who hasn't.
- MJL

you get personal quite a bit to be honest, maybe not with name calling, but trying to make people look stupid!

you get personal quite a bit to be honest, maybe not with name calling, but trying to make people look stupid!
- jd250

No I don't. I comment on opinions, not people.