Lost part of my afternoon watching these. It seems that everyone has bought in to Blashill’s system, and everyone has an urge to take big steps over the summer with a playoff berth being the goal for next year.
To Davidson’s credit, he’s assembled a team that seems to genuinely like each other. As Blashill said, it translates to people willing to sacrifice and push each other, which are positives from development and chemistry perspectives.
Of course Blashill and Davidson hedged on the playoffs and what a “good” season would be next year, and were well prepared to defend against many of the criticisms levied on Reddit and other comment sections. Davidson bothers me, but it’s not his personality so much as his evasiveness and politician-speak that feels a bit condescending. But perhaps that’s insecurity.
I thought Bedard was all class, and seems to have the respect of everyone with regard to potential captaincy. Thought Knight was well spoken and thoughtful, and Greene and Nazar are both good characters with charm. Moore seems very motivated, I’m excited by his development and was pleased to hear he’ll be spending offseason time with Bedard. Frondell is wide-eyed and cool, Lardis a bit wet behind the ears, Bertuzzi is like the hockey version of Matthew McConaughey.
Blashill seems to be the right guy for the club now, knows how to teach as well as coach. There’s no one around to tell him differently anyway, so it really is his and Kyle’s experiment at this point, like it or not. Hoping it pays off.
Perhaps an unpopular opinion, but Vlasic is annoying, self-appointing as a “leader.” This casts a new light on his comment about vets, like Kane, not allowing new leadership to emerge. I think he’s a bit of a “jobsworth” as the Brits would say. He needs to up his game before being anointed a leader, IMO.
JD397
**Blashill**
—-
– Growth of the team comes from the growth of the individuals; summers are critical and we need the boys to grind
– We took more steps in the right direction than in the wrong. Part of that was setting culture. Even if it doesn’t show in W-L and the rough stretches suck, that doesn’t erase the good progress that occurred. Equates it to taking 100 steps forward and 20 back, the back steps don’t erase 80 steps of positive progress.
– Unique situation being so young and having so many players returning next season, especially on D and post-deadline. Will be helpful to grow together as a group, even if growth isn’t linear.
– We had plenty of failures and need to keep learning from them to improve. Thinks the group has the right mindset to accomplish that.
– Blash has learned a lot about the individuals on the team (personalities, play style, how they react and play through success and failure, etc.) and believes this knowledge enables him to know how to help them improve and push the team to greater heights.
– Addresses the Bedard/Nazar injuries a bit, said it happens and they want to build a team good enough with more talent so that they can absorb stuff like that.
– Need to find ways to win close games. Can change a season in a hurry if you turn those games but need to actually do it.
– Consistency comes from depth, essential to have it alongside the high end talent and then the team will really improve.
– No timeline on captaincy
– Levshunov’s hand injury shouldn’t impact him after the next few weeks once he’s fully healed. Arty made great strides this season but this is an important summer and he needs to learn when to push and when to pace himself. Also needs to work on shooting, continue to improve skating and keep moving his feet as plays develop, etc.
– The friendship in the room is great, helps when the guys all enjoy/care for each other and are willing to fight for each other.
– Had a lot of tough meetings this season with individuals and the team overall to keep everyone accountable and focused on the same standard to achieve.
– Systems moving forwards probably won’t change too much overall. Small tweaks may happen, such as teaching the D to trust their feet and keep skating well to maintain tight gaps. Really focused on the D and tapping into the groups talents (long and strong skaters) to improve. “Winning hockey” still the mantra.
– Touches on improving gaps specifically off the offensive blueline and committing to gaps in their neutral zone forecheck. Part of that is just spending more time together and making the system needs instinct.
– Truly believes the room has the right mindset and that was one of the most positive revelations of the season. Even when the team wasn’t doing all of the right things in the ice, the mindset to do them was always there so with more maturity the results will come.
LarrcasM
« up and down »
– 18 year old Frondell when asked what he thought about his start in the NHL.
You gotta give it to the kid, he expects to be a star.
JD397
**Bedard**
—-
– Notes the up’s and down’s for both him personally and the team. Started the year really promising and need to carry that forward.
– Contract talks are no real worry. He just wanted to play the year out and wasn’t concerned about getting a deal done during the season, isn’t concerned about getting it done in the offseason and knows he wants to be here. Expects talks to ramp up soon to reach what fits him and team. Notes Nazar and Vlasic setting the precedent with long term extensions.
– Always wants to add a step of quicknesses and will keep working on skating, getting stronger in the offseason per usual.
– Would be honored to be captain but is typical Bedard with a lot of “this room is great, lot of great guys”. Said he’d be ready for that responsibility but will still lean on the group and how close they all are in order to lead.
– Wants to play meaningful games; this has to be the last year of being out of the playoff race. Says it’s on the group as individuals to improve and he takes responsibility for the shortcomings with his production falling off, especially after they started the year so well. Need more consistency (game to game, shift to shift) to get there and remain a tough team to play against and keep their legs. “We gotta start winning”.
– Dismisses the idea of this season’s results having an impact on his contract talks, such as if not being in the playoff mix would steer him towards taking a shorter term deal. He wants to win here and has faith in the FO, coaches, and especially players in how they approach the game and how they will all work to improve. Very confident in the road ahead and excited about the journey.
– Talked a bit about the friendships the young guys are all building and how close the room is becoming. Guy is obviously very close with Moore, specifically lol
– Notes that he’s always open to getting good players and moore talent, such as via UFA or trade, though it will already be a competitive camp next year and they have talent.
– Notes how great Frondell looked – strong, skilled, wins puck battles, producing even with hitting tons of posts, etc.
– Likes having consistency on his wings, noting how great it was to be stable with Greene/Burakovsky pre-injury and as long as they can keep producing they won’t have to worry about frequent line changes. Need to keep the level of play high.
– Excited about the prospects succeeding across so many leagues and to get another high pick, hopes Florida’s pick is retained lol
– Appreciates Blashill and how clear his goals are for the team/individuals. Goes a long way in the room.
4 Comments
Lost part of my afternoon watching these. It seems that everyone has bought in to Blashill’s system, and everyone has an urge to take big steps over the summer with a playoff berth being the goal for next year.
To Davidson’s credit, he’s assembled a team that seems to genuinely like each other. As Blashill said, it translates to people willing to sacrifice and push each other, which are positives from development and chemistry perspectives.
Of course Blashill and Davidson hedged on the playoffs and what a “good” season would be next year, and were well prepared to defend against many of the criticisms levied on Reddit and other comment sections. Davidson bothers me, but it’s not his personality so much as his evasiveness and politician-speak that feels a bit condescending. But perhaps that’s insecurity.
I thought Bedard was all class, and seems to have the respect of everyone with regard to potential captaincy. Thought Knight was well spoken and thoughtful, and Greene and Nazar are both good characters with charm. Moore seems very motivated, I’m excited by his development and was pleased to hear he’ll be spending offseason time with Bedard. Frondell is wide-eyed and cool, Lardis a bit wet behind the ears, Bertuzzi is like the hockey version of Matthew McConaughey.
Blashill seems to be the right guy for the club now, knows how to teach as well as coach. There’s no one around to tell him differently anyway, so it really is his and Kyle’s experiment at this point, like it or not. Hoping it pays off.
Perhaps an unpopular opinion, but Vlasic is annoying, self-appointing as a “leader.” This casts a new light on his comment about vets, like Kane, not allowing new leadership to emerge. I think he’s a bit of a “jobsworth” as the Brits would say. He needs to up his game before being anointed a leader, IMO.
**Blashill**
—-
– Growth of the team comes from the growth of the individuals; summers are critical and we need the boys to grind
– We took more steps in the right direction than in the wrong. Part of that was setting culture. Even if it doesn’t show in W-L and the rough stretches suck, that doesn’t erase the good progress that occurred. Equates it to taking 100 steps forward and 20 back, the back steps don’t erase 80 steps of positive progress.
– Unique situation being so young and having so many players returning next season, especially on D and post-deadline. Will be helpful to grow together as a group, even if growth isn’t linear.
– We had plenty of failures and need to keep learning from them to improve. Thinks the group has the right mindset to accomplish that.
– Blash has learned a lot about the individuals on the team (personalities, play style, how they react and play through success and failure, etc.) and believes this knowledge enables him to know how to help them improve and push the team to greater heights.
– Addresses the Bedard/Nazar injuries a bit, said it happens and they want to build a team good enough with more talent so that they can absorb stuff like that.
– Need to find ways to win close games. Can change a season in a hurry if you turn those games but need to actually do it.
– Consistency comes from depth, essential to have it alongside the high end talent and then the team will really improve.
– No timeline on captaincy
– Levshunov’s hand injury shouldn’t impact him after the next few weeks once he’s fully healed. Arty made great strides this season but this is an important summer and he needs to learn when to push and when to pace himself. Also needs to work on shooting, continue to improve skating and keep moving his feet as plays develop, etc.
– The friendship in the room is great, helps when the guys all enjoy/care for each other and are willing to fight for each other.
– Had a lot of tough meetings this season with individuals and the team overall to keep everyone accountable and focused on the same standard to achieve.
– Systems moving forwards probably won’t change too much overall. Small tweaks may happen, such as teaching the D to trust their feet and keep skating well to maintain tight gaps. Really focused on the D and tapping into the groups talents (long and strong skaters) to improve. “Winning hockey” still the mantra.
– Touches on improving gaps specifically off the offensive blueline and committing to gaps in their neutral zone forecheck. Part of that is just spending more time together and making the system needs instinct.
– Truly believes the room has the right mindset and that was one of the most positive revelations of the season. Even when the team wasn’t doing all of the right things in the ice, the mindset to do them was always there so with more maturity the results will come.
« up and down »
– 18 year old Frondell when asked what he thought about his start in the NHL.
You gotta give it to the kid, he expects to be a star.
**Bedard**
—-
– Notes the up’s and down’s for both him personally and the team. Started the year really promising and need to carry that forward.
– Contract talks are no real worry. He just wanted to play the year out and wasn’t concerned about getting a deal done during the season, isn’t concerned about getting it done in the offseason and knows he wants to be here. Expects talks to ramp up soon to reach what fits him and team. Notes Nazar and Vlasic setting the precedent with long term extensions.
– Always wants to add a step of quicknesses and will keep working on skating, getting stronger in the offseason per usual.
– Would be honored to be captain but is typical Bedard with a lot of “this room is great, lot of great guys”. Said he’d be ready for that responsibility but will still lean on the group and how close they all are in order to lead.
– Wants to play meaningful games; this has to be the last year of being out of the playoff race. Says it’s on the group as individuals to improve and he takes responsibility for the shortcomings with his production falling off, especially after they started the year so well. Need more consistency (game to game, shift to shift) to get there and remain a tough team to play against and keep their legs. “We gotta start winning”.
– Dismisses the idea of this season’s results having an impact on his contract talks, such as if not being in the playoff mix would steer him towards taking a shorter term deal. He wants to win here and has faith in the FO, coaches, and especially players in how they approach the game and how they will all work to improve. Very confident in the road ahead and excited about the journey.
– Talked a bit about the friendships the young guys are all building and how close the room is becoming. Guy is obviously very close with Moore, specifically lol
– Notes that he’s always open to getting good players and moore talent, such as via UFA or trade, though it will already be a competitive camp next year and they have talent.
– Notes how great Frondell looked – strong, skilled, wins puck battles, producing even with hitting tons of posts, etc.
– Likes having consistency on his wings, noting how great it was to be stable with Greene/Burakovsky pre-injury and as long as they can keep producing they won’t have to worry about frequent line changes. Need to keep the level of play high.
– Excited about the prospects succeeding across so many leagues and to get another high pick, hopes Florida’s pick is retained lol
– Appreciates Blashill and how clear his goals are for the team/individuals. Goes a long way in the room.