Wait, Evgeni Nabokov? Flyers dominate, but Isles' goalie just a bit better in 1-0 SO loss

After that comment. when I see this I picture the Jeopardy theme playing.

Ah. I forgot that he said that in his very enlightening post.

I’m aware. Was making a joke/point.

Which, for the record, isn’t to say that I’m opposed to a guy like Couturier or Schenn (who’s 0/1, btw) getting some chances, nor am I saying that Laviolette should be sending Simmonds out every time or anything like that. It’s more to say that he doesn’t deserve to be criticized for going to a guy that has shown he can play some good hockey, and that has, y’know…skills. And even if you’re hellbent on going to a guy who DOES have a lot of “skills”, that doesn’t really guarantee you anything as far as the shootout goes. There are a bunch of “skilled guys” that “aren’t good” in the shootout, when in reality they probably just are the victim of small sample sizes. Likewise, plenty of guys who don’t really strike you as “skilled” are “really good” in the shootout.

Jarret Stoll went 9 for 10 in the shootout last year. Jussi Jokinen is known as a guy who’s really good at shootouts. Are either of them “more skilled” than guys like Marian Gaborik or Thomas Vanek, two of the league’s better goal scorers, who if I recall correctly have pretty mediocre numbers in the shootout?

If you want to try something different on the shootout, fine. But getting mad at the coach and saying he blew the game because he’s sending out the guy who’s third on his team in goals is dumb. My apologies if my initial tone was uncalled for, but the point remains.

Well certainly 8 shots isn’t a great sample size, but again the shootout is a totally different animal than the actual game so it’s not fair to equate a 2-8 shootout record with a bad month of hockey. I’m not claiming that Wayne Simmonds would only make 2 of every 8 shots for the rest of his career, but shootouts don’t occur often enough for coaches to keep putting players out there until they get a satistically significant sample size that tells how they are in shootouts. The point is that the Flyers were struggling in shootouts, and Simmonds was 0-3 this season. Not only was he 0-3 but his attempts weren’t even of a high quality, at least in my opinion. Something on the shootout had to change and Simmonds being the worst shootout regular as of late should have been benched in favor of a different player. Since shootouts don’t occur as frequently players need to have a much shorter leash. Of course 8 attempts isn’t a very good sample size, but with how small most players shootout data is, sometimes quicker judgements need to be made… Anyways the whole point is the shootout is a skills competition, and I mostly took issue with your implication that asking for a change-up in the shootout lineup is at all an indictment on Wayne Simmonds’ play in the actual game.

Well, he has been yapping a lot lately…

Yeah, but you’re missing another chance to call out JIBTA. It’s amazing that anyone could be that consistently wrong, much less someone who takes every opportunity to declare himself an expert and everyone else an idiot.

your nuts
leino >>> steeg .. steeg is a joke .. hes an average third liner making too much money

Thanks, those were my two favorite comments in that thread!

HEY EVERYBODY! LOOK OVER HERE.

I was right again. :)

Awww. I think he’s pretty cute, even if he is more pale than a vampire.