Chris Conner sent back down to WBS

Does this mean Evgeni Malkin is set for a Saturday return against the Bruins?

over 2 years ago FrankD 10 comments 0 recs |

Comments

I don’t want to say 2 goals against were directly Conner’s fault last night, but he was a major factor negatively in 2 goals against.

You can’t do that when you’re a fringe player that’s clinging to the NHL.

I expect Malkin can play or else the team may call-up another forward. Shoot even an energy guy like Tim Wallace (who played generall well in the NHL last season) wouldn’t be a bad option.

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by Hooks Orpik on Nov 13, 2009 11:54 AM EST reply actions

Yeah you were saying yesterday that you’re done with Conner. Good call. He’s fast, and has a pretty drop pass but really I think he just enjoys shooting it right into a goalies logo. And I don’t recall him having much a presence in the physical game.

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by FrankD on Nov 13, 2009 12:00 PM EST up reply actions

I’m really not that deep into the game or into the minor leagues, but it surprises me how guys that don’t particularly shine in the AHL (Wallace) are actually more NHL ready that others… e.g. Conner, Bourque…

I’d love to have a chance to watch also WBS games, but there is no web based service for Europe and the connection quality is not good enough and I get an extremely patchy feed…

You have to see it for yourself...

by Bla Razor on Nov 13, 2009 12:21 PM EST up reply actions

I’m really not that deep into the game or into the minor leagues, but it surprises me how guys that don’t particularly shine in the AHL (Wallace) are actually more NHL ready that others… e.g. Conner, Bourque…

Agreed, but if you think about it guys like Conner and Bourque (and other AHL stars) benefit from playing against slower and smaller defensemen in the AHL. When they get to the NHL the defensemen dominate them. So they can score at the lower level but not make much an impact at the top level.

Guys like Wallace that play a simple game (skate hard, forecheck, hit, play positionally, etc) can do the same thing they do in the NHL that they do in the AHL.

Also it probably doesn’t help that a guy like Conner, who’s a 1st line guy in the AHL, has to shift roles to the 4th line in the NHL. A guy like Wallace doesn’t have as much culture shock.

Pensburgh.com -- it's like the Max Talbot of blogs*

*not just because we only work for 12 minutes a night

by Hooks Orpik on Nov 13, 2009 12:32 PM EST up reply actions

I think the AHL needs to get off their high horse, realize they’re lucky people want to watch minor league hockey online at all, go to an ad-based revenue model, and start offering the free streams. I can’t possibly imagine many people outside of the scouting and family community actually pay for streaming AHL games.

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by winterion on Nov 13, 2009 2:20 PM EST up reply actions

Right on. I think they actually offer the AHL playoffs for free online but it would be a nice model to carry throughout the season.

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by FrankD on Nov 13, 2009 2:46 PM EST up reply actions

Agreed. You’d think exposure would be the main thing they ought to be after. And if they realy want to get creative they could, you know, sell ads during the course of a game

Pensburgh.com -- it's like the Max Talbot of blogs*

*not just because we only work for 12 minutes a night

by Hooks Orpik on Nov 13, 2009 2:47 PM EST up reply actions

I completely agree. I have no clue how to watch AHL games and have never followed WB/S news — however if the games were free online, I’m sure I would occasionally stream a game while I’m working late, since I’m familiar with the players who have also played on the Penguins. So I could see myself becoming a fan of our AHL team — but I’m certainly not going to pay for it.

by Cari on Nov 13, 2009 4:28 PM EST up reply actions

do you guys have an idea that when I checked last week the full package of AHL regular season games would have cost something like 3 times more that I’ve actually already paid for the full package of NHL regular season games…. this is… I don’t know… somewhere far beyond ridiculous

Of course, as I mentioned above, the NHL Gamecenter price I pay is only for Europe and you can’t compare prices/revenues/fan interest in US and EU… and US prices for Hockey TV/online viewing would be completely unsellable here…

You have to see it for yourself...

by Bla Razor on Nov 13, 2009 7:10 PM EST up reply actions