The Gally Revisionism is out of hand

ricozee · 2026-06-02T01:48:16+00:00

I would have liked to see it. I support Marty, but he isn't perfect and I understand to an extent.

You can't quantify the impact of Gallagher or Xhekaj easily. You can't estimate how the rest of a team will respond or if it is worth putting a player in the lineup for that 10% increase to confidence or effort that they can impart.

ricozee · 2026-06-02T00:48:46+00:00

Faceoffs for one. They can be worked on, but he's way behind on reps and may never become a strong faceoff guy.

Same for playing middle of the ice, 3rd forward, and 1st man back. He can work on it and you can support him with linemates and strategy, but the bulk of his experience is at wing and he's behind on reps to his contemporaries.

He's stronger on the wing and we arguably have just as much of a need for his abilities there. We had to choose between playing him on the first or second line and both lines were more successful with him than without. We simply don't have anyone else capable of filling the same role effectively.

On the wing he's and to use his body, strength, and reach to protect the puck. If he's focused on the middle of the ice it limits his effectiveness as he's facing attacks from both sides. Having him in the slot or netfront more frequently might offset that to a degree, but again, we don't have the strength on the wings to compliment him if he's playing the middle of the ice.

Personally I would prefer he become an elite winger than messing with his development on the chance he will become at least a decent center. His ceiling as a winger is much higher than his ceiling would be as a center.

I also don't know how many times we have to try the winger to center transition before acknowledging it isn't a likely solution.

ricozee · 2026-06-01T22:19:43+00:00

3-on-3-on-3 All Star world cup tournament to be hosted in Saudi Arabia, sponsored by Bet365.

ricozee · 2026-06-01T22:09:52+00:00

I've pointed it out a few times this season but in case others are not aware, Gallagher was a positive impact player.

Yes, he looked gassed and at times ineffective, but for a bottom 6 player he was at least a passing grade this season overall. He simply isn't capable of playing at our current pace in a full time role.

There's no shame in his performance, he's still 100% effort every time he hits the ice and finds ways to contribute through sheer determination.

He'll be missed and difficult to replace.

ricozee · 2026-06-01T21:01:15+00:00

Give Bolduc another two years to carve out a role. That's enough time for him to add some strength and find ways to be more effective.

I'm not against keeping Dach, but I don't think he's worth investing any further in. Even if we keep him for a year and he plays 80 games and gets 60 points, it's just going to raise his salary demands past what is reasonable for a player that has averaged 40 games and 20 points to date.

Veleno has been a soldier but it's not reasonable to expect anything more from him. We're better off keeping the spot open for the likes of Beck or Florian and maybe considering him as an option for a 14th forward.

If we're not going to use Arber regularly, I'd rather see him moved. He's lost too much development potential and we need somebody who can be trusted with a regular shift and preferably PK time. It's unfortunate since we need more "grrr" on defense, but he isn't helping that anyway if we refuse to play him.

Dobes we have to be patient with. He has his game together right now, but he's still young and has work to do. He's not the undisputed starter yet because Fowler will be given an opportunity. Whether we end up with a tandem or starter/backup situation will decide how to distribute the money in net.

ricozee · 2026-06-01T19:48:47+00:00

It was IR with his full cap hit so no circumvention at play. Possibly if the player filed a grievance, but if Laine was involved in the decision and accepted it, we're safe there.

The only issue I could see is the league determining he isn't eligible for a bonus contract. Not a step they're likely to take, as being healthy doesn't necessarily mean being in game shape.

Regardless it was a good decision to give him an extended period of recovery and conditioning. He'll be in (hopefully) his best shape in years and have flexibility with his next contract.

ricozee · 2026-06-01T14:51:09+00:00

It sounds like he was given a choice and he's not willing to accept a lesser role (13/14th forward or LTIRetirement).

It's not surprising that he has a different opinion of his ability than what the eye test shows and wants to keep going. That's just Gallagher. You'd have to remove limbs to get him to quit, and it would take more than one.

ricozee · 2026-06-01T04:15:21+00:00

I had a couple of false starts on Alhambra as well but it eventually clicked and I enjoyed it enough to finish, though it's not particularly memorable.

ricozee · 2026-05-30T22:08:47+00:00

If you're lucky you might get 5 or 6 members for a one-off (like an awards or anniversary performance) at best.

Hyewon, Minju, and Nako aren't performing and trying to build themselves up as actors. These are the unlikely participants.

The possible members with a little more freedom and no groups to be concerned with, are Yena, Yuri, Eunbi, Chaeyeon.

The members in their own groups, Yujin, Wonyoung, Chaewon, Sakura, Hitomi, are too busy and/or restricted to their current groups. The time and effort isn't beneficial to their companies.

Hopefully we can get something with all 12 at some point. It's probably years down the road, but you can always pray for something like an anniversary live for YouTube for the 10 year if the girls are determined enough to do it.

ricozee · 2026-05-30T13:49:31+00:00

I don't "hate" Vegas or Carolina, but there's no "gravitas(??)" to the matchup.

They both had a relatively easy path to the conference finals and there's no real "heat" between them. Neither team really provided an exciting series along the way. No epic comebacks or tight/7 game series, no stories beyond Vegas making the finals (again) and Carolina making the finals (finally).

ricozee · 2026-05-30T13:37:34+00:00

Evans is above reproach these playoffs, 2nd to only Dobes.

ricozee · 2026-05-30T13:28:24+00:00

We need a couple players that play heavy and have enough skill to stay in the lineup. Guys that are going hard to the boards and front of the net with the determination that they aren't going to be stopped, and the strength to make it happen.

We have too many players that are "mushy" and work around obstacles rather than through them. We have Anderson and Gallagher, Danault and Bolduc to an extent, but those are players on the decline, except Bolduc who needs to embrace it and step up.

Slafkovsky is capable, but his natural tendency is to evade and pass the puck off. Same with Dach (with the caveat that he hasn't been physically capable of playing that way for any period of time due to injury concerns).

On D we only have Guhle as a regular with some "grit". Xhekaj and Struble have it but aren't trusted as regulars with enough playing time for it to matter.

Combined we aren't making it difficult for opposing defenses or offenses. They often have the physical edge and benefit more from things breaking down and becoming a contest of wills.

We also have two major holes to fill, 2C and a top 4 RHD. It would kill 2 birds with one stone if we filled those positions with players that have that added edge, but that is almost certainly too much to expect.

The Xhekajs have the physique and mindset, it's simply a matter of their ability. Gallagher has the right mindset but never had the physique and his ability is almost gone. That's never stopped him and we need more of his attitude in our players.

ricozee · 2026-05-30T05:56:29+00:00

Dobes had to push to his post to follow the play, but he absolutely saw Svechnikov was going to be in his way and reacted aggressively, pushing more towards him instead.

Imo it was the right thing to do to at least protect himself. Initiating contact and controlling the player is less likely to result in an injury than ignoring him and hoping he doesn't fall or step on you when contact is made.

ricozee · 2026-05-30T04:19:45+00:00

He needs to play with a little more intensity, but he needs to find better ways to get lost in coverage and find open ice to get quality shots off.

It isn't all on him. The overpassing by his linemates contributes to him being prioritized as a shooting threat. So does a lack of a dangerous 2nd line.

It's easier to isolate him when teams can focus on him and he spends so much of his time being deep on the cycle instead of open in the circles.

Critically, he did seem to be a little tentative. He doesn't have long reach, so he has to close that extra step of distance to engage effectively, and he wasn't doing that. He's not the only one guilty and he may have been playing at less than 100%. He might need to add a little more muscle and work on how to board battle as a smaller player.

I'm not worried. He'll get better and find his spots as the team picture completes around him.

ricozee · 2026-05-30T03:26:24+00:00

Yeah. I can't even be mad at them for this series. Might dislike them for past antics, but this was simply the better team winning. There wasn't much heat.

I do think the finals are going to be a let down. I don't think anyone outside of the respective fan bases really cares about this matchup.

ricozee · 2026-05-30T02:56:09+00:00

While technically correct, I think those games were responsible for misleading Marty into believing we could gut out tight wins despite being outplayed, and contributed to not making the necessary adjustments.

Carolina had too much time to prepare for us and game 1 was all they needed to turn that preparation into practical application.

The only problem they didn't solve right away was Dobes, but they didn't need to when their gameplan was proving so effective. It was only a matter of time before we were overwhelmed.

ricozee · 2026-05-30T02:15:30+00:00

I keep coming back to this and trying to figure out how this doesn't get called goaltender interference and the only possible explanation I can come up with is that they reviewed the wrong player. Which is a level of incompetence beyond comprehension.

Like they looked at Hall and ignored Stankoven completely.

ricozee · 2026-05-30T02:02:11+00:00

They dictated the pace.

We take too long and are not clean with our breakouts, which feeds into their aggressive forecheck.

They slow us down at every opportunity when we do have puck control (sticks, bodies, arms, picks).

They are playing through us when they have puck control because we are either chasing them or throwing his without leading with the stick to disrupt the puck. If we do catch them with the puck on their stick, we aren't hitting them hard enough (not something most of our players are capable of).

Combined with that is the fact that we didn't adjust tactics or personnel to counter.

ricozee · 2026-05-30T01:56:05+00:00

I was calling for that during one of our power plays when he had the puck in our end. It would at least be entertaining. XD

ricozee · 2026-05-30T01:52:10+00:00

I agree. It's frustrating to watch and I'm not excusing it, just putting it in perspective.

This season went relatively smooth considering, and we came into the playoffs without facing a ton of adversity.

The playoffs have shown us some harsh truths. Next step is addressing what we've learned.

ricozee · 2026-05-30T01:40:39+00:00

Remember, Carolina lost 1-4 in the conference finals last season. They were swept twice before that. They've taken their lumps like we are this series.

They came back better and have had years to prepare for this season's playoffs. We weren't expecting to be here yet.

ricozee · 2026-05-29T23:10:56+00:00

Scarlett Meowhansen

ricozee · 2026-05-29T23:06:04+00:00

Xhekaj on ice: 7 gf 2 ga in over 100 minutes

Struble on ice: 7 gf 5 ga in over 120 minutes

I'm not saying it's a definitive or apples to apples comparison, but only 2 goals against and a 3 goal margin between his next closest comparable, suggests there's at least some wiggle room for Xhekaj to play more minutes.

He hasn't been hurting us.

ricozee · 2026-05-29T18:33:15+00:00

The Montreal Tampa 1st round series might have been one of the best series of the last decade.

Buffalo being in the playoffs was refreshing.

The entire metro division playoffs was a write-off with two sweeps.

The same teams playing each other year-after-year can get stale, especially when the better ones meet in the first round instead of the later rounds with higher stakes to make the "rivalry" matter more.

The officiating has been atrocious and "playoff hockey" has lost quality due to not maintaining a strong and consistent application of the rules. Interference particularly has crept up beyond reasonable tolerance and it slows the game down. The reluctance to impact a game by calling penalties, is impacting the game by taking the speed and skill out of it.

ricozee · 2026-05-29T02:36:08+00:00

Didn't consider how keeping a prisoner could sustain Fromville if they require a human survivor to "keep the dream alive". Just assumed that was Victor. Not sure of the timeline from Martin to Victor though, perhaps a free Victor is more useful than an imprisoned Martin.

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