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Post by Bobo_Sinclair on Jun 13, 2007 20:59:35 GMT -5
Even though there is still a lot left to do before even training camp starts, I was wondering what were the things you were most looking forward to. A certain player developing, the powerplay coming back alive, seeing the Titan underachieve again and see their fans argue about how they expected to finish that low ;D
As for me, I am really curious to see what Marcus Watson will bring to the table. Will he make the team? I'm figuring he will. He seemed to have good size and in the limited ice time he got, he really did not seem out of place. He wont be the offensive dynamo he was in his home league, but I'm sure he'll hold his own. He'll have to give results quickly enough though, as we have a logjam upfront and he'll already be an 18YO.
Also, I want to see how Riopel will react to being the bona fida starter. We have no backup to speak of (unless something totally unexpected happens soon), as I can't see Sniderman coming back as a 20YO. He will have a lot more pressure then this past season, and the defense corps will take a hit with the absence of McDonald and Welton.
Finally, can Lamoureux make the squad and will we have a decent fighter this year? Lets hope so!
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Dar
Junior Member
Posts: 198
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Post by Dar on Jun 14, 2007 7:46:23 GMT -5
I'm starting to think more and more that Sniderman will be back.
With the lack of movement in the goaltender situation (no trades and none drafted) I am starting to think the organization knows more about the possible return of Sniderman.
As for free agents... I guess it could be possible, but for some reason I don't think that is where we are going to get our second goaltender.
What about Bolduc? I don't know much about him. Could he be ready for the backup position?
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Post by curtis on Jun 14, 2007 8:14:51 GMT -5
Is it possible to dress three 20 yo skaters on the nights when Riopel is playing, and only 2 when Sniderman is playing? I thought we juggled more than three overagers a year or two ago...can you do it all season?
However, I still don't think we'll end up with Sniderman as a back-up. The club needs to show Riopel that he is the undisputed #1 this year, we don't need a goalie who can split the duties 50/50.
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Post by MacKevin on Jun 14, 2007 9:36:58 GMT -5
I wouldn't rule out finding a goalie in Europe yet. I would love to see Sniderman back however. Not to say we are not focused on developing Riopel. If we return with Sniderman then we can draft two high level Euro Defensemen which that would be here for the next couple of years at least.
Putting all our eggs in the Riopel basket smacks of the trust we put into Blanchard two years ago. That turned out real good.
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bikerboy
Full Member
FrenchBoy
Posts: 341
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Post by bikerboy on Jun 14, 2007 9:51:15 GMT -5
Curtis , yes we could do it just until a certain point because after a certain date we are only allowed 3 20 on are team , but doing what you say would mean still that we have bolduc or a other goalie to back riopel wen sniderman is not in net , i just found that kinda out there .
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Post by hipsterdoofus on Jun 14, 2007 11:13:09 GMT -5
I suppose all of you will predict the WC's finish dead last...that way if they don't you'll all be very exited about your over achieving season
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john99
New Member
Never Forget That You Can Do It----Priceless!
Posts: 52
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Post by john99 on Jun 14, 2007 11:35:16 GMT -5
I suppose all of you will predict the WC's finish dead last...that way if they don't you'll all be very exited about your over achieving season No I predict titan finish dead last ;D
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Post by chootoi on Jun 14, 2007 11:45:44 GMT -5
I wouldn't rule out finding a goalie in Europe yet. I would love to see Sniderman back however. Not to say we are not focused on developing Riopel. If we return with Sniderman then we can draft two high level Euro Defensemen which that would be here for the next couple of years at least. Putting all our eggs in the Riopel basket smacks of the trust we put into Blanchard two years ago. That turned out real good. i think it's a bit of a different situation. blanchard got screwed royally in his development here. when crawford came back due to the lockout, he started nearly every night. that really gave JC no chance to gain any sort of experience, then the next year he was thrown into a pressure-packed situation where he was expected to win every night because a) it was a championship year so everything was win win win, and b) crawford's performance really raised the expectations bar between the pipes. you don't often see a 17 year old kid with 10 or so games experience just step into the starters role and be the next luongo. i can't say i blame him for folding like a cheap suit. everyone was all over his ass from day one. look at how he has excelled in victo now that the pressure is off and he has some games under his belt. at least riopel has a good chunk of experience already. he started half the games this year, and there is alot less pressure on him this year than blanchard had at the time.
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Post by Dman on Jun 14, 2007 11:55:48 GMT -5
A 20 year old back-up goaltender (or even if he played half of the games). Contending year or not, that would be foolish. Riopel should be our #1. I'm sure Flynn has something figured out for the back-up goalie role.
I remember hearing near the end of last season that Sniderman had signed (or was about to sign) a contract to play somewhere in Europe next year. Anybody know if there is any truth to that?
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Post by MacKevin on Jun 14, 2007 12:15:58 GMT -5
Again I have not problem with the development of Riopel but a legitimate backup is expected. We all on this board threw our support behind Blanchard that summer and not a negative word was spoken. Worse yet we had no backup. Blanchard had the best team in front of him that the cats may ever have. Yes Riopel last winter looked great at times and but also not great at times. If he is the only "legitimate" goalie we have then he will definitely have a hard time with confidence as we certainly do not expect to have the team Blanchard had in front of him. I personally believe it might be better to keep Sniderman and trade Emmanuel as at this time two high level Defensemen is a bigger issue than our Goaltender situation. Of course we don't know what the status of any of our 20's is right now and you are probably right Sniderman has other plans.
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Post by curtis on Jun 14, 2007 13:33:38 GMT -5
I'm looking forward to seeing two Euros that don't become healthy scratches every night. We can't possibly do as bad in that regard as last year, right? Right?
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Post by catnut on Jun 14, 2007 15:42:35 GMT -5
I'm looking forward to seeing two Euros that don't become healthy scratches every night. We can't possibly do as bad in that regard as last year, right? Right? From what I heard they are looking at two Russian defencemen. One is a tough stay at home D (Iczeks Aniisrov) the other is a highly skilled QB for the PP (Iputz Dapukin)
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Post by gongshow on Jun 14, 2007 16:43:18 GMT -5
I'm looking forward to seeing two Euros that don't become healthy scratches every night. We can't possibly do as bad in that regard as last year, right? Right? From what I heard they are looking at two Russian defencemen. One is a tough stay at home D (Iczeks Aniisrov) the other is a highly skilled QB for the PP (Iputz Dapukin) I heard it was a french import Ipue Fauqiselav....I heard he's dirty as hell.
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Post by SteveUL on Jun 15, 2007 6:24:39 GMT -5
I wouldn't rule out finding a goalie in Europe yet. I would love to see Sniderman back however. Not to say we are not focused on developing Riopel. If we return with Sniderman then we can draft two high level Euro Defensemen which that would be here for the next couple of years at least. Putting all our eggs in the Riopel basket smacks of the trust we put into Blanchard two years ago. That turned out real good. i think it's a bit of a different situation. blanchard got screwed royally in his development here. when crawford came back due to the lockout, he started nearly every night. that really gave JC no chance to gain any sort of experience, then the next year he was thrown into a pressure-packed situation where he was expected to win every night because a) it was a championship year so everything was win win win, and b) crawford's performance really raised the expectations bar between the pipes. you don't often see a 17 year old kid with 10 or so games experience just step into the starters role and be the next luongo. i can't say i blame him for folding like a cheap suit. everyone was all over his ass from day one. look at how he has excelled in victo now that the pressure is off and he has some games under his belt. at least riopel has a good chunk of experience already. he started half the games this year, and there is alot less pressure on him this year than blanchard had at the time. Folded like a cheap suit ? Except for his first 6 or 7 starts Blanchard was everything I expected he would be. You guys seem to be remembering it wrong ... Blanchard wasn't traded because he was playing poorly ... he was traded because Nolan wanted a superstar goaltender instead of a 1st yr starter. He also got injured at a point in the season very near the trade period ... a concusiion if I recall ... and there were worries on how he would bounce back from that. I would have been very happy to go to the Mem Cup with Blanchard ... I was opposed to the deal that brought in Tordjman as I don't think it was necessary. Blanchard was sensational for Vic in a very lopsided 1st round matchup that year but was just overwhelmed too often with little help from his team. Blanchard was 18 that year ... not 17. He was sent back to MAAA at 16 and backed up Crawford at 17.
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Post by mbastarache on Jun 15, 2007 6:38:21 GMT -5
To quote one of the players from the 05-06 team, "The had no confidence in him." That is from the team, not the coach.
THey all knew how good he was but the minute he let in a bad goal he lost total confidence in himself and the team would always think to themselves, "here we go again".
Kind of like Martin Gerber of the Ottawa Senators. Great skills, can be dominate in games but if his confidence goes, so does everything else.
So, if your making a run for the cup, you can't have a goal keeper like that in nets because you wont make it past the high pressure situations. YOu needed someone cool and confident like Tordjman.
Again, thats coming from the players, not the coaches.
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