| Category | Cottages |
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| Created | 2018-08-28 | ||||
| Owner | chenyan94 | ||||
| Title | To Vegas’ credit | ||||
| Description | VANCOUVER Chris Herndon Jersey Elite , British Columbia — Let the comparisons begin. Center Adam Gaudette, 21, will make his National Hockey League debut Thursday with the Vancouver Canucks (28-40-9) as they host the Edmonton Oilers (34-37-6) at Rogers Arena. The contest will be Gaudette’s first audition for permanent employment next season. Many observers — including fans and media types alike — are ready to compare the former Northeastern star to other young hopefuls. The first comparison will be with injured rookie sensation Brock Boeser, who compiled 29 goals and 26 assists before being sidelined with a back problem earlier this month. Boeser and others have said he benefited last spring when, like Gaudette, he joined the Canucks after completing his collegiate career. In his first nine NHL games in 2016-17, Boeser produced four goals and one assist. Now, others are wondering if Gaudette can display similar results. Those wondering include Gaudette himself. “It’s awesome to see how (Boeser) did this year,” Gaudette told reporters. “I followed him all year. I played with (Boeser) before we were both drafted. I played against him and we’ve been friends ever since then. It’s really cool to see somebody doing it (like Boeser), especially coming out of the NCAA. It just goes to show I could have that impact and, hopefully, do the same thing.” Gaudette, a Braintree, Mass., native, signed a three-year entry-level contract Monday. He was originally drafted by Vancouver in the fifth round, 149th overall in 2015. Despite the late selection, he developed into a potential superstar. He led the NCAA in scoring with 60 points (30-30-60) in 38 games this season and is a finalist for the Hoby Baker Award. His 30 goals led the NCAA, and he garnered many weekly and monthly honors. At 6-foot-1 and 184 pounds, he is also known for a physical two-way game and has been likened to Anaheim center Ryan Kesler and Canucks middleman Bo Horvat — among others. Gaudette strives to emulate gritty Boston center Patrice Bergeron. However Cheap Martavis Bryant Jersey , Vancouver coach Travis Green just wants Gaudette to focus on his own game. “He doesn’t have to be Brock Boeser,” Green told reporters. “He just has to be himself.” And, play well defensively, according to the coach. But Green is among many who hope that Gaudette can help the Canucks overcome their dearth of offense. He produced 142 points in 116 career games for Northeastern from 2015 to 2018. “By talking to him and listening to him, I can tell he has a good head on his shoulders,” said Green. “We’ll see where he’s at. Obviously, people are excited in Vancouver. Rightfully so. And the organization is excited to get him in here. “Everybody who talks about him talks about how driven he is to be a player. That’s really important for young guys.” Meanwhile, many observers are questioning Edmonton’s drive. The Oilers will try to rebound against Vancouver after squandering a three-goal lead and losing 7-3 to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday. “Our defensive (game) is something we’ve got to solve here,” Edmonton coach Todd McLellan told reporters. “I think we’re at 250 goals against and that’s never, ever going to make the playoffs in any year. “We’ve got to make some decisions in the locker room whether that’s important enough.” Simply put, the Oilers are a conundrum. Despite Tuesday’s debacle, they have been playing reasonably well lately. They are 7-3-2 in their last 12 games, and captain Connor McDavid leads the league with 102 points after recording three against the Blue Jackets. But Edmonton’s power play was last in the NHL before Wednesday’s games. In addition, McDavid is at the focal point of a debate that is starting to rage, at least, in Canada: Should he win the Hart Trophy as most valuable player for a second year in a row, even though the Oilers have been out of playoff contention for weeks? The always humble McDavid has said he doesn’t know. But after watching the Oilers allow 12 goals in their past two games, he does know something for sure. “We have to find a way to keep pucks out of our net,” he told reporters. Marc-Andre Fleury has been the foundation for the Vegas Golden Knights‘ run to the Stanley Cup Final. Yet while he has a 1.68 goals-against average and .947 save percentage, he’ll be the first one in the locker room to credit the defensemen in front of him. ”It’s a team game – win as a team Youth Jason Sanders Jersey , lose as a team,” said Fleury, who looks to become the 11th goaltender in NHL history to have his name on the Cup at least four times – and the fourth of that group to win with multiple teams. ”These guys are a big part of our success. We’re well balanced, we got some veteran guys, some younger guys, got some offensive guys, some defensive guys playing together. Those guys have been rallying all playoffs, trying to help me out, blocking shots and letting me see the puck, so it’s been a lot of fun.” The pairings of Nate Schmidt and Brayden McNabb, Shea Theodore and Deryk Engelland, and Colin Miller with Luca Sbisa or Jon Merrill, have helped the Golden Knights become a very tight defensive team during the playoffs, something that will have to carry into Game 1 at T-Mobile Arena, on Monday against the Washington Capitals. Schmidt has developed into the team’s top defenseman after struggling to find consistent ice time in Washington last season, when he averaged 15:29 on the ice. The fifth-year pro leads the Golden Knights with an average 22:14 on the ice and brings a familiarity to the Final, having played with Washington’s top scorers Evgeny Kuznetsov (24 points) and Alex Ovechkin (22), who rank first and second, respectively, in overall playoff scoring. ”I know a lot of those guys Cheap Bradley Chubb Jersey , I know what they like to do,” said Schmidt, who has six points (2 goals, 4 assists) in the postseason. ”For what I want to do on the ice, it helps me and I think it helps our group as well that we’ve had success against them. But it’s a whole other type of animal this time of year.” The Golden Knights swept the regular-season series against Washington, winning 3-0 on Dec. 23 in Vegas and 4-3 on Feb. 4 in D.C. With five more Capitals have double-digit points – Nicklas Backstrom (16), John Carlson (16), T.J. Oshie (15), Lars Eller (13) and Tom Wilson (11) – Vegas will need one last big effort from a defensive group that has helped allow the second-least number of goals among playoff teams that have played 10 games. Washington coach Barry Trotz said he knows the Golden Knights have three dynamic duos that each feature one offensive guy who can skate and move the puck – that being Miller, Theodore, and Schmidt – paired with more of a traditional stay-at-home defenseman who isn’t afraid to get physical, block shots and slow the opposing team’s pace – such as Sbisa, Engelland, Merrill and McNabb. ”But they still bring some offense, too,” Trotz said. ”They play 5-5-5 all three zones just as we talk about with the Capitals. Watch the TV, you see five guys in the picture, then you’re doing good.” Schmidt said using speed against them worked during the regular season, by moving their feet more than Washington did, and helping to develop plays in transition. But again Brandon Parker Jersey Elite , this is the Stanley Cup Final, and Schmidt said he knows Washington can skate well and will be a challenge. ”I think another thing is just making sure you’re really disciplined against this team,” Schmidt said. ”You’ve got to make sure you stay out of the penalty box, keep Ovechkin off the power play and keep that unit off the power play.” To Vegas’ credit, however, it does have the fourth-best penalty kill in the playoffs, stopping 82.5 percent of the power plays it has seen. And, as Sbisa said, that circles back to Fleury and the chemistry that’s been built with the defensive pairings. ”That bond is definitely there,” Sbisa said. ”You don’t have to worry about anything else, play it loose, play to your strengths and that’s what we’ve been doing as a group. The six Ds that are playing that night, they’re tight; we play as a three-man group (with Fleury). Flower’s a guy that doesn’t take too much credit for himself, even though he should, because he’s been that good and it’s obviously nice to hear stuff like that coming out of his mouth. But he definitely deserves all the credit here. ”As a D-man, knowing that you have the best goalie in the world behind you, saving you when something happens, it makes a huge difference because it allows you to play your game. Praise has to go both ways.” . | ||||
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