[quote name='n8rockerasu']Yeah, well, Alan (moojuice for any of the newer people who don't know who I'm talking about) got on late, and it was me, him, and Darktower left. From that point on, we really started playing well. I felt like I had to wade through the first four hours of crap play to finally get some decent games in.
My feeling on next week being the "last CAG Hockey Night" had more to do with the way the night started out. With other games that are already out and games that are coming out soon, I don't have the patience to waste 4 hours trying to get this team to get its shit together and play right. It may sound dumb, but at 500 games played, if we're not going to play well, I don't want to play. I'm just going to be honest and hope that people don't get too offended.
There was a HUGE difference in the games the 1st forward line played last night and the games Darktower, Alan, and I played. There is NO EXCUSE for giving up a 7 minute edge in time on attack. It's pathetic and it makes the games a waste of time. Yeah, we might get lucky and the score could be close, but that sure as hell isn't from "playing a good game". Whoever is on the forward line needs to make better passes and work the puck around.
This includes passing back to the point and taking good shots rather than just rifling a slapshot at the goalie the second you cross the blue line. If the defense is standing you up right away, get creative. Circle the puck back and start over. Pass it back to a defenseman who can hit a winger on the other side of the ice who might be able to carry it into the zone. In short, be smarter.
As I said, I'm being honest. Matt, Kaster, and Destro, you guys turned the puck over way too much last night. Either by skating right into a defender or making bad passes, we spent half the night just giving the puck away. Kaster seemed to pick up on it though because he mentioned about switching his camera so he could actually see where his teammates are.
That's seriously the biggest thing you can do to correct this problem. There are a lot of cameras that give you a pretty full view of the zone, but in my opinion, the one that is the least shocking to the system when moving from the default BAP camera is the Ice cam with auto zoom on, and having the camera follow the puck (press "back" to switch). This keeps things in close for faceoffs and doesn't pull too far back the rest of the time. The BAP camera just won't hack it against human opponents.
As for any issues with Magic, maybe it's because I turned my mic off for one game, but he really didn't bother me that much and I thought he did a decent job in goal. Yeah, he had a few gaffes, but it's not like the people playing in front of him were much better. He really didn't get lit up in that game against Montreal until Darktower and I stopped trying on defense because the forward line wasn't getting anything done.
I've said it many times, I don't mind playing defense, but the forward line has to make things happen...and you're not going to make anything happen getting 0:38 time on attack per period. I'd say switch up and let other people play forward, but if you're worse at defense, that doesn't help the team either. I will say that Darktower generates way too many points to not have on the forward line though. I think he had 3 hat tricks last night alone. It's stupid to waste that kind of a production on a defensive position if you're never going to get him the puck anyway. Same thing with Alan. His skills are wasted on defense if you don't get him the puck.
But with the stark difference in play between the groups (almost every single game Alan, Darktower, and I played WE had a time on attack advantage...and I think our worst deficit was 2 minutes), I feel like the only other "solution" is having an "A Squad" and a "B Squad". That concept may piss some people off, but it wasn't a coincidence that when it was me, Darktower, and Alan playing, we played well. I'm not even going to say we're just "better" than everybody else. But we played right...and that alone gave us a chance in every single game we played.
Sorry this is so long, but whoever didn't take the time to read it, I probably don't want to play with you anyway. I know that's a dick thing to say, but at this point, I really don't care.[/QUOTE]
Well, I don't wanna go on the defense of my own play, but I didn't think I had that bad of two games (and I have had a few BRUTAL nights where I couldn't do anything right)..
And last time I played, I had 4 goals and 3 assists on the first 7 goals we scored, I actually thought I fit right into the mix that night.
I don't mind the constructive criticism at all, but just know that I'm the kind of person who doesn't mind it and if you see me doing something that isn't helping out, or not conducive to the team, just tell me on the mic, that's why it's there, to communicate what we need to as a team.
The only thing I can't help a lot of the time is when I pass it just as I get a guy on me and it doesn't then let me pass, on my nights where I'm really playing bad, that seems to happen a whole hell of a lot.
Lastly, as far as positions go, I'm really only comfortable with LW or C... I'm not strong enough on D but I'd play it if need be.