GDT: Germz and Googlebot watch the 2018-19 Season

[Germz]

Let's go Max Lajoie!

[Germz]

Gonna be a long year for poor old Craig. Hope he goes to a contender at the deadline.

[MP]

This is bad hawkey.

[MP]

Put a fork in Andy. He's done.

[Germz]

LAJOIE! Looking great early.

Great pass from Duchene.

[The Bytown Boozer]

Enough drama, let's win some fucking hockey matches

[Germz]

I'm not worried about Anderson. He'll round into form after facing a few hundred shots over the first 5 games or so.

[Germz]

Good looking kid, Max boy. :grapes:

[mayoradamwest]

More drama, less hockey!

[Ricard_Persson]

Just ordered my post season tickets.

[Germz]

Really pleased with Colin White tonight. This is the best I've seen from him. Hopefully he keeps it up and finally establishes himself this season.

Of the forward vets, Duchene made one real nice play but looked pretty bad in general. Ryan mostly invisible. Stone looked good.

Good to see Smith get the first goal of the season. Hope he's got some confidence to work with.

Of the former Sharks, a pretty mediocre debut from Tierney. Boedker not so bad. If only Formenton could have buried one of those chances.

Take the point I guess, but Chicago was so sloppy at times it's too bad they couldn't start this depressing season with a surprise win.

[The Bytown Boozer]

Give Craig Anderson the captaincy

[Germz]

Game 2 at Toronto!

So far nothing from Max Lajoie, but Dylan Derulo is on the board.

[Germz]

Chabot! What a beaut!

[Germz]

Tierney! Freddie Andersen looks godawful in this one.

[Germz]

Marner is so good.

[Germz]

Mark Stone's empty-netter celebrations never get old.

Gutsy victory. Old school Anderson. Chabot stepping up.

Love it!

[Ricard_Persson]

Good tempo so far. Nice to see a quicker team iced this year.

Anderson has been good but he's letting in a bad one each game which is a positive in a sense that he isn't totally covering up for the team. They've actually looked pretty good.

Chabot on a level he's never been at. So much confidence. He looks faster and stronger too. He's got about 3 more levels to climb. He'll be fun to watch with that huge wingspan.

[PredsFan77]

wtf i thought the sens were going to get destroyed. now they just down 1.

[mayoradamwest]

It all works out in the end

[Germz]

Game 4 vs. Philadelphia. Let's go Max Lajoie!

[mayoradamwest]

I actually like Tkachuk

[Germz]

Tkachuk!

Bobby Ryan looks half-decent tonight. Be nice if he could get going.

[Germz]

Formenton's teammates are starting to figure out how to take advantage of his speed. Hopefully that turns into real offense at some point.

[Germz]

This will be Wideman's last NHL season.

[Germz]

Crazy shot count in the 1st. Like an EA Sports game.

[Germz]

Couturier has really panned out for Philly. Such a solid player.

This is one of the best games I've seen Gudas play.

[Germz]

Boy did the wheels ever come off that one. Making the Flyers mad, taking dumb penalties, running around in the defensive zone.

Gonna be a great season folks!

At least Tkachuk was a bright spot.

[mayoradamwest]

hey, they won!

[Germz]

I like Tkachuk so far. Obvious hands, good release, willingness to go to the dirty areas, all as advertised.

Really pleased with Tierney too. After a meh first game, he's really been solid.

Lajoie is racking up points at a totally unexpected and unsustainable rate. He must be having a ball out there.

They definitely benefited from some bounces, but a decisive win like that has to be a big boost for the team.

[FH2002]

With Tkachuk, Ottawa hasn’t had a rookie forward with this much impact since Havlat, but then again Havlat was crazy skill and speed. Tkackhuk has skill, less speed and dangle, but way more sandpaper, edge and leadership - so it’s not comparing apples to apples.

Can’t be anything but pleased with him so far. Let’s see where he is in two years.

[Ricard_Persson]

Really strong showing again. It’s actually nice not to have a first round pick this year when watching the team. It’s a bit depressing cheering for loses like last year, but this year every point is a bonus and doesn’t hurt anything.

To have a winning record mid October is surprisingly, especially when one could say that duchense and Stone haven’t really carried the team. It will be nice if they pick it up on the goals front to take some heat off the rest of the team.

Max lajoie seems really comfortable out there. Smart, big reach and can skate. The goals are completely crazy and I’m sure he’ll go 15 games without a goal soon but he really looks good for a fifth rounder.

Chris tierney seems like a smart guy, good filler player this year. He reminds me of someone. Maybe a better Erik Condra. Nice player, versatile and seems to like being in the crease area.

Demelo also a nice filler player. Not sure his contract status but you can never have too many defensive D that have some puck skills.

And Brady tkatchuk is way better than advertised. Everyone and their dog shat on the pick. I was sure he was a guy who had no offensive skills since he didn’t score much in college and everything that I read said so, but he has an nhl game. He may not score 30 but boy he plays a ugly game. Ottawa could have used him 10 years ago. He loves the front of the net and it’s hard to believe he’s so young and plays like that. He was chirpping Jamie Benny of all players. Haven’t seen a rookie play like that in a long time. He seems crazy but has some skill. He’s fired some very heavy wrist shots that I found impressive how quickly he gets them off and the velocity he gets. He should be a complete animal when he fills out. Goalies will all know him well.

[Ricard_Persson]

Also for me, story of the season is guy Boucher. Can’t believe that he completely changed his life long coaching style. A total change too. They’re running high speed offensive and full speed back checking.

Too bad Melnyk burned the fans off. Would be a good team to play in front of a large loud crowd. Players and fans would feed off each other with a team like this.

Boucher has blown me away. Also, the power play looks skilled for the first time in about 6 years with Boucher calling the shots.

[Hossa]

And Brady tkatchuk is way better than advertised. Everyone and their dog shat on the pick. I was sure he was a guy who had no offensive skills since he didn’t score much in college and everything that I read said so, but he has an nhl game. He may not score 30 but boy he plays a ugly game. Ottawa could have used him 10 years ago. He loves the front of the net and it’s hard to believe he’s so young and plays like that. He was chirpping Jamie Benny of all players. Haven’t seen a rookie play like that in a long time. He seems crazy but has some skill. He’s fired some very heavy wrist shots that I found impressive how quickly he gets them off and the velocity he gets. He should be a complete animal when he fills out. Goalies will all know him well.

It's early, but as somebody who had mixed feelings about the pick (more keeping the pick than who we selected), I'm admittedly surprised he's how *ready* he's been offensively. I don't think anybody doubted he'd be a good NHL player, even if views on his ceiling varied, but he's more confident offensively than expected. Playing with somebody like Stone who makes others better helps, but his combination of hands and hockey sense in tight has translated very well so far.

[Fruity Pebbles]

And Brady tkatchuk is way better than advertised. Everyone and their dog shat on the pick. I was sure he was a guy who had no offensive skills since he didn’t score much in college and everything that I read said so, but he has an nhl game. He may not score 30 but boy he plays a ugly game. Ottawa could have used him 10 years ago. He loves the front of the net and it’s hard to believe he’s so young and plays like that. He was chirpping Jamie Benny of all players. Haven’t seen a rookie play like that in a long time. He seems crazy but has some skill. He’s fired some very heavy wrist shots that I found impressive how quickly he gets them off and the velocity he gets. He should be a complete animal when he fills out. Goalies will all know him well.

It's early, but as somebody who had mixed feelings about the pick (more keeping the pick than who we selected), I'm admittedly surprised he's how *ready* he's been offensively. I don't think anybody doubted he'd be a good NHL player, even if views on his ceiling varied, but he's more confident offensively than expected. Playing with somebody like Stone who makes others better helps, but his combination of hands and hockey sense in tight has translated very well so far.

I think it's easy at times to write off NHL ready players as bad picks because often they're made later on in the draft where they really do lack the ability to think the game at an elite level or lack the skill.

But he was highly rated by scouts and it was a pick within the top 4 at forward. I think once you start falling further and further down the draft when someone is described as "NHL ready" you need to worry more. If they're NHL ready why aren't they the #1 pick or at the top of the draft? Likely because the offensive production is missing or there are major red flags about how well his game will transition to the NHL.

[Germz]

Another win! Stone and Duchene show up against Montreal on a Saturday Night. Sloppy game from both teams, but Ottawa marginally better, especially after period 1.