Offense? Options

[#1Thunderfan]

Our D's look good and our goalies look good [ Gelinas and magers ]. Our Offense need to step it up and get some goals. I would say look look for another good scorer but is there really one out there? Hmm thoughts comments???????

[~PUCK-YEA!~ ...]

Our D's look good and our goalies look good [ Gelinas and magers ]. Our Offense need to step it up and get some goals. I would say look look for another good scorer but is there really one out there? Hmm thoughts comments???????

an offensive offense, for sure ~step it the %#*! up when you come home boys!

[erik6285]

This is ridiculous, went from 3rd or 4th clear down to 7th in the conference just like that?? I understand that we have injured guys, something that we can't help...but to change the goalies when we had a good if not great combination is very strange to me, I guess better to try it now, then to do it later in the season. The team was looking really good, but there seems to be very little effort coming from the team the past few games. I know getting Tetrault and Goulet back will help, but there is no reason the team should rely on those two, the rest of the team should be able to step it up in there absence. Like I said in another post, I see moves coming this next week, if not, I will be really surprised, especially with the way that Mac started out the season.

[#1Thunderfan]

This is ridiculous, went from 3rd or 4th clear down to 7th in the conference just like that?? I understand that we have injured guys, something that we can't help...but to change the goalies when we had a good if not great combination is very strange to me, I guess better to try it now, then to do it later in the season. The team was looking really good, but there seems to be very little effort coming from the team the past few games. I know getting Tetrault and Goulet back will help, but there is no reason the team should rely on those two, the rest of the team should be able to step it up in there absence. Like I said in another post, I see moves coming this next week, if not, I will be really surprised, especially with the way that Mac started out the season.

I would love to see changes but how many over looked players are out there and no ones going to want to trade a good player. Next few weeks are going to be ruff i think.

[deadbolt]

When we were winning our forwards were swaming the net like piranah. That has not happened our last 3 games and IMO the lack of aggresivness in our offensive zone has been a big part of us losing and the reason why our powerplay is in the bottom half of the league. With the skill level of the goaltending this years you can not just shoot a puck from the blueline and not have somebody there to get the rebound. Our guys are not willing to take a little punishment to get in the postition to score on rebounds latley. that is why alot of games we outshoot our opponents but still lose. because their goaltenders see every shot the who way with no traffic in front net.

[#1Thunderfan]

When we were winning our forwards were swaming the net like piranah. That has not happened our last 3 games and IMO the lack of aggresivness in our offensive zone has been a big part of us losing and the reason why our powerplay is in the bottom half of the league. With the skill level of the goaltending this years you can not just shoot a puck from the blueline and not have somebody there to get the rebound. Our guys are not willing to take a little punishment to get in the postition to score on rebounds latley. that is why alot of games we outshoot our opponents but still lose. because their goaltenders see every shot the who way with no traffic in front net.

+1 When we were winning we would crash the net a hole lot more pretty shot are nice but ugly goals win the game.

[Tunderman]

When we were winning our forwards were swaming the net like piranah. That has not happened our last 3 games and IMO the lack of aggresivness in our offensive zone has been a big part of us losing and the reason why our powerplay is in the bottom half of the league. With the skill level of the goaltending this years you can not just shoot a puck from the blueline and not have somebody there to get the rebound. Our guys are not willing to take a little punishment to get in the postition to score on rebounds latley. that is why alot of games we outshoot our opponents but still lose. because their goaltenders see every shot the who way with no traffic in front net.

Exactly Our forwards aren't willing to pay the price in fron of the oppositions teams net. When we were winning guys like Galbraith and Greene were constantly in harassing the goalie. They have slacked off, but I'm not blaming them. Green has impressed me but that should be our crash and bang line, our energy line but not sure if Moran is the answer there. We should have no prima-donnas on this team so everyone has to play hard to succeed. There are a few too many players who are not playing in all three areas of the ice. Watch players like Hughes coasting back instead of back checking. Overall I thought our defence played well and you can't blame Gelinas as too many players were left alone too many times. We need to start playing the body and be difficult to play against. Colorado is gonna knock the cr$p out of us unless we amswer the bell. Betcha the long distance phone lines are burning up right now. Changes ??????

[deadbolt]

I would be surprised if there were not some roster moves this week. this teams need to start playing more physical and agressive. Looking forward to having tetrault back in the line up. he is one of the hardest hitters in the league and I have noticed that when he has been out on the ice dishing out big hits the rest of the team responds.

[THUNDER LOVER]

Wow gang, don't panic!! In case you didn't notice we played a very, very good Allen team last night. If you think there were too many people left alone already then what do you think would happen if all our offense was crashing the net all night? The team we faced last night has some of the fastest most talented players we will see all season. There are some games when your just outmatched on the ice and must concentrate more on defense. That being said, in order to win those type of games you must be willing to leave everything you have on the ice every shift. I did not see that from everyone and that was a little disapointing. The loss of two key defensive players also hurts against a team like Allen. Like I said, don't panic. It's still early in the season and coach will have these boys firing on all cylinders soon!!

Lets stop bashing already, and focus on getting some wins in the Thanksgiving stretch!!

[bigtalker]

I agree it's certainly not panic time... yeh we lost a couple in a row, but we played THE best team in the league lastnite and odessa may not have a good record right now but by the end of the year they will be right there. It woulda been nice to get 1 of the 2 games on this trip but were still 6-6 i'll take that. Yes we have things that need work, but the defense will be back to hitting and toughness once Tets and goulet get back which should be soon.. Just think our offense will get Cullaton and Habbaur (sp) back to the team in the near future that will be big additions as well

[HockeyBuddha]

I agree it's certainly not panic time... yeh we lost a couple in a row, but we played THE best team in the league lastnite and odessa may not have a good record right now but by the end of the year they will be right there. It woulda been nice to get 1 of the 2 games on this trip but were still 6-6 i'll take that. Yes we have things that need work, but the defense will be back to hitting and toughness once Tets and goulet get back which should be soon.. Just think our offense will get Cullaton and Habbaur (sp) back to the team in the near future that will be big additions as well

I think it's hurting us right now that we are missing 3/5 of our veterans (Tetsy, Cully and Goulet). I can't wait for these guys to come back along with Hubbauer.

[erik6285]

I would love to see changes but how many over looked players are out there and no ones going to want to trade a good player. Next few weeks are going to be ruff i think.

Normally I would agree with you, however, Mac hasn't been like the rest of the coaches that always use that as an excuse not to change things up, he somehow is able to pull skilled players out of his hat it seems.

I definitely agree that the forwards aren't playing rough enough hockey and they aren't getting in there and fighting for the "ugly" goals...kind of funny, I seem to remember a thread where we talked about this once before, then when the team started crashing the net and driving the slot they went on a 6 game win streak...

[Tunderman]

then when the team started crashing the net and driving the slot they went on a 6 game win streak...
[/quote]


My thought exactly. Good things happen when a team drives to the net, especially on the PP

[Raiders]

Wow! A lot of great coaches and GM's on here! Chill out! If they win their next game they jump up in the standings! Look how tight the standings are. Really no reason to panic!!! If they were 1-11, then yes panic but 6-6 for right now is fine. Mac will do his job.....have faith!!!

[Gdogg6]

Wow! A lot of great coaches and GM's on here! Chill out! If they win their next game they jump up in the standings! Look how tight the standings are. Really no reason to panic!!! If they were 1-11, then yes panic but 6-6 for right now is fine. Mac will do his job.....have faith!!!

Exactly right!!!! This board is funny.....two wins in a row and we are going all the way....two losses in a row and we are horrible and it's time to jump ship! It's a LONG season.....tons of games left, the guys are fun to watch this year and we are going to pick up more wins! Guess what, we are going to lose more games as well....we'll be fine!!!

OUT

GDOGG

[2 For Being an I...]

12 games 6-6 not bad for an expansion team. Think about it, no one that started last years team is on this years team. In fact we only have one player that was here for a few games last year. We are playing against teams that have had lines and defensive pairs playing together all of last season and maybe longer. 12 games coach is still looking at line combinations and power play units. We have two potential point per game players returning, an All - Star defensemen, and one of the leagues top heavy weight all returning soon. Still some tough cuts to be made.

[Tunderman]

Exactly right!!!! This board is funny.....two wins in a row and we are going all the way....two losses in a row and we are horrible and it's time to jump ship! It's a LONG season.....tons of games left, the guys are fun to watch this year and we are going to pick up more wins! Guess what, we are going to lose more games as well....we'll be fine!!!

OUT

GDOGG

It's not the losses that matter so much, as we expect losses throughout the year, but, it's the lack of effort on some of the players that is frustrating. Coach has done a great job bringing in talent but it is up to the players to put forward a better effort when on the ice. Everyone can see the results when that effort is put forth by everyone as witnessed in a 6 game winning streak. Problem is near the end of that winning streak some tell tale signs of laziness started to creep in but was overlooked by the resulting wins. Now they are more evident with the losses. I'm sure the players will be paying for it at practice this week. Not saying we are horrible but the mistakes need to be corrected. If we didn't care we wouldn't be on this board.

[Baronsfan]

I, for one enjoy seeing the honest comments. More people should tell it how it is. When you have a whole thread full of sunshine boys the thread gets dull Just because they say what the team is/isn't doing doesn't mean they're saying it's panic time. Them saying they won't be surprised if there wasn't changes in the following week isn't panicing (sp?), because if I remember right Mac did say "I want players that are willing to pay the price." So if they aren't willing to pay the price which it seems this past weekend they weren't, then he'll make the changes.

[KGgoalie]

Coach made them practice this morning (Sunday) to help get things back on the right track.

See how it goes.

[hockeyfan4life]

Looks like Odessa put a woopin on Allen 5-1, so I would say they are starting to get things back on track.

I think Mac will get the guys motivated for the upcoming games. No worries yet just a little bump in the road hopefully.

[#1Thunderfan]

Normally I would agree with you, however, Mac hasn't been like the rest of the coaches that always use that as an excuse not to change things up, he somehow is able to pull skilled players out of his hat it seems.

I definitely agree that the forwards aren't playing rough enough hockey and they aren't getting in there and fighting for the "ugly" goals...kind of funny, I seem to remember a thread where we talked about this once before, then when the team started crashing the net and driving the slot they went on a 6 game win streak...

Well hopefully they will start crashing the net agine and not stop and maybe go on a 6+ win streak. Well my birthday is on the 26th so maybe we can get one win out of the away then home games aginst Col. For my b-day.

[Tunderman]

I, for one enjoy seeing the honest comments. More people should tell it how it is. When you have a whole thread full of sunshine boys the thread gets dull Just because they say what the team is/isn't doing doesn't mean they're saying it's panic time. Them saying they won't be surprised if there wasn't changes in the following week isn't panicing (sp?), because if I remember right Mac did say "I want players that are willing to pay the price." So if they aren't willing to pay the price which it seems this past weekend they weren't, then he'll make the changes.

100%

[erik6285]

I'm not saying that I am panicing, or jumping ship, but I like to come on here and post what I see and hear what others see. Number one that's how I learn more about the game (because I am in no way a pro at hockey, and alot of you know alot more then I do). I might see something that I think is a bad thing but someone else might point out how it is actually a good thing. For instance, during a game (I don't remember which one) Magers kept coming out of the goal to about the face off circles to pass the puck back down ice, the woman behind me kept freaking out and cursing at Magers everytime he would do it, I explained that if he did that instead of make the team chase the puck back everytime they wouldn't tire so quickly, OR if he did that it could very possibly catch the other team off gaurd on a change and we could get a quick goal, OR if the opposition was coming and beating our guy back it could very easily stop a one on one chance...I think it helped her understand why he did it. And that is why I am here, to help me understand things better, and get a better hockey sense as I grew up playing other sports.

Also, I love the team that we have this year, they have proven that they are more than capable of winning, the thing that frustrates me is the fact that we can go on a 6 game winning streak then turn around and loose two games by that big of a margin. I understand that we will loose more games, its just the margin that bothers me. I think with the team that we have, when we do loose games it should be by one or two goals not 3 or 4. Yes I understand that its hockey, and sometimes bounces don't go your way, but when I played sports alot was expected out of me and my team, so in return I expect alot out of the teams that I watch. Even Colorado, Allen, Bossier, etc have lost by bigger margins, but, IF I were the coach, I wouldn't accept that big of a break down in the team, I would expect more consistency out of my guys. That's all....

AGAIN...I am not the coach, would not want to be the coach nor am I anywhere qualified to be the coach. I am just stating my opinion, and what I would expect (from any team) IF I were the coach.

[Dork]

It's not complicated. We play the lower end teams in the league we usually win. We play top end teams and we lose. We have one quality win this year. That was over RGV. I am not saying this team can't compete with the better teams but this is just what they have shown so far.

[Girthy]

It's not complicated. We play the lower end teams in the league we usually win. We play top end teams and we lose. We have one quality win this year. That was over RGV. I am not saying this team can't compete with the better teams but this is just what they have shown so far.

That is because our D isn't good enough yet. We are missing a few key players, but I have thought our D has been soft since the start of the year. Even before the injuries, we seem to spend good chunks of time in our zone, and really only had one D-man play physical. Some of that could be the forwards not playing the other half the ice also. When the fowards aren't pressuring and not playing D they are in trouble.

[FromTheStands]

It's not complicated. We play the lower end teams in the league we usually win. We play top end teams and we lose. We have one quality win this year. That was over RGV. I am not saying this team can't compete with the better teams but this is just what they have shown so far.

We went to the game in Allen, and for the most part the team just looked tired. There were parts of the game that we played with energy, but against a team like Allen you can't let them play their game. I thought that we needed more checking, and to rough Allen up a little to get them off their game. I think the Thunder can play with the better teams in the league it just might take some time. We enjoyed the Allen fans, their arena, and their free parking hope to go back some time in the future.