The Falcons garnered 2 loser points this weekend by dropping a 2-1 SO decision to the Atlantic Division leading Portland Pirates, and a 4-3 OT decision to the Hartford Wolf Pack.
The weekend saw the return of defenseman Mathieu Roy, Roy played his first and 2nd game of the year this weekend.
Falcons Top Point Getters:
Gilbert Brule 2-0-2 2gp. 1/2 SO
Rob Schremp 0-2-2 2gp. 1/2 SO
Liam Reddox 1-0-1 2gp.
Ryan Potulny 0-1-1 2gp. 0/1 SO
Colin McDonald 0-1-1 2gp.
Carl Corazzini 0-1-1 2gp.
Taylor Chorney 0-1-1 2gp.
Falcons MIA:
Ryan O'Marra 0gp.
Bryan Lerg 0gp.
Cody Wild 1gp +1
I just have to ask why these players aren't getting a bigger role at the moment? On a weekend where the Falcons scored all of 4 goals in 2 games you have O'Marra (6gp. 0-2-2), Lerg (3gp. 1-0-1), and Wild (7gp. 1-2-3) riding the pine for at least 1 game?
The Falcons haven't shed their image as a grinder laden team this season, how could they when you have guys like Colin McDonald in your top 6 instead of a skilled player like Bryan Lerg?
Take a look at the Portland Pirates, they just so happen to have Bryan Lerg's former MSU teammate, he seems to be doing o.k. once he was given an offensive role, so is another one of Lerg's former teammates...
Bryan Lerg
AHL 3gp. 1-0-1
MSU '07-08 42gp. 20-19-39
Tim Kennedy
AHL 11gp. 4-13-17
MSU '07-08 42gp. 20-23-43
Justin Abdelkader
AHL 9gp. 7-2-9
MSU '07-08 42gp. 19-21-40
This organization really needs to start falling out of love with developing pluggers. We have enough for 2 NHL farm teams, it's time to start embracing skill at the AHL level.
A New Era of Hope
8 years ago
2 comments:
But the big team has everything we need in terms of young flash and dazzle, does it not? If the farm team were to be acting in the best interests of the Oilers, developing great checkers is what they should be doing. Do the Oilers really need another offense first scorer in Bryan Lerg, or do we need a crash and banger for the 4th line like the aforementioned Colin McDonald?
I think they're doing alright in their development standpoint, and they're getting their best and most consistent players the ice-time. The guys that don't belong in the AHL (Schremp, Potulny, Brule) are still getting their minutes but aside from that it's all about developing bottom-6 talent, and I think that's a good thing. Down the road this team has the offensive firepower for the next half-decade in Gagner, Cogliano, Nilsson, Horcoff, Penner and Hemsky.
Where I'm concerned about this team is they don't have enough jam. I'm not entirely sold on Stortini, I have doubts that Moreau can sustain this pace, Pouliot's been wishy-washy ever since he turned pro, and Pisani is one UC flare-up away from being forced to retire. Given this, the Falcons are best served developing checkers like Liam Reddox, Colid McDonald, JF Jacques(if healthy), Ryan O'Marra and Tim Sestito to be ready when the call comes in.
Dorito, Lerg could be that elusive LW sniper that the Oilers have wanted. On the left side we have Nilsson (passer), Schremp (passer that could be a sniper), Penner (big body), Moreau (checking line player), Trukhno (passer).
We have no other LW sniper type of a player. On the right side we have Cogliano (not sure that I'd call him a "sniper"), Eberle (seems to be a true sniper), and Brule (if he isn't playing center).
For checkers we have Spurgeon, Sestito, Reddox, O'Marra, Paukovich, McDonald, Corazzini, Bekar, Lefebvre, and Jacques.
We must also develop offensive players because their trade value is higher, and we need to replace more expensive options from within if we expect to be contenders. Look at Buffalo losing Drury and Briere and still being one of the best offensive teams in the league.
IMO this team needs to roll 3 effective scoring lines to take it to the next level since we don't have a Zetterberg, Crosby, Malkin, Ovechkin, etc. type of a player on our team.
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