[PGT] Final OTL Isles 2 Flames 1 Janko Not Bad

[belsarius]

Originally Posted by The Professor

Thanks for this. Missed the game, and came here hoping to read a bunch of discussion on Jankowski. Good or bad. Any differing opinions out there? A rookie being over 50% in the dot is impressive.

I thought he was very tentative in the offensive zone. Wasn't exactly sure where to go and what to expect. Not surprised given it was his first NHL game.

Defensively however I thought he did really well. He had good stick positioning, forced guys to the outside and generally played a steady game that didn't give up chances. What really stood out for me though was in the third, I don't remember if it was tied yet or not, and he had a defensive draw against Taveres (who was generally owning the dot most of the night) and won it cleanly back and let the play get out of the zone. Calm and cool and didn't let the game rattle him.

Solid night for the rookie, a few practices with the big team and I think his play in the O zone will improve. Deserves a couple more games in my opinion.

On another note I am starting to think that Ferland's game has been really helped by the emergence of Tkachuk. I think the success Tkachuk has found has really engaged Ferland and shown him how to effectively use his size and play a power forward role. He isn't the pest that Tkachuk is and throws a better check but I find Ferland is a lot more willing to shoot from anywhere, get engaged and drive hard for the puck. Ferland-Bennett-Tkachuk could give opponents nightmares in a year or two.

[Flames Fan, Ph.D.]

This road trip has been marred by goals against after players break their sticks. Happened twice in Buffalo (Stajan and Frolik), and again this game (Frolik).

Do the composite sticks really make that much of an offensive difference for every player? I'm not an active player and have never used one, so I ask out of true curiosity.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Flames Fan, Ph.D.

This road trip has been marred by goals against after players break their sticks. Happened twice in Buffalo (Stajan and Frolik), and again this game (Frolik).

Do the composite sticks really make that much of an offensive difference for every player? I'm not an active player and have never used one, so I ask out of true curiosity.

They definitely do make a difference, but one way around it is to use wooden sticks while on the PK.

I am surprised guys aren't doing this more.

[Flames Fan, Ph.D.]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

They definitely do make a difference, but one way around it is to use wooden sticks while on the PK.

I am surprised guys aren't doing this more.

That's a good point.

It just seems like such an unforced error, and the disadvantage is large.

[Cactus Jack]

Originally Posted by belsarius

I thought he was very tentative in the offensive zone. Wasn't exactly sure where to go and what to expect. Not surprised given it was his first NHL game.

Defensively however I thought he did really well. He had good stick positioning, forced guys to the outside and generally played a steady game that didn't give up chances. What really stood out for me though was in the third, I don't remember if it was tied yet or not, and he had a defensive draw against Taveres (who was generally owning the dot most of the night) and won it cleanly back and let the play get out of the zone. Calm and cool and didn't let the game rattle him.

He did and then made a calm, nifty pass to Ferland for a shot on goal. A very subtle and surprising pass that fooled the D. Jankowsi didn´t own anyone but looked decent in controlled minutes in his first game

[Gaskal]

How many times has Ferland shortened the other teams bench with a massive hit this season? Gotta be like 2-3 times now.

[Enoch Root]

Jankowski had a few really deft and subtle little passes. For his first game - where he was no doubt very excited and nervous - it was really quite impressive.

As mentioned by several people, he was solid defensively, and killer in the dot.

The other thing that I really liked was that he looked to have NHL speed. He could skate, visualize, and play, at NHL speed. And that was the one reservation that I had about his game (you never know until they get here).

Well okay, that, and not being aggressive enough. And one game isn't enough to draw conclusions on that.

Everything else was good last night. He's an NHLer.

[442scotty]

I thought he looked good.

[Calgary4LIfe]

I was actually surprised at how often Jankowski engaged physically along the boards. He didn't check anyone through the boards, but he used his sized effectively simply to strip the puck off of someone along the boards. I was really quite impressed by how willing he was to do it.

As Enoch said above, he seemed to do everything at NHL speed. His anticipation was really evident I thought, though I noticed he 'guessed' wrong a couple of times, but he seemed to guess right more often than not, and seemed to be on the right side of the puck most times. Never thought he was a liability out there. Never seemed 'rattled' or 'awe-struck'. He just looked like he belonged in the NHL. That's really the best way I can describe it - he simply 'belonged out there'.

[Jbo]

3-2-1 is just not good enough for a team that has started slow. We are 4 points out of first, but also 4 points out of last, with more games played then anyone. We needed to get that extra point last night. Brutal effort in OT.

[McG]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Score 1 goal and blame the goalie...lol come on guys

not to mention it was a 3 on 2 in OT

well, it looks like McDavid will win the vezina so why shouldn't Elliot help out at the other end as well?

[cannon7]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Jankowski had a few really deft and subtle little passes. For his first game - where he was no doubt very excited and nervous - it was really quite impressive.

As mentioned by several people, he was solid defensively, and killer in the dot.

The other thing that I really liked was that he looked to have NHL speed. He could skate, visualize, and play, at NHL speed. And that was the one reservation that I had about his game (you never know until they get here).

Well okay, that, and not being aggressive enough. And one game isn't enough to draw conclusions on that.

Everything else was good last night. He's an NHLer.

Don't expect much aggression from Jankowski going forward. He's a thinking man's hockey player, his 6'4" frame is only really used to give him better reach. Positionally, though, you'd be hard pressed to find a better 22 year old.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by cannon7

Don't expect much aggression from Jankowski going forward. He's a thinking man's hockey player, his 6'4" frame is only really used to give him better reach. Positionally, though, you'd be hard pressed to find a better 22 year old.

I agree that you won't ever see an 'aggressive Jankowski', but I do think his size will provide a lot more. Once again, I thought he did really well along the boards physically, and much better than I thought he would. Better in that he was assertive going in and battled for the puck, and better than I thought he would be at this point in time by winning some. I was impressed in that regard.

There are lots of big players who didn't play 'physical', but they end up being difficult to play against. Think of guys like Lemieux and Jagr - they never played like Lindros, but they were difficult to play against because they used their size (and as you stated, their reach) and were difficult to get the puck away from.

I love guys like Ferland that can run over a player and who can change the momentum in a game, and we all saw how effective that can be in a playoff series. However, a guy who is big and talented can also help to tire the opposing team out in a long playoff series. It isn't easy to push these guys off the puck, or have them simply leaning on you all game along the boards.

From that standpoint, I thought he brought a lot more 'toughness' than I thought he would bring initially. I expected him to try too much, or look lost at times, and look less engaged as he started to second-guess himself as the game wore on. What happened was the opposite - I saw assertiveness and maturity, an NHL-ready board game, and really great positioning. From watching him in college, you could see how well he anticipates, and was pleasantly surprised at how well that anticipation carried over into the NHL in a faster game.

He definitely wasn't overwhelmed by the physicality of the game, and didn't shy away from contact, and he didn't avoid any area of the ice where you expect it. Winning as many battles for the puck was the real surprise for me. I saw a really assertive Jankowski out there.