Coaches - (B+) - great special teams, steadily improving defense, steadily improving goaltending, wise use of personnel, proven ability to adapt.
General Manager - (C) - kudos for accepting that Riblet simply had to go! At least he got SOMETHING tangible in return. Could easily shift to a A+...or a F- though...with one key injury or trade!!!
Goaltending - (B-) - nothing spectacular yet...but steadily improving with time! Thank goodness there are two of 'em though!!!
Defense - (A-) - amazing adaptability shown by 'old NHL' style guys to new style. Also, key injuries to Dandy and Beef have been absorbed fairly well so far! Hey...two d-men rank in the leagues top 5 in terms of points thus far...NOT TOO SHABBY!
Forwards...And-o is gonna pass on assigning a 'blanket' grade.
Best player: Chris Higgins Honourable mention: Saku Koivu, Sheldon Souray, Mike Johnson, Radek Bonk Doing well: Michael Ryder, Alex Perezhogin, David Aebischer, Andrei Markov, Mike Komisarek comme-ci,comme-ca: Tomas Plekanec, Craig Rivet, Mathieu Dandenault, Janne Niinimaa, Mark Streit Not great at first, but looking pretty good lately: Sergei Samsonov, Alex Kovalev, Cristobal Huet, Guillaume Latendresse, Steve Begin Not great: Garth Murray, Aaron Downey
Actually Plouffy...flip-flop Saku and Komisarek...and I agree 100%!!!
...which makes And-o wonder if...a) North Korea has a nuke - and it is in fact on it's way here...and...b) If cucumbers ARE presently being farmed on the moon!!!
Well we don't agree about Saku, so we are still on earth and the moon is in the sky.
As for Komi,...well.,,,he's definitely close to honourable mention status.
And with Latendresse I'm guessing, since it sounds like Ottawa was his best game, and I missed it. Based on what I've actually seen he's in the bottom rank still.
Coaching staff as a whole. B grade. They haven't figured out yet how to get the boys playing better 5/5. Special teams are great. I'll echo the comment that they have made good use of personnel thus far.
Abby. B - Pretty much what was expected of him in my books.
Huet. C - Seems to be getting better in the last couple of games. Hopefully he keeps it up.
Rivet. B minus - I know some people don't like him. But you really can't ask any more from him. Limited talent and mobility. Generally very good in his own zone. Transition game is not that good because of mobility issues. Also playing with a defensive partner that is limited in his mobility. Makes the defense one of hardest hitting in the league when everyone is healthy.
Souray B - Based mostly on his work on the PP. Defensively is decent especially when contained in a more restricted are like on the PK. Rivet and Souray are a good reason why our PK is so good, with help of course from the forwards and goalies.
Komi A minus - I just wish he could get more points. They might still come. Such a great improvement over this time last year. He hits everyone.
Markov B plus - Points are there just like Souray. He didn't seem to be into it in the first few games. His play has gotten better defensively lately where he is starting to do the things that make him a real #1 D.
Ninimaa C plus - I gotta admit, I expected more offense from him but a lot less defensively. Overall his D has overshadowed his lack of O and I'm ok with that. THey can't all have 10 points yet.
Streit B - Another huge improvement from this time last year. Both on offense and defense. Gives us a little firepower on the second wave of the PP.
Dandenault - Incomplete - I missed the first few games of the year. So no comment. Bouillon gets and incomplete also for obvious reasons.
Ryder B minus - his points are there, but he seems to have slowed down in the last few games. He doesn't use his linemates enough. Sometimes he just puts the blinders on and starts stickhandling through 2 or 3 opponents and loses the puck.
Koivu A minus - Not because of his point total. Koivu is Koivu though. He gives you all he has and makes his linemates better. Can still give us more though which might happen if the second keeps up their good work of the past game and a half.
Higgins A+ - I don't think we can ask anymore from this guy but if we get more we won't complain. Enough said. I doubt I'll get too many arguments.
Kovalev C+ - I know it's Kovy and some games you don't notice him too much but he can just amaze you with a flash here and a picture perfect goal out of nowhere. I still think he could have done more. He should shoulder the blame for the second lines ineffectiveness as much as his linemates.
Plekanec D - I wasn't expected a lot of points, and I didn't get them either. I did expect him to do a little better defensively. What are you gonna do though. You play with Kovy and Sammy, you get the puck, you pass the puck and hope to get it back some day.
Sammy C - Pretty harsh on the second line I know. But for eight games they gave us almost nothing. It is looking better now so, lets cross our fingers that they keep it up.
Johnson A minus. PK and some points. Can't complain there. THe guy just comes to work. Helped Bonk fit in better.
Bonk A minus. PK and some points again. You gotta give him his props and to the entire line for the opposing teams #1 lines not having huge nights against us.
Perez. A minus. I think moving Perez to the second line might be a bigger reason why the second line has done better in the past two games then putting Kovy on center. Unlike Pleks, Perez likes to handle the puck, but he doesn't over handle it like Sammy and Kovy. Plus I've always liked Perez cycle game. The points are starting to add up too. He has also scored the best looking goal I've seen by a Hab this year. And he did it against the Leafs. Ha!
Downey C+ - Let's face it, this guy will never get an A unless it's for effort. Having said that, the effort is always there. He's a vet and a hitter though. He should know you don't go through center ice with your head down. Good team guy and good momentum changer when he's out there hitting.
Begin C+ - Another of those guys where an A would be more for effort. But his line was a minus and Begin has to shoulder the blame for that. He played with a goon and a rookie. Hopefully on the wing, with Pleks at center, he'll turn into the Begin of the past two seasons.
Lats C - I wasn't expecting much from him to begin with on the 4th line. Just go out there, hit someone, learn something, maybe once in a while you'll get a point. Well we're still waiting for the points, but those will come. We have seen an improvement in almost every game so far. On the third line, the points should come soon. He gives that line a more physical dimension then Perez did.
Murray D+ - I may catch some flack on this one, but he doesn't seem to be the same Garth Murray as last year. He didn't seem to be as physical as last year where last year you could insert instead of Downey and you couldn't tell the difference when he went into the corner. Doesn't look the same this year.