Who is that pic for your avitar? Whitfield.

jr, who is that pic of for your avatar?

Whitfield?

Whitfield?

Yes...that would be Trent "The Scoring Machine" Whitfield.

Yes...that would be Trent "The Scoring Machine" Whitfield.

hahahah, how 'bout Trent "The Michael J. of Hockey" Whitfield.

hahahah, how 'bout Trent "The Michael J. of Hockey" Whitfield.

You go to far... :eek:

At least Whitfield still has his nose...
And really he has a role on this team. Albeit marginal but he has earned his stay right now. If for nothing more then the game winner vs the Rangers.

You go to far... :eek:

At least Whitfield still has his nose...
And really he has a role on this team. Albeit marginal but he has earned his stay right now. If for nothing more then the game winner vs the Rangers.


Over the last handfull of games, I think Whitfield has played better than Halpern.

-1 on this team in 23 games may be the most commendable stat on the entire roster.
I think Berry and his -2 in 38 games is the most commendable...although most wont agree.

As for Whitfield...I think he's perfect for the 3rd line center. I've always thought Halpern could be a second line center...if given the chance to play his style of game. Hanlon is giving him that chance and he's producing. Im one of the few that actually like the little bugger...won't ever get any grief from me about Halpern.

Whitfield is fine for the 3rd line...for now. Sutherby or Gordon will be ready eventually and Whitfield will get bumped down to #4.

Over the last handfull of games, I think Whitfield has played better than Halpern.

Let's not get carried away here. Trent Whitfield has played well in a checking role and is a respectable 4th line center. I think its pretty obvious, though, that at even strenth Peter Bondra's offensive chances have about disappeared since he has been skating Whitfield's wing.

On the other hand Halpern's game goes to a completely different level than does Whitfield's. His capabilities are just noticably greater.

I like Trent and expect to see him on the team next year, if there is one. But lets now build him up too far.

Let's not get carried away here. Trent Whitfield has played well in a checking role and is a respectable 4th line center. I think its pretty obvious, though, that at even strenth Peter Bondra's offensive chances have about disappeared since he has been skating Whitfield's wing.

On the other hand Halpern's game goes to a completely different level than does Whitfield's. His capabilities are just noticably greater.

I like Trent and expect to see him on the team next year, if there is one. But lets now build him up too far.

Well no, I'm just saying I think Whitfield looks more comfortable now in the checking role, than Halpern did/does right now. If Halpern cannot produce on the 1st or 2nd lines, where does he go?

Halpern's problem with his checking role was based purely on the passive nature of the checking. Halpern is a forechecker. What made Halpern-Kono-Dahlen(grier) so strong as a checking line was that they kept the puck in the offensive end and away from the other teams top line. you can't do that with a passive trap.
Since Hanlon became the coach, Halpern is a plus player.

As for Hanlon's style of checking, he seems to want to use Zubrus against the big players like Thornton and Whitfield against the rest with Bondra there to make up for Whitfield's general lack of speed.

I don't see Whitfield as a shut down/3rd line player. Do you? I see his role as a 4th line player with face off capability. Though, hanlon seems to lean on Halpern for critical face offs.

I like whitfield as a 4th line center and I agree that he'll probably be with the team next year in that roll.

I like whitfield as a 4th line center and I agree that he'll probably be with the team next year in that roll.

That should be "too far"...But my spelling aside his performance on the 3rd line has been decent. He may get pummeled against the true top players in the NHL but on most nights he does his job and I think does it well. He has potted a couple goals (which was the major knock against him in the past) and he is managing only a -1 in mainly a defensive role. -1 on this team in 23 games may be the most commendable stat on the entire roster.

he will be up against a numbers game though. if there is a next year. zubrus, halpern, sutherby, gordon are there. thats leaving lang out of the mix. with him thats 5. zubrus, halpern, gordon and sutherby can all play wing as halpern is now.

i think that whitfield might well make the next team, but its not a lock

Halpern is a -6 since Hanlon took over. Whitfield is a -1.
This includes Halperns 7g-5a-12pts!! A -6 with 12 points under Hanlon...

As far as faceoffs are concerned, Whitfield averages about 13 a game--Halpern 17 so only minor differences. However, they both win an identical 54%.

he will be up against a numbers game though. if there is a next year. zubrus, halpern, sutherby, gordon are there. thats leaving lang out of the mix. with him thats 5. zubrus, halpern, gordon and sutherby can all play wing as halpern is now.

i think that whitfield might well make the next team, but its not a lock

True...I would hope that Gordon and Sutherby get more time in Portland but if they are both ready it is better for the long term to move one of them onto the 3rd line center role. I still don't want either of them on the 4th line so maybe he still grabs that spot...maybe not...who knows at this point.
If all things remain the same and there is a lockout my guess is that I may get to see all three in Portland...I think that Whitfield is on a one year, two-way deal, and if Whitfield signs another two way deal he will be able to play next year in Portland. I've read that a lot of the marginal players on two-way deals will end up in the AHL. Most won't have the usual opportunities to defect to Europe since there is going to be an exodus of NHL regulars clogging the Euro Elite Leagues. Two-way deals will be the only way guys like Whitfield survive next season.

I think that the best hope for Sutherby and Gordon to spend another year in Portland is a long lockout.

There is no question that Sutherby, Gordon, Semin, & Eminger are critical players to the Capitals plans. With the salary cap situation that is coming I find it very hard to believe that the Capitals will have cap room for solid nhl veterans to take the roster spots that those 4 young guys are earmarked for. 3 of those 4 guys compete at a solid nhl level or the Caps lose.

the other scenario is that the caps trade off the big 4 and at that point the Caps will need at least a couple of those guys just to field a team.

by the way...can anyone watching Portland tell me what has happened to Gordon's offensive game? does Army have him playing the high spot in the wilson wedge?
he has one goal this season combined and hasnt scored since game #2. i realize that portland is offensive gridlock and the ahl in general is a lot of 1-0, 2-0. but i am pretty shocked to see that gordon is still a flat line.

"does Army have him playing the high spot in the wilson wedge?"

That pretty much sums it up without going into any long diatribe on why Portland isn’t scoring. Last weekend the D was activating (my Lauckerism of the night) a little bit more and the center spent a little more time in front of the net. But essentially the center is a third D-man and may occasionally grind it out in the corners if they are cycling the puck. I was hoping at least to see some success on the PP with Gordon and Eminger but even that looks closer to Special Ed then Special Teams. If GM really wants these guys to score Army needs to open up the game.