Niemi.....

[Likewall32]

All I gotta say about him is...

Im sure there will be people defending his play, but he's back to booting out stupid rebonds this game. Bad enough he was already awful through out the whole season, now the bad rebound aspect of his game returns...

Only goal I give credit for was the one that went off the D to the kings player, and even that one wasnt to great.

Only game he's played good in was game 1... And he started stinkin the last week of the season. Like I posted before, I gave him full credit during his hot streak but always warned, wait til he comes back down to earth and starts playing his true self...

Oh and WHY oh WHY has Jamie McGinn been playing and Ben Eager isnt??

 

[Cmon_WTF]

All I gotta say about him is...

Im sure there will be people defending his play, but he's back to booting out stupid rebonds this game. Bad enough he was already awful through out the whole season, now the bad rebound aspect of his game returns...

Only goal I give credit for was the one that went off the D to the kings player, and even that one wasnt to great.

Only game he's played good in was game 1... And he started stinkin the last week of the season. Like I posted before, I gave him full credit during his hot streak but always warned, wait til he comes back down to earth and starts playing his true self...

Oh and WHY oh WHY has Jamie McGinn been playing and Ben Eager isnt??

Probably because his defensive play has be nothing short of bush league. McLellan seems to like his 4th liners being strong defensively and Eager has been anything but.

 

[Cbrower91]

did you not watch the last 3 minutes of the 3rd and first 2 minutes of the OT? Niemi is the reason Thornton had a chance to win it

 

[li0lsh]

Niemi stepped up.

Good to see.

 

[Likewall32]

did you not watch the last 3 minutes of the 3rd and first 2 minutes of the OT? Niemi is the reason Thornton had a chance to win it

Did you watch the game?? It shoulda never have went to overtime...
Did you watch game 5? It should hve never gotten to game six...
Did you watch Gme 2 & game 3?? Game 4 Ill let slide cause there was such a huge lead that woulda been impossible to blow...

Did you know LA is missing its far & away top scorer??

 

[Likewall32]

Probably because his defensive play has be nothing short of bush league. McLellan seems to like his 4th liners being strong defensively and Eager has been anything but.

Didnt realize that... Wonder when that happened... He was a huge presence last year for chicago. Its often mentioned on local sports shows how Eagers physical & defensive play is what the hawks miss the most in this years playoffs (Ill have to disagree with that & cast my vote for Buff & Ladd)

Is Mcginn really actually better then someone on an NHL roster? Thats shocking, and that penality shouldnt have been a major...

 

[Toolrulzz]

Niemi hasn't been lights out or anything but he's been better than you make it sound. It's not his fault Wallin and Boyle were horrendous in this series. There's obviously still hope for Boyle, but Wallin is just a disaster on skates. I haven't had a whipping boy for a while. I guess I can thank him for filling that role for me lol.

 

[Likewall32]

The thing with Niemi and those awful rebounds is it turns routine saves into scoring chances... Innocent plays into threatening ones... Its not something you want to have to worry bout when you facing teams like Chi, Vanc or Det in rd 2... This series was made way more closer then it should have been (which is a bad thing) and its because of one player: NIEMI. Theres no denying that...

Niemi GP6 W3 L2 SA139 GA19 GAA4.00 Svs120 S%.863

Thats downright awful, no to mention that majority of those goals were absolutely terrible... But hey, im in a minority on this one apparently... That play vs Vanc, Det or Chi is just a nightmare waiting to unfold...

 

[filosofy29]

Niemi did have a beyond brutal series. That said, I thought he was pretty good tonight Likewall. I didn't like his first rebound, but the other two were unstoppable. Boyle has to tie up Smyth's stick and the other one he had to respect the shot, but it bounced off Wallin's boot right to the Kings player. I thought the first one was the only questionable goal (and only because of his rebound control.....or lack thereof). If you blame him for the other two, you're being really unfair imo.

He had a horrid first series against Nashville too, followed by two strong ones. Hopefully that is the case this year too.....the Sharks are gonna need him big time.

 

[Likewall32]

Niemi hasn't been lights out or anything but he's been better than you make it sound. It's not his fault Wallin and Boyle were horrendous in this series. There's obviously still hope for Boyle, but Wallin is just a disaster on skates. I haven't had a whipping boy for a while. I guess I can thank him for filling that role for me lol.

He hasnt been better then anything haha Is there a worse goalie so far these playoffs?? Even Luongos numbers are better then his an Lu's been pretty bad himself, but at least you can say he's facing a team with Kane, Sharp, Toews, Hossa & Bolland... Who's Niemi facing? Old man Smith? Dissapearing Penner? Common, blame wallin & boyle all you want for bad clears & what not, but the plays that resulted from those mishaps were not great plays with good scoring chances. Those are shots that have to be stopped. They are majority dead on shots that were just misplayed...

 

[Cmon_WTF]

Didnt realize that... Wonder when that happened... He was a huge presence last year for chicago. Its often mentioned on local sports shows how Eagers physical & defensive play is what the hawks miss the most in this years playoffs (Ill have to disagree with that & cast my vote for Buff & Ladd)

Is Mcginn really actually better then someone on an NHL roster? Thats shocking, and that penality shouldnt have been a major...

McGinn doesn't bring much to the table but it isn't hard for him to replace what Eager was bringing. Eager really wasn't playing very physical and his defensive play was quite poor. I don't know if he's injured or what but he's not playing like the Eager who played for Chicago last year or even the Eager we saw during the regular season for the Sharks.

 

[Nimesis23]

I completely agree with Likewall and I've felt this way for the entire year and especially so in this series. If we are unfortunate enough to play Chicago next round, I can guarantee Niemi is going to get exposed and we'll be lucky to win a single fucking game. I'm not saying its been all his fault this series, because the Sharks D has been utterly shitty, but the guy kicks out way too many rebounds and is prone to letting in soft goals at inopportune times. How do you allow 3 goals in the first 10 minutes of a fucking pivotal playoff game? People used to whine about Nabby letting in soft goals, but Nabby carried this team on his back many times in the playoffs over the past 10 years and he has won entire playoff series with his play. Until Niemi does the same, I refuse to drink the kool-aid that's being sold by Doug Wilson, management, and being promoted heavily by Randy and Drew by amping the shit out of every single routine save the guy makes. He's a total fraud who won the cup because Chicago's all star caliber defense corps. made sure to clear out the atrocious rebounds that he let in and covered for his ass in ways that our D can't even dream of doing.

 

[Likewall32]

I didn't like his first rebound, but the other two were unstoppable. If you blame him for the other two, you're being really unfair imo.
.

What I didnt like about the 2nd goal is that he makes the first stop (on a not difficult low shot) and then he seems to freeze up. How many of those did Quick battle where he, bare with me on the crazy idea, lunges for the puck to try & cover it, or sprawl for a 2nd save. With Niemi is jus seems, low shot, save, stuck in initial animation, goal.

I donno, I give a lot of rebounds when I play, but Im always moving to the direction of where the pucks going to make a 2nd or 3rd save. I gave up one just like his 2nd goal in my league thursday night, even had the Dman playing their guy like SJ was, and I did not blame the D on that at all. I thought it was a terrible goal on my part, my stick shoulda been there pushing that rebound away. In that half second you have to react, despite what it looks like while watching, there is plenty of things you can do. It was a brain fart on my part & Niemies brain seems to fart alot on those low shots...

 

[Likewall32]

Until Niemi does the same, I refuse to drink the kool-aid that's being sold by Doug Wilson, management, and being promoted heavily by Randy and Drew by amping the shit out of every single routine save the guy makes. He's a total fraud who won the cup because Chicago's all star caliber defense corps. made sure to clear out the atrocious rebounds that he let in and covered for his ass in ways that our D can't even dream of doing.

I need to find out who Niemi hired to brainwash everyone, cause money is tight these days & I think if I can hire that guy I have a legitiment shot of making it to the NHL, and better yet, staying in the NHL even when I blow ass hahaha And to gain brownie points, whenever I make a glove save instead of freezing the puck, Ill drop kick the fuck outa it NFL punter style... That should put me in the running for a team MVP award

 

[filosofy29]

I need to find out who Niemi hired to brainwash everyone, cause money is tight these days & I think if I can hire that guy I have a legitiment shot of making it to the NHL, and better yet, staying in the NHL even when I blow ass hahaha And to gain brownie points, whenever I make a glove save instead of freezing the puck, Ill drop kick the fuck outa it NFL punter style... That should put me in the running for a team MVP award

I don't get the idea that anybody is drinking the kool-aide. I get the feeling that a lot of us (myself included) think he's a lot better than what we thought. I thought he was going to be awful on the Sharks. He turned out to be alright. Rares downright hated him as did Korky when he officially signed. I think Rares still hates him and Korky is sold on him being a lot better than he thought. Are their posters on here who think he's God's gift? Maybe I'm not reading it correctly?

 

[SJVP408]

McGinn doesn't bring much to the table but it isn't hard for him to replace what Eager was bringing. Eager really wasn't playing very physical and his defensive play was quite poor. I don't know if he's injured or what but he's not playing like the Eager who played for Chicago last year or even the Eager we saw during the regular season for the Sharks.

I was wondering about Eager in the GDT.

I think Niemi had some tough moments in this game. He made very good saves for sure, but there were times I saw the rebounds going and it was fortunate that it only hurt him once this game. He made a huge stop on Smyth during the 5 minute PK. The third goal he had no chance.

 

[Likewall32]

I don't get the idea that anybody is drinking the kool-aide. I get the feeling that a lot of us (myself included) think he's a lot better than what we thought. I thought he was going to be awful on the Sharks. He turned out to be alright. Rares downright hated him as did Korky when he officially signed. I think Rares still hates him and Korky is sold on him being a lot better than he thought. Are their posters on here who think he's God's gift? Maybe I'm not reading it correctly?

Posters defend his mistakes & make excuses to validate his terrible play, where they would crusify Nabby for making mistakes that were no where near as awful and as frequent. I believe thats what he's getting at with his original post bout the kool-aid drinkers... Even this season, Nitty makes a shit play and its Nitty blows ass, why do we play this bum etc... Niemi makes 5 of the same bad plays and its, it was the D, it was a bad bounce, it was a great shot, he will bounce back and be incredible... Its never his fault and its pretty rediculous how bad its gotten...

And there were plenty of posters making him out to be Gods gift that would say he will steal playoff series & games, something that Nabby would never do. and thats a complete crock. For all the critism Nabby has always got, he was pretty damn good in the playoffs despite bad goal support.

Flash back a few years ago, if this was Nabby/Boosh combo, and Nabby had played this bad, is there any questio in your mind that Boosh wouldnt start game 6?? With Niemi/God combo, and its been this way ALL year even with ECHL oct-dec Niemi, im sorry God, but your gonna have to sit the bench again, we gotta let Niemi play through this...

 

[filosofy29]

Posters defend his mistakes & make excuses to validate his terrible play, where they would crusify Nabby for making mistakes that were no where near as awful and as frequent. I believe thats what he's getting at with his original post bout the kool-aid drinkers... Even this season, Nitty makes a shit play and its Nitty blows ass, why do we play this bum etc... Niemi makes 5 of the same bad plays and its, it was the D, it was a bad bounce, it was a great shot, he will bounce back and be incredible... Its never his fault and its pretty rediculous how bad its gotten...

And there were plenty of posters making him out to be Gods gift that would say he will steal playoff series & games, something that Nabby would never do. and thats a complete crock. For all the critism Nabby has always got, he was pretty damn good in the playoffs despite bad goal support.

Flash back a few years ago, if this was Nabby/Boosh combo, and Nabby had played this bad, is there any questio in your mind that Boosh wouldnt start game 6?? With Niemi/God combo, and its been this way ALL year even with ECHL oct-dec Niemi, im sorry God, but your gonna have to sit the bench again, we gotta let Niemi play through this...

I do agree with the bottom part. Niitty got the short end of the stick for sure this season. He played lights out 90% of his starts and then have 1 bad game and inexplicably get benched, whereas Niemi was able to work through his mistakes. In turn though, I'm kind of glad with how things have turned out because as much as I love Niitty, I just don't think the guy is durable enough to carry the load.

Nabby wasn't good in the playoffs that often.....but neither were the Sharks. The same will be true of Niemi; he'll only be as good as the Sharks play. I think everybody in here was saying how horrid he's been this series. he was God-awful all series (save for game 1).

 

[Cmon_WTF]

Outside of the 1st month of the season Niittymaki's play ranged from not good to flat out terribad, and certainly never reached a level to give McLellan reason to start him over Niemi. Niemi was very poor this series but his play over the course of the season was far better than anything Niittymaki showed.

 

[SJVP408]

I get what you're saying Likewall, but I don't think many are giving him the pass like you say. Many posters are saying he had an inconsistent series. Had it not been for the miracle game 3 comeback, that's a loss squarely on Niemi. For game 6, I'd say he had a chance on the first and second goals by controlling his rebounds a bit better. It was about even this series whereas you want your goalie to come up with the big saves more often than not. So I don't think Niemi had a good series.

Niemi gets a chance because he has to succeed, the Sharks are strapped with him for another 4 years.