goaltender | damn we got hockey narratives tonight

oughhh.

the funny thing about discussions of robo's "rise" is that they continuously rehash how like, yes his shot was good but doubts about his skating dragged him down from the first round etc. in this kind of nebulous fashion... but if you actually look back on his junior career you realize His Shot Was Focking Good. like it wasn't just "he should have been a first rounder" it was always like oh this kid is CARRYING HIS TEAMS. and they were just letting it happen!!!

i think the reason robo has often felt like a ~fringe~ player to people is that he's always been just on the cusp of big things while still extremely consistent and elite in what he excelled at, which kept him in the back of people's minds without (until now) giving him the exact spotlight he was capable of, hence artificially inflating the consensus perception of his underratedness. like second-rounder but also consistently putting up huge jr numbers, calder runner-up but very much unanimously 2nd place... he's never been Quite there in a fairly definitive fashion and for easily identifiable reasons but was always close enough that people were like oh here's a guy who's going to be something probably. which is why people still had that "hasn't broken out as a star yet" mentality even at the start of the season lol

dy:

42g made up 24% of team's total scoring

d+1:

put up a consecutive season of 40g+

d+2:

60% of the team's total scoring

the thing about robo is that it's really not just that he's good. or efficient (5.52p/60) and effective (ranked 2nd all strengths, t-2nd 5v5, t-7th pp vs. mcdavid t-26th at 5v5). it's that he's fucking clutch!!!!! and always has been. and it really does feel like, given how cerebrally he plays, given how so much of his scoring magic is about vision and positioning, that with at the very least some element of speed in a passable center he is almost immune to suppressed offensive systems. 2021-22: 41g under bones on the only playoff team with a negative goal differential, led league in gwg, top line combined put up 44% of total team goals, etc. etc. you get it...... and i don't know. i could say a lot of things. it's about work ethic and drive and having no quit and the power of self-reflection in a generative sense, always looking toward what you can improve but also not fussing over the white noise:

Robertson: I started exceeding my own expectations coming into the year. I knew I had the skill and the smarts to play at that level but not to have all the production. I thought I could do it but I just didn’t think I was (actually) going to do it.

Gonzales expected to work with Robertson two or three days per week, as he does with most of his clients, but Robertson insisted on five days a week. [...] The thing that stuck out most to Gonzales was Robertson’s consistency.

"When the bubble concluded, I gave him a couple weeks, then called him," said Rich Peverley, the Stars' player development coordinator. "I said, 'I have a place for you to play in Europe,' because we wanted him to play. And this stands out in my head. He said, 'I really appreciate you doing that, but I know what I need to do to make it to the NHL, and it's not to play in games, I need to get a lot stronger and I need to get a lot faster.'"

there's a certain kind of maturity in being very much "guy who loves the game"—who has almost always just Wanted To Play and rushed to worlds after his rookie season understanding the impact he could carry—and ultimately knowing when and what you should be retooling. in this case, stride, endurance, physicality... picking up speed without sacrificing physical strength or becoming more vulnerable in puck battles, always pushing with exacting realism at areas of opportunity. i mean the baseline for most of these late-draft stories, with many bulkier/taller players too, is often that the skill was always there, and the development process was just getting the body the rest of the way. and, really: it's fun to have people like otter consistently affirm his psyche and drive, how even though he's a Top Line Guy and can get to practice late if he wants to he's always there doing goalie drills and obsessively putting in his practice minutes. take a shot every time jake calls him special!!!!

i think all the 2017 guys are similarly minded in some sense, which is why, aside from the obvious of their objective performances and the narrative fodder of occupying 3 different positions from 3 consecutive picks across 2 different rounds, there is such distinctively appreciative energy for the TrioTM. they're all guys (with their own unique and/or tumultuous paths to the nhl) who know exactly what they're here to do and what they have to do to achieve it. no fuss, all performance; otter can blank the ducks and still end the night as the 3rd most impressive player of the three. damn... maybe i just like the starscore because they're mentality monsters 😩 well anyway it's always time for the chart:

and i don't know. even if the "wow they got their franchise d-man goalie forward with 3 consecutive picks!!!1!!!" headline is tired by now and there have definitely been some major misses over the years, the stars being a relatively proven scouting success story in the nill era from a depth and value perspective, and how these picks alone have driven the team's emergent identity and build approach, is interesting to reflect on. miro has been the stars' only top-10 pick since... nichushkin. their pipeline hasn't necessarily been loaded but obviously wasn't supposed to be either, in the grand scheme of things, which is why scoring roop, robo, and stank in the 2nd are all arguably impressive feats.

*johnny (23oa)
dy: rookie + covid season, went 12-18-30 in 53gp
d+1: led ohl and chl in scoring (46-78-124 in 68gp, 1.82ppg)
d+2: first teenager to make stars roster since miro, 3rd in rookie goals

*stank (47oa)
dy:

d+1:

d+2:

yes he's on the blazers at 19 and the chl agreement is stupid. but one can only hope that he'll be another "fell to the 2nd round because he was 5'8 (which is basically 5'6)" success story, who at the very least exceeds expectations of his drafting (which is a low enough bar that he probably will). but who knows

+ then there's bourque who led the q with 2.19ppg in his d+2 year 😭 and was playoff mvp for the cats + alleged that the memcup push cut into his off-season ability to prepare for stars camp lmfao. but well... we'll see. the ahl is like impossible to follow so it's all vibes to me

:melting_face: the kids r all right. i mean there's always stuff to curb your enthusiasm over and there's still lots to not like but that's not what this post is about so.... anyway lmfao at this image:

p.s. some of us simply Knew and Predicted that seattle had wagon potential this year. jk don't quote me on this if they fall off again LOL but at the very least mattyb breakout calder run was inevitable and i love how burky fits on the team... and fleecing cbj for bjork had me admittedly optimistic. fun times

🤷‍♀️

damn we got hockey narratives tonight

damn we got hockey narratives tonight

not bad for a