The Defense Doesn't Rest

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Harold
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The Defense Doesn't Rest

Post by Harold »

Anyone else completely thrilled with how are top 5 (heck even our top 6) has worked out so far this season? People were talking before the season about our supposed lack of depth, but our D has been great so far.
Salo has been extraordinary, and one of the best players on the team (Nonis HAS to find a way to sign this guy next summer). Ohlund has been playing like the top-pairing defenceman that he is. Mitchell has been solid, not flashy, but almost like a rock back there. And the two biggest suprises:
Bieksa and Krajicek. Krajicek is a slick skater, and moves the puck well. He also seems to be very good positionally. And Bieksa has show an offensive side that I didn't know he had (the guy should have about 4 goals by now with all of the posts he has hit), to go along with his nastiness. Even Fitzpatrick has been good in the limited time he receives as a #6.
I think as long as Bieksa and Krajicek continue with their impressive play we will be completely set on D this season.
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tantalum
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Post by tantalum »

As i mentioned in another thread...Bieksa has made great strides over the summer. His play thus far is so much better than last year.

Perhaps i was teh only one but i wasn't that worried about Krajicek. While he was on a bad team and got a chance because of it, he ran with that chance and played well. I thought he could do it.

Still, the D-men need to learn that they can hit people in front of the net if they've played the puck instead of allowing the opposition to get repeated chances. Hopefully that will come.

The system also has something to do with it I think. The D-men know the forwards are going to help out while under Crawford it really seemd as though it was only the guys with a defensive hcokey sense that helped out. It leads to less running around by the D-men I think and ultimately less chances against and less shots against (yes shots against and chances against are directly realted over the long term...every coach in teh history of hockey has preached reducing shots because of that).
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nuxfanindallas
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Post by nuxfanindallas »

I would totally agree with everything Harold said, except for the fact that I think Fitzpatrick has been complete garbage. He's giving away the puck on a regular basis, and can't seem to ever get the puck out of our own end. He's simply not skilled enough.....

That said, Bieksa has been MILES ahead of where I thought he'd be and where he was last season, and Krajicek has all the tools of a great defenseman except physicality.

Oh if Luc could see a sports shrink, we'd be set....
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Post by Kel »

nuxfanindallas wrote:I would totally agree with everything Harold said, except for the fact that I think Fitzpatrick has been complete garbage. He's giving away the puck on a regular basis, and can't seem to ever get the puck out of our own end. He's simply not skilled enough.....
I don't think he's that bad. He's a decent 5/6 guy, which means he sometimes makes mistakes or can't handle better opponents well. However, I think his overall game is fine and he does make pretty good passes usually, so I have no problem with him holding his spot. His play is way better than Bourdon's so far this season (and preseason)
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Post by MarkMM »

I think Fitzpatrick is fine for what we pay him for, a depth guy who eats ice-time without doing too much damage. Yes, he's made some mistakes, but at times, he's also been fairly reliable, so given that he's making $525k, not too bad.
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Post by ververgaert »

I thought Willie as suposed to be tough? Havn't seen anything yet that would suggest that in the least.

It sure was embarassing last night to see Ohlund nail Hemskey and then have two Oilers come over to him to warn him and have nobody do anything when our top d-man is being basically challenged.

Salo has been great from what iv'e seen, ditto with Ohlund.

Bieska and Mitchell havn't impressed me with there physicality but seem to be holding there own defensively.
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Post by gobi »

Defensively the D is playing much better but it is sacrificing O. Early last season, our D was a large component of the Canucks offense and they were like a second wave of forwards. Now, other than Salo, I don't see the D contributing that much to the offense. I guess that is to be expected though in a defense first system.
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the Cunning Linguist
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Post by the Cunning Linguist »

I think as others have already said that the d looks better so far this year because the entire team plays defence and the system provides a lot of support for those 6 guys. I dunno if BXA, Fitz and Krajicek would look as good under Crow's schemes. Don't get me wrong, I think that it's a terrific change and one for the better given that this team is basically one line and some guy in net named Luongo. Until they can get any kind of secondary scoring going, I think defence is what this team will need to do best. And really, except for that one game against San Jose, they've played pretty well against other teams...
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sic puppy
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Post by sic puppy »

the Cunning Linguist wrote: I dunno if BXA, Fitz and Krajicek would look as good under Crow's schemes.
Or even if they would be getting minutes.
the Cunning Linguist wrote: I think defence is what this team will need to do best. And really, except for that one game against San Jose, they've played pretty well against other teams...
Agree at this point of the schedule. For sure there will be nights when 5 or 6 goals will find the back of the Nuck net, but hopefully they will be rare.

After game 7, Ohlund leads the team in hits with 12, Salo and Fitz have 6 each and Mitchell has but 2. An interesting stat, altho' as many have pointed out, the "hit" stat is not a true picture of what happens on ice.
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Island Nucklehead
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Post by Island Nucklehead »

smalien wrote: After game 7, Ohlund leads the team in hits with 12, Salo and Fitz have 6 each and Mitchell has but 2. An interesting stat, altho' as many have pointed out, the "hit" stat is not a true picture of what happens on ice.
Don't those totals seem pretty low to you guys? I would have thought people like Cooke and Burrows would be getting at least 2 hits/game. What do we pay Cookie 1.5 million for again?
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sic puppy
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Post by sic puppy »

Island Nucklehead wrote:
smalien wrote: After game 7, Ohlund leads the team in hits with 12, Salo and Fitz have 6 each and Mitchell has but 2. An interesting stat, altho' as many have pointed out, the "hit" stat is not a true picture of what happens on ice.
Don't those totals seem pretty low to you guys? I would have thought people like Cooke and Burrows would be getting at least 2 hits/game. What do we pay Cookie 1.5 million for again?
These were D men.....

This was a thread about the defense ;)

For the offence Cooke also has 12 and Pyatt has 7...
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