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Kevin Bieksa you are really...


Zigmund.Palffy

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As Garry Valk likes to say, stats are for losers. If you watch enough games, Bieksa tends to give the puck away at the most inopportune times. Givesaways and takeaways should not be treated equally.

Also, Bieksa tends to play with better forward units (ie. Sedin line) where he racks up plenty of 2nd assists.

The giveaways I can understand, but a takeaway is a takeaway.

Stats are still a useful tool and just because Mr. Valk has opinion it doesn't make it fact, much like his opinion on stats. ;)

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He was Average

We didnt loose that game on bieksa's penalty we lost it with how much Luo looked like a back up in the shoot out. How can you blame that loss on Kevin i mean he didnt play bad at all, the whole game was really close. Then Luo took over and just blew it in the Shoot out, not only that what was kesler thinking just shooting it right at the goalie, and raymond get the puck up I mean you know Quick is a butterfly goalie GET THE PUCK UP!!. but really the game was awsome Luo just sucked in the shoot out he allways sucks in the shoot out

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Well I'm not going to say he's better than the other dmen on this team, but that's not due to him not being a top-4. We have 6 top 4 defense on this team when Salo's not injured. The others might outplay him sometimes, but other times he might outplay one of the other defensemen. Players make mistakes.

As for killing the rush, I would imagine sometimes you want plays to be made casually, especially if the other team's on a rampage. Slows the other team down. He has patience with that and that's a virtue. His turnovers tend to be singled out from his good plays mostly because everyone has him under a microscope, especially since he wasn't traded.

With the grit, of course he could be grittier, but consider that he also created the most takaways from any of our defenders last season. Another interesting stat: Ehrhoff had almost double the giveaways last season as Bieksa.

EDIT: Edler also had almost as many giveaways as Ehrhoff.

If you are worse than four other d-men on the team, that means you are NOT a top four d-men. You know, I really, really wish Bieksa would get traded out of here because I think it would be good for the team, but my beef isn't really with him. The problem is coaching. Bieksa has not played well enough to warrant the ice time he gets and that's the coach's decision. Do I blame him for signing the contract? No. Do I blame him for playing when he gets the call? No. It's the coach's job to recognize that the player isn't good enough to play 20+ minutes a game and AV is not doing that. I've said many times before that I think more often than not this team wins despite AV, not because of him. So, the 'hate' for Bieksa is really a wish that he wasn't being mismanaged. I'd love to see him as a 5th d-man at 5th d-man money playing 5th d-man minutes. As a top 4 guy, he's a liability.

Edit: I really think it's worth noting that even those people saying he played ok often qualify the comment with "for Bieksa." That tells you something. If he doesn't royally screw up, it's a good game. He needs to be a positive contributor to warrant the minutes he gets and, mostly, he gets credit for not being a detriment. Not good enough. Even when he does do something good, it stands out from his disinterested or poor play so much that it looks amazing when, really, it's what should be expected of a guy who plays the minutes he plays, with the guys he plays with, at the pay-grade he's in.

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My take on Bieksa tonight:

The Bad

- a few key turnovers.

- two bad penalties that thankfully didnt result in goals but also seemed to switch momentum to the Kings.

- made some interesting defensive reads and let guys walk around him a few times.

The Good:

- made good offensive pinches for the most part and was moving the puck pretty well. He did overdo it a few times and went deep into the offensive zone when he didnt really need to, but not often enough to complain. Others covered or him pretty well there.

- communication with Hamhuis seemed good.

- got back to a more effective physical style of play.

Overall not a bad night for Bieksa, imo. He wasnt great and I would honestly rather see Edler or Ballard with Hamhuis (especially considering how good Ballard played tonight), but Bieksa was solid. He needs to concentrate on not taking bad penalties for sure. But lets give the guy some credit here. He wasnt horrible tonight.

not to mention the 2 calls were very borderline calls... especially the one in OT

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My take on Bieksa tonight:

The Bad

- a few key turnovers.

- two bad penalties that thankfully didnt result in goals but also seemed to switch momentum to the Kings.

- made some interesting defensive reads and let guys walk around him a few times.

The Good:

- made good offensive pinches for the most part and was moving the puck pretty well. He did overdo it a few times and went deep into the offensive zone when he didnt really need to, but not often enough to complain. Others covered or him pretty well there.

- communication with Hamhuis seemed good.

- got back to a more effective physical style of play.

Overall not a bad night for Bieksa, imo. He wasnt great and I would honestly rather see Edler or Ballard with Hamhuis (especially considering how good Ballard played tonight), but Bieksa was solid. He needs to concentrate on not taking bad penalties for sure. But lets give the guy some credit here. He wasnt horrible tonight.

Nice to see the balance, once again.

Good post,

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1. He coughs up the puck in his own zone on a regular basis due to casual play or bad passes. He also enjoys killing a rush behind the net.

2. He does have some speed on occasion and can contribute on the rush, but usually doesn't due to (1)

3. What grit? He makes an angry face, that's about it. He doesn't throw many good hits, he doesn't fight, and he doesn't clear out the front of the net, so what is grit?

4. Nothing. He did relatively nothing. And when you're eating up the salary he is, you shouldn't be given a passing grade for doing nothing. In fact, I thought tonight was a pretty good game for him and the only notable things he did were take two stupid penalties.

5. I don't really care if he fights. In fact, paying someone his salary to fight seems silly, but I keep hearing he's tough and 'has grit,' so I'm wondering what it is. It's definitely not fighting.

6. I don't know what he brings to the dressing room. I'm sure he's a nice enough guy and the other players probably like him just fine. He's wearing the A, so maybe he does have some leadership. But, you know what, so do a lot of other guys and I would hope they would bring it on the ice, not just in the dressing room.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying Bieksa isn't an NHL d-man. He's just not a top four d-man on most teams, and definitely not on this team. Is he really better than Edler, Erhoff, Hamhuis, and Ballard, not to mention Salo when (if) he returns? So, if he's not a top four guy, why is he making top four money when that could be spent elsewhere and and why is he eating top four minutes (doing things like taking penalties in overtime). You could say that was a tough call in OT and maybe it was, but they've been calling the pick regularly in the NHL for years and it was obvious that Bieksa knew it was a penalty the moment he did it. He's just not a smart player. Add that to his list of skills I guess.

Because our previous GM decided to offer him that contract.Would you of took it if it was offered to you?

Your statement about him not being Top 4 on this team is correct,however im sure i've seen somewhere that AV was going to ease Ballard along gently due to the hip operation he had in the summer.Bieksa is the scapegoat for these boards,yes he makes the occasional dumb play but his mistakes are magnified x10000 compared to others on the team.

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We didnt loose that game on bieksa's penalty we lost it with how much Luo looked like a back up in the shoot out. How can you blame that loss on Kevin i mean he didnt play bad at all, the whole game was really close. Then Luo took over and just blew it in the Shoot out, not only that what was kesler thinking just shooting it right at the goalie, and raymond get the puck up I mean you know Quick is a butterfly goalie GET THE PUCK UP!!. but really the game was awsome Luo just sucked in the shoot out he allways sucks in the shoot out

:rolleyes: sometimes i really have to read things twice because i cant believe what some people type here

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not to mention the 2 calls were very borderline calls... especially the one in OT

I agree they were borderline calls.

On the flip side, it is up to Bieksa to know that the refs are going to be looking hard for the opportunity to call those.

The elbow to the head was a BS call or sure, but Bieksa overdid it on the hit and attracted the penalty.

In OT, there was no reason for him to interfere with the Kings player at all. It wasnt going to help anyway.

He just needs to realize that a little bump here or a bit too much aggression there is all the refs need to call a penalty.

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Bieksa showed us all tonight why he should be traded at the first available opportunity. His cap hit is terrible for what he provides IMO. The sooner he's gone the better though it may be we have trouble moving him

Stick to rugby. You're blind.

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Because our previous GM decided to offer him that contract.Would you of took it if it was offered to you?

Your statement about him not being Top 4 on this team is correct,however im sure i've seen somewhere that AV was going to ease Ballard along gently due to the hip operation he had in the summer.Bieksa is the scapegoat for these boards,yes he makes the occasional dumb play but his mistakes are magnified x10000 compared to others on the team.

I don't blame Bieksa for signing the contract, or for taking the ice time. Of course he does. He's being badly managed, which is typical of AV. But, if you're looking for players that are not good enough to be on this team or players who harmed their team tonight, Bieksa is one of them.

Bieksa's mistakes are magnified so much because they are so frequent and so costly. Look, every player is going to take dumb penalties once in a while. The first penalty Bieksa too was simply stupid and undisciplined, but it wasn't at a crucial time and can be forgiven. The penalty he took in OT wasn't the most black and white call, but it was interference, it's been called regularly in the NHL, he's a veteran player, and, perhaps most importantly, it was obvious he knew it was a penalty the moment he did it (a good sign of guilt is the 'what did i do?' hands in the air BEFORE the refs arm goes up). That said, is it the worst penalty ever? No. Would it have been as 'magnified' if another player did the same thing? Probably not. But, the reason it is focused on is that Bieksa so consistently makes errors at important times. And that's a player you don't want on the ice for 1/3 of every game.

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I don't blame Bieksa for signing the contract, or for taking the ice time. Of course he does. He's being badly managed, which is typical of AV. But, if you're looking for players that are not good enough to be on this team or players who harmed their team tonight, Bieksa is one of them.

Bieksa's mistakes are magnified so much because they are so frequent and so costly. Look, every player is going to take dumb penalties once in a while. The first penalty Bieksa too was simply stupid and undisciplined, but it wasn't at a crucial time and can be forgiven. The penalty he took in OT wasn't the most black and white call, but it was interference, it's been called regularly in the NHL, he's a veteran player, and, perhaps most importantly, it was obvious he knew it was a penalty the moment he did it (a good sign of guilt is the 'what did i do?' hands in the air BEFORE the refs arm goes up). That said, is it the worst penalty ever? No. Would it have been as 'magnified' if another player did the same thing? Probably not. But, the reason it is focused on is that Bieksa so consistently makes errors at important times. And that's a player you don't want on the ice for 1/3 of every game.

This man deserves more than one quote. QFTQFTQFTQFTQFT.

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