Kevin Bieksa you are really...

[DownUndaCanuck]

All our D got embarassed tonight, except for maybe Ballard.

Edler was turned inside out by Toews at the end of the 2nd.

Hamhuis lay down dead and gave Kane an open net to score.

Bieksa pulled a Bieksa to allow a 2 on 0 against Luongo.

Ehrhoff was very sound defensively all night, but scored so he gets a pass.

YET STILL, KB GETS TEN MORE MINUTES OF ICETIME THAN BALLARD! WTF AV?

[wallstreetamigo]

Well if you ask me, we have 3 solid pairings right now. 2 with players that are prone to bad games, but who play with people that can bail them out. Whereas if you stick those two together, it'll be a slushfest out there.

But to each their own :D

Actually, I thought Bieksa and Alberts both looked better playing together than they have with any other partner. Both of them have had some of their best games this season playing together.

[wallstreetamigo]

Ballard had 4 hits, 8 blocked shots, and a +1.......yet still only got under 13 minutes. Can you imagine what he might do with real top 4 minutes?

He is EXACTLY the type of Dman this team needs to beat teams like Chicago.

[Sharpshooter]

Well if you ask me, we have 3 solid pairings right now. 2 with players that are prone to bad games, but who play with people that can bail them out. Whereas if you stick those two together, it'll be a slushfest out there.

But to each their own :D

On the whole, I thought Bieksa and Alberts had some pretty decent outings together, from what I recall. I wouldn't be opposed to them be paired together ever. Both tend to play very defensively when they're together....more cautiously might be a better description. Bieksa can play with anyone...much like all the guys in the top 4.

[RUPERTKBD]

All our D got embarassed tonight, except for maybe Ballard.

Edler was turned inside out by Toews at the end of the 2nd.

Hamhuis lay down dead and gave Kane an open net to score.

Bieksa pulled a Bieksa to allow a 2 on 0 against Luongo.

Ehrhoff was very sound defensively all night, but scored so he gets a pass.

YET STILL, KB GETS TEN MORE MINUTES OF ICETIME THAN BALLARD! WTF AV?

Honestly, I believe this is more about who they're playing with at this point.

I said in my earlier post that I didn't notice Alberts at all tonight. This is likely due to the fact that he had the least amount of ice time amongst the Canucks' D. (I didn't look this up, but I bet I'm right)

It's testament to just how good Ballard was that he was noticeable as one of the top two defensemen tonight, while paired with AA.

Bieksa, OTOH was paired with Hamhuis on the #2 pairing, thus ending up with the extra icetime. He may not have earned it, but Hammer did.

This would seem to dictate that Bieksa and Ballard be swapped, however, in what was a tight game right up to the last few minutes, there would be potential for disaster with such a move.

[danny sedin]

bieksa played a pretty good all around game tonight he knew when to step up and when to not but he got caught once when they had a 2 on 1 but that was it, i think he played pretty good tonight, and ballard should be getting more minutes hes playing pretty good too

[Sharpshooter]

Ballard had 4 hits, 8 blocked shots, and a +1.......yet still only got under 13 minutes. Can you imagine what he might do with real top 4 minutes?

He is EXACTLY the type of Dman this team needs to beat teams like Chicago.

It was his best game of his season. No doubt. Let's see if he plays that way the next few games....if he does and Bieksa stinks up the joint in the next few as well, then you've got a good argument to move him into the top 4.

Till then, relax a little with the "imagine what he could do with top 4 minutes". He very well might stink the joint up as well with the extra ice time. More ice time, more chances to make flubs and errors.

[marinated.pea]

To each their own. I don't doubt that they won't switch up the defensive pairings sometime near in the future if the coaches spot a spark with Bieksa-Alberts in practice or Hamhuis-Ballard. Personally though, I much prefer the current pairings.

[Barry_Wilkins]

One improvement I noted in Ballard's game tonight is that he was more confident with the puck, keeping his feet moving (conditioning coming around?) and then finding a forward with a great breakout pass, something the other KB might perhaps do a few times a year.

[shazzam]

I'm guessing on this point, but if I had to bet I'd say he had to get his skates sharpened.

There were two incidents that I can remember just prior to his "disappearance" where he tried to cut back and completely lost his edge.

And in this case I agree with the haters. Bieksa had a poor outing tonight. Ballard and Hammer both had excellent games IMO. Ehrhoff and Edler were middle of the pack, while I have to say I didn't really notice Alberts much at all.

well thats a good thing for alberts

solid defensive play + some hits here and there

can't ask for much more

[Tatoes]

Bieksa is like a 2 on 1 or 2 on 0 machine. He can't even keep the puck in on the PP which lead to all the shorties scored on us. He doesn't even know the simple play of keeping your body near the boards instead of just your stick. He is terrible.lol

[wallstreetamigo]

It was his best game of his season. No doubt. Let's see if he plays that way the next few games....if he does and Bieksa stinks up the joint in the next few as well, then you've got a good argument to move him into the top 4.

Till then, relax a little with the "imagine what he could do with top 4 minutes". He very well might stink the joint up as well with the extra ice time. More ice time, more chances to make flubs and errors.

Honestly......12 min for Ballard vs 22 for Bieksa? Are they really that far off in terms of skill and performance at this point? I doubt it.

Ballard has actually played better than Bieksa for the last 4 games or so. When is it good enough to get out from having the lowest minutes on our D? He had less than Alberts tonight too.

That is WAY too big a discrepancy. Bieksa at 19 min and Ballard at 17 min would be a bit more acceptable at this point.

[wallstreetamigo]

I said in my earlier post that I didn't notice Alberts at all tonight. This is likely due to the fact that he had the least amount of ice time amongst the Canucks' D. (I didn't look this up, but I bet I'm right)

It's testament to just how good Ballard was that he was noticeable as one of the top two defensemen tonight, while paired with AA.

Actually, Ballard had the least amount of ice time on the D at 12:45. Alberts was slightly higher than that. 12:52 I believe.

Ballard sure looked like he was out there more than that, which is a huge credit to him. When was the last time anyone could say a Dman who played the least of all 6 had arguably the best and most impactful overall game of the bunch?

[DownUndaCanuck]

Bieksa doesn't deserve his spot with Hamhuis. Ballard-Hamhuis on the 2nd unit playing with Kesler or Malhotra's line is the PERFECT shutdown unit that also physical.

Or if AV wants to keep an offensive and defensive defenseman on the same pairing, mix it up with:

Ehrhoff-Ballard (more physical Ballard to overcompensate for quicker, more agile Ehrhoff)

Edler-Hamhuis

Bieksa-Alberts

Sure, if it aint broke don't fix it, but as soon as it breaks, FIX IT LIKE THIS!

[shazzam]

Bieksa doesn't deserve his spot with Hamhuis. Ballard-Hamhuis on the 2nd unit playing with Kesler or Malhotra's line is the PERFECT shutdown unit that also physical.

Or if AV wants to keep an offensive and defensive defenseman on the same pairing, mix it up with:

Ehrhoff-Ballard (more physical Ballard to overcompensate for quicker, more agile Ehrhoff)

Edler-Hamhuis

Bieksa-Alberts

Sure, if it aint broke don't fix it, but as soon as it breaks, FIX IT LIKE THIS!

hopefully it will be this soon

hamhuis salo/ballard

ehrhoff edler

salo/ballard alberts

it will take salo some time to get going so ballard can pair with hamhuis for a bit

[Opmac]

Bieksa doesn't deserve his spot with Hamhuis. Ballard-Hamhuis on the 2nd unit playing with Kesler or Malhotra's line is the PERFECT shutdown unit that also physical.

Or if AV wants to keep an offensive and defensive defenseman on the same pairing, mix it up with:

Ehrhoff-Ballard (more physical Ballard to overcompensate for quicker, more agile Ehrhoff)

Edler-Hamhuis

Bieksa-Alberts

Sure, if it aint broke don't fix it, but as soon as it breaks, FIX IT LIKE THIS!

I don't think Ehrhoff and Ballard would work out defensively because they're both gamblers in the offensive zone.

[BedBeats™2.0]

Yay BlackHawk perimeter shots!

I saw the the skaters have a good defensive game, despite the SOG stats.

Bieksa was bleh.

Ballard was hoooray!

[Whoopsy]

His cap hit is 5.3 million. Bieksa's is 3.75 million. Not much difference there actually.

Dude, no one here is talking about cap hit.

Does Luongo goes to Revenue Canada telling them no I am not earning 10mil, I am only a 5.3mil cap hit? Get real, Luongo is earning 3 times as much as Bieksa.

[EmployeeoftheMonth]

Dude, no one here is talking about cap hit.

Does Luongo goes to Revenue Canada telling them no I am not earning 10mil, I am only a 5.3mil cap hit? Get real, Luongo is earning 3 times as much as Bieksa.

...and in regards to what it means to the team in regards to the salary cap his cap hit is what matters.

Anyone not talking about cap hit in the cap era when refering to players salaries can't really be taken seriously.

[Whoopsy]

...and in regards to what it means to the team in regards to the salary cap his cap hit is what matters.

Anyone not talking about cap hit in the cap era when referring to players salaries can't really be taken seriously.

Hiding behind the cap number is not facing reality, cap numbers are easily manipulated, it doesn't mean much, look at how we managed to turn 10mil into 5.3? There is no arguing about Luongo pulling 3 times as much dough as Bieksa, which Canucks management deemed worth it, but with a 10mil cheque he will need to live up to the expectation that comes with it. Management also had high expectations on Bieksa when he was re-signed, but with the 3.5mil Bieksa is earning this year, his expected performance is a bit lower than Luongo but which Bieksa has yet to live up to, or for the last 2 and a half seasons.

The cap hit number is only useful for measure the percentage of importance of a player in regards to the team, the true salary number is the real number to gauge individual performances.