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Does Bieksa Belong On First D-Pairing?


mrsasaki

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Personally I would rank last season's top 4 this way, with Salo potentially even #2...

1 Hamhius

2 Edler

3 Salo

4 Bieksa

but your pairings don't have to depend on who your best two are...

I love Bieksa, but he certainly isn't the most consistent guy on our blueline.

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Not sure why the hate for him, he was solid last year, was pretty good this year, playing those minutes, I have no problem with him in our top 2. We won the Presidents trophy twice, on top of a 7 game stanley cup final in the past 2 seasons with him geting the 3rd most minutes as a defencemen, I have no issues with him. Canucks fans will always find something to bitch about.

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IMO hamhuis is a #2 top pairing guy and Bieksa is the leader of a second pairing if I were to build a perfect team..

That being said they do well with each other and if u can't have a weber/pronger like stud leading the charge, then they make about as good shutdown pair you can ask for.

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Considering how high risk Edler is, it would not be a good pairing. Can we clone a mirror image Hamhuis - one that shoots right? Tanev is not it. He is alright as a sixth D, but not much more - at least not yet - maybe in another year. We'll have to see how our prospects have progressed, but if HF is right, we don't have much in the pipe, contrary to the propoganda issuing from the Canucks head office and their fans - rated 29th for player scouting/development and they deserve every last bit of that awful rating. Of course, trading away your first round picks for dreck doesn't help, nor does trading two fourths+ for Pahlsson.

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Better to have balance on difference lines than overplay strengths on one line while neglecting others.

Hammer (D stabilizer, calm presence) - Juice (aggressive, jumps up on the play and pinches, looks for big hits)

Edler (aggressive, can make defensive stops but mainly offensive-minded) - Salo/ Tanev (mobile stabilizer, makes safe plays)

OP, can you not see how the team would be in trouble if Juice and Eagle (Eddie) were exposed as a pairing without one of the D-oriented guys to clean up after them? (to answer your topic: Bieksa belongs on the first line all right, as long as Hamhuis is there)

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You could argue Bieksa is too good for this team.

He's a winner, a fighter, a guy that makes things happen and a player who stands up for his team mates.

As for the smart asses who come away with the brain fart cracks, well you tend to make a mistake now and again when you are the only one trying to make things happen.

He belongs on the first D because he's a leader who tries to get the job done.

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Bieksa is hands down our top defenseman behind Hamhuis. Even if we had a guy like Shea Weber on our team to replace Salo after he retires I would still argue Bieksa is the guy that should be paired with Hammer on the 1st defense pairing.

Hamhuis-Bieksa

Edler-Weber (wishful thinking)

Ballard-Tanev

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You could argue Bieksa is too good for this team.

He's a winner, a fighter, a guy that makes things happen and a player who stands up for his team mates.

As for the smart asses who come away with the brain fart cracks, well you tend to make a mistake now and again when you are the only one trying to make things happen.

He belongs on the first D because he's a leader who tries to get the job done.

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