ButterBean Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 AV ruined Ballard, let's face it. If Ballard had been given consistent top 4 ice-time he would of had the oppurtunity to play up to his full potential. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
key2thecup Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Straight up, aside from the great hipchecks, Ballard is over rated, over paid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smashian Kassian Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Edler is already being traded for Nash/Ryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baggins Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 AV ruined Ballard, let's face it. If Ballard had been given consistent top 4 ice-time he would of had the oppurtunity to play up to his full potential. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUPERTKBD Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 That's exactly it. He's a victim of a bad gm decision. There's really no role for him on our team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bodee Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 You pair Ballard with Hamhuis and give him prime powerplay minutes with the Sedins and you'll see just about any defenceman can pull off those numbers. Bieksa is being given the golden treatment on this team. First he got to play with Mitchell, allowing him to make the stupidest plays he wanted to and not get in trouble because he'd have Willie there to back him up and save his ass. Now he's got our best overall defenceman in Hamhuis by his side to make him look good when he has his characteristic brain farts. Sure he racked up the points this season, but when he's on the ice he's playing with the Sedins or the Kesler line. Ballard is backing up our 3rd and 4th lines. Worst of all, look at Ballard's partner. Say what you want about Chris Tanev, he is a kid with next to no offensive talent and is still shaky back there - not even a close comparison to Hamhuis. If Bieksa was playing with any other defenceman his real flaws would be revealed. Anyone remember the Boston series last season when he played all 7 games with Edler? Exactly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bodee Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 I think it's a bit unfair to call it a bad decision. At the time of the trade, there was no guarantee that the Canucks were going to be able to land Hamhuis. Once they did, Ballard was in a competition with Edler for top four minutes. I'm sure that the Canucks had hoped that KB4 could play the right side, (likely assuming that Salo need to be replaced at some point) however, as Baggins has pointed out, he has been unable to do so effectively. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ButterBean Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 What a load of horse crap. Who should Ballard have replaced in the top four: Edler and his 50 points or Hamhuis and his defensive play? He can't play right side so it has to be one of those two. Which do believe he can outplay? Answer that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockeyking Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 this guy is a waste of cap space. This team needs a no 1 dman to compliment Edler. The two logical options are Suter or Weber. With Ballard off the books we could offer Suter big money and get him on our team for no cost. It worked for Boston and Anaheim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GradinToSmyl Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 this guy is a waste of cap space. This team needs a no 1 dman to compliment Edler. The two logical options are Suter or Weber. With Ballard off the books we could offer Suter big money and get him on our team for no cost. It worked for Boston and Anaheim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nd84 Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 I do not think Ballard is as bad as some people think he is. I really don't think he has being given a fair chance by certian individuals. The only thing I agree with is that he is not a 4.2 million dollar player. If the Canucks were paying him half of that money I don't think fans would be grumbling as much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GradinToSmyl Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 I don't think he's as bad as people thought he was either. He was just simply outplayed by other defenseman when he struggled in his first year, and was put into a role he wasn't used to and it just went downhill from there. You can see he's returning to form though after seeing some play during the playoffs this year. It's just up to management if they will think he will continue that or if they want to move on to other plays and clear that 4.2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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