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Keith Ballard Is Worth $4.2 Million If He Gets Used On The Power Play

Franz Liszt

By Franz Liszt
in Canucks Talk

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CanuckCupFever Junior Prospect

CanuckCupFever

Posted
Posted

Belive it or not but Ballard isn't paid to be on the PP.

Ballard has one thing in common in all those videos, his ability to MOVE THE PUCK. Whether it's the first pass, end to end rushes, or in the offensive zone, Ballard is paid to move the puck. This means he is paid to get the puck out of our zone; therefore, he isn't required on the PP becuase the puck is usually already in the offensive zone.

He might of had a chance at PP time this season before the Garrison signing but he will not now.

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hockeywoot Abbotsford Regular

hockeywoot

Posted
Posted

If you haven't noticed, AV tends to do certain things to players who come from other teams/rookies and haven't played in his system.

1. He tears them down, kind of a purging of the bad habits they may have learned on weaker teams, didn't play in more disciplined two way systems (see Ballard, Booth etc). Guys like Lappy and Higgins fit right in because they were defensively responsible players. See CoHo and Kassian. This can impact their short term confidence because they over think, they stop playing the offensive game they are used to, and don't feel like they are contributing.

2. He then forces them to earn their ice by playing within the system.

3. As they show they can play both ways, accept the team concept he gives them more ice. Then the confidence starts coming back and their offensive game thrives as if you play well in your own end, you get more chances. He did this with Kesler, with Burrows, Naslund (didn't work, too late to change his game) etc.

I think we are starting to see that with Ballard, that his defensive game is coming around and he will see more ice as he continues to play within the team concept. Booth we shall see what happens this year.

But this is simply good coaching, its called getting / training players to buy into the system, and this is why we have won back to back president's trophies.

AV is not a problem he is a terrific coach and knows what he is doing.

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combover Canucks Star

combover

Posted
Posted

he came to van injured.

Av has never shown confidence in him even rome got used more. the best thing for ballard and the nucks would be a trade because as long as av is the coach this guy will not be used up to his potential. its to bad because i agree that he is much better player than he is portrayed in vancouver

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yogolol Abbotsford Star

yogolol

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Posted

he came to van injured.

Av has never shown confidence in him even rome got used more. the best thing for ballard and the nucks would be a trade because as long as av is the coach this guy will not be used up to his potential. its to bad because i agree that he is much better player than he is portrayed in vancouver

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MikeyD Canucks Franchise Player

MikeyD

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Ballard I honestly believe is a top 3 defender (possibly top 2) when you let him sink into the game. Two years ago when we had him in the dog house he was actually our best defenceman for about a quarter of the year, probably more. Which is tough when you had Hamhuis but Hamhuis really adjusted to the style this past year and was absolutely amazing.

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.Naslund Abbotsford Star

.Naslund

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dear keith ballard lovers.....you are insane!

keith ballard has a terrible point shot and can't hit the net. he is incapable of playing the power play.

keith ballard had the worst shooting percentage on the entire canucks roster last season:

2011-2012 - Regular Season - Vancouver Canucks - Skater - Summary - Points Player Team Pos GP G A P +/- PIM PP SH GW OT S S% TOI/G Sft/G FO%

1-29 of 29 results.

1

1 Henrik Sedin VAN C 82 14 67 81 +23 52 8 0 6 0 113 12.4 19:05 24.8 50.1 2 Daniel Sedin VAN L 72 30 37 67 +14 40 10 0 6 2 229 13.1 18:48 25.0 31.6 3 Alexandre Burrows VAN L 80 28 24 52 +24 90 3 2 7 0 198 14.1 18:28 25.8 35.0 4 Ryan Kesler VAN C 77 22 27 49 +11 56 8 1 1 0 222 9.9 20:05 25.8 53.6 5 Alexander Edler VAN D 82 11 38 49 +0 34 5 1 0 0 228 4.8 23:51 28.9 0.0 6 Kevin Bieksa VAN D 78 8 36 44 +12 94 2 0 2 0 166 4.8 23:38 28.2 0.0 7 Chris Higgins VAN L 71 18 25 43 +11 16 1 1 4 2 165 10.9 16:18 23.5 40.0 8 Jannik Hansen VAN R 82 16 23 39 +18 34 0 1 1 0 137 11.7 14:53 22.3 41.4 9 Dan Hamhuis VAN D 82 4 33 37 +29 46 1 0 0 0 140 2.9 23:25 28.8 0.0 10 David Booth FLA, VAN L 62 16 14 30 -5 34 3 0 1 0 159 10.1 14:55 20.7 50.0 11 Sami Salo VAN D 69 9 16 25 +7 10 7 0 3 1 136 6.6 20:26 27.8 0.0 12 Mason Raymond VAN L 55 10 10 20 +4 18 1 1 2 0 125 8.0 15:35 22.2 28.0 13 Maxim Lapierre VAN C 82 9 10 19 -3 130 0 0 0 0 103 8.7 11:13 17.6 52.1 14 Manny Malhotra VAN C 78 7 11 18 -11 14 0 0 2 0 60 11.7 12:20 20.9 58.5 15 Samuel Pahlsson CBJ, VAN C 80 4 13 17 -2 34 0 1 1 0 93 4.3 14:46 21.4 52.6 16 Marc-Andre Gragnani BUF, VAN D 58 2 13 15 +6 26 1 0 0 0 47 4.3 16:08 21.0 100.0 17 Aaron Rome VAN D 43 4 6 10 -4 46 1 0 1 0 42 9.5 15:13 20.3 0.0 18 Zack Kassian BUF, VAN R 44 4 6 10 -2 51 0 0 0 0 54 7.4 11:17 15.0 47.8 19 Dale Weise VAN R 68 4 4 8 -1 81 0 0 0 0 48 8.3 8:09 13.2 0.0 20 Keith Ballard VAN D 47 1 6 7 +0 64 0 0 0 0 41 2.4 15:33 21.4 0.0 21 Andrew Ebbett VAN C 18 5 1 6 +2 6 1 0 2 2 27 18.5 9:35 14.6 53.6 22 Byron Bitz VAN R 10 1 3 4 +2 14 0 0 0 0 6 16.7 10:29 17.4 0.0 23 Andrew Alberts VAN D 44 2 1 3 +4 40 0 0 2 0 19 10.5 14:17 19.7 0.0 24 Christopher Tanev VAN D 25 0 2 2 +10 2 0 0 0 0 15 0.0 16:43 22.4 0.0 25 Mike Duco VAN R 6 0 2 2 +1 5 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 8:03 13.2 0.0 26 Aaron Volpatti VAN L 23 1 0 1 -2 37 0 0 0 0 17 5.9 8:58 13.6 100.0 27 Mark Mancari VAN R 6 0 0 0 +0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0.0 8:18 13.0 0.0 28 Bill Sweatt VAN L 2 0 0 0 +0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.0 5:20 9.0 0.0 29 Victor Oreskovich VAN R 1 0 0 0 +0 7 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 6:17 9.0 0.0

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Millerdraft Canucks Regular

Millerdraft

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Posted

What nobody is offering up is his injury history.Nobody talks about it and many diss Ballard without even mentioning it.

Gillis and the .org brought Ballard in here after his SECOND hip surgery.They gave Florida two first rounders in Grabner and Howden and we got a salary dump and Oreo bye bye.Florida dumped a lot of salary in a severely injured Ballard.Bernier is still a serviceable NHL third/ fourth liner.

Gillis.org felt so compelled to acquire Ballard they gave up on Grabner and also gave up a future first round top pick.In retrospect it appears they failed miserably but it was Ballard's injuries that made the Gillis.org deal look worse than what Ballard can provide for any team.

The second hip surgery really set Ballard back.He struggled into camp,through camp and into the regular season.

Four games in as a Canuck Ballard suffered a serious concussion.

Still,Ballard came back what appears to be very prematurely and his poor game play reflected his cognitive disabilities.Having suffered consecutive concussions myself I place the blame squarely on the Canucks medical staff for allowing Ballard to return to play far too quickly.

Then Ballard suffered his third setback within months -sprained MCL.His first year as a Canuck was a complete write off.

Last year Ballard started well even though he received limited minutes but suffered a back injury in October .

In February of this year Ballard suffered two more head injuries and yet continued to play as he went un/misdiagnosed and played on with yet another concussion.

Ballard's play before and after the second concussion was effective.

His play was even inspirational at times,throwing his patented hip checks and being involved in four fights,two of the sensational variety.

Again,the Canucks .org misdiagnosed his second concussion and in his condition should have never been put in a position of taking punches to the head yet there are precious few players on this team that defend their team mates,like Ballard will and does.The exceptions are Lappy and Alberts. Bieksa is a throw in as he picks his spots and far more has always been expected of him.

Ballard's tenure here has been unfortunate as he came in injured and then suffered further consecutive,serious injuries,coupled with terrible timing.

Now that he is injury free and should be healthier I believe this should be Ballard's best ever year as a Canuck.

Ballard is an above average NHL d man with explosive speed,excellent positioning and is a throw back to the d men of old-hard hitting and a defender of his mates.

Very few Canucks display his courage and heart.I would not get rid of Ballard unless the payback is overly sufficient.

This organisation needs more heart and soul and employing those players like Ballard that are willing to cover for their mates and can dish it out and take it like a real pro are hard to find ,never mind acquire.

No whining,no diving,no complaining,no cheap shots.Hits hard,plays positionally excellent,fighter ,covers his mates backs.Clone this guy.

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SkeeterHansen Canucks Third-Line

SkeeterHansen

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Belive it or not but Ballard isn't paid to be on the PP.

Ballard has one thing in common in all those videos, his ability to MOVE THE PUCK. Whether it's the first pass, end to end rushes, or in the offensive zone, Ballard is paid to move the puck. This means he is paid to get the puck out of our zone; therefore, he isn't required on the PP becuase the puck is usually already in the offensive zone.

He might of had a chance at PP time this season before the Garrison signing but he will not now.

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Canada Hockey Place Canucks Regular

Canada Hockey Place

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Some random thoughts.

IMO Rome was used instead of Ballard because VAN wanted to dress more size. The coaches decided the top 4 needed more help clearing the crease and using size more than anything else.

The addition of Garrison should change the D this upcoming season. If Eder - Garrison can handle the physical side of things, Ballard - Tanev could in theory become the full-time 3rd pairing.

I also think that the goaltending change may affect the need for shot blocking. It seemed that with Luongo the preference was to let pucks reach the net. This may change with Schneider. If so, shot blocking is an area that Ballard excels at.

If the above is not the case. And Ballard is not getting an increased role. Then I really hope the Canucks can just admit that he doesn't fit and trade him. Both for his sake and for the other D who could develop in that spot.

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