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Our defense lacking leader


van_can_man

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"You take away Tanev and he becomes our worst in an instance. So yes, Tanev is doing a great job with Ballard."

Are you serious?..............did you watch Tanev in Chicago? He was a shadow of the player he is with Ballard at his side. Ballard is a thoroughbred stallion............Tanev is a thoroughbred colt learning at his side.

If you need to see the relationship in action go watch the LA playoff games and let me know who is the master.

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Edler should be the one stepping it up, whether it's throwing a big check, creating offense or just being a calming factor on the blueline.

The anchor on the back end.

Instead, it seems that he's haven't been the same since the Stanley Cup finals. Last year wasn't that great either, especially the playoffs, albeit we found out he was kinda injured. Lets pray his "poor play" (relative to how good he has been previously) is due to his surgery plus maybe he haven't had has much training as he wanted. Hopefully it's not because the cool cucumber "Automatic Alex" is the by-product of Ohlund, Ehrhoff, and Salo carrying him.

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We have no playmaker on D and they lack poise at the moment.

Edler is a good defenseman but he's not a playmaker like Lidstrom, Niedermayer or Keith can be.

When we pair him with Garrisson on the PP, they don't make good plays, Edler's one timer pass to Garrisson is inaccurate, and they both hold on to the puck too long, letting the defender come close and cutting the passing lane. They then have to shoot the puck in the corner and the Sedins needs to battle again to gain possession.

Hamhuis and Bieksa as well aren't playmaker. That is why I'd rather give a chance to Ballard or Tanev on the first PP with Edler and the Sedins. Yes they might give the puck up on a few occasion, but i think it would be better than it is now.

PP1:

Sedin-Sedin-Kassian

Edler-Ballard(tanev)

PP2:

Burrows-Schroeder-Raymond

Hamhuis-Garrison

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We really miss SS on the pp.

As for the D, Bieksa is that guy (if you haven't noticed him taking a leadership role, then you've missed something). They're working out the kinks and I feel encouraged by the fact that they've had 2-0 leads...now they need to figure out how to hang on to them.

Garrison likes to shoot, but has a big shot that's way off target and it means the puck often comes ricocheting back around the boards and gives the other team momentum going the other way. We need to get those shots on net. That's part of my expert observation.

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I'm a Salo fan as much as anyone. But he had noticably lost a step by the end of last season.

I think it was definitely the right move not to offer him the kind of contract Tampa did, just as I thought it was the right move not to match Ohlund's either...which has been proven true.

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Bieksa is the go-to guy when the team needs a spark, a kick in the ass, etc. Hamhuis is the guy who is there to settle everyone down.

Keep in mind these guys are still a little rusty. Our team isn't the only team that is making defensive mistakes. I'm not making excuses for them, I'm just saying it is still relatively early in the shortened season.

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As for Ballard yes he's played ok, but he's paired with our best defenceman. You take away Tanev and he becomes our worst in an instance. So yes, Tanev is doing a great job with Ballard. He has turned this pathetic excuse for a defenceman into a decent 3rd pairing guy. You forget how badly he played without Tanev, and how he would be barrated for his poor play. Now Tanev comes along and fixes up his game perfectly.

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Dress 7 D. Throw Jimmy V up and down the pairings until our defense learn to play nasty and leave it like that until other teams learn we play nasty. Then the net crashing and goals <10 feet in will slow down or stop...

D's that hack, hit and hurt win hockey games.

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Last year Bieksa fought four times in 78 games. He's already fought twice in 6 games. He also leads our D in hits. I'd say he's stepping up. I thought he and Tanev were our best two d-men tonight. Edler is in his 7th pro season, Bieksa in his 8th, and Hamhuis in his 9th. It's not like we're running our D on raw rookies.

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We no longer have a wiley veteran on this team and that's what's costing us. I knew this would happen when Salo was traded - the Canucks defence are still full of young guys who panic and aren't very calm without a veteran presence.

Get Vandermeer and Barker into the lineup, they're the closest we have to a real grey-beard to calm our panicky guys like Edler, Garrison and Bieksa down. Tanev is doing the best he can with Ballard...

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