orango Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 Since his arrival in Vancouver, fans have said Ballard has not lived up to expectations. Part of this is because he was put on the bottom pairing, played in bad situations and received limited ice time. Fans have wondered why he is not used in the top 4, especially when Salo was out with injury. AV claimed it was due to neither Ballard or Edler able to play on the right side. These last couple of games though, the top pairing has been: Hamhuis - Elder If you notice, Edler is playing the right side! It seems to me this is a slap in the face to Ballard. Why did they never put Edler on the right side before with Ballard on the left? Edit: To be clear, I am talking about two seasons ago, and even last season as well. I do realize Ballard and Tanev are great together this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyBoy44 Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 Lol Ballard and Tanev have been our best defensive pair this season. Try watching the games instead of the box scores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nlife Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 I think Bowness is the special teams/defensive coach. So wouldn't that mean that Ballard was screwed over by Bowness and not AV? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orango Posted February 2, 2013 Author Share Posted February 2, 2013 Lol Ballard and Tanev have been our best defensive pair this season. Try watching the games instead of the box scores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pears Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 Talk about beating a dead horse...And as previously mentioned the Ballard-Tanev pair has been our best so far this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James van Riemsdyk Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 Since his arrival in Vancouver, fans have said Ballard has not lived up to expectations. Part of this is because he was put on the bottom pairing, played in bad situations and received limited ice time. Fans have wondered why he is not used in the top 4, especially when Salo was out with injury. AV claimed it was due to neither Ballard or Edler able to play on the right side. These last couple of games though, the top pairing has been: Hamhuis - Elder If you notice, Edler is playing the right side! It seems to me this is a slap in the face to Ballard. Why did the never put Edler on the right side before with Ballard on the left? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithers joe Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 ballard is finally playing the way AV wants his D-men to play...he started playing better when he was paired with tanev...in the past, he was too out of position too much. good for ballard...i hope we can afford to keep him going forward? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maniwaki Canuck Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 No argument that AV hasn't always treated Ballard very well, but an Edler/Ballard pair never made much sense no matter who played the right side (as I think Ballard was asked to do the short while the two played together). At this stage, Ballard/Tanev is tried and true, Bieksa/Hamhuis wasn't as solid as in the past, and Edler/Garrison was a big problem so it makes sense to split up the last two pairs. Hamhuis/Edler at least gets Edler playing the right side with someone who is defensively and positionally solid. If it works out, it could be a more legit top pairing than Hamhuis/Bieksa. I'm also hoping Garrison/Bieksa can evolve into a decent two-way pairing, but it won't happen over night and we'll see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwnstar Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 He was a beast last night Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winthecup Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 He was a beast last night Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
higgyfan Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 Since his arrival in Vancouver, fans have said Ballard has not lived up to expectations. Part of this is because he was put on the bottom pairing, played in bad situations and received limited ice time. Fans have wondered why he is not used in the top 4, especially when Salo was out with injury. AV claimed it was due to neither Ballard or Edler able to play on the right side. These last couple of games though, the top pairing has been: Hamhuis - Elder If you notice, Edler is playing the right side! It seems to me this is a slap in the face to Ballard. Why did they never put Edler on the right side before with Ballard on the left? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bodee Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 The trouble is Ballard's performance drops quite a bit if he is not on his natural side. I think we should use Ballard and Tanev more to rest our top two pairings. Surely that would pay dividends in the end. Failing that trade them as a pair for something good that we need (maybe even include "a goalie" to make it even more attractive). They seem to me to be a viable 2nd line pairing on some teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UFCanuck Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 He's our last hip checker, Hamhuis has retired that hit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noheart Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 Comeback player of the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownUndaCanuck Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 Ballard and Tanev better be getting as much even strength time as Edler, Hamhuis, Bieksa and Garrison because right now they're playing far more solid defence in their own zone than our "top-4". The only reason our top-4 end up with more ice time should be special teams, or if we're pressing for a goal. If we need to defend a lead I'd like to see Ballard and Tanev up in the 20-minute-mark because they do a better job defending than Edler and Bieksa for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elvis15 Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 There's only one really recent Ballard thread, but there have been plenty others over the last year and beyond that people have argued this in. /topic/338249-ballard-reclamation-project/page__hl__%2B%2Bballard+%2B%2Brome">Ballard reclamation project? (this one's from January this year, the rest are all last year) /topic/336003-what-happened-to-keith-ballard/page__view__findpost__p__10928035__hl__%2B%2Bballard+%2B%2Brome">What happened to Keith Ballard ? /topic/329541-what-should-the-nucks-do-about-ballard/page__view__findpost__p__10895903__hl__%2B%2Bballard+%2B%2Brome">What Should The Nucks Do About Ballard /topic/334133-keith-ballard-is-worth-42-million-if-he-gets-used-on-the-power-play/page__view__findpost__p__10832052__hl__%2B%2Bballard+%2B%2Brome">Keith Ballard Is Worth $4.2 Million If He Gets Used... /topic/332967-what-to-do-with-keith-ballard/page__hl__%2B%2Bballard+%2B%2Brome">What to do with Keith Ballard The theme is all the same. At first, you see "AV hates Ballard, loves Rome", "Ballard would succeed in a top 4 role if only given the chance", "Ballard is used wrong", etc. Then you start to see evidence of how Ballard was given opportunity: when Salo went out and Ballard was put on Edler's right side, when Edler went out and Ballard was used there, Ballard was given time in the SCF. In all cases, Ballard failed to impress, didn't take advantage of the opportunity, and was shown up by others elevating their play (or at least playing responsibly in his place) when they were tried in those same roles. People think AV hasn't given Ballard ample chance, when in fact he has. It was up to Ballard to make use of those opportunities, and he didn't. End of story. Now, that doesn't mean he can't, or won't with other opportunities. That doesn't mean he won't find a home somewhere that will give him that opportunity. That doesn't mean he's no use anymore. That doesn't mean he couldn't be worth his salary, or at least close to it. There's a resurgence in support for Ballard now that he's been playing well. He and Tanev have looked good, and it's not a mirage. They're driving possession and making plays, but they're also doing it in very selective minutes, facing the weakest competition of any of the Canucks D. AV is setting them up to succeed, and to play to their strengths, much like he has with giving the Sedins the most offensive starts of any forwards in the NHL last year, Malhotra the most defensive starts to take advantage of his faceoff ability, and how they showcased Cody Hodgson in the months leading up to his trade. As far as Edler, he's a defenceman we've drafted, developed and just given a raise to. We have to see if he can step up since he's lined up as a part of our future. It's sink or swim with him, and he'll either learn or won't. If he doesn't it has far more impact on our future as a team than it does if Ballard fails. Ballard was brought in to help fill out our defence, especially in the uncertainty of Mitchell leaving and whether or not we could get Hamhuis. He is a bonus if he works out, and we'll find ways to put him in positions to succeed if he doesn't at the higher levels. Unless he starts putting up 30-40 points again, he'll only ever be given limited chances and opportunities since he hasn't always been reliable defensively either. Now, I'm not saying Ballard sucks. I like the guy, he's great in the locker room, a fantastic teammate, and fits well with Tanev to provide pretty good depth versus mots or the $1M D-men we could replace him with. But he isn't Edler, he doesn't have the draft day upbringing and top end potential Edler does, and he's likely to become a cap casualty as a result. Hopefully we find a way to deal him to a team that can use him, since he deserves more than a buy out, and I know in the meantime he'll play his role and help us as much as he can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldnews Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 I like Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5minutesinthebox Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 Since his arrival in Vancouver, fans have said Ballard has not lived up to expectations. Part of this is because he was put on the bottom pairing, played in bad situations and received limited ice time. Fans have wondered why he is not used in the top 4, especially when Salo was out with injury. AV claimed it was due to neither Ballard or Edler able to play on the right side. These last couple of games though, the top pairing has been: Hamhuis - Elder If you notice, Edler is playing the right side! It seems to me this is a slap in the face to Ballard. Why did they never put Edler on the right side before with Ballard on the left? Edit: To be clear, I am talking about two seasons ago, and even last season as well. I do realize Ballard and Tanev are great together this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elvis15 Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 The trouble is Ballard's performance drops quite a bit if he is not on his natural side. I think we should use Ballard and Tanev more to rest our top two pairings. Surely that would pay dividends in the end. Failing that trade them as a pair for something good that we need (maybe even include "a goalie" to make it even more attractive). They seem to me to be a viable 2nd line pairing on some teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCammer Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 Since his arrival in Vancouver, fans have said Ballard has not lived up to expectations. Part of this is because he was put on the bottom pairing, played in bad situations and received limited ice time. Fans have wondered why he is not used in the top 4, especially when Salo was out with injury. AV claimed it was due to neither Ballard or Edler able to play on the right side. These last couple of games though, the top pairing has been: Hamhuis - Elder If you notice, Edler is playing the right side! It seems to me this is a slap in the face to Ballard. Why did they never put Edler on the right side before with Ballard on the left? Edit: To be clear, I am talking about two seasons ago, and even last season as well. I do realize Ballard and Tanev are great together this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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