sockeye Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Awesome game Juice! Where's Canucklion now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weber's Playoff Beard Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Bieksa and Edler play a ton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodCanadianKideh Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Wow!!!! Looking like a beast out there patrolling the ice and laying the smack down whenever he has the chance.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toni Zamboni Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Awesome game Juice! Where's Canucklion now? LOL...Hansens #1 fan... hes golfing with bernier!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharpshooter Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Hard to say anyone played outstanding when you have a near complete collapse but from what I saw: Bieksa - played tough minutes against the top lines, was an underrated reason for Chi top line being near non-existant. Played with emotion when others seemed to be resigned to float and do nothing. Made some good pinches, some good hits. Got caught out of position a few times got beaten like a rented mule by Bickell which would have embarrassed him. Hamhuis - When he was good he shows why he was such a sought after Dman. Tonight he looked great for the most part. But he had a couple of brutal games making bad pinches etc. Edler - Shows why he is the Nucks number one. Great hits. Good offense. But he struggled for games 4,5,6. Hes got some seasoning to do but man when he plays good you can see a great Dman. Ehrhoff - ??? still trying to find him! Looked all over the place at time in game 4,5 but played better in the other games. Made a terrific play to get Burrows his first goal in game 7, should have been given an assist on that. Concerns me that he seems to go as the Sedins go and the PP. Salo - Looked slow and a step behind many times. Seems still finding his feet. But hes a good all around D man so at the 5-6 spot no harm really. Ballard - Played well overall. Struggled with Toews down low but made some nice hits and his usual good breakout passes for the most part. Alberts - Played decent for what he is. Hes slow so the lack of speed seemed to hurt him against Hossa on the game 6 winner. But his size when he uses it well is a boon. Made a great hit deep in the Chi zone tonight at teh start to help set the tone. Rome - WTF? Get rid of this guy..... What's oustanding is the licks Bieksa took in the last couple of games, moreso than any other dman, and he still was a gamer for a fight, hit or offensive zone rush. Juice took whatever headshot or cheapshot that came his way and he bounced back up and then dished them out as well. He was a friggin warrior. Aside from Edler, or maybe as much as Edler, he was equally the best 'defence'man on the ice. He was also the the epitomy of dcorps and team leadership by his play and attitude. Your writeup makes some good points, and there isn't anything of it that really makes me want to disagree. I'll say this for the little blurb that you did on Salo however......after this playoffs, it should be obvious to fans and management that we shouldn't be resigning him. As much as I love his years of service, his body's done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bananas Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Rawr!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElfShotTheFood Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Awesome game Juice! Where's Canucklion now? On the side of a milk carton? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallstreetamigo Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 You are giving too much credit to Bieksa for the positives and not enough responsibility for the negatives, imo. He was good, but not great in this series. Just like Edler, Hamhuis, Salo, and Ehrhoff (and to a lesser degree Rome, Ballard, and Alberts based on their lesser use in the series), he did not play nearly well enough for the entire series. He had as much difficulty shutting down the Hawks at times as Hamhuis did. He made a ton of really bad pinches as well. Ehrhoff and Edler were worse overall defensively for sure, but both Bieksa and Hamhuis looked uncharacteristically bad on the PK several times in this series as well. Bieksa could have been a goat tonight for going down way too early on the Sharp PP chance. He gave that chance to the Hawks by not even making Toews work for the pass. My point is that NO ONE on this D can be put head and shoulders above others in terms of their play throughout the series. It was not a "Bieksa was great and all others sucked" scenario at all. It was a "They all were inconsistent. They all sucked at times and were great at times" scenario. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharpshooter Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 You are giving too much credit to Bieksa for the positives and not enough responsibility for the negatives, imo. He was good, but not great in this series. Just like Edler, Hamhuis, Salo, and Ehrhoff (and to a lesser degree Rome, Ballard, and Alberts based on their lesser use in the series), he did not play nearly well enough for the entire series. He had as much difficulty shutting down the Hawks at times as Hamhuis did. He made a ton of really bad pinches as well. Ehrhoff and Edler were worse overall defensively for sure, but both Bieksa and Hamhuis looked uncharacteristically bad on the PK several times in this series as well. Bieksa could have been a goat tonight for going down way too early on the Sharp PP chance. He gave that chance to the Hawks by not even making Toews work for the pass. My point is that NO ONE on this D can be put head and shoulders above others in terms of their play throughout the series. It was not a "Bieksa was great and all others sucked" scenario at all. It was a "They all were inconsistent. They all sucked at times and were great at times" scenario. Wally, seriously, stfu.I don't think anyone said the other top 6 dmen sucked tonight. Why do you have to be a debbie downer on this night especially?? I thought you had a little more sense than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
لني Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 You are giving too much credit to Bieksa for the positives and not enough responsibility for the negatives, imo. He was good, but not great in this series. Just like Edler, Hamhuis, Salo, and Ehrhoff (and to a lesser degree Rome, Ballard, and Alberts based on their lesser use in the series), he did not play nearly well enough for the entire series. He had as much difficulty shutting down the Hawks at times as Hamhuis did. He made a ton of really bad pinches as well. Ehrhoff and Edler were worse overall defensively for sure, but both Bieksa and Hamhuis looked uncharacteristically bad on the PK several times in this series as well. Bieksa could have been a goat tonight for going down way too early on the Sharp PP chance. He gave that chance to the Hawks by not even making Toews work for the pass. My point is that NO ONE on this D can be put head and shoulders above others in terms of their play throughout the series. It was not a "Bieksa was great and all others sucked" scenario at all. It was a "They all were inconsistent. They all sucked at times and were great at times" scenario. Bieksa did not make a ton of really bad pinches. He made a few. As ive said before much of the defense lapses were due to piss poor play by the forwards that left all our D scrambling at times. Dont think anyone is putting Bieksa "head and shoulders" above other but he was better that most of the rest if not all. The only competition he has as far as I am concerned is Hamhuis and Edler. Not all of them were great at times either at least not to the same degree and considering the task they were given. Bieksa and Hamhuis drew the job of shutting down Chi top line. You are of course aware of Toews achievements with Team Canada Jr, Olympics and with Chi SC run. He was almost a non-factor for the most part in fact his most significant role prior to tonight was his comments to the media. Toews played less of a role on the scoreboard than guys like Bolland. End of the day Bieksa drew a tough challenge of shutting down a very good top line and did a good job for the most part. Flawless? No. But stepped up as much as anyone if not more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
لني Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Wally, seriously, stfu.I don't think anyone said the other top 6 dmen sucked tonight. Why do you have to be a debbie downer on this night especially?? I thought you had a little more sense than that. Why? Because he spent the first part of the season pointing out every error Bieksa made to the tune of blaming Bieksa for the loss to Chi last year (versteeg goal being entirely his fault and the "turning point" in the series). Keeps pumping up Ballard to show that Ballard can replace Bieksa. Which may or may not be true. I don't doubt it. His dislike of Bieksa is strong maybe only surpassed by his pride and inability to say "Bieksa aint as bad as I thought." He now keeps his Bieksa bashing to the "Should we sign Bieksa or Ehrhoff" and the "What about Ballard threads." At least Canucklelion was up front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallstreetamigo Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Why? Because he spent the first part of the season pointing out every error Bieksa made to the tune of blaming Bieksa for the loss to Chi last year (versteeg goal being entirely his fault and the "turning point" in the series). Keeps pumping up Ballard to show that Ballard can replace Bieksa. Which may or may not be true. I don't doubt it. His dislike of Bieksa is strong maybe only surpassed by his pride and inability to say "Bieksa aint as bad as I thought." He now keeps his Bieksa bashing to the "Should we sign Bieksa or Ehrhoff" and the "What about Ballard threads." At least Canucklelion was up front. First, I rarely go past the 1st page of CDC looking for topics to respond to. If it is on the front page, it is where I will respond. Considering there are always numerous topics on the same subject, there is generally no need to go searching if a certain topic isn't front and center. I still think Ballard can replace Bieksa in the top 4 better than anyone else on this team will be able to replace Ehrhoff. Nothing has changed on that front. For his ice time last night, I thought Ballard was really good. A huge hit and was getting pucks to the net like crazy on that amazing 3rd line dominating shift. He was also frustrating the Hawks and made no glaring mistakes or pinches. Not bad for a bottom pairing guy, imo. I actually have said Bieksa isn't as bad as I thought....several times in this thread even. Look it up. He had a good regular season but did go back to some of his annoying bad habits from previous years in parts of this series. To not see that simply because the Canucks won the series is just ignorant. He still needs to be much better the rest of the way. Jump on me all you want. Sharpshooter was suggesting that Bieksa carried the D in this round. While he had a good series, he did have some pretty bad plays, including one that could have ended our season in OT on that PP. He was far from perfect, is all I was saying. And if you will notice, I said the same thing of ALL the defense and was not just picking on poor Bieksa. EDIT: I also didn't say the Versteeg goal last year was entirely Bieksa's fault. I said his ridiculous telegraphing of shot blocks twice on the play were significant contributing factors on it. And it WAS the turning point in that series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmployeeoftheMonth Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 You are giving too much credit to Bieksa for the positives and not enough responsibility for the negatives, imo. He was good, but not great in this series. Just like Edler, Hamhuis, Salo, and Ehrhoff (and to a lesser degree Rome, Ballard, and Alberts based on their lesser use in the series), he did not play nearly well enough for the entire series. He had as much difficulty shutting down the Hawks at times as Hamhuis did. He made a ton of really bad pinches as well. Ehrhoff and Edler were worse overall defensively for sure, but both Bieksa and Hamhuis looked uncharacteristically bad on the PK several times in this series as well. Bieksa could have been a goat tonight for going down way too early on the Sharp PP chance. He gave that chance to the Hawks by not even making Toews work for the pass. My point is that NO ONE on this D can be put head and shoulders above others in terms of their play throughout the series. It was not a "Bieksa was great and all others sucked" scenario at all. It was a "They all were inconsistent. They all sucked at times and were great at times" scenario. He played to the level of the team quite frankly. He was never a driving force behind any mistake but imo he was more like Luongo than anything else. Had 2 games that weren't great but he wasn't playing bad. This series...overall...Bieksa was this teams top D. Edler could have been but he stunk it up far too many times. And wtf Ehrhoff...way to make that decision (if it has to be made which it doesn't) easy for gillis eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallstreetamigo Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 He played to the level of the team quite frankly. He was never a driving force behind any mistake but imo he was more like Luongo than anything else. Had 2 games that weren't great but he wasn't playing bad. This series...overall...Bieksa was this teams top D. Edler could have been but he stunk it up far too many times. And wtf Ehrhoff...way to make that decision (if it has to be made which it doesn't) easy for gillis eh? Being the best of the worst (and even that is questionable, imo) in this series is probably nothing Bieksa would be proud of. Why would Gillis base his decision on one series when it comes to Ehrhoff? If he did that, Bieksa would have been gone any number of times after the last few seasons. If the choice is Ehrhoff or Bieksa (I agree it likely won't be) MG needs to keep Ehrhoff, hands down. They are NOT comparable players though. Bieksa is nothing like Ehrhoff and vice versa. Neither could replace the other effectively. Ehrhoff was a 50 point dman who will be impossible to replace either in free agency or through trade. He is also very good on both special teams. It is reasonable to suggest that Bieksa could be replaced by Ballard if they so choose. Whether or not they would choose that path is an entirely different question though. My bet? If AV is here next year, Ballard won't be. It comes down to that, imo. It makes zero sense to have a guy like Ballard here at his salary and not play him. Bear in mind that the only thing that could make the Ballard situation any worse for MG at this point is if he now trades him away (without having been even given a top 4 opportunity on this team all season) for little in return and then Ballard goes right back to being a very effective top 4 difference maker on his new team. How bad would the Grabner and a 1st trade look then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
لني Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Being the best of the worst (and even that is questionable, imo) in this series is probably nothing Bieksa would be proud of. Why would Gillis base his decision on one series when it comes to Ehrhoff? If he did that, Bieksa would have been gone any number of times after the last few seasons. If the choice is Ehrhoff or Bieksa (I agree it likely won't be) MG needs to keep Ehrhoff, hands down. They are NOT comparable players though. Bieksa is nothing like Ehrhoff and vice versa. Neither could replace the other effectively. Ehrhoff was a 50 point dman who will be impossible to replace either in free agency or through trade. He is also very good on both special teams. It is reasonable to suggest that Bieksa could be replaced by Ballard if they so choose. Whether or not they would choose that path is an entirely different question though. My bet? If AV is here next year, Ballard won't be. It comes down to that, imo. It makes zero sense to have a guy like Ballard here at his salary and not play him. Bear in mind that the only thing that could make the Ballard situation any worse for MG at this point is if he now trades him away (without having been even given a top 4 opportunity on this team all season) for little in return and then Ballard goes right back to being a very effective top 4 difference maker on his new team. How bad would the Grabner and a 1st trade look then? Ballard could replace Ehrhoff no? I mean he topped out pretty much at what Ehrhoff has prior to the last couple of years. Hes a smooth skating puck moving D man who can shoot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmployeeoftheMonth Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Being the best of the worst (and even that is questionable, imo) in this series is probably nothing Bieksa would be proud of. Best of the worse??? This is horse &*$^ and you know it. You really just can't give him any credit eh? He was the best all series which included the 5 games that most of the team didn't $&*^ the bed. Why would Gillis base his decision on one series when it comes to Ehrhoff? If he did that, Bieksa would have been gone any number of times after the last few seasons. If the choice is Ehrhoff or Bieksa (I agree it likely won't be) MG needs to keep Ehrhoff, hands down. They are NOT comparable players though. Bieksa is nothing like Ehrhoff and vice versa. Neither could replace the other effectively. He wouldn't you nerd that part was a joke. However Ehroff was certainly one of the worst D on the ice overall in the first round but that could be subjective based on expectations. Ehrhoff was a 50 point dman who will be impossible to replace either in free agency or through trade. He is also very good on both special teams. It is reasonable to suggest that Bieksa could be replaced by Ballard if they so choose. Whether or not they would choose that path is an entirely different question though. Again...you bias nerd. They'll both be back next season so no worries. I'd hate to lose either of them. My bet? If AV is here next year, Ballard won't be. It comes down to that, imo. It makes zero sense to have a guy like Ballard here at his salary and not play him. Don't care. My hope is that whether AV is here or not Ballard isn't here. You guys can piss and moan about how he's not getting his chances but he's not done much with what he's gotten. My man crush on him based on what I saw in Phoenix and Florida is over. He's the same player he was that last year in Florida...average and over paid. Bear in mind that the only thing that could make the Ballard situation any worse for MG at this point is if he now trades him away (without having been even given a top 4 opportunity on this team all season) for little in return and then Ballard goes right back to being a very effective top 4 difference maker on his new team. How bad would the Grabner and a 1st trade look then? Ballard will still fetch something pretty good in return. He's a great bottom 2 and a good bottom 4 defender. As far as grabner...well we'll have to wait and see how he does in the future. Hate to see that sophmore jinx hit him. Either way Grabner was traded away for potential; Ballard is still good and Oreo is a great addition to the teams bottom 6. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbllpp Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Being the best of the worst (and even that is questionable, imo) in this series is probably nothing Bieksa would be proud of You do realize how brutal this sound on all the Canucks D don't you. Bieksa was the most consistant D-man through this series. Get over it. Toews 1 G 3 A -4 Bieksa 1 G 2 A +3 I think Bieksa won that battle don't you? Not sure any of the other nuck d-men can say that they won their battle as soundly as that. Sedins + Edler/Ehrhoff is scary in a bad way at even strength and has been all year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
لني Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 You do realize how brutal this sound on all the Canucks D don't you. Bieksa was the most consistant D-man through this series. Get over it. Toews 1 G 3 A -4 Bieksa 1 G 2 A +3 I think Bieksa won that battle don't you? Not sure any of the other nuck d-men can say that they won their battle as soundly as that. Sedins + Edler/Ehrhoff is scary in a bad way at even strength and has been all year. The concern with Ehrhoff is that hes too reliant on the Sedins and on the PP for his points. Neither of which were up to snuff in the first round. Hes most certainly not in the league of Keith who showed this series bar a few games what a real number one and someone getting paid 5 + million is worth. From what I can see the nucks have approx 14 million (16 million if the cap goes up 2 mill) for cap space with 13 signed. We need 3 D men and 6 forwards for that. maybe ive miscalculated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dasein Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Not only was this guy the best overall performer in the 1st round (best game goes to Hamhuis hands down in game 7 and closely followed by Edler in game 1), he is a leader on this team and plays with heart. You all saw how Kesler took over and led the charge last night on the offense. Kevin Bieksa is the equivalent of Kesler on the backend. I saw him jumping in on plays, and pinching aggressively all night. If you recall the terrible game 5, it was only Kevin Bieksa who was throwing bodies, pinching, and getting into fights - in other words, doing everything that he could to spark his team and not give any credit to the Hawks. No one else showed up (except Hodgson) that game. Ehrhoff has been decent. But if we had to choose to keep one of the two, I'd keep Bieksa. I honestly don't think we have to worry about this because Sami Salo and his 3.75 cap hit will be leaving at the end of this season. that 2.75 cap room to give both Bieksa and Ehrhoff a raise (1.00 goes to Tanev to replace Salo in the bottom pairing). Bieksa will probably get 4.25 per (best case scenario, I can see him at 4.00 with hometown discount) which is only .50 more than he makes right now. So we have 2.25 cap room to sign Ehrhoff after that. We probably will have to leave some room to re-sign Edler next season, so if Ehrhoff doesn't take a paycut, I don't see him staying. I hope MG does not dish out more than he did for Hamhuis. Ehrhoff isn't good enough to be the highest paid dman in our group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallstreetamigo Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Ballard could replace Ehrhoff no? I mean he topped out pretty much at what Ehrhoff has prior to the last couple of years. Hes a smooth skating puck moving D man who can shoot. People discount Ehrhoff so much on here. 50 point smooth skating puck moving dmen who can play on the PP and PK are not easy to find. Ballard has some skills in those areas and could be a serviceable replacement in some ways but I honestly don't think he is the answer should Ehrhoff walk, to be honest. Not that he would ever be given a shot in that role anyway should Ehrhoff walk. Does anyone really believe that AV would not attempt to have Bieksa replace Ehrhoff in that situation? We have seen that movie before and none of us liked the ending. To me, neither Bieksa nor Ballard is the answer there. This team still needs a guy like Ehrhoff. It is not all about hitting, fighting, and good Canadian grit. Ehrhoff was very good on the PK this season as well, so he is not just an offensive guy. After how Ballard was shooting the puck last night though, I do want to see him on the point on the PP in Salo's absence though. He may not have the heavy shot that Salo has but he displayed great instincts offensively last night and is aggressive when used in that role. He was a huge part in that 3rd line dominating shift and looked like he was on the PP there. I think he could be a solid contributor with some PP time. It also might free up Bieksa and company to focus on shutdown and PK (where the team in general was shaky against the Hawks compared to what we are used to seeing from them). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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