Kevin Bieksa you are really...

[oldnews]

oldnews is looking up his advanced stats first to try and justify his play and then he'll give you a response, be patient.

thanks for the comic relief.

"who dare try and justify Bieksa"? - hits from the bong.....

spokesperson for the village mob?

[BanTSN]

The problem isn't Bieksa. Never was. The problem lately has been that his parter has either been hurt or has been a underexperienced guy.

And look, Hamhuis is out and Bieksa is a problem again. Who knew?

Injuries are always a problem on a team with little depth in a particular position.

On the bright side, nobody's whining about Edler now, even though this time last year pretty much everybody was.

[DownUndaCanuck]

That was Vintage Bieksa on display against the Rangers. They're one of the fastest teams in the NHL and I'm surprised Edler wasn't exposed as much as he usually is, but Bieksa on the other hand was danced around all night long. They double-teamed him at the blue line on occasions or just chipped the puck straight past him and went in time and time again on odd-man rushes.

Play Bieksa with just about anyone else on this team and this game wouldn't have been so ugly, but Sbisa is a mirror-image of Kevin Bieksa. They both play physically, both don't contribute that much offence but both play a risky physical defensive style. There's no way in hell that they should ever be on the same pairing unit. Both guys need to be paired either with an offensive defence man or a solid stay-at-home guy, because they're risky physical defencemen who like to jump up and hit guys and keep the puck in play.

Basically Bieksa and Sbisa are both high risk, low reward players. They take high risks like pinching and throwing big hits, which have low rewards (keeping the puck in play as opposed to scoring off the rush, or just lowering a hit).

[Fozzy]

All three are examples of players who made adjustments to their game in order to improve.

Bieksa unfortunately plays the same way he always has and refuses to make the adjustments necessary to make up for his advancing age and declining speed and skill.

Apples and oranges. None of those players are on the wrong side of 30 and still make the same mistakes over and over again.

The positive is that next year is a contract year for Bieksa so we can expect a great performance. Silver lining I guess.

Here is the crux of the issue regarding Bieksa in my opinion:

As his play has gotten worse we hear all the reasons to keep him in spite of that. People talk about his leadership but the most effective leadership is ALWAYS by example. And his example on the ice is not at all what any team should want their players to emulate. A 30 something player who makes the same mistakes over and over again while not doing what it takes to correct them. A big part of the problem is that he does not seem to hold himself accountable to change as he gets older and slower. Combine that with the fact he is not held accountable for it by the coaching staff either based on reputation only makes it worse.

When he was putting up 40 points with his high risk play there was at least a partial justification for it. Now that it does not result in any points for him, or even any consistent offensive chances for the team as a whole, that justification to be a high risk taker all the time is non-existent.

I would prefer to see him be a defense first player and lose all the bad reads and pinches. Then he would at least be useful in the top 4 where this coaching staff continually plays him. He is not as purely offensively talented as many think. He generated most of his offense through pure risk taking. And that is no longer working for him or the team.

Bieksa is by no means a useless player. But he needs to reinvent his game to something that matches his current abilities and allows him to minimize his exposure defensively. Solid positional play and more urgency with and without the puck would certainly be a good start.

Great post.

[Fozzy]

Every time the team loses a couple games this place turns into an overcrowded chicken coup.

A couple? From reading your posts on CDC it's quite clear that you are knowledgeable but surely even you can't deny how horrific Bieksa has been this season.

His positional play is non-existent, he pinches every dam time which causes many odd man rushes.

We get that many on here see him as a great leader but where has he shown that on the ice this season? I see him as someone who needs to step up big time if he's a so called leader on this team.

[oldnews]

I personally quite like the Stanton Bieksa pairing when the team is healthy. They were great together last season before Stanton's injury, and picked up from there earlier this year.

I also liked Hamhuis Bieksa, but with the current makeup, Hamhuis Sbisa makes more sense.

Edler Bieksa never worked and now Sbisa Bieksa isn't really working.

Sbisa looked great playing with Hamhuis and really stepped up even in his absence, but the past few games have obviously been a struggle.

Part of the current problem is that Edler and Tanev are (predictably) so damn good together, and therefore somewhat inseparable, which leaves three relatively inexperienced guys and Bieksa to round out the pairings in Hamhuis' absence.

There are usually / always factors that we don't really have knowledge or a grasp of that contribute in circumstances like this. Is Edler playing so much better in part because his back is also healthier, or is it simply a combination of WD and Tanev?

Hamhuis has been getting off to slow starts himself the past few seasons.

I'm not all that worried about Bieksa for two reasons - his character and will, and his hard work, conditioning and ethic. I have to wonder though if there isn't something that is hindering him, or if it's simply a funk phase.

Regardless, I'm not about to go busting the guys jewels - he's been a blessing to the franchise from the start.

[nuck nit]

All pro's have character,conditioning and work hard or else they never made or stay in the show.

Bieksa and Edler sucked last year and Bieksa is having problems when not with a d man that can cover for his mistakes,which were on display in technicolor.

Hamhuis and Bieksa were having problems when Hamhuis was healthy.

One solution might be to package Tanev and move Hamhuis up with Edler.

Bring in a d man that has some offensive abilities to play with Bieksa and drill it into his head that his Bobby Orr dream days are over.

Tanev + should bring in a decent puck mover.

[oldnews]

All pro's have character,conditioning and work hard or else they never made or stay in the show.

Nice story nucknit - they're all equal, right. (except when you're blathering about Kassian ).

But it's also all relative.

And dealing Tanev - great solution btw.

[nuck nit]

Nice story nucknit - they're all equal, right. But it's also all relative.

And dealing Tanev - great solution btw.

No,we all age and some find that difficult to accept.

BTW,Bieksa is the problem,rather,his NTC.

Since Benning,Lidster and Linden were all traded off of this club convincing Bieksa that he is the ballast sinking this ship would save moving Tanev.

The blathering fans with Bieksa man crushes would also be gone so it would be win-win for me.

[oldnews]

BTW,Bieksa is the problem,rather,his NTC.

Since Benning,Lidster and Linden were all traded off of this club convincing Bieksa that he is the ballast sinking this ship would save moving Tanev.

The blathering fans with Bieksa man crushes would also be gone so it would be win-win for me.

your signature nonsense.

Gillis, not Bieksa is to blame, right?

Benning, Lidster and Linden were traded... so convince Bieksa he is the one now sinking this ship. Your logic fails you.

The fans would remain though nit - your fairweather friends are the types that abandon ship.

[1-d]

As a member of the leadership group on this team, Bieksa should be held accountable for what he brings on the ice as well as off of it. While the principle applies to the other guys -- Sedins, Burr, Hamhuis, Higgy -- as well, the most troublesome flaw of Bieksa's play is his hockey IQ, or lack thereof. For a 33-year old dman who's been with the same team for his entire career and was instrumental to the SCF run just a few years ago, some of miscues Bieksa makes on the ice make me gaze in disbelief early and often.

To me KB3's biggest flaws are his casualness with the puck and reliance on his instinct rather than making the right judgement based on the situation. Knowing where his teammates are before pinching in should be somewhere in the earlier chapters of Blueliner Basics 101, but Bieksa still routinely makes such rookie mistakes and it costs the team often. And when he has the puck in our zone he tends to gets so casual / lazy with it, waiting or circling around for no reason until the other team closing in. The end result is either coughing up the puck or icing it, the same gong show by Bieksa which I have watched over and over again for the past few seasons including this year. Isn't the #1 priority of any NHL defenceman is moving the puck out of his own zone safely and quickly?

All in all I can't think of one area Bieksa stands out to warrant his salary and ice time as a top-4 dman, other than paying a nice lip service in pre/post game interviews. Keeping the puck in the offensive zone by pinching in? How many odd men rushes we've given up... well, never mind that. Playing physical? I haven't seen much of it and even when he tries, he usually gets bounced off of the other team's bigger forwards. Quarterbacking PP? Bieksa has never been a crisp passer or a canon blaster from the point so I don't know exactly what he's there for. Standing up for his teammates? Yes he does, occasionally. But he doesn't really scares anybody anymore.

It was a very noble for KB3 wanting to stick around and going down with the ship if he has to, and I do appreciate his loyalty. He shouldn't be dragging the ship to go down in the first place, however...

[BCNeil]

Its all moot. He is going to be here the next year and a half. He isn't really tradeable right now.

Over this time he will play less and less minutes. Then people will bitch that he is overpaid for a 3rd pairing.

Hamhuis can basically make anyone he is paired with look better

[wallstreetamigo]

As a member of the leadership group on this team, Bieksa should be held accountable for what he brings on the ice as well as off of it. While the principle applies to the other guys -- Sedins, Burr, Hamhuis, Higgy -- as well, the most troublesome flaw of Bieksa's play is his hockey IQ, or lack thereof. For a 33-year old dman who's been with the same team for his entire career and was instrumental to the SCF run just a few years ago, some of miscues Bieksa makes on the ice make me gaze in disbelief early and often.

To me KB3's biggest flaws are his casualness with the puck and reliance on his instinct rather than making the right judgement based on the situation. Knowing where his teammates are before pinching in should be somewhere in the earlier chapters of Blueliner Basics 101, but Bieksa still routinely makes such rookie mistakes and it costs the team often. And when he has the puck in our zone he tends to gets so casual / lazy with it, waiting or circling around for no reason until the other team closing in. The end result is either coughing up the puck or icing it, the same gong show by Bieksa which I have watched over and over again for the past few seasons including this year. Isn't the #1 priority of any NHL defenceman is moving the puck out of his own zone safely and quickly?

All in all I can't think of one area Bieksa stands out to warrant his salary and ice time as a top-4 dman, other than paying a nice lip service in pre/post game interviews. Keeping the puck in the offensive zone by pinching in? How many odd men rushes we've given up... well, never mind that. Playing physical? I haven't seen much of it and even when he tries, he usually gets bounced off of the other team's bigger forwards. Quarterbacking PP? Bieksa has never been a crisp passer or a canon blaster from the point so I don't know exactly what he's there for. Standing up for his teammates? Yes he does, occasionally. But he doesn't really scares anybody anymore.

It was a very noble for KB3 wanting to stick around and going down with the ship if he has to, and I do appreciate his loyalty. He shouldn't be dragging the ship to go down in the first place, however...

This is a great post - especially the last paragraph.

[Baggins]

The problem isn't Bieksa. Never was. The problem lately has been that his parter has either been hurt or has been a underexperienced guy.

And look, Hamhuis is out and Bieksa is a problem again. Who knew?

Injuries are always a problem on a team with little depth in a particular position.

On the bright side, nobody's whining about Edler now, even though this time last year pretty much everybody was.

Rule #1 - if Bieksa is on the ice for a goal against, it's his fault. (even if he just stepped on from the bench)

[2SKATES1STICK]

Rule #1 - if Bieksa is on the ice for a goal against, it's his fault. (even if he just stepped on from the bench)

no. he pinches or loses his check and its a goal against.

bieksa makes garrison look like a norris candidate

[Baggins]

no. he pinches or loses his check and its a goal against.

bieksa makes garrison look like a norris candidate

Sure sparky. As I said, Bieksa is on the ice for a goal against, it's his fault. Been that way for years on this board.

[2SKATES1STICK]

Sure sparky. As I said, Bieksa is on the ice for a goal against, it's his fault. Been that way for years on this board.

where there's smoke...

you get a pass for the sparky cause your sig is awesome. i bet she knows truculence...

[nuck nit]

Its all moot. He is going to be here the next year and a half. He isn't really tradeable right now.

Over this time he will play less and less minutes. Then people will bitch that he is overpaid for a 3rd pairing.

Hamhuis can basically make anyone he is paired with look better

Bieksa is a third pairing d now and Hamhuis is so good he has allowed KB to look like a #4.

He is paid $2m salary next year and from what I remember the cap hit of the former club does not go with the player when traded,so Bieksa is very tradeable.

Not only does whatever team that takes him take on one year of a decent salary but the Canucks shed $4.6m of cap,receive a shot at a decent draft pick in a stellar draft year and provide enough space for Benning to then go out and get a very good #3/4 d man to play with Hammer.

The only rub in all of this is KB's NTC and his reluctance to leave Vancouver.

It is his choice but he could help this team an awful lot by waiving now.

[aGENT]

Pretty evident Bieksa's been playing through a nagging injury since the beginning of the season (remember when he got hurt and I think missed 1-2 games).

With Hamhuis out there's almost zero chance he takes the required time off to correct it either.

Hopefully with our spaced out schedule the next few weeks he'll be able to heal up a bit and get closer to 90+%.

Or even better, Benning makes the move for another D that we desperately needed before Bieksa or Hamhuis were injured and he's telling anyone who'll listen he's in no panic to make (uh-huh ).

[Bang Bang Boogie]

Sure sparky. As I said, Bieksa is on the ice for a goal against, it's his fault. Been that way for years on this board.

Bieksa can do no wrong in your eyes.