Defence pylon

[Forsy]

2 hours ago, Me_ said:

Have you noticed how #57 is being praised for elevating his game while playing more and more with OEL?

 

Have you noticed how much Benning has cut losses all summer by dumping useless player after useless player?

 

Have you noticed that?

 

For God’s sake. So much stupidity in this post I feel dumber by having read it.

LOL, I'm amazed that someone wrote a post that would have had 95%+ of the words I was gonna use (and in the same order)

[King Heffy]

Myers has been very good this year, and finally blew up Duncan Keith.  Not sure which player the OP is watching.

[JM_]

8 minutes ago, King Heffy said:

Myers has been very good this year, and finally blew up Duncan Keith.  Not sure which player the OP is watching.

I think whoever he's watching is in Edmonton. 

[TheNewGM]

if only myers was a pylon placed in front of the net he could actually stay in position and would win at DEFENSE

[wallstreetamigo]

2 hours ago, SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME said:

I notice a lot of things with our Dmen.

 

Then I check myself (as much as I can) for confirmation bias.

 

This definitely goes for Myers.

 

(And pretty much every Canucks Dman.)

 

If you go into games thinking Myers tends to make bad pinches, be a little too permissive in the neutral zone, vulnerable to getting walked when defending against quicker, more evasive players, a bit on the lumbering and lazy side in some of his one-on-ones, often overcommits and loses position, and is very likely to take too many bad penalties, you’ll probably get what you’re expecting.

 

But if you go into games thinking Myers skates very well for a big man, moves the puck really well, has a heavy shot, has good offensive instincts, is very strong and physical and able to overpower most opponents, positions himself well inside his zone, and uses his size and strength effectively to move/freeze players and control space, then you’ll probably also get what you’re expecting.

 

It’s a fun exercise. Try starting a game and listing in your head the strengths/weaknesses of our Dmen and how you’d definite their overall profiles. Then watch a period of hockey and see how well things line up with your expectations.
 

Then (and this is the hard part but also the fun part), over the intermission, really try to think about those same players in the opposite manner to your expectations. Then watch the next period. And see how much their play “changes.”

 

It’s pretty interesting.

 

I’d actually recommend this mental exercise to some of the people saying Rathbone is a complete defensive liability and should be sent to the AHL. 
 

And I also recommend it for people who say Myers is a trash player.

 

He’s not trash. Myers is a solid NHL Dman. Albeit one with flaws and one whose results, especially on the stats side, suggest he’s probably not nearly as good as some of his stronger backers say he is. But he’s also not anywhere close as bad as his haters claim.
 

I’d say most of the really strong opinions expressed on these boards (especially in the GDTs), either pro or anti, are largely based on biases in those individual viewers’ “eye tests” rather than any kind of objective reality, when it comes to evaluating player performance.

 

(Not sure if this will be a popular post. )

I try to do this too occasionally. I will say sometimes players actually perform worse than your expectation of how poorly they will perform. That’s actually kind of terrifying from a fan perspective.

[VegasCanuck]

4 hours ago, ItsMillerTime said:

I personally think Myers has been solid this year

I agree. Our defense needs a little work and practice time to improve on systems, but I've thought he's been pretty solid out there.

[SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME]

13 minutes ago, wallstreetamigo said:

I try to do this too occasionally. I will say sometimes players actually perform worse than your expectation of how poorly they will perform. That’s actually kind of terrifying from a fan perspective.

Well, that’s kind of what I’m getting at, actually. If you go into a game with low expectations for a certain player, they’ll probably confirm that negative bias, and may even exceed it. 
 

But I hear you. Sometimes guys just **** the bed completely, and no minds tricks will result in a significantly different interpretation of their shocking performance.

 

What I do find is that priming myself by forcibly altering my expectations helps me pick up elements of a player’s game that I might otherwise miss, due to my own biases.

 

Eye tests will always be flawed, but challenging one’s own biases, and limiting/accounting for subjectivity, wherever possible, leads to overall better player evaluation IMO.

[wallstreetamigo]

2 minutes ago, SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME said:

Well, that’s kind of what I’m getting at, actually. If you go into a game with low expectations for a certain player, they’ll probably confirm that negative bias, and may even exceed it. 
 

But I hear you. Sometimes guys just **** the bed completely, and no minds tricks will result in a significantly different interpretation of their shocking performance.

 

What I do find is that priming myself by forcibly altering my expectations helps me pick up elements of a player’s game that I might otherwise miss, due to my own biases.

 

Eye tests will always be flawed, but challenging one’s own biases, and limiting/accounting for subjectivity, wherever possible, leads to overall better player evaluation IMO.

I try to force myself to recognize the good parts I see when watching players I am not the biggest fan of.

 

Every player has strengths and weaknesses and evaluating them requires remembering that.

[DS4quality]

As much as I like Myers he does tend to make the occasional bad play. That being said he does sometimes make really good plays as well. His reach is very useful at times. 

He takes penalties at odd times, but he's a big strong player.  The entire defense has made terrible plays at one time or another this season. No one is immune to criticism in the defensive end.

[Dats hockey]

4 hours ago, Dirtman said:

Meanwhile, good ole Seth Jones just chillin with his -7

I guess he’s a awful hockey player.

[butters]

is this what auditions for the new scapegoat look like?