Avs_19
Registered User
- Jun 28, 2007
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that explains some of the soft plays, but his significant decrease in speed is still concerning
Just hope Mack's "shoulder" doesn't need it too. Sakic said he would be fine with rest in a couple weeks, but no one ever tells the truth with injuries anymore.
Watch him during the 13-14 season and then watch him this season. There is a noticeable drop in his foot speed. Given his injury history, age, wear and tear and hard minutes hes played for this team its not hard to figure out really and it was inevitable.Yeah, EJ was never considered fast as an Av. And the only time he had really good footspeed was before his golf cart incident, so I'm not sure what people are remembering.
There was definitely something way off with his game at the beginning of the season. He had some real difficulty getting the separation he usually got in previous seasons. But I am, in some small measure, relieved that his struggles in the postseason were quite possibly the result of an injury and not necessarily the sign of a precipitous decline (though I'm still disconcerted with his very poor first half of the season this year).
That said, I do think we'll see the workload lessened on EJ, and that's definitely for the best. The Avs are finally at a point where they have a very fast, talented, and balanced defensive corps. They don't have to play EJ an insane amount of minutes anymore, which quite obviously took a serious physical toll on him.
He's still the best blueliner to have out there in 3-on-3 hockey.
Watch him during the 13-14 season and then watch him this season. There is a noticeable drop in his foot speed. Given his injury history, age, wear and tear and hard minutes hes played for this team its not hard to figure out really and it was inevitable.
True so for a guy who wasn't the most fleet of foot to begin with to lose even more foot speed is concerning. I don't see the Avs trading EJ regardless. I think Joe will just let EJ ride off into the sunset with this team.Well yeah, he's lost a step but it wasn't like he was a worldbeater in the skating department to begin with when he came here
Watch him during the 13-14 season and then watch him this season. There is a noticeable drop in his foot speed. Given his injury history, age, wear and tear and hard minutes hes played for this team its not hard to figure out really and it was inevitable.
that explains some of the soft plays, but his significant decrease in speed is still concerning
I watched our playoff games from that season and few regular season games at work all this week. Its not only EJ that thats lost a step albeit he was the most notable of the current players we still have from that team but Barrie aswell hasnt looked as dynamic as he did that season to present. Barrie seemed to handle the puck a hell of a lot better then what I seen from him of late. Barrie did change his stick and his blade so maybe that has something to do with it. Barries shot however has gotten so much better from that season to today.Are you going off memory or are you watching games from the 13-14 season somewhere? There's going to be some sort of dropoff in speed from 26-31 for all players. Whether it's significant or not is another question.
I watched our playoff games from that season and few regular season games at work all this week. Its not only EJ that thats lost a step albeit he was the most notable of the current players we still have from that team but Barrie aswell hasnt looked as dynamic as he did that season to present. Barrie seemed to handle the puck a hell of a lot better then what I seen from him of late. Barrie did change his stick and his blade so maybe that has something to do with it. Barries shot however has gotten so much better from that season to today.
EJs drop in foot speed is very noticeable from 5 yrs ago and its expected. A guy like him who plays the hard minutes he has, who has dealt with the injuries he has totally makes sense. It happens to every player eventually. Wait until Landy falls off a cliff that one is gonna be as sad.Yeah I've noticed Barrie doesn't quite have the same dynamic skating for some reason. Possibly changed his edges. It's not a big change though. His shot is markedly better though. That's just due to drilling the hell out of it in practice.
I'm not sure how much of a step EJ has lost from five years ago, but when he got up to speed this year he looked like he was flying just like before to me, so we probably disagree on how much he's fallen off in that area.
EJs drop in foot speed is very noticeable from 5 yrs ago and its expected. A guy like him who plays the hard minutes he has, who has dealt with the injuries he has totally makes sense. It happens to every player eventually. Wait until Landy falls off a cliff that one is gonna be as sad.