LonLon Lei said:
I don't know why some tell Mcd "not to be Heddy" while he may just have been trying to do whatever he can...as if he were Serg trying to be Heddy since he's a rookie? Why don't you tell Serg to be Heddy then to excel even more? Quite a few guys on our team need more respect here IMO...
If you are not expecting any offencive help from this guy you are not getting even half of his value IMHO. I get the frustration w/ his more than a couple of deficiencies at the game but at least during this series we haven't done any better team D (w/ good works done by our forwards)yet.
I just hope we can get back to our game where quite a few guys here said there wasn't a single player who didn't belong to the team soon.
From the Series Talk thread.
Actually, I would love Sergy to be more like Heddy not only because he IS a rookie and has much to learn but I believe that Sergachev also has the natural talent to blossom into a Hedman-like top defender.
But he's still only 19 so I don't expect as much out of him as I do out of McD.
McD is in his prime and has years of being the #1D on the Rangers. So it's not that I don't expect offensive help from him. His 4 points in 5 games vs NJ was great! And I do think he's definitely an important part of this team. I'm very happy that Yzerman got McD and think our blueline is much, much stronger because of it. Even with his occasional bonehead defensive plays/penalties, he's also done some terrific defensive plays too. His presence has also changed around the pairings so it's great to be able to see our third pairing come on the ice and not be filled with fear.
I guess I want him to not feel like he has to be "the guy" like Heddy so that he takes stupid risks. I think McD needs to just play HIS brand of two way defending and not try to do everything himself like Heddy does/can. He's got a dependable, supportive partner in Strålman and the two of them have done some terrific work together in the first two series. When they trust each other and are in sync, they are a top shutdown pairing that gave Taylor Hall and the Bergeron/Pasternak/Marchand line fits and can occasionally bring some offense.
Here's hoping today's game brings some nice solid TEAM defense!