Bieksa's biggest issue (and honestly the defining line between him and Beauchemin right now) is his hockey smarts. He's slow, and not skilled, but he could still be very serviceable playing a safe, smart game. The problem is that he's not. He's making dumb pinches, failing continuously to break the puck out, and suffering non-stop defensive lapses that would make any coach (besides Carlyle of course) turn red. He's physical, and he still does possess a shadow of his formidable slapshot, but his defensive play is exceptionally poor and his vision and decision-making with the puck is very poor as well. Bieksa last playoffs stopped with his Karlsson wannabeism (is that a word? ) and that helped his play a lot -- he stopped chasing the puck as much trying to push the play offensively and played a stay-at-home DFD role, which is MUCH more agreeable with his current skillset. He wasn't fantastic but he wasn't a detriment to the team.
Compare with Beauchemin, who's slow and unskilled, but smart. His first pass is better than Bieksa's, he's miles better in his own end, and even though he's not a particularly great playmaker, he's still adequate in that area. He's a liability on the rush because of his speed, but he's adapted fairly well to the stay-at-home role that Bieksa has (save for the Calgary series) failed to adapt to.
I don't necessarily mind Beauch drawing in every now and then as long as we're not going up against a team that's oozing speed, but unless Bieksa returns to his responsible playstyle from the Calgary series -- I agree with you that Bieksa looks worse than even last year -- I don't want to see him anywhere near the lineup.
Bieksa's biggest issue (and honestly the defining line between him and Beauchemin right now) is his hockey smarts. He's slow, and not skilled, but he could still be very serviceable playing a safe, smart game. The problem is that he's not. He's making dumb pinches, failing continuously to break the puck out, and suffering non-stop defensive lapses that would make any coach (besides Carlyle of course) turn red. He's physical, and he still does possess a shadow of his formidable slapshot, but his defensive play is exceptionally poor and his vision and decision-making with the puck is very poor as well. Bieksa last playoffs stopped with his Karlsson wannabeism (is that a word? ) and that helped his play a lot -- he stopped chasing the puck as much trying to push the play offensively and played a stay-at-home DFD role, which is MUCH more agreeable with his current skillset. He wasn't fantastic but he wasn't a detriment to the team.
Compare with Beauchemin, who's slow and unskilled, but smart. His first pass is better than Bieksa's, he's miles better in his own end, and even though he's not a particularly great playmaker, he's still adequate in that area. He's a liability on the rush because of his speed, but he's adapted fairly well to the stay-at-home role that Bieksa has (save for the Calgary series) failed to adapt to.
I don't necessarily mind Beauch drawing in every now and then as long as we're not going up against a team that's oozing speed, but unless Bieksa returns to his responsible playstyle from the Calgary series -- I agree with you that Bieksa looks worse than even last year -- I don't want to see him anywhere near the lineup.
You fit in very well at HF.First, I don't consider Montour as raw.
Second, I'd prefer raw, young Welinski and Pettersson to experienced Bieksa or Holzer.
You fit in very well at HF.
http://hfboards.mandatory.com/threa...ks-bandwagon-draft-sign-ups-are-over.2472787/
Hawks fans are taking over from the Canes fans on the bandwagon draft idea. We have the 9th overall pick, personally I think Penosity seems like a good pick, but DisgruntledHawkFan seems to hate the Preds which would make for a good fit around here.
Machinehead is also available to be picked, we could set him up with a nice Cam Fowler angel avatar
Oh please please please
Preds hate is the most important trait in the draft imo.
Drat. We have made several trades with the Leafs in the past though... Maybe we could trade them the rights to CI (they don't need to know he is a UFA) and 10 Leafs-related posts from Duckaroosky?This poster is also refusing to report to the Ducks or Wild...have to go another direction
Very typical hfboards all prospects all the timeYou fit in very well at HF.
Drat. We have made several trades with the Leafs in the past though... Maybe we could trade them the rights to CI (they don't need to know he is a UFA) and 10 Leafs-related posts from Duckaroosky?
Very typical hfboards all prospects all the time
I wouldn't expect anything less, but they don't need to find that out until after the trade.WOT? All my leafs related posts is that they suck, not sure that's what they want over there. I guess I could say something nice about Matthews since I'm also a half Mexican hockey player (a more successful one since I've won the cup )
It is now the Ducks turn for the HF Hawks badnwagon draft. Pick a good one (and please don't take more than an hour or two).
Thank you!
Nice to be on the bandwagon of a team that actually has a chance to win.
Avatar change coming soon!