Stralman or Girardi?

Which one would you choose ? What are their potential?

 

Stralman by a mile

Potential wise Stralman is being compared to Lidstrom.. whether he reaches that... who knows

Girardi a decent depth dman imo

 

Girardi established himself as a very solid defenseman in his rookie year with the Rangers, Stralman isn't even in NA yet.

Girardi will be a top 4 dman in the league, he plays positionally very well, has good size, and doesn't get caught out of position.

Stralman is the better offensive defenseman though out of the 2 but I really don't know Stralman very well so i'm not going to try to compare then both, im just pointing out what Girardi has done so far.

 

Girardi was incredibly poised for a 22-23 year old getting his first taste of the NHL. Very calm with the puck and had a sense of where everyone on the ice was. Moved the puck nicely. Very quick stick defensively. Very few mental mistakes. Physically he was fine and he should get at least a little stronger. I don't know how his offensive game is going to translate in the future but I think we're going to see some improvement. Speed wise he could use a tad more but his positional play is solid.

 

Any guy who can consistantly shut down Marian Hossa and Ilya Kovalchuk single handedly for 4 straight games is a little better than a decent depth dman.....

 

Strålman won't be as good as Lidström. It's unfair to compare him to a future Hall of Famer (and was only done on a couple of occasions, I'm pretty sure most people disagree). If you expect him to be that good you'll only end up dissapointed.

Anyways, I haven't watched Girardi a lot so I dunno who's better.

 

What exactly has Stralman done to prove he's better than Girardi?

 

Girardi did not shut down Hossa and Kovalchuk single handedly. That is incredibly ridiculous to say.

 

Who's Stralman? Where does he play?

 

Anton Strålman, a Swedish defenseman, 19 years old, played in Timrå in SEL last season. He was nominated for rookie of the year, has participated in two JWC's and gave a good impression at the WC this spring in Moscow. He'll play for Toronto this upcoming season.

 

He's 21 isn't he?

 

21 in Aug.

 

Err... yes... that's what I get when not checking the birth date and just do like journalists do.

 

I might be the only one, but I'm not ready to rank Stralman up with Lidstrom until he can show he can play North American game.

The guy hasn't even stepped onto the ice at the AHL level and he's already the savior of the Leafs.

 

Apparently Stralman and Tlusty are going to be parading the Stanley Cup down Young Street.

 

Yonge Street...

 

Like it matters. The cup won't be going down it any time soon, if ever again.

As for the question, I'd take Girardi, he's shown he can handle both the AHL and NHL, and had an important role on a playoff team. Stralman had one good year in Sweden, but nobody knows how his game will convert, if it does.

 

Trust me, your not the only one.


Your easily the majority.

 

Well if you're going to poke fun of the whole 40 year thing, you might as well get your facts right.

 

Guilty as charged. Too much beer tonight and I haven't been to TO in 2 months. But it's not like anybody is going to miss the parade because of my spelling.

 

Stralman may not have played a game in the NHL, but being a 1st team allstar in the SEL as a 20 year old is pretty freaking good. I am pretty sure he was on their WC adult team too....He's not just some kid scoring big points in junior. Lots of people in swedish hockey have compared him to Lidstrom and said he will be a star. Not leaf scouts but hockey analysts. Heck Sweden's star prospect Backstrom even said that Stralman dominates the game like a superstar. Of course Backstrom hasnt played a game in the NHL either. I wonder how many people question his potential?

 

Right now Girardi

 

Stralman.

 

Yeah, you're right.

 

For me, Stralman by a mile. He was All-star in SEL this season and the best D-man, I will even say the best player for Team Sweden at WC.