GDT: 11/19/13, 10PM EST "Pumping Tires" - Panthers VS Canucks

[Erick*]

It's because Bouw and Horton were expected to be integral parts of this franchise for years to come. Having them leave the way they did made everyone a little sour.

Versteeg was never anything more than a stop-gap, so nobody really cares what he said.

The bottom line is, we are the first NHL franchise to give him a legitimate chance of proving himself as a top line player in this league and he failed miserably. His attitude is that of a smug little *****, so I could care less if he wins 100 cups or none, just as long as he's far away from this franchise.

I don't think that that's true. Versteeg was supposed to be here for a long time, but he played like an idiot. I'm glad he's gone too.

 

[zeroG]

And how is Horton doing these days?

In fact how many goals have Weiss booth and Horton combined scored?

3?

horton was a productive 1st line playoff performer for the Bs (led the league or close to it both playoff runs) and has his name on the cup. he's done quite well, earned an easy life in columbus, where he's recovering from shoulder surgery.

weiss is injured and the wings secondary scoring in general has struggled.

The fact that he is laughing because he doesn't feel in the least bit guilty that his lazy uninspired play:

1. helped get a coach fired
2. inspired one of the historically cheapest teams in the NHL to pay him NOT to play for them

tells you all you need to know about the character of Kris Versteeg.

Any man with a sense of pride... any man that you would want at your back when the chips are down... would not be laughing.

i don't think versteeg was ever going to be able to single-handedly save dineen. dineen, imo, is not a good coach and never was at this level. if our first line hadn't lit up the league the first two months of 2011, we'd have missed the playoffs and probably been in the lottery (based on our play the 2nd half of that season) and i believe dineen would've been fired after a 2nd miserable season last year. the only factor that could've saved him is if the ownership had changed earlier and tallon had been able to load up the team with a couple of stars. that might have bought him the time to figure things out. then again, it might not have.

anyway, the point is, versteeg didn't get dineen fired. either the entire team didn't want to play for him or he just wasn't up for the task and the crap we saw on the ice was the manifestation. you know where i have stood on this for 2+ years. too early to tell where this team is going to end up but it seems the early returns support my hypothesis.

There's no way that the guy who constantly criticized Dineen during his time here is somewhat defending Kris Versteeg. Versteeg is one of the reasons why Dineen got fired this year. There's nothing more pathetic in sports than a player making millions to give up on his own team. Based on his play here and his comments since he left, it's pretty clear that he did not want to be here at all. I'm actually surprised he hasn't received more criticism than guys like Bouwmeester, Horton, etc. for what he did/some of the things he's said.

see above. i agree with you about versteeg but he is what he is - a decent one-way depth scorer. i don't agree with everyone's conclusion that he quit. it's too difficult a call to make; really only versteeg knows that. (only when a player as stupid as jokinen comes out publicly and says "i could've tried harder" can you say a player quit). so many things can affect a player's performance including teammates, confidence, injuries. i'm not defending him, i just don't think he's this evil player everyone thinks he is. fans need a whipping boy i guess. that will probably never change.

 

[CatscratchFever]

The correct terminology is - "threw a track", and any good Tank Crew will break track and fix it.

It's been a bit, any good scuttlebutt?

 

[Erick*]

i don't think versteeg was ever going to be able to single-handedly save dineen. dineen, imo, is not a good coach and never was at this level. if our first line hadn't lit up the league the first two months of 2011, we'd have missed the playoffs and probably been in the lottery (based on our play the 2nd half of that season) and i believe dineen would've been fired after a 2nd miserable season last year. the only factor that could've saved him is if the ownership had changed earlier and tallon had been able to load up the team with a couple of stars. that might have bought him the time to figure things out. then again, it might not have.

anyway, the point is, versteeg didn't get dineen fired. either the entire team didn't want to play for him or he just wasn't up for the task and the crap we saw on the ice was the manifestation. you know where i have stood on this for 2+ years. too early to tell where this team is going to end up but it seems the early returns support my hypothesis.



see above. i agree with you about versteeg but he is what he is - a decent one-way depth scorer. i don't agree with everyone's conclusion that he quit. it's too difficult a call to make; really only versteeg knows that. (only when a player as stupid as jokinen comes out publicly and says "i could've tried harder" can you say a player quit). so many things can affect a player's performance including teammates, confidence, injuries. i'm not defending him, i just don't think he's this evil player everyone thinks he is. fans need a whipping boy i guess. that will probably never change.

If you're healthy enough to set foot on the ice, you should be healthy enough to give...well, some effort. I'm not blaming him for lack of production. As Horachek said, this was about a lot more than just goals.

No one out there is 100% healthy either. The reason why a guy like Versteeg gets criticized more than another guy who's not producing (like, for example, Kopecky) is because fans are able to watch every game and know who and who doesn't give a ****.

If you can't bother to do simple things like backcheck or...I don't know, skate forward instead of backward perhaps, you should just tell the team you're not ready yet.

 

[gudzilla]

versteeg is futured in the next issue of THN... talking about how he want to win a cup with the panthers

 

[angry_treefrog]

i don't think versteeg was ever going to be able to single-handedly save dineen. dineen, imo, is not a good coach and never was at this level. if our first line hadn't lit up the league the first two months of 2011, we'd have missed the playoffs and probably been in the lottery (based on our play the 2nd half of that season) and i believe dineen would've been fired after a 2nd miserable season last year. the only factor that could've saved him is if the ownership had changed earlier and tallon had been able to load up the team with a couple of stars. that might have bought him the time to figure things out. then again, it might not have.

anyway, the point is, versteeg didn't get dineen fired. either the entire team didn't want to play for him or he just wasn't up for the task and the crap we saw on the ice was the manifestation. you know where i have stood on this for 2+ years. too early to tell where this team is going to end up but it seems the early returns support my hypothesis.

I see you avoided my point which had nothing to do with whether Dineen was a good coach or a bad coach.

The point is that YOU decided to criticize people who implied that they would be very happy to see Versteeg fall flat on his face. My point is that his apparent indifference to his poor performance makes him a fair target for that sentiment.

He is not the kind of player you want on your hockey team. If he gives Chicago warm and fuzzy memories of their cup victory and can chip in as an overpriced version of Juraj Kolnik, then all the power to them. I hope they enjoy each other. After mediocre performances in Florida and Philly, he won't find a meaningful role on any other hockey team moving forward.