News Article: Colorado Avalanche Media Coverage Part II
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TheDangerBowen
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- Apr 25, 2006
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Foppberg
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Said Girard's been his biggest disappointment of the season for him, believes he still has plenty of potential and time but he expected more.
Metallo
NWOBHM forever \m/
Well technically he’s right, it’s his biggest disapointment. Maybe as a New England guy he put the bar at Orr and was disapointed.
- Apr 25, 2006
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Ok but how is that a "ridiculous hot take"? I don't agree but it's his opinion.
- Apr 25, 2006
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Well technically he’s right, it’s his biggest disapointment. Maybe as a New England guy he put the bar at Orr and was disapointed.
Dater loved Girard last year...he probably thought G was ready to take the next step this year but he wasn't.
Metallo
NWOBHM forever \m/
Well for me our goalies were much bigger disapointements.
Foppa2118
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- Oct 3, 2003
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He's wrong if he thinks that. Girard has taken another step from last year with his play in the 2nd half of the season. He's been their best defenseman overall this season IMO.
- Apr 25, 2006
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I agree he had a good (not great) year...it all depends of your expectations. Daters' were obviously too high.
IMO what happened to EJ this year is a far bigger surprise. I didn't expect him to age this fast last summer.
Foppa2118
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- Oct 3, 2003
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I don't think EJ had a great year, but I don't think he's been anywhere near as bad as some make it out to be. He had a poor start, and has been average since then. That's how I'd describe his season.
Obviously he needs to be better though. I really don't think age is the issue though. He's skating just like he always has. I think he's had trouble adjusting to more of a stay at home role without the puck, playing with Girard all year. He's always better when he's on his horse flying through the neutral zone with the puck.
klozge
Avs
Ararana
Registered User
Let me guess Dater spews all over Girard, Girard makes that ridiculous stretch pass on the Mack goal, and Dater calls it a #DaterJinx?
Imagine having to make up your own jinx because you're wrong so often
Imagine having to make up your own jinx because you're wrong so often
Meh, I actually think Dater is right on this one. Girard hasn't been particularly great this year. He gives up an uncomfortable number of high danger chances each game compared to his Defensive partners. I think we're seeing a lot of the same things we saw last year where he's a great skater, good at getting the puck out of the zone himself often by just skating it out, and in the offensive zone he's obviously very good at puck possession and creating lanes for himself and his teammates with his skating. But in his own zone when he doesn't have the puck there's a definite cause for concern right now. He's still young and still certainly could improve in that area but I think Dater is right to be concerned. I'd also say playing top pairing minutes like he has for large parts of the season has probably exposed him a little more as well especially on that defensive side of the game. It would have been really nice for Zadorov to have taken that extra step forward this year to allow Girard a little more shelter and a chance to improve his defensive game against some weaker competition but at this point in the season it is what it is.
I think G/Z are the reason why we should still be seriously in the market for a high end Dman, or be taking a more serious look at Byram come draft day if our Ottawa pick winds up in the 3/4/5 range. I certainly dont see Zadorov ever reaching #1 LHD level and I have growing concerns that Girard will be better suited for the #2 LHD spot at this point as well. Which means we probably still need to get someone to play that Top pairing spot on the Left Side and Byram could be exactly that.
A plan I could get behind would be drafting Byram with the Ottawa pick, signing Hayes in July and trading the Colorado 1st ++ at the draft for the secondary scoring help we need. Or signing both Hayes and Skinner, but that's a lot of salary coming in.
I think G/Z are the reason why we should still be seriously in the market for a high end Dman, or be taking a more serious look at Byram come draft day if our Ottawa pick winds up in the 3/4/5 range. I certainly dont see Zadorov ever reaching #1 LHD level and I have growing concerns that Girard will be better suited for the #2 LHD spot at this point as well. Which means we probably still need to get someone to play that Top pairing spot on the Left Side and Byram could be exactly that.
A plan I could get behind would be drafting Byram with the Ottawa pick, signing Hayes in July and trading the Colorado 1st ++ at the draft for the secondary scoring help we need. Or signing both Hayes and Skinner, but that's a lot of salary coming in.
Not sure I agree, the entire season I think he's had some bumps, but him and Zadorov have easily been the two best Av defenders the last two to three weeks. However, I don't think you're going to win too many games when players like Barrie, Johnson, and to some degree Cole (just because of his injury) are all playing superbly below their capabilities.
Well the advanced metrics on the season do not paint a good picture for Girard. He's by far the worst defender on the team when it comes to scoring chances allowed and especially high danger chances.
There's only so much metrics you can trust though, Cousin Eddie posted a fantastic post labeling all the benefits that come from Bednar's system yet we just lost to the Ducks twice right in a playoff hunt. He might have good underlying numbers, but the wins aren't coming and are getting beat out by a team who have injuries to their starter and two top 6 players for the rest of the year. I think Soderberg has as much points as their highest ranked forward.
That's exactly the point I'm making. When you look at basic advanced metrics like Corsi, Girard is among our better Dmen. But when you start getting into a more in depth analysis and you start looking at what kind of scoring opportunities are generated when he's on the ice it becomes clear that his defensive game is still very much a work in progress. And quite frankly I'm a bit surprised to see people talking about how good of a season he's having. Even the eye test has shown a number of times he's been on the ice for some very high danger chances and often times its because of an error on his part usually on a soft clearing attempt up the boards or misplaying the puck with it. Part of it comes from being young and learning what he can and cant do with the puck on his stick in the defensive zone.
- Apr 25, 2006
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He's also playing vs the other team's 1st line.
Girard would have been better if:
A) EJ would still play like a low-end 1D instead of a ~3D
B) He would have someone reliable on the left side to shelter him while he's still extremely young
He's still our best D to get the puck out of the zone without icing it.
avsfan09
Registered User
My thoughts aswell. He's 5 montha younger than Makar and playing above his head. He may be making nore mistakes than last season but hes also being put in unreasonable situations. He hasn't been amazing but he's shown he's capable and has had periods where he dominates. Im quite comfortable with that from his age.
Foppa2118
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- Oct 3, 2003
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This is why advanced metrics are unreliable. He is by far not their worst defender. The only defenseman that is better defensively is EJ, and that's because of his physical advantages.
Girard is still obviously a work in progress, and had a sophomore type first half of the season with a few mistakes, but nothing like the regular egregious mistakes we've seen from past defenseman on this team like Guenin, Holden, Zanon, Redmond, or even Cole this year. Not even close to the regular defensive gaffes from Barrie in a lesser defensive role.
Put Barrie, Zadorov, Cole, Nemeth, or Barberio in a top pairing role all year and you'll see pretty quickly who's better and worse.
hooverdam
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- Feb 21, 2013
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