Dan Hamhuis - Will test FA; "We're still working through things, so we'll see"

[perrykaravello]

Worst d-man this year, and hasn't been the same since 11'.

 

[thekernel]

This is the first time I've actually seen him lose the game almost completely by himself. The worst game he's had of all his bad games so far this year.

I'm expecting a turnaround, if only for the reason that he can't really be playing much worse.

What has to happen for him to return to half his capabilities?

 

[deadinthewater]

OMG, he was so bad today. I can't stop laughing.

 

[Hammer Time]

This is the first time I've actually seen him lose the game almost completely by himself. The worst game he's had of all his bad games so far this year.

I'm expecting a turnaround, if only for the reason that he can't really be playing much worse.

What has to happen for him to return to half his capabilities?

Yeah, this was a very Bieksa or O'Brien-like game. I thought I'd already seen the worst of him in the first 5 games of the season ...

 

[Craz1bo1]

He must REALLY not want to go to Sochi

 

[mrbitterguy]

i'm wondering if he is just really stressed out by torts. seems unfocused and inside his own head most of the time. some guys don't do well with that kind of coach, he might be one of them. needs some coddling to feel good about himself. keith ballard had his AV, maybe hamhuis has his tortorella.

btw, dale weise looks the exact same way, and he was waived out of new york by torts.

 

[Free Edler]

Rough game for the Hammer tonight.

 

[Hansen]

What the **** happened?

The last two seasons, Hammer was BY FAR our best defensive defenseman, and so far this year he has been nothing short of terrible. Offensively, Defensively, all around.

Where did the Hammer of 2011-2012 go?

(I know it's biased to post this right after he made the worst mistake of his career, but still).

Stanton is a magical thief who has stolen Hamhuis' skill and is using it to make money in the long term from our team!

 

[Jack Tripper]

this guy was in serious consideration for team canada...have to believe hes thrown away that opportunity with this start to the season, especially with the horrific game he had tonight in a national broadcast

 

[EpochLink]

Hamhuis has been one big hot mess to start the season..just horrific turnovers, missed chances and really shoddy defense work.

Just a cluster****

 

[deadinthewater]

this guy was in serious consideration for team canada...have to believe hes thrown away that opportunity with this start to the season, especially with the horrific game he had tonight in a national broadcast

I don't think he had much of a chance anyways.

 

[biturbo19]

I'm still really worried that this is a 'system thing' or a 'coaching incompatibility'.

We see Bieksa and Edler looking more natural and aggressive under Torts...the flip side of the coin, is that we see Hamhuis looking like a disaster.

Torts has them playing an aggressive system, with far less rigid structure. Hamhuis has played essentially the entirety of his NHL career under a pair of extremely structured, rigid, 'system' coaches in Barry Trotz, and then Alain Vigneault. Both very passive systems defensively and with clear directives on 'what to do'. Tortorella's system leans much more heavily on aggressive play, aggressive reads, 'stiffness', etc. It's very different from anything we've seen Hamhuis play in at the NHL level before. And he hasn't looked remotely comfortable.

I think the same sort of change that has 'aggressive' but inconsistent defencemen like Bieksa and Edler (and ironically probably would've been the case with Ballard) looking much more confident, assertive, comfortable and just positively impactful in the games...has the more 'passive' and reliable 'system defenders' like Hamhuis and Tanev (to an extent) looking lost. Having to make instinctive, aggressive decisions isn't what they're good at.

The sort of mistakes Hamhuis has been making look more like a 'sprained brain muscle' than a 'sore groin' to me. And if you've watched any Rangers games this year with AV at the helm, you can see shades of the opposite there, with defenders having to fight the aggressive reads and plays...the same sort of stuff that got Ballard ultimately bought out here.

Combine that with the above mentioned 'coaching style', aka Torts screaming at people and 'punishing' like some sort of disciplinarian dictator...Maybe that's just not the best way to get the most out of Hamhuis. Not every player responds well to some dumbass yelling at them every time they make a mistake.

I really hope it's just an 'adjustment period'. But it worries me...we may have 'fixed' Bieksa and Edler only to 'unfix' Hamhuis.

 

[btdvox]

I'm still really worried that this is a 'system thing' or a 'coaching incompatibility'.

We see Bieksa and Edler looking more natural and aggressive under Torts...the flip side of the coin, is that we see Hamhuis looking like a disaster.

Torts has them playing an aggressive system, with far less rigid structure. Hamhuis has played essentially the entirety of his NHL career under a pair of extremely structured, rigid, 'system' coaches in Barry Trotz, and then Alain Vigneault. Both very passive systems defensively and with clear directives on 'what to do'. Tortorella's system leans much more heavily on aggressive play, aggressive reads, 'stiffness', etc. It's very different from anything we've seen Hamhuis play in at the NHL level before. And he hasn't looked remotely comfortable.

I think the same sort of change that has 'aggressive' but inconsistent defencemen like Bieksa and Edler (and ironically probably would've been the case with Ballard) looking much more confident, assertive, comfortable and just positively impactful in the games...has the more 'passive' and reliable 'system defenders' like Hamhuis and Tanev (to an extent) looking lost. Having to make instinctive, aggressive decisions isn't what they're good at.

The sort of mistakes Hamhuis has been making look more like a 'sprained brain muscle' than a 'sore groin' to me. And if you've watched any Rangers games this year with AV at the helm, you can see shades of the opposite there, with defenders having to fight the aggressive reads and plays...the same sort of stuff that got Ballard ultimately bought out here.

Combine that with the above mentioned 'coaching style', aka Torts screaming at people and 'punishing' like some sort of disciplinarian dictator...Maybe that's just not the best way to get the most out of Hamhuis. Not every player responds well to some dumbass yelling at them every time they make a mistake.

I really hope it's just an 'adjustment period'. But it worries me...we may have 'fixed' Bieksa and Edler only to 'unfix' Hamhuis.

I call BS. Why? Because AV was anything but structured. He got his d to rush as much as possible which is why we were always top 3 in defense scoring.

 

[biturbo19]

I call BS. Why? Because AV was anything but structured. He got his d to rush as much as possible which is why we were always top 3 in defense scoring.

1)Vigneault was absolutely not overly enthusiastic about his defencemen rushing the puck up ice themselves.

2)The blueliners jumping up into the play and the aggressive pinching in the offensive zone (which is what i'm guessing you are actually referring to) was just one facet of his very rigidly structured system. To reiterate because i see this all the time...defencemen getting involved in the offense isn't in any way indicative of a 'lack of structure'. Quite the opposite...that was part of the structure.


If you can't recognize AV as a very 'structure oriented' coach, i'm not sure what to say. He relied on structure perhaps to a fault...the 'stagnant and predictable' elements that contributed significantly to his firing...That was rigid structure.

 

[Verviticus]

i think people are overreacting

 

[Squall]

I'm still really worried that this is a 'system thing' or a 'coaching incompatibility'.

We see Bieksa and Edler looking more natural and aggressive under Torts...the flip side of the coin, is that we see Hamhuis looking like a disaster.

Torts has them playing an aggressive system, with far less rigid structure. Hamhuis has played essentially the entirety of his NHL career under a pair of extremely structured, rigid, 'system' coaches in Barry Trotz, and then Alain Vigneault. Both very passive systems defensively and with clear directives on 'what to do'. Tortorella's system leans much more heavily on aggressive play, aggressive reads, 'stiffness', etc. It's very different from anything we've seen Hamhuis play in at the NHL level before. And he hasn't looked remotely comfortable.

I think the same sort of change that has 'aggressive' but inconsistent defencemen like Bieksa and Edler (and ironically probably would've been the case with Ballard) looking much more confident, assertive, comfortable and just positively impactful in the games...has the more 'passive' and reliable 'system defenders' like Hamhuis and Tanev (to an extent) looking lost. Having to make instinctive, aggressive decisions isn't what they're good at.

The sort of mistakes Hamhuis has been making look more like a 'sprained brain muscle' than a 'sore groin' to me. And if you've watched any Rangers games this year with AV at the helm, you can see shades of the opposite there, with defenders having to fight the aggressive reads and plays...the same sort of stuff that got Ballard ultimately bought out here.

Combine that with the above mentioned 'coaching style', aka Torts screaming at people and 'punishing' like some sort of disciplinarian dictator...Maybe that's just not the best way to get the most out of Hamhuis. Not every player responds well to some dumbass yelling at them every time they make a mistake.

I really hope it's just an 'adjustment period'. But it worries me...we may have 'fixed' Bieksa and Edler only to 'unfix' Hamhuis.

I don't see this as a coaching problem. The Canucks have been struggling like this since last season. I highly doubt AV's presence would have changed that. Bieksa and Edler are still making their usual mistakes with Edler still being a question mark as to whether he'll be anything like a few years ago.

Hamhuis is just really out of it. If his mistakes are due to the Tort's new system like you said, then someone like Tanev should be struggle as well, yet Tanev seems to be pretty solid in his own end.

I'm not saying I know why Hamhuis is playing so badly, but I believe it's more of a intra-personal problem rather than a coaching problem.

 

[skyo]

I'm still really worried that this is a 'system thing' or a 'coaching incompatibility'.

We see Bieksa and Edler looking more natural and aggressive under Torts...the flip side of the coin, is that we see Hamhuis looking like a disaster.

Yup a combo of this with a slight injury imho.

Hopefully time heals all wounds in this case.

 

[David71]

hamhuis has been by far the worse dman playing right now. weather it's a "hidden injury" or not. I don't think it's tort's system. sure bieska/edler has their brainfarts once in a while but they are aquitting themselves well under his agressive style. brain cramps for hamhuis.

 

[biturbo19]

hamhuis has been by far the worse dman playing right now. weather it's a "hidden injury" or not. I don't think it's tort's system. sure bieska/edler has their brainfarts once in a while but they are aquitting themselves well under his agressive style. brain cramps for hamhuis.

It doesn't seem at all suspicious to you that the 'Brain Cramp Kings' Bieksa+Edler have looked much better right off the bat, and handed their crown to the previous 'Mr.Consistency' Hamhuis? With the most blatant change being...a new coach and radically different system of play?

 

[David71]

It doesn't seem at all suspicious to you that the 'Brain Cramp Kings' Bieksa+Edler have looked much better right off the bat, and handed their crown to the previous 'Mr.Consistency' Hamhuis? With the most blatant change being...a new coach and radically different system of play?

maybe when torts first was introduced, torts was really interested in "edler" as a player. then bieska gave some quotes so maybe they felt the need to be better by playing better? with the occasional mistake here and there.

 

[Pseudonymous*]

He'll be fine

 

[StIllmatic]

Worst d-man this year, and hasn't been the same since 11'.

He was playing his best hockey at the second half of last season. He was also our best defenseman in 2011/2012.

 

[Verviticus]

He'll be fine

this

 

[Canucks LB]

Hamhuis will be just fine, it's hamhuis.

Relax

 

[Derp Kassian]

He seems injured.