News Article: Dion Phaneuf retires, to be honoured by Maple Leafs

[Leafidelity]

Hard working player that got exposed by a serious lack of depth. Put him on this team and he does more than fine. I'm glad he is getting recognized, it couldn't have been easy facing the media and our terrible fans in those days.

 

[Stephen]

I hate that salute gate term, way overblown. But guess who the team they lost to was. Nashville. Full circle

I was at Salute Gate in standing room and I don't think anyone noticed in the crowd until the media started reporting it over the next few days. But I think generally that "scandal" is a good short hand for how Dion never really seemed to be on the same page as the fanbase, always removed as an individual and player and how the team was just unsuccessful.

 

[Stephen]

So hard to get a handle of the caliber of player Dion Phaneuf was. Would you ballpark him as a Jake Muzzin level player who played on the top pairing?

 

[leaffaninvancouver]

Absolutely. They were just misused.

Kessel wasn't a #1 winger. When he was used on the second line in Pittsburg, he was fine.

Bozak wasn't a #1 center, but was quite good in St Louis as a second or third.

Phaneuf wasn't a #1 defenceman, but was fine as a second.

Burke misjudged Kessel and Phaneuf, overpaid for them, and left us with no option but to misuse them. Bozak he get real lucky on.

Kessel was absolutely a number one winger, what he wasn't supposed to be was the face of the franchise. Kessel wasn't misused, he just lacked proper support.

 

[TMLeafer]

I was at Salute Gate in standing room and I don't think anyone noticed in the crowd until the media started reporting it over the next few days. But I think generally that "scandal" is a good short hand for how Dion never really seemed to be on the same page as the fanbase, always removed as an individual and player and how the team was just unsuccessful.

I just think it was more of the media telling fans that they SHOULD be bothered by something we wouldn't even think twice about. Clearly there were other issues with that group, players and management.

Dion had a decent career, congrats to him and I hope there's no clowns booing him for it.

 

[Stephen]

You know you made it when you get a banner at the practice rink gym.

 

[Maplebeasts]

it's nobodies fault except for the people involved, right ?

He didn't build the team.

 

[kb]

Basically what this tells me is that I should tune in around 7:20.

Hey......when did you get your hands on the Leafs playbook?

 

[James Blackley]

He was overpaid and shouldn't have been captain while here. Doesn't mean he didn't try his best and wasn't a solid #2-3 defenceman. I appreciated that he worked hard on a team where 90% of the players didn't.

I agree with this! Dion never should have been made captain, he didn't that "it" factor that a captain should have. Solid player, who did the best he could that the tools he was given, people really should stop laying the blame at his feet for the leafs failures during his tenure here.

 

[James Blackley]

Trading that untradeable contract was one of Lou’s better moves.

Was miscast, but a decent player and a good teammate, I’d give him an ovation.

He was the John Tavares of that leafs team, that's the best way I can put it.

 

[James Blackley]

He stopped playing in 2019 btw.

Theres a difference between "stop playing" and retiring, btw.

 

[Buds17]

So hard to get a handle of the caliber of player Dion Phaneuf was. Would you ballpark him as a Jake Muzzin level player who played on the top pairing?

The comparison seems sound overall. I give the nod to Phaneuf for peak and offence; Muzzin gets the nod for defensive play and the Cups. Fair to say that Muzzin generally has had the better team around him. While neither should be the #1D IMO, I think either could complement him well enough.

 

[Dangles McGavin]

I will wear my Phaneuf jersey tonight then. He did the best he could with what he had and shielded the rest of the team and franchise from most of the criticism. His clean hitting ability has been missed.

Well said.

Imagine how hard it is to stand in front of the media when they're asking you "what will you do differently next game". Like dude maybe my GM can find us like 8 good players so we can get Joey Crabb off of the top line?

Dion lacked charisma on the microphone and played for a terrible team so he didn't get much love. But he seems like he was a class act and a lot of guys seem to have good things to say about him.

 

[notDatsyuk]

Kessel was absolutely a number one winger, what he wasn't supposed to be was the face of the franchise. Kessel wasn't misused, he just lacked proper support.

Which is why he was a first line winger in Pittsburgh?

 

[James Blackley]

Which is why he was a first line winger in Pittsburgh?

Didn't Kessel play for the most part on the 3rd line during his tenure there? I could be mistaken.

 

[Dangles McGavin]

So hard to get a handle of the caliber of player Dion Phaneuf was. Would you ballpark him as a Jake Muzzin level player who played on the top pairing?

The exact comparison I made earlier today speaking to a friend. Dion was a good player who was probably being put in positions above his skillset due to his early success in his career.

Good but not great player. He brought it every night but his mediocre skating led to being on the receiving end of too many highlight reels.

 

[notDatsyuk]

Didn't Kessel play for the most part on the 3rd line during his tenure there? I could be mistaken.

Apparently not. According to the poster I was responding to, he was on the top line there.

I thought I was giving him the benefit of the doubt by saying second line.

 

[leaffaninvancouver]

Which is why he was a first line winger in Pittsburgh?

What does that have to do with Kessel being a top line winger while he was with the Leafs? Saying Kessel was miscast as a top line winger is inaccurate, he was very much an elite player on the wing.

His problem wasn’t the line he played on, it’s the players we surrounded him with.

 

[notDatsyuk]

What does that have to do with Kessel being a top line winger while he was with the Leafs? Saying Kessel was miscast as a top line winger is inaccurate, he was very much an elite player on the wing.

His problem wasn’t the line he played on, it’s the players we surrounded him with.

Correct. He should have been surrounded by enough quality that he could be a second line winger, which is where he was most effective.

Same way that Phaneuf should have been a second paring D and Bozak should have been a second or third C.

Not their fault at all. Just a bad team that Burke made worse.

 

[Gurglesons]

Kessel was the most used winger in Pittsburgh while he was there.

 

[slozo]

Phaneuf was a poor choice as theC, and did poorly. He was a decent player.

Oh, and he let the players (led the players?) into thumbing their noses at the fans, after the players had played extremely poorly, and the fans let them know their feelings about that. Ha, OK… He lost all my respect after that, and nothing more needs to be said about that

 

[hotpaws]

Overrated/overpaid , great start to his career in Calgary then downhill after that but lived off that start for years .

wasn’t a leader but thought he was , still remember Versteeg (sp) clowning him at practice , lol

and I have no idea what did here for us to honor him

 

[Dayjobdave]

Dion was a good player here. He certainly wasn’t the same after the skate cut, that seemed to hamper what mobility he had.

Loved the open ice hits. Don’t miss the eye-high blasts from the point, although a few of those might not be so bad on this PP.

I don’t think he was a bad captain, salute-gate was a result of a poisonous media feeding frustrated fans into a frenzy about a lousy team. Not a lot of people would suck up the criticism he and Kessel got and not lash out.

If he were prime Dion on this squad at 5.5 per and wearing an A, I think the fans would love him.

I’m glad he received a cheer. 1050 conducting a poll about whether he should be booed at his retirement says a lot about them and nothing about Phaneuf.

 

[Notsince67]

So hard to get a handle of the caliber of player Dion Phaneuf was. Would you ballpark him as a Jake Muzzin level player who played on the top pairing?

I'd ball park him as a dman who couldnt skate backwards well, pinched at the wrong time and couldnt hit the broad side of a barn with a slap shot.
He was serviceable but his problems were exacerbated by a terrible coaching style (run and gun) where forwards went out for coffee when the puck moved towards the dzone.

 

[notDatsyuk]

I'd ball park him as a dman who couldnt skate backwards well, pinched at the wrong time and couldnt hit the broad side of a barn with a slap shot.
He was serviceable but his problems were exacerbated by a terrible coaching style (run and gun) where forwards went out for coffee when the puck moved towards the dzone.

I remember reading that percentage-wise he wasn't much worse than average at hitting the net from the point. It just seemed that way, maybe because his misses were of epic proportion.