I'm not a Phaneuf fan, but I'll admit he's been much better than I ever expected this year. +15, playing against the oppositions best players. His physical play hasn't been exceptional, nor has his offensive, his active stick is what has been most impressive. He's been very good at simply poking the puck away from opposition, and maintaining his spacing.
He had 7 hits tonight alone (15th amongst defencemen), and is 13th amongst defencemen in blocked shots. Make of that what you will, but he's no slouch when it comes to physical play and putting his body on the line.
If Gardiner can take over Gunnarsson's place, I think we'll have an elite top pairing. It's showing every game and that is the fact that Dion needs a decent puck mover on his line. Much like Aucoin was the puck mover ( despite being meh defensively), Gardiner would do that and be a lot more mobile as well.
Our top pairing can do a lot more offensively in even-strength. I could even see the Rielly - Phaneuf pair doing shut down work, while a Gleason/ Gunnarsson - Rielly pairing is given a more offensive role. While, I do feel that Rielly seems more physical, Gardiner is taking care of the defensive work on that pairing.
Gardiner - Phaneuf ( Shut down/ Secondary offence)
Gleason/ Gunnarsson - Rielly ( Primary offence, i.e. Shattenkirk's pair)
Percy? - Ranger
Finn?
Granberg?
Our top pairing can do a lot more offensively in even-strength. I could even see the Rielly - Phaneuf pair doing shut down work, while a Gleason/ Gunnarsson - Rielly pairing is given a more offensive role. While, I do feel that Rielly seems more physical, Gardiner is taking care of the defensive work on that pairing.
Gardiner - Phaneuf ( Shut down/ Secondary offence)
Gleason/ Gunnarsson - Rielly ( Primary offence, i.e. Shattenkirk's pair)
Percy? - Ranger
Finn?
Granberg?
100% accurate.
I think the reason it hasnt been tried yet is because not wanting to expose rielly and gardiner so quickly to best players.
I would be happy with pairings like this in future
Rielly-Phaneuf
Gardiner-finn (who i believe has top pairing upside)
Granberg-Percy
Ofcourse we need a veteran or 2 somewhere in there
Tonka
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- Apr 8, 2007
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Don Cherry would not put Phaneuf on a 2nd Team Canada
Yesterday on Grapeline Cherry made a team consisting of guys he would put on Team Canada if they brought a 2nd team over. His defense was:
Boyle-Seabrook
Giordano-Letang
Bieksa-Green
What do you think? I know he likes Bieksa and Phaneuf would be on the team over him realistically, plus a couple other guys (at least) but does Cherry not like Phaneuf?
Yesterday on Grapeline Cherry made a team consisting of guys he would put on Team Canada if they brought a 2nd team over. His defense was:
Boyle-Seabrook
Giordano-Letang
Bieksa-Green
What do you think? I know he likes Bieksa and Phaneuf would be on the team over him realistically, plus a couple other guys (at least) but does Cherry not like Phaneuf?
StringsAttached
BPD Nation!
Philadelphia Ducks
Win it for Ed
Phaneuf is better than all 4 of those guys on the bottom two pairings(bieksa and Gio would be close)
Green isnt even in the same universe as Phaneuf, Green is a shell of his former self.
Green isnt even in the same universe as Phaneuf, Green is a shell of his former self.
Mess
Global Moderator
What about Marc Staal?
Don Cherry is not alone here as Hockey Canada listed 20 dman on its short list before making their final selections.
20 Dman would make up more than 2 teams even if you added 10 to team #1 and 10 to team #2 it still wouldn't include Dion.
Divine
Registered User
- Dec 18, 2010
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Why was Phaneuf invited to HC training camp then? You'd think he'd at least be top 20..
Semantics
PUBLIC ENEMY #1
Duffman955
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Hero
Uncle Leo
I found that top 20 pretty eye-opening. A lot of hockey minds don't consider Dion a top 20 Canadian D, with other countries also having D-men better than Phaneuf (Karlsson, Suter, Chara etc...) Dion is likely not a top 30 D in the NHL.
But this is something we all knew, people often say he's better suited as an elite #2, meaning he's in the 30-35 range.
Rielly4
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- Dec 12, 2012
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Phaneufs way underrated now that everyone thinks hes way overrated from his calgary days...
In his calgary days he was known to just hit everything and had a lethal shot. Everyone still sees him as that same player but now he doesnt open ice hit and doesnt shoot often. But what they dont realize is hes grown into a great positional defender and a solid puck mover. His physicality is what puts him over the top, i believe he should be on team canada over Vlasic and Hamhuis. Although i do think having invisible d men like Vlasic and Hamhuis could help them.
In his calgary days he was known to just hit everything and had a lethal shot. Everyone still sees him as that same player but now he doesnt open ice hit and doesnt shoot often. But what they dont realize is hes grown into a great positional defender and a solid puck mover. His physicality is what puts him over the top, i believe he should be on team canada over Vlasic and Hamhuis. Although i do think having invisible d men like Vlasic and Hamhuis could help them.
Duffman955
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This is false. He has less goals against when he is on the ice, than Every one of the Dmen taken to Sochi for Canada and his offensive numbers are very decent as well.
People can say what ever they want, but Dion has become a solid #1 Dman if not elite. Just ask Crosby how hard Phaneuf is to play against.
TheLeastOfTheBunch
Franchise Centre
I would love to know who those 30 d-men that are better than Phaneuf are?
in the NHL phaneuf is easily in the 10-15 top d-man range, you could debate and say 15-20 but thats the lowest you could go with him.
It's a joke to think 20 canadian d-men are better than him, guy has been a rock this year and his only downfall on the big ice is his skating.
Atomos2
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Raging Bull
Present
My Sweet Shadow
Registered User
Well you can't really compare Phaneuf to Boyle, Letang or Green...they serve completely different purposes (though I'd still have Phaneuf over Green in any case). So it's really between Seabrook, Giordano, and Bieksa. Seabrook would definitely be first in line, but I'd put Dion ahead of Bieksa and possibly Giordano (they're probably pretty close and I don't watch enough Calgary games to make a fully informed decision).
