GDT: G27 - ARI @ MIN - 7PM Central - Spirit Crushers

[Puhis]

He's never been bad this year, but not as good as he normally is. Thought he was vg tonight and last game. I'm not too worried about points, more his play. I'm guessing he had some nagging injury or lagging Covid symptoms that affected his jump. If he gets back to his old self then we are in very good shape. Soucy and Cole are looking vg, as are Dumba and Brodin(stupid passes aside).

Yeah, not referring to you. Someone else, who apparently thinks Spurgeon is a mistake and the worst of our defensemen. I guess some people just have to find something worth complaining about, and apparently our PP wasn't a choice quite original enough.

I think one of the problems that Spurgeon has is Suter's play. They defect to each other a fair bit, which makes sense because a defenseman is seldom an individual. They operate as a pair for a reason. With Suter not quite being Suter of old, it puts that extra bit of responsibility on Spurgeon (who has carried tremendous amounts of it already and is doing it well). That, combined with those theories about some nagging injury (which I wouldn't disagree with) combine for him being only a 1st pairing D-man instead of a borderline elite one in the opening part of the season. I'm glad to see he's getting better, though.

Come to think of it, our defense in general is in a damn fine nick. And if our 7th D-man is Brad Hunt, things ain't that bad. Some folks like to think of Brad as some sort of a scapegoat and terror, but he's fine when kept in a fairly sheltered 3rd pairing role and as a PP specialist. Of course he shouldn't replace either of Soucy or Cole full time, but he ain't bad. Anyway, getting off topic a bit here.