Hockey Duckie
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We don't have anyone on our back end that you get excited for when they touch the puck... I remember watching Montour and every time he got the puck in his own end or at the point, id get excited because of the potential of something big happening.... at the end of the day Montour has a dynamic offensive skill set... and that's what our blue line lacks right now.
Odd. Isn't that what many other NHL teams are seeking? What is Buffalo's record with Monty on it again? Is it a winning record? No. It's 4-8-3. Apparently, Monty doesn't push the needle enough to help a team win more games.
This is similar to how people gauge Fowler. Last year, when we went without Fowler for a spell due to injury, I thought our team defense would falter. It didn't. This year, when both Lindholm and Manson fell to injury and Fowler was pushed back up to top-pairing duties, our defense "ducked" out. Fowler's offense is great if he isn't playing top-pairing and is sheltered.
Although our team is missing a dynamic offensive skill set, that's not what our blue line lacks the most. It lacks health. Once Lindholm returned, our team defense improved. With Manson set to return, it can get even better. I suppose it's a difference in philosophies here: do you want to win a shootouts (trading goals) or defensive games?
Subject | Games | GF | GA | Goal Diff | GF/G | GA/G | Diff | |
Total | 29 | 77 | 87 | -10 | 2.66 | 3.00 | -0.34 | |
With Lindholm | 21 | 50 | 52 | -2 | 2.38 | 2.48 | -0.10 | |
W/o Lindholm | 8 | 27 | 35 | -8 | 3.38 | 4.38 | -1.00 |
Then add in Manson's presences/absences:
Ducks Top Pairing Comparison | ||||||||
Subject | Games | GF | GA | Goal Diff | GF/G | GA/G | Diff | |
Total | 29 | 77 | 87 | -10 | 2.66 | 3.00 | -0.34 | |
With Lindholm and Manson | 11 | 25 | 24 | 1 | 2.27 | 2.18 | 0.09 | |
W/o Both on the Ice | 18 | 52 | 63 | -11 | 2.89 | 3.50 | -0.61 |
As you can see, Lindholm's defensive presence is far more valuable than looking for "only offense". There's almost a 2 goal differential without Lindholm. Also, we're involved with more goal trading without Lindholm. By adding Manson back into the fold, then it's very possible we can get into a positive goal differential, which would lead to more wins.
If we didn't trade Monty, then we wouldn't have been forced to trade for Gudz. Oddly enough, Gudz is a better partner for Fowler than Monty.
What's crazy about this is we lost Monty last year. Monty played six games under Bob and the team went 3-3. In the final 20 games without Monty, the team went 11-8-1. I was shocked when we traded Monty, but I was fine with the trade when reflecting upon it after the season. This year, Monty's been injured to start the season and Buffalo's record with him on it is 4-8-3. I guess we're still winning that trade b/c Monty hasn't raised the level of play for Buffalo that leads to more wins.