John Gibson 41 save shutout

[HanSolo]

No I haven't watched them play this year you are right. However I was basing my opinions on discussions I had had with Ducks fans mostly on the trade boards over the offseason involving defense trades. So either the defense has been incredibly over rated, or they are just playing inexplicably bad, but if you need your goalie to bail you out to win most nights then you are most certainly not a strong defensive team.

I am making my way to watching the ducks though. Just I can only watch 1 game most nights and sometimes 2, and I follow two teams so yeah lol



The difference is no one pretends that the Leafs have a top defense and that Andersen is not saving their asses a lot of nights.

It's because a defense is more than just the level of skill in the guys playing on the blueline. The problem isn't that Anaheim's young blueliners aren't as good as people think. The problem is Carlyle's defensive systems are stuck in the past and he doesn't hold his forwards accountable for half assed defensive efforts. Or when defensemen makes a bad pinch. I've never seen a team with such a bad tendency for making bad pinches. Clearly Carlyle doesn't do enough to curtail that.

 

[Sojourn]

Well I was gonna respond to that hot take of hot takes but it doesn't get better than this.

Although I am kind of aching to ask him for his opinion on Frederik Andersen so we can all get the real motive behind that opinion.

Yeah, it's difficult not to read that as an attempt to say Andersen > Gibson.

Anaheim made the right choice.

 

[Alberta Yote]

Dude makes it look so easy

The Coyotes are certainly helping dudes make it look easy so far

 

[Satan]

best player in the league

 

[Sojourn]

It's because a defense is more than just the level of skill in the guys playing on the blueline. The problem isn't that Anaheim's young blueliners aren't as good as people think. The problem is Carlyle's defensive systems are stuck in the past and he doesn't hold his forwards accountable for half assed defensive efforts. Or when defensemen makes a bad pinch. I've never seen a team with such a bad tendency for making bad pinches. Clearly Carlyle doesn't do enough to curtail that.

Agreed. The biggest issue I have, defensively, is the lack of support. This is less an issue of defensemen, and more an issue of the forwards. These first two games our D has not been good. I'm not going to pretend it's otherwise. The issue last season was a combination of some inconsistent play from defense, and a defensive system that just doesn't seem active enough and doesn't properly support the D when they attack the puck carrier.

On an individual level, last season, I thought Fowler could have stepped up more and we needed him to, Manson and Lindholm both had consistency issues(but when they were good they were great), and Montour was an inexperienced defenseman who looked inexperienced, even while he was improving and making a claim as a top 4 defenseman. Bieksa needed to go. Period. He was f***ing awful. It's too early to gauge anyone this season.

 

[HanSolo]

Agreed. The biggest issue I have, defensively, is the lack of support. This is less an issue of defensemen, and more an issue of the forwards. These first two games our D has not been good. I'm not going to pretend it's otherwise. The issue last season was a combination of some inconsistent play from defense, and a defensive system that just doesn't seem active enough and doesn't properly support the D when they attack the puck carrier.

On an individual level, last season, I thought Fowler could have stepped up more and we needed him to, Manson and Lindholm both had consistency issues(but when they were good they were great), and Montour was an inexperienced defenseman who looked inexperienced, even while he was improving and making a claim as a top 4 defenseman. Bieksa needed to go. Period. He was ****ing awful. It's too early to gauge anyone this season.

Yeah that's what I was saying all year. This is no longer a sport where it's only the job of the blueliners and goalie to suppress offense. You need active sticks and an active approach to using positioning to cut off lanes. Anaheim just hasn't clued into this yet.

 

[Sojourn]

Yeah that's what I was saying all year. This is no longer a sport where it's only the job of the blueliners and goalie to suppress offense. You need active sticks and an active approach to using positioning to cut off lanes. Anaheim just hasn't clued into this yet.

There isn't enough backside pressure in the neutral zone either. Far too often last season, I felt like the defensemen were being outnumbered, and it wasn't just because the opposing team was doing a good job on the transition. The forwards need to get in there, and give the opposing players a reason to think they don't have time and space.

It's just not a good defensive system right now, and it's an issue that stretches back to at least last season. The season prior to that, I thought Anaheim did a good job of helping Gibson out, and I even felt the team's play helped his stats. He was good, mind you, but not quite at the level his stats suggested(IMO). Last season was the first season I felt Gibson's stats were reflective of how well he was playing. Anaheim finished 2nd in the Pacific, even with their injuries, in large part because Gibson was that good. And he really was.

 

[HanSolo]

There isn't enough backside pressure in the neutral zone either. Far too often last season, I felt like the defensemen were being outnumbered, and it wasn't just because the opposing team was doing a good job on the transition. The forwards need to get in there, and give the opposing players a reason to think they don't have time and space.

Yes I forgot to mention that. I don't know what happened to the team because during that 2015 run the forwards were way more active. Ever since then...

 

[Sojourn]

I edited and added a bit more to that post.

Which is kind of funny, because you're also saying things changed too. It's just gotten progressively worse.

 

[HanSolo]

I edited and added a bit more to that post.

Which is kind of funny, because you're also saying things changed too. It's just gotten progressively worse.

Carlyle was brought on for the tailend of his system being workable in a changing NHL. It's exhausting seeing people defend the guy.

If it weren't for Gibson I don't think he'd have a job right now. He did a lot of heavy lifting to hide how shit the system is.

 

[Sojourn]

Carlyle was brought on for the tailend of his system being workable in a changing NHL. It's exhausting seeing people defend the guy.

If it weren't for Gibson I don't think he'd have a job right now. He did a lot of heavy lifting to hide how **** the system is.

I agree. That's my big fear this season. Anaheim has some injuries now, again, but the play needs to be better. Murray needs to be aware enough to see the difference between winning games because of a roster and game plan, and winning games because your goaltender is saving your ass.

Anaheim's injury situation last season partly excused Carlyle, but when the team was getting healthy they were still having a lot of the same issues. That can't continue.

 

[zeke]

for my money, Gibson is neck and neck with Bob for best goalie in the league.

 

[tony d]

He's a good one for sure. Could be a difference maker for Anaheim this yr.

 

[Harvey Birdman]

I’m a big Gibson fan as he is Pittsburgh born, but it’s the first week of the season, let’s take a deep breath and realize you can’t make a reasonable prediction of a player in the first ten game regardless of position.

 

[Paul4587]

The Hockey News ranked Gibson as the leagues 13th best goalie lmao



I didn't see anything either, hoping he just tweaked/strained something.

Nhl.com Vezina predictions had him with two points in the voting. Behind some pretty mediocre goalies too

Hellebuyck preseason favorite for Vezina Trophy

 

[KaseMeOutside]

The Hockey News ranked Gibson as the leagues 13th best goalie lmao



I didn't see anything either, hoping he just tweaked/strained something.

The hockey news belongs in bird cages

 

[KaseMeOutside]

No I haven't watched them play this year you are right. However I was basing my opinions on discussions I had had with Ducks fans mostly on the trade boards over the offseason involving defense trades. So either the defense has been incredibly over rated, or they are just playing inexplicably bad, but if you need your goalie to bail you out to win most nights then you are most certainly not a strong defensive team.

I am making my way to watching the ducks though. Just I can only watch 1 game most nights and sometimes 2, and I follow two teams so yeah lol



The difference is no one pretends that the Leafs have a top defense and that Andersen is not saving their asses a lot of nights.

You can have good defenseman without having a good overall defensive team

 

[KaseMeOutside]

I’m a big Gibson fan as he is Pittsburgh born, but it’s the first week of the season, let’s take a deep breath and realize you can’t make a reasonable prediction of a player in the first ten game regardless of position.

Last year he was at worst the third best goalie in the league and in all honesty if you look at some of the goalie metrics him and Bobrovsky are a step above everyone else

 

[JohnnyLaser]

Crazy how he looks like he's not even trying. A goalie like Quick looks like he's so intense all the time. Not that he's not also really good but it makes me tired just watching him.

 

[Harvey Birdman]

Last year he was at worst the third best goalie in the league and in all honesty if you look at some of the goalie metrics him and Bobrovsky are a step above everyone else

And it’s a new season at the fledgling start of said new season, I’m not wishing him ill will, exactly the opposite as I stated in my previous post, he is a Pitt boy. I want him to succeed. Against everyone except the Penguins that is. But I won’t even praise any of my own players till I see a sample size. No team has even ticked 10 games yet. Let’s wait and see how the season develops league wide before throwing out the this player is gonna do amazing cards.

 

[Sojourn]

I’m a big Gibson fan as he is Pittsburgh born, but it’s the first week of the season, let’s take a deep breath and realize you can’t make a reasonable prediction of a player in the first ten game regardless of position.

This is just him carrying on from last season. If I were making a prediction, it would be that he won't be as overlooked by the voters as he was last season. His performance, and the way he won Anaheim games, deserved far better than the Vezina voting suggests.

 

[HanSolo]

And it’s a new season at the fledgling start of said new season, I’m not wishing him ill will, exactly the opposite as I stated in my previous post, he is a Pitt boy. I want him to succeed. Against everyone except the Penguins that is. But I won’t even praise any of my own players till I see a sample size. No team has even ticked 10 games yet. Let’s wait and see how the season develops league wide before throwing out the this player is gonna do amazing cards.

It's not like there isn't precedence for this though. He was second behind the Vezina winner in GSAA last year and anyone who paid an inkling of attention last year knows that Gibson's brilliance stole more than enough games to be the difference between a playoff appearance and a top ten pick.

Sure it's a small sample but the disparity between how Anaheim played their first two games and the final results is pretty huge. The should absolutely be 2-0. So it's just more of the same for Gibson, except now he's carrying a bunch of rookies learning to help the defenders.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

And it’s a new season at the fledgling start of said new season, I’m not wishing him ill will, exactly the opposite as I stated in my previous post, he is a Pitt boy. I want him to succeed. Against everyone except the Penguins that is. But I won’t even praise any of my own players till I see a sample size. No team has even ticked 10 games yet. Let’s wait and see how the season develops league wide before throwing out the this player is gonna do amazing cards.