bmr
Registered User
- Jan 23, 2013
- 1,873
- 1,688
As I compare this year's run to the last, it becomes increasingly obvious how Mitchell and Greene factor into our team's equation. I believe the goaltender and defense corps are a much bigger factor to how far a team can go in the postseason than most people think. You can have all the offense you want, but a team is driven to success by their defense.
It's easy to evaluate a lot of players in this league purely on stats. I like to go beyond that. Who will go the extra mile in the postseason. Who will spill blood for their team and lead by example. When you look at certain players like Quick, Doughty, Kopitar, Williams, Richards..these guys clearly raise the level of their game when it matters. I think it could be argued that Voynov should be included in that.
When Greene came back to the team, he was clearly not ready to be inserted back into the lineup for playoff hockey. However, since coming back it is easy to see the impact he's had both on and off the ice. The players all remark about how much of a leader he is. The dude will clean guys out of the net so Quick can see the puck. He does all the little things you want to see.
I think Mitchell is probably even more important. I *REALLY* hope he comes back next year. I'm still undecided at this point who to try to sign between Scuderi and Regehr. I think both have lost a step..that's a judgment call.
It's good to see Muzzin getting some experience. It's pretty obvious that he still isn't conditioned for playoff hockey, but i'd probably keep him over Martinez. He's bigger and has a better shot. He just needs to get more disciplined mentally. Martinez has the capability of producing such great games, but then he becomes a total goober for whatever reason. I think having him paired with Greene last year covered a lot of that up.
It's easy to evaluate a lot of players in this league purely on stats. I like to go beyond that. Who will go the extra mile in the postseason. Who will spill blood for their team and lead by example. When you look at certain players like Quick, Doughty, Kopitar, Williams, Richards..these guys clearly raise the level of their game when it matters. I think it could be argued that Voynov should be included in that.
When Greene came back to the team, he was clearly not ready to be inserted back into the lineup for playoff hockey. However, since coming back it is easy to see the impact he's had both on and off the ice. The players all remark about how much of a leader he is. The dude will clean guys out of the net so Quick can see the puck. He does all the little things you want to see.
I think Mitchell is probably even more important. I *REALLY* hope he comes back next year. I'm still undecided at this point who to try to sign between Scuderi and Regehr. I think both have lost a step..that's a judgment call.
It's good to see Muzzin getting some experience. It's pretty obvious that he still isn't conditioned for playoff hockey, but i'd probably keep him over Martinez. He's bigger and has a better shot. He just needs to get more disciplined mentally. Martinez has the capability of producing such great games, but then he becomes a total goober for whatever reason. I think having him paired with Greene last year covered a lot of that up.
