explains it better... though couldn't disagree more with some of the points:
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There are a lot of mistakes in his game which still need correction in order to be a number one defenseman in the NHL.
i think perhaps you need to spend more time watching other games... Chara, Suter, Weber, Doughty... niedemayer in his prime, Pronger in his prime... all of these players were guilty of some of the faults you find in Subban's game. Being a "#1" dman, or even winning a norris, does not mean a player plays mistake free.
While I agree that the points factor is overly weighted in norris voting, if you really believe that Subban's game isn't strong enough to considered a "#1" dman, I guess we just understand the game of hockey very very differently.
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We all know his head is a little too big
sorry, but speak for yourself. This B.S assessment has more to do with prejudice and unfounded bias than in reality. He plays with emotion, and he at times tries to do too much... it's called being an elite talent. Look accross the board in any sport and you see much of the same. Just because an elite athlete doesn't have the Joe Sakic poker face demeanour doesn't mean he's full of himself... or at least not any more so than the majority of elite performers, in any sport, HAVE to be in order to push themselves to the athletic heights that they do.
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he might go back to trying to make the spectacular plays for the roar of the crowd.
seriously... where do you come up with this stuff? Now his problem is that he understands the impact his performance can have on the home crowd? Have you ever watched a soccer game? Have you ever seen an NHL goal scored by any young player in his home arena?
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The Canadiens will need him to be way better in both ends of the rink if they are even going to make the playoffs this coming season.
As I pointed out, this point is pure nonsense... The habs and every single other team in the league, would be thrilled to have Subban at "ONLY" the level he played at last year in their top pairing... and save perhaps 2-3, as their #1 minute cruncher.
The Canadiens need a lot of things to make the playoffs any year, but a "better Subban" is by FAR the least of their "needs".
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When I wrote the article, my worry was Subban's play would regress if he won the Norris trophy.
that comment shows that you haven't really followed his career...
all he's done since getting drafted is:
- make team Canada (WJC) and play a big role in his first year invited to camp on a gold medal winning team (the coaching staff -led by Pat Quinn- obviously seeing more in him than the "No D in Subban" that superficial observers labelled him with.
- make team Canada a second time, win a second gold medal, as the anchor of the shut-down top-pairing (again, his coaches/teammates clearly appreciating more than just his "offensive" skills).
- win Dman of the year in his rookie season as a pro in the AHL
- Play 20+ minutes/game (2nd for dmen once markov went down), while scoring 8 pts in 14 games, in his first NHL playoff series (with just 2 NHL games under his belt before that), helping the franchise make it's deepest postseason run in 2 decades
- Play 22+ min/game in his Rookie season, followed by 28+min/game in the playoffs, losing in 7 to the eventual cup winners and being, by far, the best player in that series
- Win a Norris at 24, despite missing training camp & the start of the season (b/c his GM spent too much time listening to detractors and not enough time closely watching game tape, i guess...)
and after all this, after ~6 straight years of hard earned success created largely in the face of outright hostile and biased criticism and doubt every step of the way, the kid is going to "let it go to his head" and stop improving... stop working at perfecting his craft the way he has all of his adult life (and most of his teen years as well)...
COME ON...
not trying to be mean, but takes like that don't quite fit with aspiring sports writers unless its the Gagnon/Todd/Simmons school of "shock" appeal one is after. Absolutely no substance to it, nor any grounding in even remotely factual observation.
as for the 2nd point... i get what your saying, though if you have time in the future, might be worth reworking your sentences to avoid the trite generalizations that don't really say anything. There are a lot of sports writers out there who work with similar space/editorial constraints who still find a way to craft sentences that make convincing arguments... i'm sure you're familiar with many but would be glad to share some with you via PM if your looking for more.
that said, this comment made me smile:
We have enough two-way players and speedy scorers but so little in the way of big bodied, tough, physical that love to attack the net a la Gallagher.
i get what you're saying... don't much agree (Habs tried that "big-bodied" focal point approach in the 90's to disastrous effect). Size + skill/smarts/work ethic, sure, perfect, but otherwise skill/smarts/work ethic are FAR more important criterias, and judging by MB's brief stint thus far, I think he'll go that route as well (Prust, Armstrong & Bouillion are ALL smallish in their roles, Ryder/Halpern not big-bodied... yet there were plenty of UFA/Trade targets since he took over who were "big bodied" & available that he didn't pursue aggressively).