News Article: Norris Trophy Watch: Shea Weber brings more than points

[I Will Son]

As I have said earlier, you like to reference two things that I think are either not the best indicators of his play, or something that can't be fairly judged. Statistics that probably more accurately represent the teams play, not the individual.

And then leadership, sorry, I don't think anyone can really paint a fair picture of that. Too much goes into that, that we don't see. Of all the things a coach would be able to see is going awry, wouldn't it be leadership? Would a player not giving the effort he should, not leading as he should, be getting the consistent amount of ice-time he's been getting?

I've been paying extra attention to him since he seems (oddly), to be the skater who receives the most criticism. He's consistently the best player on the ice each night. It's hard to find him out of position, uses the stick well, (Thanks to those two traits he's always calm and composed as opposed to flailing and diving around out there) throws hits every now and then, primarily when he's in the one of those rare out of position instances, scores goals, the team runs through him. Those few games where he was out, the power play, and offense as a whole really, were a disaster.

I don't think those things indicate a "PP specialist" level of play.

Anytime you compare Weber to a pp specialist, I tend to dismiss your comments. It is simply unintelligent and false. You have consistently used plus minus an even strength points to promote your epitaphs that certain players deserve criticism or do not. I view your arguments as highly flawed and hypocritical as we have discussed many times. Weber has been a top 10 defenseman this year. His play speaks for itself IMO.

And please do not hear what I am not saying, I am not say that you are unintelligent/hypocritical. I believe you are quite knowledgeable as a hockey fan. You bring insight into hockey that few have. In this particular case, I feel you are short-sighted in your evaluation.

These 2

 

[PredsV82]

when Weber signed his monster contract he immediately made himself the target when anything went wrong with this team. When you demand 14 million a year for your services as a defenseman you had better be a hybrid of Jesus and the Incredible Hulk on skates.

I am by no means a keen hockey analyst... but I have watched a lot of hockey in the last 15 years, and watched a lot of players... and to the "eye test" its clear Weber has not been fully dialed in this season, at least not until the last month or so. I dont know how much of a difference that has made in the season, and I dont know if it was apparent to the other players in the locker room and had an effect on them...

but he definitely has his game face on now... if it goes away after the Olympics then we will know whether he is committed to the team or just collecting his cash

 

[101st_fan]

Anytime you compare Weber to a pp specialist, I tend to dismiss your comments. It is simply unintelligent and false. You have consistently used plus minus an even strength points to promote your epitaphs that certain players deserve criticism or do not. I view your arguments as highly flawed and hypocritical as we have discussed many times. Weber has been a top 10 defenseman this year. His play speaks for itself IMO.

And please do not hear what I am not saying, I am not say that you are unintelligent/hypocritical. I believe you are quite knowledgeable as a hockey fan. You bring insight into hockey that few have. In this particular case, I feel you are short-sighted in your evaluation.

His play of late is good .. the first three months, not so much. He turns it on when he wants, then disappears.

The majority of the game is played at even strength, especially for a team that is 26th in PP opportunities ... and that aspect of his game has lacked most of this season. The first 37 games of the season, he had 2 ES goals ... one was into an empty net ... and 6 ES assists. As other people noted, he stepped his play up over the past month or so. The team just won three of its last four ... lost only one game by more than a goal in Jan ... and at the same time his ES stats are a hell of a lot better with 2g, 6a plus a goal waived off and another a fraction of a second after the buzzer so far this month. When Weber decided to step up and play a full 60 minute game, the overall on ice product improved.

When a player consistently disappears at ES ... it deserves noting. Weber did just that for the first three months. If a team, and its leaders, do not perform at ES it cannot thrive ... period. The team's 21% PP conversion rate and Weber's 18 PP points show just how little a good power play means without performing well 5on5.