Grossmann was one of our best defenseman last season. He wasn't really in the conversation to be benched until really the second half of the season. Mez, was a lot more than a third pairing defensemen prior to injuries, and played well in his last big chunk of games before going down. I was not ready to just call his career over because of an injury on his part and parts of three seasons of play from some other guy that ranged from slightly below average at times to slightly above average at times. That seems like terrible management and coaching. Gervais you are right was a #7 defender and I don't think I ever claimed him to be any more (maybe a #6?). I don't really remember my Gervais vs. Gus argument, but I imagine it went similar to the Mez argument...Gervais was a veteran #6/7 defenseman, you don't just all of the sudden lose a spot because a guy is younger than you and had a decent stretch of games spanning parts of a couple seasons. You have to earn your spot, and eventually he did.
Luke and Kimmo were both better last year, so Grossmann was maybe our 3rd best d-man, over a 30 game period, that's great. Mez played sheltered minutes, that was shown time and time again, so no he wasn't much more then a 3rd pairing d-men and that was before all of his injuries. Sure he could return to form (of being a good offensive d-man with sheltered minutes) but the few games he played in following is injuries showed he was worse then before. Most didn't advocate just sitting Mez immediately after his injuries. He played and sucked, then people suggested moving on. You don't keep trucking people out there because of what they used to be. That is horrible management and coaching.
Your argument of Gervais vs Gus was straight up, you said Gus is no better then Gervais which simply wasn't true.
Lol, no one ever said that? Going into training camp last season it was a foregone conclusion on these boards that Gus should be given the #6 spot over Mez because his 60 games made him a top 4 defender to some (if you don't remember people saying that, you will have to recall many saying that Gus was an unequivocally better player than Mez based on 60 games spread out over three seasons). I said from the beginnign that the job was Mez's and Gus had to earn it. If he had a better camp, start him. If Mez slumps, put him in. This POV was unacceptable and I was a fool because Gus was clearly the better player and it was Gus's job to lose, not the other way around.
Everyone knew Gus was gonna have to earn the spot. What was in question was who was the better player at that point, that is why people wanted Gus as the #6. Because they didn't believe Mez was the better option based on what they had seen from him most recently and what he was at his best. Guess what, it turned out they were correct. Not only did Gus play better then Mez defensively this season against harder competition but he also made Schenn better. And the offensive difference between the two wasn't all that significant to make up for Mez's struggles defensively.
Again, I think that is a perfectly reasonable statement to make given the timeframe in which it was made. Gus had played 30 games in his career. Unless they are a guy with a good pedigree who has lit up other leagues, I am not going to say he's better than anyone currently playing in the NHL based on 30 games of at best slightly better than average performances for PARTS of those 30 games. Now if you asked me to choose between Gus and Gervais, I'd go Gus every time. If you asked me after a brief stint in the NHL, I'd probably say what I think I said then...go with the veteran until he shows you something else or until the kid shows you something else.
Gus produced in college and the AHL, regardless of his lack of draft pedigree. He came up and played well in his limited NHL exposure, he was better then Gervais and that was undeniable to everyone but you. So no, I'd have to disagree, it wasn't a perfectly reasonable statement.
I'm done doing this with you. We both know where we each stand and I don't feel like getting carpal tunnel.
