Jtown
Registered User
On angles, quickness and anticipation matter far more than reach (unless you're comparing Chara and Ghost ).
I mean Lauridsen had reach . . .
Angles is primarily a matter of taking away the path from the offensive player, you can be awfully fast, but if the D-man positions himself between you and the goal, you're gonna get pushed outside.
Reach has value but not nearly as much as anticipation.
What good is anticipation if you don't have the physical skills to impact the play. Being 6 foot 4 with a long reach and a long stick certain allows coots to impact plays more so than a smaller player. This is what drives me crazy about "hockey iq" you have just attributed his iq to his physical gifts.