The All Encompassing Dion Phaneuf Discussion Thread

[Daisy Jane]

Annd. Continue here.

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[TheThrill81*]

Oh great, another thread to question his leadership. This should be original.

 

[leafs in five]

i do not especially like Phaneuf but i think he's a good defenseman.

 

[ACC1224]

new thread here
http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1709231

If I was to bet I knew it'd be you to start the new one.

 

[hotpaws]

You have a strange way of remembering things. The goalies didn't bail him out, but you keep trumpeting that false narrative if it makes you feel better.

giving up the most shots in the league would suggest otherwise

 

[TheThrill81*]

giving up the most shots in the league would suggest otherwise

Last time I checked, that was a team stat. But of course you knew that already.

 

[ACC1224]

Last time I checked, that was a team stat. But of course you knew that already.

Still Phaneufs fault, poor Leadership. Stop making excuses.

 

[hotpaws]

Last time I checked, that was a team stat. But of course you knew that already.

and Phaneuf was part of that team and also why i said our goailies bailed us out the majority of the season

 

[hotpaws]

Still Phaneufs fault, poor Leadership. Stop making excuses.

nothing Phaneufs fault he`s perfect , it`s the rest of the team that keeps letting him down

 

[Mess]

nothing Phaneufs fault he`s perfect , it`s the rest of the team that keeps letting him down

Phaneuf is going to miss his former partner Gunnarsson this year.

Gunnar had his back defensively.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

I stated the exact same thing in this thread. Why would the Leafs not after the season was finish not announce that Dion was playing hurt?
Yet people on here show a hit and claim that he was injured!

Maybe Dion didn't want to sound like he wanted to make excuses, you cannot prove he was not hurt, there are more signs to indicate he was. Teams do not disclose injuries as a rule if they think it may make a player a target.

 

[Dreakmur]

Maybe Dion didn't want to sound like he wanted to make excuses, you cannot prove he was not hurt, there are more signs to indicate he was. Teams do not disclose injuries as a rule if they think it may make a player a target.

And who is going to target Phaneuf on the gol course?

 

[The Winter Soldier]

And who is going to target Phaneuf on the gol course?

If Dion said he was playing with cracked ribs, some people will say he is just making excuses. So what is the point?

 

[Sir Yeti]

Our fanbase has mixed feelings on what leadership means. Apparently Sundin wasn't a leader for waiving his NTC, and now Phaneuf isn't a leader because he'd rather play through pain. Gotta love Leafs Nation, our fans are so clueless at times it makes you cringe.

Leadership is very much a personal opinion. I think if you polled a 100 people you would get s variety of answers as to what it is.

 

[GordieHoweHatTrick]

Make it our break it season for a guy thats supposed to be our best defenceman and leader. Another piss-poor season and I'd hope they rebuilt the defence, starting with him, injury excuse or not.

 

[Sir Yeti]

Oh great, another thread to question his leadership. This should be original.

I feel like this may have happened a few times.

 

[Dreakmur]

If Dion said he was playing with cracked ribs, some people will say he is just making excuses. So what is the point?

The point is to provide information and an explaination for his play at the end of the season.

Personally, I don't need an explaination. Some guys just crack under pressure. Some guys are streaky. Some guys just can't maintain a consistent high level of play.

 

[TheThrill81*]

and Phaneuf was part of that team and also why i said our goailies bailed us out the majority of the season

So you admit it's a team stat yet you single out one player? I thought it was already established a while back that the defensive play of our forwards was a big reason for poor possession and increased shots against. Not to absolve the defence of any blame, but you sure seem to be bent on pointing fingers at certain players for personal reasons I can't imagine.

nothing Phaneufs fault he`s perfect , it`s the rest of the team that keeps letting him down

Now you're just being a petulant child. No one said he's perfect, but he's not the bottom pairing d-man you make him out to be.

Leadership is very much a personal opinion. I think if you polled a 100 people you would get s variety of answers as to what it is.

I know it's a personal opinion, I was speaking more to the outrageous ideas as to what constitutes leadership. It's moot anyways, none of us play for the Leafs and we don't know what goes on in the dressing room or the true nature of relationships amongst the players. It's all speculation.

 

[BackHandShelf22]

The point is to provide information and an explaination for his play at the end of the season.

Why should they parlay to your need for information?

Personally, I don't need an explaination. Some guys just crack under pressure. Some guys are streaky. Some guys just can't maintain a consistent high level of play.

Nice little narrative you've got going there.

By saying I don't need an explanation, you're cutting yourself off from facts. If you like to come to your own conclusions with an uneducated opinion of what was going on at the time, then go ahead.

 

[The Great Gazoo]

Phaneuf is going to miss his former partner Gunnarsson this year.

Gunnar had his back defensively.

It will be nice to see Dion so unhindered by not having to take a shift with a slow, poor thinking defenseman like Gunnarsson. Time to put Dion with one of the kids, who can skate, and make plays. Puck possession should go up when we don't have to worry about Gunnar losing another board battle, or not being able to pivot and lose his check backing into his zone. Or skate more than a stride and a half only to lose the puck on a check, and keep the team in their end for extended periods. God, what a boat anchor that guy was.

 

[LeafsNation149]

Phaneufs awesome, screw all the haters

 

[hotpaws]

So you admit it's a team stat yet you single out one player? I thought it was already established a while back that the defensive play of our forwards was a big reason for poor possession and increased shots against. Not to absolve the defence of any blame, but you sure seem to be bent on pointing fingers at certain players for personal reasons I can't imagine.

Now you're just being a petulant child. No one said he's perfect, but he's not the bottom pairing d-man you make him out to be.

The threads about DP and that`s why we`re discussing his play . You seem to be overly concerned with making excuses for his failures -injured-partner-forwards instead of just discussing the player this threads about .

I had a sarcastic reply to a sarcastic post but it`s curious why you didn`t have a problem with ACC`s post but you do mine . You guys can try to twist and spin and deflect attention away from DP but one more failed season and he`ll be getting roasted regardless of your attempts to defend him .

How many times can mang-homers defend the core while shuffling the role players before the fans have had enough and the waffles make another appearance .

 

[HarrisonFord]

Honestly, give him a GOOD #2 defenseman to play beside. Remember the knock on Mats was that he never really had any top line wingers to play with? Well Dion is in the same situation.

He's played with Holzer, Beachemin briefly, Gunnarsson, and Gardiner (very limited).

Part of the problem is how often he's on the ice with the Kessel line.

Let me paint you a picture of Dion Phaneuf's ice time:

1. Plays beside a #4 defenseman in Carl Gunnarsson all game
2. Plays against other teams top lines all night, leading to highest QoC in NHL for defensemen.
3. Has JVR-Bozak-Kessel on the ice on forward 40% of the time.

So here you go, a conservative estimate of 1/3 of the time Dion Phaneuf is on the ice 5 on 5, he's playing against other teams top lines with JVR, Bozak, Kessel and Gunnarsson.

Keith - Seabrook
Sharp - Toews - Hossa

vs.

Van Riemsdyk - Bozak - Kessel
Gunnarsson - Phaneuf

LW vs. LW, C vs. C, RW vs. RW, LD vs. LD, RD vs. RD, where do you think the biggest gap in player quality is. It's Gunnarsson.


Here's a list of top-pairing #2 defensemen in the NHL:

Francois Beauchemin
Dennis Seidenberg
Justin Faulk
Brent Seabrook
Jan Hejda
Fedor Tyutin
Trevor Daley
Jonathan Ericsson
Jake Muzzin
Jonas Brodin
Andrei Markov
Roman Josi
Dan Girardi
Marc Methot
Braydon Coburn
Zbynek Michalek
Paul Martin
Justin Braun
Jay Bouwmeester
Sami Salo
Kevin Bieksa
John Carlson
(Not included, a few bottom feeder teams and teams without a true #1D)

Now, where do you see Gunnarsson in that list? Maybe better than 1 or 2?

Phaneuf isn't the problem. It's the lack of a quality #2D to put beside him.

 

[hotpaws]

It will be nice to see Dion so unhindered by not having to take a shift with a slow, poor thinking defenseman like Gunnarsson. Time to put Dion with one of the kids, who can skate, and make plays. Puck possession should go up when we don't have to worry about Gunnar losing another board battle, or not being able to pivot and lose his check backing into his zone. Or skate more than a stride and a half only to lose the puck on a check, and keep the team in their end for extended periods. God, what a boat anchor that guy was.

yup , all DP needs is a partner who can cover the entire defensive zone while he stands in front of the net cross checking people because god forbid we`d ever expect him to be first on the puck and take a hit to make a play

 

[ACC1224]

It will be nice to see Dion so unhindered by not having to take a shift with a slow, poor thinking defenseman like Gunnarsson. Time to put Dion with one of the kids, who can skate, and make plays. Puck possession should go up when we don't have to worry about Gunnar losing another board battle, or not being able to pivot and lose his check backing into his zone. Or skate more than a stride and a half only to lose the puck on a check, and keep the team in their end for extended periods. God, what a boat anchor that guy was.

This guy gets it.

I had two off season wishes, dump Gunnar and Raymond. Nonis agreed.