What went wrong with Dion Phaneuf?

[Shockmaster]

He got hyped up too much by Don Cherry.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

He was overhyped to being with because of his World Jrs. and walked onto a really good Calgary team where he was sheltered and got a bunch of points.

ding ding ding.

He had a hard shot and played second pair on a stacked team with a very good partner in Hamrlik in an era where power plays were passed out like candy.

 

[ESH]

He was overhyped to being with because of his World Jrs. and walked onto a really good Calgary team where he was sheltered and got a bunch of points.

You can’t “shelter” a guy that played 25 minutes a night

 

[CanadianPensFan1]

Went down hill right about here

I've never seen this before. That's magical lolol

 

[brokenhole]

All Phaneuf's come with an operating manual and Calgary threw it in the trash when Burke wanted him. Toronto and Ottawa obviously never found the 2 set screws at the back of Phanuefs head for fine tuning him, the PDF is online if anybody is interested.

 

[LeafFever]

People keep bringing up his deal with Toronto. What about Calgary? He barely got a raise with his Leaf deal. (With the cap increase you can argue it was not).

 

[Gnashville]

You can’t “shelter” a guy that played 25 minutes a night

Teams regularly got 5 Power plays a game when he was in Calgary so that’s a lot of ice time for him plus others were worn down killing penalties which means more even strength time.

He was also overhyped from the “Double Dion” and that highlight was overplayed because of the lockout and the Jr’s was the only hockey people had to watch.

 

[LeafFever]

Teams regularly got 5 Power plays a game when he was in Calgary so that’s a lot of ice time for him plus others were worn down killing penalties which means more even strength time.

He was also overhyped from the “Double Dion” and that highlight was overplayed because of the lockout and the Jr’s was the only hockey people had to watch.

It is true though, the "Sheltered" argument was killed in a lot of past threads. I think it's overboard to claim that given his non PP ice-time.

 

[nbwingsfan]

He was really, really bad defensively early on his career which people didn't take notice of because of those big hits.

Started to sacrifice some of that offense for defensive play in his Toronto years, which instead of being "really bad" defensively, now he's just "bad" but without the offense.

 

[deaderhead28]

Can't skate.. Can't play D anymore

Looked really good playing defense and scored a goal last nite.
A King for a day and already scoring goals. Dion Phaneuf grabs his first as a member of the @LAKings. #LAKvsPIT

 

[shortfuze]

Pretty sure he had hip issues. I think.

 

[jbeck5]

His skating kept getting worse and worse to the point he doesn't ever move his legs. He'll pump his legs a couple times a shift and glide the rest waving his stick around and cross checking people and getting away with it.

He has good positioning to make up for the fact he doesn't want to move his legs so he won't get caught too often. It's just damn does he ever refuse to move his legs. Once in a blue moon he'll be upset or have random energy and will move his legs. On those shifts he looks a lot closer to a below average skater as opposed to a near league worse.

 

[Mobiandi]

Hamrlik carried him

 

[jbeck5]

It's not that he can't skate... It's that he doesn't. Like seriously he just glides everywhere. It's kinda bizarre tbh.

This. Ive said it many times in ottawa forums over the past couple years. It's not that he's very slow when he's skating hard...it's that he never skates hard. He just kinda glides around. I always hear about how hard he works in the gym...perhaps too much on muscle mass and strength and not enough endurance training? Dude seems exhausted right away and stops moving his feet from the 2nd shift of the game.

 

[jbeck5]

I don't think anything went wrong with Phaneuf, I think what went wrong is that Toronto was stupid enough to hand him that contract that set up the expectations way too high for what he was able to bring on a nightly basis.

Obviously there are some factors besides his contract that made him slow down. He is a slower player than before, but never was fast to begin with. Thing is the game has changed since his Calgary days to a faster pace. He adapted but that also meant him no not being as effective as he once was.

Phaneuf is a still a useful player. He might be one of the only player innthe league that's able to sustain a role and be as slow as he is. If you consider the speed at which he plays the game, it really is a miracle that he can be effective still. The guy is realistically worth 4-5M at this point though while he's getting paid 6.5-7M.

If he was a UFA this summer, i doubt any GM would offer him 4-5 million. He reminded me of luke richardsson and jason smith in their last year with the sens...but with slight better passing and shooting. He's just that slow out there.

 

[blankall]

The game also changed around the time he came into the league. Defenseman are smaller and more mobile now. Many big hits and holds aren't allowed anymore. Dion was better suited for a slower clutch and grab type league. He would have been a superstar there. Many of today's top d-men wouldn't have jobs.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

He looked good tonight, I don't know what you mean. He didn't turn into a star, but he was a fringe #1/2 for quite a few years and started falling off recently, which isn't too surprising considering his age and play style.

That's the point....he showed signs of being a superstar defenseman early on in his career. Finished runner up to Nick Lidstrom for the Norris back in 08.

 

[Volica]

Hanrlik carried him

Hamrlik was a legit good player for us during his stretch in Calgary.
Playing behind a prime Robyn Regehr in that era was pretty magic too.

Remember when they tried RR and Dion together, and it was a tire fire? Dion simply couldn't hang.

 

[3rdLiner]

The Pronger fallacy. Pronger was soo good, people thought that was the mold of the new top tier NHL defenseman. Turns out Pronger was just a really special player, lots of Pronger wannabe clones like Phanuef never worked out. Althoug, Phanuef was probably one of the better ones.

Turns out the great skating defenseman of the 2000's like Lidstrom, Keith, Doughty etc.. were the better version of new age NHL defenseman.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

This. Ive said it many times in ottawa forums over the past couple years. It's not that he's very slow when he's skating hard...it's that he never skates hard. He just kinda glides around. I always hear about how hard he works in the gym...perhaps too much on muscle mass and strength and not enough endurance training? Dude seems exhausted right away and stops moving his feet from the 2nd shift of the game.

I remember the Kings have had to give similar advice to Jack Johnson, Matt Greene, and even Kopitar (who is flying this year). Might not be too shocking if the guy is a physical specimen but seemingly gassed.

He looked like an average skater last night vs. Pitt but at least he was smart enough to not get caught out of position, but he even ended up skating the puck around their net a couple of times and hustling back, so we'll see if that keeps up. I wonder how much of it is getting to 'his spot' then stopping instead of remaining agile and ready.

 

[GeeoffBrown]

I think he's got a lot of tools but he's always been mistake prone.

 

[ESH]

Teams regularly got 5 Power plays a game when he was in Calgary so that’s a lot of ice time for him plus others were worn down killing penalties which means more even strength time.

He was also overhyped from the “Double Dion” and that highlight was overplayed because of the lockout and the Jr’s was the only hockey people had to watch.

His usage in Calgary was pretty similar to Karlsson or Burns last year, and I don't think anyone would call them sheltered. Maybe they're not their teams first options in shutdown situations, but they are clearly their team's #1 defenseman. In 2007-08 Phaneuf averaged almost 2.5 minutes more than any other Flames defenseman at even strength. No matter what, he was going against pretty good competition, and he excelled in the role he was given for a few years.

People keep bringing up his deal with Toronto. What about Calgary? He barely got a raise with his Leaf deal. (With the cap increase you can argue it was not).

Phaneuf earned his contract in Calgary. That was a great deal based on the way he played from 2005-2008.

 

[ImpartialNHLfan]

Someone please post the great evolution of Dion picture....... Ah ****, I'll put it here, and actually i think it is due for an update. We need the Ottawa and now L.A. additions.

He use to look happy, by the end he just looks down right miserable.

 

[Blue Shakehead]

He was way overrated in Toronto by Leafs fans and the second he left, he was exposed for how bad he truly is.

He's kind of the reverse Phil Kessel - who was way underrated by everyone outside of Toronto, usually as a defence mechanism for HF Leafs fans.

 

[LeafFever]

He was way overrated in Toronto by Leafs fans and the second he left, he was exposed for how bad he truly is.

He's kind of the reverse Phil Kessel - who was way underrated by everyone outside of Toronto, usually as a defence mechanism for HF Leafs fans.

Well Dion was pretty hated by the fans.