By: Dario

Dario — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 22:00:23 +0000

Nice write up on the defensemen. You have good instincts and you support them with statistics. My take: This has no formating because your comments don’t allow it or I’m doing something incorrectly. LILES: Grade A. He’s disproven some critics that thought he would have a big drop off in production with the exodus of Blake. With the new rules he can no longer get pushed out of the crease and his poke check and skating are not just the best on the team, they could be tops in the western conference behind Zubov and Neidermeyer. CLARK: Grade A-. He has done everything he did last year but his offensive production has fallen off. I truely believe this is because of the partner he’s skating with and his requirement to babysit him at the moment. He’s making smart passes out of the zone, supporting the boards and crease areas, blocking shots and basically playing a very solid positional game. KLEE: Grade C+. I think a lot of Klee’s positive statistics are the result of playing with Liles. I think most (nearly all) of his EV points are secondary assists generated in large part by his early season pairing with Liles and the chaos he can create offensively for the opposing forwards (defensively). I hoped Klee would provide a larger physical presence but I’ve not seen the physical play we saw in the preseason. Perhaps that will change in the playoffs but you have to wonder with a team that’s struggling with consistancy why he hasn’t let loose with his demonstrated ability to lay a check. BRISEBOIS D. Perhaps he’s blamed for more than his share but he’s one of the top paid defensemen on the team with a ton of experience, including a Stanley Cup. He’s been a pleasent suprise on that right side for the PK (note that few of our goals on the PK come from that right side with Clark and Brisebois shifting on it. Klee does a fine job too). However, rarely is the zone cleared cleanly when the puck is on Brisebois’ stick. For what he does there are literally dozens of NHL players available at 1/5 the price, including players on the Avalanche currently. In my effort to understand The Brisebois one thing I’ve concluded about him as a player is that he has horrible stamina. When he gets long on a shift his legs literraly stop moving. Watch him on a longer shift, he turns in to the less physical equivalent to Darian Hatcher, not pretty. SKRASTINS C. I’m tempted to give him a worse rating than that but I do recognize his effort and marginal improvement from the beginning of the year. His skating out of position routine is mind boggling to me. Especially with a coach like Q behind the bench. This first part of the year he has certainly been reading his own press or something. No shot or pass is too good not to slide on your stomach to stop. If a goal is scored on the left side close to the net just freeze your Tivo and take a good look at Skrastins. He’s over checking Clark’s wallet (out of position), has his back turned to the play on a rebound goal or he’s chasing the forward out of the corner with his “duck on ice”(Dario trademark pending) skating technique. I believe he’s one of the Avalanche’s unsung goats that everyone is afraid to touch. You’re right, Q can’t just sit him with that record pending but he can shift him on the 3rd pairing and put Liles or Vannanen on that left side with Clark. Clark deserves better and preferrably a stay at home defensemen that will give him a little more freedome to jump in to the play. VANNANEN B. I share your thoughts on Ossi. We need his size and physical play on that left side. I think he has a decent shot from the point and I’ve liked some of the pinches he’s made in to the offensive zone from time to time. He’s been sent to the penalty box a few times like last year but I think for the most part those penalties have either been 1. Bogus calls and 2. the result of Ossi being aggressive on the puck. I’ll take an aggresive defenseman on the puck over a containment defensemen like Brisebois any day. Foote vs DeVries if you will. For the rest? Not much to say until they can get at least 10 games under their belt really. I’ve seen a lot of positive things from Sauer, Leopold and Cumiskey. However, in small spurts that can be fools gold. But I do have to admit that they all make Brisebois and Skrastins look like trade bait to me.

Comments on: Midseason Report Card: Defensemen

By: Dario