You don't often see such incredibly quick transformations. Kudos to the team for creating the factors that led to his improvement. He is playing like a star the last 3 weeks, and pretty well before that. This month, he's added offensive presence 5-on-5 to the incredibly rapid improvement in defense and already adequate (now better) power play minutes. He made some Leetchesque moves tonight. He's picking his spots at the right times, and he isn't sacrificing positioning to make risky plays. He's even decreased the stupid hit chasing. Impressive. Keep it up, MDZ!
Tortorella, Gernander, Sullivan, Clark, Gorton, Richards, Callahan, whoever else has played a big part in this, the people he trains with in the summer...bravo, folks. I always had my doubts about Del Zotto. Never disliked the pick, but was a bit skeptical. His play last year was dreadful. Now, he's playing much better than the rookie season. Let's see if he sustains it, but if he does...that's a great pick. He's looking like a top offensive defenseman. He looks far more focused, his head is in the game now. You can tell from the performance and even from the looks on his face, IMO.
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Originally Posted by bobbop
You know, it's funny how people inside and outside of hockey say they discount +/- but in the years I worked in hockey I never found hockey people discounting it. Taken in context, absolutely, but a stat everyone (including the players) knew. I remember one player complaining bitterly about getting a minus he felt he didn't deserve.
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It's definitely a useful stat. If everyone understood how to take it in context, there wouldn't be any discrepancies. If you take any player's plus/minus, and analyze the circumstances surrounding the player, you should be able to see if the rating is misleading or not for that player. Once in a blue moon, there are exceptions to the rule. There are definitely players who are as good as the plus/minus stat indicates for them, just as there are players who are definitely not as bad as their plus/minus would indicate.