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Originally Posted by Enoch
we have a top 5 team in the toughness department, but we are getting dominated in some games physically. This is unacceptable, and if Trotz is holding them back from physical play
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I do not think we are one of the toughest teams in the league. Maybe middle of the pack, especially considering our injuries.
People on these boards seem to judge toughness by the # of people on the team who will fight. Ya, we have Brookbank, McKenzie, injured Schabel, injured Kloucek, injured Walker, Allison. But how much do these guys actually play a game? Brookbank gets less than 2 minutes of ice time when he plays. McKenzie gets very limited ice time.
Who's eating up most of the ice time? Our top 3 centers are Legwand, Arkhipov, Johnson. Our top defensemen are Timonen, Zidlicky, Eaton. None of these guys are close to physical, and they certainly aren't physically dominant. Currrently, we have NO defenseman who are consistently physical. Sure, we have a couple of *developing* tough forwards in Hartnell, Tootoo, Hall, but they are still unexpirenced in being a "physical" player in the NHL. It takes time.
To be a top 5 team in toughness, the players that eat up most of the ice time have to be tough. For example, Todd Bertuzzi leads Vancouver forwards in ice time, and he is physically DOMINANT. Jovanski leads Vanvoucer defensemen in ice time, and he's physically DOMINANT. In additon, they have a good supporting "tough" cast in Cooke, Ruutu, May, etc.
Our toughness is overestimated. We have no physically dominant players. We have a few who can pick out a good hit every now and then, but they aren't physically dominant. We have a whole slew of enforcers, but they get about 2 minutes a game, IF they even play at all. How are we going to be physically dominant when we don't have any physically dominant players?