Quote:
Originally Posted by BramptonFan09
Glass was a steady player for the otters and I think at times people put too much blame on the defenceman for this teams poor defensive play. Because they have high profile offensive guys the poor defence by the forwards gets overlooked. Defence is a team thing, not the six guys that play the position. Sure the defines turn the puck over but there turnovers look much worse because the only person to bail them out is the goalie, when the forwards turn the puck over it is often overlooked because there is the defenseman then the goalie there to bail them out. Offense is generated by point shots and turnovers at the bluelines, and if you watch a game count how many turnovers there are in the neutral zone and offensive blue line. Im not saying the D are innocent but the forwards arent any better. As for the rumours of Batemen to Erie I think that would be a bad trade by Erie. They need some toughness to thier blue line and some physicallity. They dont need another undersized PP puck mover. Remember when thinking about possible trades, What can Erie offer to get a stud with out giving up an important piece to the team? Teams dont easily part with good defenseman because they are the most important players outside of goaltenders. If this team adds big strong 94 stay at home defenseman it sets them up good for next season with a defines core that is as good as any. Next year is this teams year. I would like to see this come trade deadline.
Pelech - 94 Shutdown type defenseman
McDowell - Abraham (They seem to play really well together both are pretty good with the puck)
Donnay - 95 (two way defenseman)
If this team wants to win next year Felker will not play its that simple and Kuleshov will go home and they'll draft a new European next year. He hasnt played enough this year for him to be a part of a championship push next season. And Kuleshov although he has shown improvements, I think we could get a real good forward in next years Euro draft as long as we bring in a couple dmen this year.
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Championship run next year? That's a little ambitious. Wingers need it drilled into them that nothing is more important than controlling the puck on the half boards down low and getting the puck deep when you're at center. Not doing these two things leads to a lot of turnovers nite in and nite out.
Felker is both mobile and possesses a good first pass. He has size and while he may not be the hardest player to play against but he picks his spots. It was a deep draft and you had a good draft and in addition to Murphy have 2 or 3 Dmen that are mobile, hard to play against and skilled which is exactly what is needed. Currently, this group tends to get pushed around a bit after giving up the blue line and the opposition are getting multiple whacks at the puck in front. If anything, Felker should be playing more than he is and the D needs to be addressed in a big way.