I never said that kunitz couldent play on the first line, my beef with kunitz is everyone is such a mark for him but I dont understand why, at one point burke put him on waviers then when our line up when to hell we got him back off of waviers. I know hes a good back checker and hustles, his price tag as it stands now makes me understand why hes there too, but like you pointed out moen,may, kunitz??? out of those three kunitz is the only choice for 1lw. Now that that line will have mac todd and kunitz I hope todd can put up temmu numbers cause Kuntiz aint gonna but I know everyone around here does.
Kunitz is talented, very talented. That's why everyone is "such a mark for him." Bringing up the waivers thing with Kunie is moot. It was how he played when he came back. Players improve and Kunie keeps improving. If it was such a case as "we need a better LW but Kunitz is all we've got" than Burke would have gotten one. The fact is: Kunitz is good and he was great with Mac and Teemu. He was also great with Getzy on 4-on-4. Proved to be a pretty good PKer too. You've got to use your eyes when it comes to Kunitz because it's all there. There's nothing flukey about his game.
Can you concede to me this at least that Kunitz is better than Chistov? I had to stop myself from saying much, much better but that's because I don't want to upset you. But seriously, is there any doubt anymore? I'd hope that being a marginal player on two different teams would finally disspell that misconception.
Kunitz is talented, very talented. That's why everyone is "such a mark for him." Bringing up the waivers thing with Kunie is moot. It was how he played when he came back. Players improve and Kunie keeps improving. If it was such a case as "we need a better LW but Kunitz is all we've got" than Burke would have gotten one. The fact is: Kunitz is good and he was great with Mac and Teemu. He was also great with Getzy on 4-on-4. Proved to be a pretty good PKer too. You've got to use your eyes when it comes to Kunitz because it's all there. There's nothing flukey about his game.
Can you concede to me this at least that Kunitz is better than Chistov? I had to stop myself from saying much, much better but that's because I don't want to upset you. But seriously, is there any doubt anymore? I'd hope that being a marginal player on two different teams would finally disspell that misconception.
Ill say it as of today Kunitz is much better then chistov, but I think chistov has the pontenial to be alot better then kunitz but weither that ever happens is a different story.
.... my beef with kunitz is everyone is such a mark for him but I dont understand why....
There are people who make an impact in the spotlight and there are those who make an impact in the shadows. Kunitz is one of those people who makes an impact in the shadows and you only notice what he did when he is gone.
When Kunitz got injured our #1 line dropped significantly in output. Watching that line play without Kunitz really showed me what he brought to that line that I had not seen before. He is a very important part of that line even if most people, myself included, don't really notice many things he does on the ice when next to such spotlight grabbing players of Mac and Selanne.
Do you think Kunitz will continue to produce if Selanne doesn't come back? Would he remain on the first line?
Probably remain with McDonald simply because Kunitz is the best complement to McDonald that the Ducks have on the left side. He has the wheels and he has some skill.
There are people who make an impact in the spotlight and there are those who make an impact in the shadows. Kunitz is one of those people who makes an impact in the shadows and you only notice what he did when he is gone.
When Kunitz got injured our #1 line dropped significantly in output. Watching that line play without Kunitz really showed me what he brought to that line that I had not seen before. He is a very important part of that line even if most people, myself included, don't really notice many things he does on the ice when next to such spotlight grabbing players of Mac and Selanne.
When he got hurt the #1 LW position was a revolving door, that's why production dropped. I think if you leave Kunitz, Penner (if he's on the team come tomorrow) or Bertuzzi there all season that line will be successful.
Todd Bertuzzi is a RW, he was signed to replace Teemu. If Penner leaves than our remaining LW's are Kunie, Moen, May and _____. When Chris got hurt in the playoffs it disrupted the whole forward lines and no one could fill that spot properly (though Marchy did a hell of a job).
If our top line required a better LW, Burkie would have gotten one. There's a reason he didn't.
Burke tried picking up a big lw at last years trade deadline. Bertuzzi, Tkachuk, Guerin...all can play LW. I doubt he wanted Bert last season to replace Perry on the 2nd line, Tkachuk to take McD's spot or Guerin instead of Selanne on that top line. Let's face it, the "weakest link" on the top line is Kunitz.
I love how he plays.
