Brandon Prust, Francis Bouillon, and Colby Armstrong all signed with Montreal. Ryan White will be on a one-way contract and Travis Moen will be healthy to start the season. They're far from the softest.
Rene Bourque, too. He may not fight often, but he's one tough hombre.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dirk316
The answer to this question is Dallas, Carolina, Detroit, Tb
Is the top tier in softness
Winnipeg is almost in there
How?
Thorburn, Stuart, Byfuglien, Ladd, Kane, Bogosian and maybe someone else I forget.
It's the Flames by a mile. Pretty much every move Feaster has made makes the Flames softer. Although most "enforcers" play the wing the foundation of team toughness comes from the D.
BOUWMEESTER- Perhaps the softest big minute D man in NHL history. Nobody is afraid of his smooth skating. Like Mike Peca said, he is a pleasure to play against. That's what the Flames throw at their opponent 25+ minutes a game.
BUTLER- Like Bouwmeester, but less skilled and even softer.
GIORDANO- Tough as nails and plays with grit. However, played with much less of an edge in 11/12.
WIDEMAN- Maybe someone who knows more about him can comment. But from what I have seen and heard, he is not very intimidating.
SARICH- Finally, someone who actually makes opponents keep their head up. He hits hard, and hits to hurt, and clean hits too. But he will play third pairing minutes at best, often a healthy scratch last season.
BRODIE- Good young D Man with a bright future. Also a soft player though.
SMITH- A useful player when used correctly. But on a physical level, doesn't scare anybody.
BABCHUK- A 6'5" player that plays 5'6"
So of 8 D, the Flames have ONE guy that you have to watch out for. And he plays 3rd pairing or not at all. And the softest of the soft, well they get the most minutes. The softest team in the league is the Flames, and by quite a wide margin. Maybe Jiri Hudler will help!
I know that this is the softest D in Flames history. I wonder where it would rank in league history. And what was Feaster thinking when he let Hannan walk?
When healthy both Cory Sarich and Mark Giordano can be relied upon to produce around 140-150 hits per season. In addition to that Dennis Wideman may not be a bruiser but he consistently puts in around 100 hits a year as well.
Upfront they have Iginla, Glencross, Jackman, Bouma, Jones, and Comeau who are all more than willing to throw a hit and block a shot. I agree they lack the grit they have had in the past, and are certainly no longer in the top half of the league in overall toughness.
I also find it funny how you mention letting Hannan walk was a mistake in a thread about physicality/toughness when that really is not an aspect of the game in which he can utilize effectively anymore. You do realize he had less hits last season then both of the "super soft" Jay Bouwmeester and Chris Butler right?
The top six is certainly lacking in grit, but that could be said about more than a handful of teams around the league.
Calgary is by no means the softest team in the league by a mile.
Buff had 0 fights last year, Kane and Bogo only had 1 each.
I think we improved the team in the off-season, but losing Glass hurts in the toughness department. Cormier's probably the 13th or 14th forward, so he should get some games.
Thankfully, we play in a pretty soft division.
Last edited by jamiebez: 08-29-2012 at 08:09 AM.
Reason: Fixed link
I would have to go with a team like San Jose. Ryan close is the only shark that is willing to go. Can't name another guy in the lineup who does
Adam Burish signed with San Jose early in the summer. He's physical, although he doesn't fight a lot. Douglas Murray is a physical defenseman. However, they let Brad Winchester go. The Sharks do look pretty soft.
Adam Burish signed with San Jose early in the summer. He's physical, although he doesn't fight a lot. Douglas Murray is a physical defenseman. However, they let Brad Winchester go. The Sharks do look pretty soft.
Yea Burish had one season where he fought, I think hes realized how bad he is at it now and gave it up all together. Clowes really tough though and Murray can be. Overall softest sharks team in a while though, maybe that Desjardins will play regularly but even hes small and not scaring anyone and only scraps 5 times a year.
Theyre losing Winchester and Vandermeer, their 2 toughest players after Clowe. I guess Frazer Mclaren might play some, same with Mashinter too
Yea Burish had one season where he fought, I think hes realized how bad he is at it now and gave it up all together. Clowes really tough though and Murray can be. Overall softest sharks team in a while though, maybe that Desjardins will play regularly but even hes small and not scaring anyone and only scraps 5 times a year.
Theyre losing Winchester and Vandermeer, their 2 toughest players after Clowe. I guess Frazer Mclaren might play some, same with Mashinter too
Burish is a horrible fighter. He's more of an agitator than antything else. Forgot they lost Vandermeer, too. Yeah I doubt McLaren plays much. Mashinter is a gritty guy. Hopefully he plays. Desjardins is kind of like Abdelkader. He'll fight but he doesn't scare anyone. They're not the softest, but they're pretty soft. Anaheim and LA will be able to knock them around physically.
Not a single mention for Buffalo? Really? Them or Carolina.
Scott vs Lucic = win Scott
Regehr vs Chara = win Chara
McCormick vs Thornton = Draw / edge Thornton
Kaleta vs McQuaid = Draw
Tropp vs Horton = win Tropp
Anybody vs Campbell = win Sabres player
Foligno vs anybody left = win Foligno
And then Weber, Ott, and McNabb are around for anybody else.
Scott vs Lucic = win Scott
Regehr vs Chara = win Chara
McCormick vs Thornton = Draw / edge Thornton Kaleta vs McQuaid = Draw
Tropp vs Horton = win Tropp
Anybody vs Campbell = win Sabres player
Foligno vs anybody left = win Foligno
And then Weber, Ott, and McNabb are around for anybody else.
Scott vs Lucic = win Scott
Regehr vs Chara = win Chara
McCormick vs Thornton = Draw / edge Thornton
Kaleta vs McQuaid = Draw
Tropp vs Horton = win Tropp
Anybody vs Campbell = win Sabres player
Foligno vs anybody left = win Foligno
And then Weber, Ott, and McNabb are around for anybody else.
It's funny how you had to mention them to all bruins players, and all your predictions are wrong btw.
Analyzer, there's no real fighters there except Thorburn and maybe Stuart, Jets are pretty close to the bottom.
True, there's no players who go out every couple of games looking for a fight, but their team is primarily all willing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pigpen65
Scott vs Lucic = win Scott
Regehr vs Chara = win Chara
McCormick vs Thornton = Draw / edge Thornton
Kaleta vs McQuaid = Draw
Tropp vs Horton = win Tropp
Anybody vs Campbell = win Sabres player
Foligno vs anybody left = win Foligno
And then Weber, Ott, and McNabb are around for anybody else.
Scott Vs. Chara - Winner, Chara. Scott has **** for balance and I last longer during sex than he does in a fight.
Regehr Vs. Lucic - Winner Lucic.
McCormick Vs. Thornton - Most of the time Thornton wins/draw.
Kaleta Vs. McQuaid - McQuaid no doubt.
Tropp Vs. Horton - Don't know much about Tropp.
Foligno Vs Campbell - Probably Foligno. Though, Campbell is more likely to fight Ott
Boychuk Vs. Ott. Ott could win, but it would be close.
Ference Vs. Weber - Weber wins.
Dennis Wideman was a team guy. He'd fight to defend a teammate, or himself, but never seemed to go looking. Now that he's getting a lot of money, he'll probably do it even less.
I think answers may change once guys like Vandermeer, Winchester, and Rosehill sign somewhere. Obviously, this process is being delayed due to a looming lockout.
It's funny how you had to mention them to all bruins players, and all your predictions are wrong btw.
It was in response to an opinion that Buffalo was the softest team in the league. As you can see, Buffalo has legit matchups for every player on the undisputed toughest team in the league, with some to spare.
Scott has bad balance? Can you post a few examples? Also, can you post some examples of Chara winning a fight vs some legit heavy's?
Chara isn't a legitimate fighter. He's big, and he fights once in a blue moon, so people consider him a heavyweight. He kicked Koci's ass in 2007, and since then, he's slipped and falled or tackled his opponent in just about every fight.
Scott Vs. Chara - Winner, Chara. Scott has **** for balance and I last longer during sex than he does in a fight.
I hope so, feel bad for the women/men you're involved with if your bar for proper time spent during that activity can be measured by any NHL fight length.
Chara is a good NHL fighter but he doesn't fight guys near his size all that often for obvious reasons. But he also doesn't take on a whole lot of legitimate fighters really in general. McQuaid is the best fighting D-man on Boston in my opinion. I don't think Chara would enjoy that Scott fight nearly as much as you do. He would never take the trade off though of him and Scott. Would be interesting to see a Weber vs. Chara fight, there are other stars I think could give him a run for his money in the fighting department and he is one, I would expect Chara being fine with trading five minutes off the ice with.
Last edited by The Zetterberg Era: 08-30-2012 at 07:12 AM.
Burish is a horrible fighter. He's more of an agitator than antything else. Forgot they lost Vandermeer, too. Yeah I doubt McLaren plays much. Mashinter is a gritty guy. Hopefully he plays. Desjardins is kind of like Abdelkader. He'll fight but he doesn't scare anyone. They're not the softest, but they're pretty soft. Anaheim and LA will be able to knock them around physically.
Seems like out of the group, Mashinter might actually get a shot at the 4th line. Hes a solid, tough player I remember him from his days here in Sarnia except back then he used to duck fights too much for my liking. Seems like hes embraced it more.
And yeah the Desjardins and Abdelkaders are guys who contribute to team toughness. Shouldnt be your toughest player but in a rough game you can always count on them to defend a teammate
Seems like out of the group, Mashinter might actually get a shot at the 4th line. Hes a solid, tough player I remember him from his days here in Sarnia except back then he used to duck fights too much for my liking. Seems like hes embraced it more.
And yeah the Desjardins and Abdelkaders are guys who contribute to team toughness. Shouldnt be your toughest player but in a rough game you can always count on them to defend a teammate
Yeah I think Mashinter sees some time, especially with Winchester gone.
I see Abdelkader fighting around 5 times again this year. He's not a good fighter, but at least he can beat Max Lapierre lol
Yeah I think Mashinter sees some time, especially with Winchester gone.
I see Abdelkader fighting around 5 times again this year. He's not a good fighter, but at least he can beat Max Lapierre lol
Hes not a great fighter but not terrible and to be fair he only has a couple seasons of experience. If he stays against the pests and middleweights like Lapierre, Ott and stays away from the Ryane Clowes he does fine. I expect with Tootoo this year he'll be sucked into doing more fighting because Tootoo has a way of making that happen
Hes not a great fighter but not terrible and to be fair he only has a couple seasons of experience. If he stays against the pests and middleweights like Lapierre, Ott and stays away from the Ryane Clowes he does fine. I expect with Tootoo this year he'll be sucked into doing more fighting because Tootoo has a way of making that happen
Yeah Abby got pumped by Clowe and Wilson. Agreed about Tootoo. Tootoo is a major agitator and I think Smith will fight a handful of times as well, which is alright as long as he's not fighting an absolute ton. You don't want your rookie defenseman being your enforcer.
Chara isn't a legitimate fighter. He's big, and he fights once in a blue moon, so people consider him a heavyweight. He kicked Koci's ass in 2007, and since then, he's slipped and falled or tackled his opponent in just about every fight.
He's pretty much tackled/fallen over guys who are smaller then him.. which is everyone in the league. I'd just like to see chara and scott fight since both are just huge and i think they'd bloody each other up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pigpen65
Scott vs Lucic = win Scott
Regehr vs Chara = win Chara
McCormick vs Thornton = Draw / edge Thornton
Kaleta vs McQuaid = Draw
Tropp vs Horton = win Tropp
Anybody vs Campbell = win Sabres player
Foligno vs anybody left = win Foligno
And then Weber, Ott, and McNabb are around for anybody else.
The fact that you said kaleta and mcquaid would draw is a joke. I think mcquaid would give looch a good fight.. looch of course embarassed kaleta. I'm not gonna go on here and say the sabres are soft at all. But seriously.. kaleta would draw mcquaid?
He's pretty much tackled/fallen over guys who are smaller then him.. which is everyone in the league. I'd just like to see chara and scott fight since both are just huge and i think they'd bloody each other up.
The fact that you said kaleta and mcquaid would draw is a joke. I think mcquaid would give looch a good fight.. looch of course embarassed kaleta. I'm not gonna go on here and say the sabres are soft at all. But seriously.. kaleta would draw mcquaid?
First, Kaleta is a pretty good fighter. Most fans agree, even the ones who can't stand him and cheer for him to be injured. A prediction that Kaleta would draw with any middleweight, even if you disagree, definitely isn't in the "joke" category. Predicting Gregory Campbell to draw with McQuaid (or Kaleta) would be a joke. Gregory Campbell is a terrible fighter who loses 99% of his fights.
Second, Lucic beat up Kaleta. Kaleta is a middle weight and Lucic is a heavyweight. That's usually what happens when middleweights go with heavyweights. What heavy weights has McQuaid dropped his gloves with? Unless we are talking about a different McQuaid, there's definitely nothing in his fight card that suggests he's a clear step above Kaleta. Sure as hell nothing to suggest he's anywhere near Lucic, lol. Realize the reason you and so many other Boston fans are so high on McQuaid is because of how easy he has it playing in Boston where he's never burdened with having to step up to a Lucic the way Kaleta was. The reason Kaleta was fighting Lucic was because the Sabres didn't have a Chara, Thornton, or Lucic last year to step in front of him like McQuaid has.
Scott vs Lucic = win Scott
Regehr vs Chara = win Chara
McCormick vs Thornton = Draw / edge Thornton
Kaleta vs McQuaid = Draw
Tropp vs Horton = win Tropp
Anybody vs Campbell = win Sabres player
Foligno vs anybody left = win Foligno
And then Weber, Ott, and McNabb are around for anybody else.
Chara vs. Scott = draw. can't say either way until they actually fight. both guys have questions marks in their fight cards/styles
Thornton vs. Regehr = win Thornton
Lucic vs. McCormick = Win Lucic
McQuaid vs. Kaleta = Win McQauid*
Boychuk vs. Foligno = draw, even though Foligno still hasn't dropped them in the NHL yet, i know he is a decent fighter
Ference vs. tropp = draw. Ference is a underrated fighter and when he fights guys his own size he hardly loses.
and then there is Horton, Campbell, Seidenberg and possibly MacDermid for the rest.
*you made a good point on McQuaid being overrated by fellow Bruins fans, he is and he does get the benefit of having arguably three heavyweights above him to fight tougher guys. however, if you look at both of these guys fight cards McQuaid's is stronger. not to mention he doesn't get the benefit of ducking his head and hiding behind a ridiculously large visor.
it's easy to spin the match-ups either way. i do agree with you though that the sabres aren't soft at all, in fact they are much, much closer to the top of the league in terms of fighting toughness then near the bottom, so i can understand your rebuttal.
