Seriously, is it rust, lack of chemistry, or something else?
Hamhuis/Bieksa have been decidedly mediocre, Edler-Garrison have been a train wreck defensively, and Tanev has been by far the most consistent defender.
What happened? I think that if(knocks on wood) a lockout occurs again, we should actively encourage our players to go overseas to keep themselves in practice. Because on paper we have 4 top pairing defensemen. On the ice it looks just terrible.
Another reason might have to do with the Edler-Garrison pairing just not jiving. Forcing Edler to play his off-side and Garrison not getting enough chances to unload his shot(which also looks a bit out-of-practice), we might have to mix it up a bit.
At ES I'd like to try:
Edler-Tanev
Hamhuis-Bieksa
Ballard Garrison
And on the PP, alternate
Hamhuis-Garrison
Edler-Bieksa
Just to try and force a change in the way everyone's currently playing.
What happened? I think that if(knocks on wood) a lockout occurs again, we should actively encourage our players to go overseas to keep themselves in practice. Because on paper we have 4 top pairing defensemen. On the ice it looks just terrible.
Same thing that happens every damn season. The defense is always brutal until 10+ games into it. Probably going to be worse with the lack of pre-season games.
Now people are finally realizing that maybe it's not Luongo.
The current pairings are pretty brutal. Hammy and Juice have been bad while Ballard and Tanev have looked the best so far. Should be an interesting couple games upcoming.
We have a deep blue line I'd like to see each pair around 20 minutes and ride the hot pair, which has easily been Ballard and Tanev (although their qualcomp is lesser).
The Canucks defense is extremely active and when you're not 100% on your game it's easy to look bad. The highs are higher and the lows are lower in our system and it's why we see these pitiful starts every season but then go on to be one of the best defensive/highest scoring bluelines in the NHL by years end.
The top 4 will get it together in a couple weeks. Hopefully we can stay above .500 during that time, as to not put ourselves in a dogfight for a playoff spot later on.
Bowness needs to play the bottom pairing more right now.
The Canucks defense is extremely active and when you're not 100% on your game it's easy to look bad. The highs are higher and the lows are lower in our system and it's why we see these pitiful starts every season but then go on to be one of the best defensive/highest scoring bluelines in the NHL by years end.
The top 4 will get it together in a couple weeks. Hopefully we can stay above .500 during that time, as to not put ourselves in a dogfight for a playoff spot later on.
Bowness needs to play the bottom pairing more right now.
The Canucks defense is extremely active and when you're not 100% on your game it's easy to look bad. The highs are higher and the lows are lower in our system and it's why we see these pitiful starts every season but then go on to be one of the best defensive/highest scoring bluelines in the NHL by years end.
The top 4 will get it together in a couple weeks. Hopefully we can stay above .500 during that time, as to not put ourselves in a dogfight for a playoff spot later on.
Bowness needs to play the bottom pairing more right now.
Yup. When you're supposed to be making strong pinches all the time, as well as really pushing the tempo on the transition, you're going to look like a pile of **** if your timing is off and everything is rusty.
The top four are all incredibly rusty. They will come along but it will take a while. Tanev is probably looking so much better than everyone else because he has been playing for a while in the AHL. Ballard...I can't really explain.
I find it odd that they have changed Edler to the right side when Garrison has played on the right in the past. He has played on the left more but I'm sure I remember reading that he has played on the right in the past.
For the past few years, the team's often had a STRONG and a WEAK link defensively on each pairing. The strong were Mitchell/Hamhuis and Salo, the weak Bieksa and Edler.
Top 4 is struggling because Hamhuis is not 100% and Garrison/Edler is a new pairing.
Its also why Ballard-Tanev is our best pairing - Tanev is in mid-season form and playing stellar defence, moving the puck up ice with ease and with little forward assistance. So you either play them more or you move Tanev to the 2nd pairing with Edler and hope Ballard - Garrison works out.
I find it odd that they have changed Edler to the right side when Garrison has played on the right in the past. He has played on the left more but I'm sure I remember reading that he has played on the right in the past.
I believe he played the right side on the PP, not during even strength.
I believe he played the right side on the PP, not during even strength.
Pretty much.
Probably also compounded by some Panther fans being bamboozled by the fact that Campbell fluidly switches sides over the course of a shift as Garrison's partner. But for all intents and purposes, i really have never seen Garrison playing the right side at EV strength...and he's obviously made it clear that he's not comfortable there.
I find it odd that they have changed Edler to the right side when Garrison has played on the right in the past. He has played on the left more but I'm sure I remember reading that he has played on the right in the past.
Only on the PP though, hence why Edler has been on the right side at 5 on 5 this year.
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