Absolutely terrible and penguins should bench him/trade him for pucks. That everyone said last season. I admit I was one of these and couldn't stand watching him play.
Now he's done complete turn around on his game and has been absolute force out there. Doesn't do mistakes (I honestly can't remember him doing a SINGLE mistake all season), is 2nd in D-men scoring and is actually shooting the puck. Check the goal last night, incredible.
His hockey IQ, skating and puck-moving skills have been also tremendous, even last season.
IF he continues like this all season he has to be up there in Norris-discussion.
Discuss.
Last edited by NutCracker: 02-27-2013 at 07:11 AM.
the guy has been a rock this year. he deserved all the vitriol sent his way for the last 2 seasons, but he deserves just as much praise for this turnaround.
Just a reminder that Paul Martin's first 20 games with the Penguins were a lot like this, I think he was even in the top few in defenseman scoring for a little while.
Gonchar was the same, people hated him at the beginning then loved him later.
Eh, that first year people were digging Martin because him and Michalek were a pretty great shutdown pair. We had one of the best PKs we ever had and they were huge in keeping us competitive after Crosby and Malkin went down.
Then there was last year. Him, Michalek and Orpik seemed to be in a competition to suck the loudest. Martin won.
This year he's turning it around, and playing with the puck as well.
Norris though, TC? Get out of here. I do agree that he's largely played mistake free hockey.. For all his great passing plays, Letang has been a bonehead on numerous occasions.
Part of me is glad to see Martin doing well again, even though I'm a Flyers fan. He seems like a good guy.
When he came up for UFA, I really was hoping the Flyers would sign him. So when he went to our biggest rival, I was kind of glad he was doing poorly, especially in last year's playoffs. But I couldn't really understand why he was playing so badly because I watched him a lot with the Devils and he quietly impressed me with his puck movement.
I hope he continues to play well except when the Flyers are in town.
Absolutely terrible and penguins should bench him/trade him for pucks. That everyone said last season. I admit I was one of these and couldn't stand watching him play.
Now he's done complete turn around on his game and has been absolute force out there. Doesn't do mistakes (I honestly can't remember him doing a SINGLE mistake all season), is 2nd in D-men scoring and is actually shooting the puck. Check the goal last night, incredible.
His hockey IQ, skating and puck-moving skills have been also tremendous, even last season.
IF he continues like this all season he has to be up there in Norris-discussion.
Discuss.
While I agree his improvement has been amazing, to say you can't remember him making a SINGLE mistake this season leads me to believe you need to watch more.
He still makes mistakes, the difference being that they're not as bad as last year, and a lot less are leading to goals against. He got absolutely burnt and cakewalked by Tangradi, he weakly turned a puck over on his backhand in the offensive zone, leading to a goal against.
There's still mistakes, but they're a LOT less frequent, and a lot less costly. Anytime he's on his backhand, you're bound to see a turnover of some sort. It might be the worst backhand in the league.
His game this year has impressed the heck out of me however, and if he can keep it up, it's going to help this team a lot come playoff time.
Steigerwald and Errey nailed it, they talked about when Martin was in New Jersey, he played on the right side with a stay at home defenseman to his left. When he came here, he had to adjust to playing the left side with another new player learning the Penguins' system.
Now, he plays on the right side with a stay at home defenseman on his left, and he's succeeding.
