i'm guessing there were other issues. personality? attitude?
but those beans we got in return for him were not magic.
That is a big part of the reason - wasn't a quality guy from what I have heard. Girl I was dating while he was in Ottawa was good friends with his GF at the time - from what I heard he was a dbag, even for hockey player standards.
Lee would be a nice addition to the roster as it stands. In a system so focused around having the puck, a defensive defenseman with a good breakout pass is an asset. Lee was an asset we gave away, it's that simple. The Lee trade is no reason to call for Murray's head, but fans have every right to be upset.
In his last season he was very solid. Did very well playing bottom pairing minutes for this team. I think most would agree his defensive play is his strongest quality. He used his 6'3, 205lbs body well in the defensive zone, and has a strong stick. His defensive play and skating are good enough that he could log 2nd pairing minutes and not look at all out of place.
Those saying Lee was not physical should re-watch some of the games he played in last season. Management asked him to play more physical, and he answered with 127 hits in 55 games. If he played the full 82 game season that would have put him at 189 hits, which would have tied him for 4th on our team in hits, 2nd out of our defenseman behind Cowen. While he was not a heavy hitter like Volchenkov, he did dish out enough hits in the corners to make life difficult for the opposing forwards.
Trading him for Gilroy was a move that did not have to be made. It made no sense at the time, and looks terrible in hindsight. Murray deserves to be criticized for it.
Lee would be a nice addition to the roster as it stands. In a system so focused around having the puck, a defensive defenseman with a good breakout pass is an asset. Lee was an asset we gave away, it's that simple. The Lee trade is no reason to call for Murray's head, but fans have every right to be upset.
In his last season he was very solid. Did very well playing bottom pairing minutes for this team. I think most would agree his defensive play is his strongest quality. He used his 6'3, 205lbs body well in the defensive zone, and has a strong stick. His defensive play and skating are good enough that he could log 2nd pairing minutes and not look at all out of place.
Those saying Lee was not physical should re-watch some of the games he played in last season. Management asked him to play more physical, and he answered with 127 hits in 55 games. If he played the full 82 game season that would have put him at 189 hits, which would have tied him for 4th on our team in hits, 2nd out of our defenseman behind Cowen. While he was not a heavy hitter like Volchenkov, he did dish out enough hits in the corners to make life difficult for the opposing forwards.
Trading him for Gilroy was a move that did not have to be made. It made no sense at the time, and looks terrible in hindsight. Murray deserves to be criticized for it.
came here to post something similar to this.
people bashing lee for not being physical weren't watching him in his last season here. he was a solid skater and good in the d-zone. he went from having an absolutely pathetic shot to a decent one, and had a decent first pass. all in all, he maxes out as a steady, solid, #4. i did like lee's game and thought his improvements last season were promising. i was disappointed we traded him, but as i said, his max potential was a defensive d-man with the ability to get the puck out, #4. he would have been useful this year, but pretty much only because cowen is injured. he also could have replaced lundin on the bottom pairing. looking at our defense in the future, we're looking for an offensive defenseman anyway with gonchar's contract expiring, something lee was not.
it looked like we always wanted to move him. he was part of some conspiracy with filatov and zibby. lee was benched, despite looking good in the games he played, filatov wasn't passed too, and didn't get a good look, but zibby who to me looked out of place last season was almost kept. management conspiracies
seriously though, op. lee outscoring gonchar?
Brian Lee is a serviceable NHL defenseman, and one that we could really use right now.
That said, even I can't bash Murray too much for this move. It's clear that Lee wasn't in the future plans, so Murray rolled the dice on Gilroy and lost. No big deal.
Lee was a horrible pick. I guess on the bright side, it was what was needed to get rid of Muckler, the senile old fool.
Lee will outperform most Sens D except Karlson, and will have better +/- than plough-horse Chris Phillips
Not a single player on TBay had a better +/- than Phillips last year. What makes you think lee will on that team? In his 20 games in TBay Lee was a -6 which prorates to -24 over a 82 game season. Again, what makes you believe he'll have a better +/- then Phillips who was +12?
