I looked at this years goal stats and NHL.com has Brunner listed under centers and Z as a LW
They're obviously off on the positions (Franzen is a C as well iirc). I actually saw Brunner take a face-off and win once (against Minnesota). He's 100% on FOW.
Just a fun fact to lighten up the mood....I was playing NHL 13 last night n noticed EA Sports has him rated as a 60 overall. Making him the worst player on the roster. He is still on the 1st line with Z and he is rated so poorly I had to scratch him and dress Tatar.
Why don't you go to creation zone and edit him better?
Brunner doesn't get the credit he deserves, period.
6 goals, 3 (in fact 4) assists, 1 SO winner and all of this on his first 12 games in a new league on a smaller surface. Despite having only the 10th most TOI (due the lack of BP) he's fired the second most shots on goal.
It doesn't get much better than that for an NHL debut.
Brunner doesn't get the credit he deserves, period.
6 goals, 3 (in fact 4) assists, 1 SO winner and all of this on his first 12 games in a new league on a smaller surface. Despite having only the 10th most TOI (due the lack of BP) he's fired the second most shots on goal.
It doesn't get much better than that for an NHL debut.
He's also 27 in a month and not a 18 year old newly drafted kid.
Tell me about all these other 27 year old debutants who been great in their first season.
You can't say his being older doesn't help. At 18, you're fresh out of high school. You're a child. Don't you remember how immature you, and many of your friends/classmates were at 18? At 27, you're hopefully a completely different person in terms of maturity. And that plays a big role.
Plus, reading on Brunner's journey, it seems like it took him a few years to find his stride. He's been through his ups and downs already.
That said, it is still impressive for someone to come to a new country, with almost all new teammates, a higher level of competition all around, a different playstyle and smaller rink, more physical game, and make that adjustment as quickly as he has. There were a lot of things he needed to adjust to and he's done fantastically so far.
Brunner have been good, but should we really be suprised? Unless you think the Swiss leauge is someting similar too a pee-wee leauge, the clips we've seen during the lock-out has shown his nose...I mean his scoring ability and chemistry with Z.
And it IS impressive that he can deliver ALREADY with the new enviroment. Although he doesnt seem to be a good grinder type player, so perhaps tough playoff (if DRW gets there) games could still be difficult for him.
EA hasn't made a good hockey game since 95. Just look at Rammer FFS. What the hell does that guy know about hockey? Physics!
All of them have been good since the last one. NHL13 is SLOW and sluggish and you can tell when the game "decides" that your AI opponent is going to score on you. Nothing will go you way and there is nothing you can do. All of your passes will miss or be picked off by a miraculous bust of speed or skill and your players are unresponsive and seem to chase the puck or stickup behind the net. All you can do is let it happen. EA has ruined my favorite sports game. I'm still pretty good at it but it gets a little ridiculous at times. Just my opinion but there it is.
But I watched all those games, and I can tell you he doesn't have nearly the skill shooting that Brunner does. Brunnstroms numbers were primarily a result of Brad Richards and Mike Ribeiro giving him layup passes. You know, the same way Morrow scored his 30 goal season and now suddenly can't.
To Brunnstroms credit, he actually had a respectable year. So that's why it's important the Wings don't go crazy with a 2nd contract. The same way Buffalo went a little wild on Leino after he looked amazing in one playoffs.
What Brunner REALLY has going for him is that he looks like Michael Ryder. Which means he's mostly a one trick pony, but it's a great damn trick. The kind of trick that nets you a 25-30 goals a year and adds another shooting weapon on the powerplay.
Brunner has been one of, if not, our biggest scoring threats this year. He is a right handed sniper that this team needed and has looked good in almost every game this year. Could his defense use some work? Oh yeah, but he can fly out there and has a wicked wrister. If Franzen could ever find his game again this team would have one of the best top 6 in the league with Datsyuk,Zetterberg, Brunner, and Filppula.
Brunner have been good, but should we really be suprised? Unless you think the Swiss leauge is someting similar too a pee-wee leauge, the clips we've seen during the lock-out has shown his nose...I mean his scoring ability and chemistry with Z.
And it IS impressive that he can deliver ALREADY with the new enviroment. Although he doesnt seem to be a good grinder type player, so perhaps tough playoff (if DRW gets there) games could still be difficult for him.
I'm swiss and have been following the Swiss League for the last ten years or so. I'm not surprised by our league's level. It's overall behind Russia and Sweden, but the better teams can keep up with any european team. The reason why a lot of swiss players get overlooked is that they often weren't that motivated by going through all the struggles (two way contracts, etc.) to -maybe- play one day overseas. Even average players can easily earn 300k here, this without leaving their families more than half a day and while sleeping every night of the year in their own bed. An elite swiss player can get a contract up to 1mio and with decent tax rates.
The really impressive thing to me is the short amount of time he needed to adapt to the smaller rink. If you have ever watched a couple of european league games, you will have noticed that the game isn't the same. Like not the same at all. People underestimate how big of a difference it makes to play on a different surface.
Either way, I'm glad he makes a good first impression and hope he can keep it up. As long as he's next to Top6 guys I'm not too worried.
You can't say his being older doesn't help. At 18, you're fresh out of high school. You're a child. Don't you remember how immature you, and many of your friends/classmates were at 18? At 27, you're hopefully a completely different person in terms of maturity. And that plays a big role.
Plus, reading on Brunner's journey, it seems like it took him a few years to find his stride. He's been through his ups and downs already.
That said, it is still impressive for someone to come to a new country, with almost all new teammates, a higher level of competition all around, a different playstyle and smaller rink, more physical game, and make that adjustment as quickly as he has. There were a lot of things he needed to adjust to and he's done fantastically so far.
This would be a good example if Brunenr was in 21-23 after that age its historically much more difficult to adapt to a completely different playstyle. At 27 you are already set in your ways and its hard to get rid of flaws in your game.
So again, how many has had successful careers in the NHL after debuting at 27 years of age?
This would be a good example if Brunenr was in 21-23 after that age its historically much more difficult to adapt to a completely different playstyle. At 27 you are already set in your ways and its hard to get rid of flaws in your game.
So again, how many has had successful careers in the NHL after debuting at 27 years of age?
So you are saying that it is impressive that Brunner has adapted to the NHL game so far given his age? The Nose is almost 27 and even if he is set in his ways, he seems to be picking up the NHL game pretty nicely so far.
Small sample size so far, but why aren't you including him? You can't say he's done poorly, right?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Henkka
Brunner is 26.
Brian Rafalski debuted at 26 year old. Then there's those Sovjet Union guys...
Larionov, Makarov, Fetisov... but they were world superstars already, and just banned playing elsewhere.
Seems like a pretty solid list to me. Heck, add Brunner to Rafalski and the Soviets and you've got a solid 5-man unit.
So you are saying that it is impressive that Brunner has adapted to the NHL game so far given his age? The Nose is almost 27 and even if he is set in his ways, he seems to be picking up the NHL game pretty nicely so far.
Small sample size so far, but why aren't you including him? You can't say he's done poorly, right?
Seems like a pretty solid list to me. Heck, add Brunner to Rafalski and the Soviets and you've got a solid 5-man unit.
Exactly those who did are Rafalski and hall of famers. So Brunner is doing very well for a 27 year old.
Wouldn't mind seeing Diaz as our PP quarterback. He reminds me a lot of Rafalski.
***
BTW, EV Zug has been playing great without these NHLrs lately. They have 5 wins, 2 OT losses, 2 SO losses and only 1 regular time loss since Zetterberg, Brunner and Diaz left. Not bad, 4th in the standings. Everybody were saying that they are just a one line team, and they will be killed when these guys will leave. But no, the other guys learned from the best and are now taking some responsibility.
BTW, EV Zug has been playing great without these NHLrs lately. They have 5 wins, 2 OT losses, 2 SO losses and only 1 regular time loss since Zetterberg, Brunner and Diaz left. Not bad, 4th in the standings. Everybody were saying that they are just a one line team, and they will be killed when these guys will leave. But no, the other guys learned from the best and are now taking some responsibility.
You can't say he's done poorly, right?
