I was just wondering what some of your opinions were on our physicallity and if we need more of it. Going into the season, I figured Belak and Tootoo would be throwing their weight around (even though Toots doesn't have much of it ), but of course Belak never played and Tootoo was out half the season. When Tootoo came back, he seemed more focus on developing more as a scorer, and not worrying much about fighting, agitating, etc. (not saying him working on scoring isn't a bad thing).
Anyways, should we get another enforcer to step up and fight to protect his teammates, or are we fine with what we have?
Per hockeyfights.com: We had 18 fights all season, easily putting us towards the bottom of the league.
Team leaders in fights:
Shane O'Brien 5
Jordin Tootoo 4
Francis Bouillon 3
Wade Belak 2
Kevin Klein 2
Blake Geoffrion 1
Colin Wilson 1
I could see Kelsey Wilson making the team as the 13th forward. He has paid his dues in Milwaukee and is actually not a terrible hockey player.
Now if Wilson plays all the time I would be worried, and personally I don't think we have a spot for an enforcer right now, with Sully gone we really don't have many small players other teams could target. Even if they do we have Weber, Klein and Boullion on the backend and Tootoo as a forward.
I watched Kelsey Wilson all year in Milwaukee, and he seemed to be a bit of a different player this year after coming back from Austria. Although he still fought about the same amount as the 08-09 season (15 this year, 14 a year before), he again isnt flying around and crushing everyone like in his previous seasons. That being said, he still had almost as many fights as the whole Nashville team
Not really. I like Belak as a person, but we were a better hockey team without him in the lineup. Anyone we would try to replace him with would be similar. We do need a guy who can stir things up every once in a while, though, and stand up for his teammates when called upon. That takes a lot of that burden off of Tootoo and lets him focus on being a better hockey player.
I'll give a homer vote to signing UFA Eric Boulton. IMO, the most underrated enforcer in the league. That brickhead has gone toe-to-toe with the Orr's and Brashear's of the league for years. He just won "fight of the year" on hockeyfights.com ( http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=936743 ) with his fight against Erskine. He is also great in the community. Frequent visits to hospitals and takes time for fans. He just did an autograph signing about 2 weeks ago and posed for pics with fans saying goodbye to the franchise. He was used last year as a depth guy when needed and he didn't mind being the scratch when the other team didn't have an enforcer of their own. I'd bet he'd sign for $600,000 (not that any enforcer is expensive). I would love for the Preds to take a look at signing him.
As you can see his strategy is to let the other guy tire out by beating the piss out of him and then swinging for the fences with a few bombs at the end of the fight.
Goons are a dying breed in the NHL. The days of dressing a useless player just to fight another useless player are almost over. Preds don't need to bring in anyone unless he's a decent hockey player.
To add what AtlantaWhaler said, Boulton would not be a real liability on the ice.
Granted, he's not gonna get 12-15 minutes per game. But in the limited time he's out there, he always works hard and can be defensively responsible, especially if given good coaching. Plus, he is a good skater (not just for an enforcer, but actually a good skater).
If what we've heard is any indication, he's luke-warm at best for moving all the way to Winnipeg. Seems like he'd rather stay in the south. And since Nashville is the closest team...
I'd be happy to sign Boulton, any time you bring in an enforcer you know he's not being counted on as a key contributor over 82 games, so the risk is low. We've had a great line of them come through Nashville and Boulton would uphold that tradition.
Goons are a dying breed in the NHL. The days of dressing a useless player just to fight another useless player are almost over. Preds don't need to bring in anyone unless he's a decent hockey player.
Agreed, give me a physical 4th liner who can drop the gloves when needed over a 13th forward whose primary purpose is fighing.
We're not being pushed around much any more, it's not really needed. When we were this small fast team maybe, but now, we have the size to push back and when needed Tootoo can still get dirty.
I wouldn't mind bringing in someone else like a SOB or Tootoo who can play and fight if needed. Someone like a Downie, Carcillo, Orr, etc who put up 10 goals and are really just agitators who back it up when needed and can do some policing when needed.
Don't we need a star in need of protecting before we need an enforcer? I say use the roster spot on that star instead. The stars we do have aren't in much risk of being run. Weber will destroy you if you try to run him. Weber/Tootoo will destroy you if you try to run Suter/Rinne. Those are really our three most-likely-to-be-run players. I say bring SOB back, and play the same physical game we played last season. I like a good hockey fight, but there's no need to pay a guy specifically for that.
Don't we need a star in need of protecting before we need an enforcer? I say use the roster spot on that star instead. The stars we do have aren't in much risk of being run. Weber will destroy you if you try to run him. Weber/Tootoo will destroy you if you try to run Suter/Rinne. Those are really our three most-likely-to-be-run players. I say bring SOB back, and play the same physical game we played last season. I like a good hockey fight, but there's no need to pay a guy specifically for that.
Where did I say we needed an enforcer more then a star?
Also, I wouldn't say that Weber would be the one to count on to fight, he didn't even have any this year. Personally, I wouldn't want him to be in the top 3 guys to step up and fight anyway, as he is a major factor for our team.
Don't we need a star in need of protecting before we need an enforcer?
On this forum I must have heard at least every other game last season that Hornqvist was being abused, fouled, yet nobody would stick up for him. He's not a star but if we hope for goals it would be good to help him and maybe others out. We don't want Hornqvist to quit driving the net because he's tired of getting blows to the face or cross-checked. Seems like officials miraculously get better eyesight, see more of the fouls, once teams take exception on the ice. Or maybe that's my imagination. They sure seemed to miss a lot last season.
But no, we don't need an enforcer to come out for a few minutes a game to fight the other enforcer. That's just stupid. It's ok for the fans if teams can afford to waste the ice time, but it's useless as a way to 'enforce' anything.
A tough who could play enough minutes once in awhile so they could go after the actual fouler at the time of the foul, (or on their next shift) would be good. SOB could do it, but doesn't. Tootoo and Weber are still our main guys who will go, and Weber going is a terrible idea because that fits the other teams plan of getting him off the ice, plus some added chance of injury. Wouldn't mind another tough forward besides Tootoo. (Wilson would've probably started in the playofs if he had that type of thing in him...)
So overall, yeah I say a tough guy would be good, if he can play. He's out there to go punch the fouler, not the other tough. A tough guy who can't play would be bad, because Trotz would play him anyway.
Where did I say we needed an enforcer more then a star?
You didn't. Where did I imply that?
OpenWheel, I see what you're saying, but if I recall correctly most of the complaints were of how referees simply refused to call anything. Besides, I'd rather see the team join in a scrum rather than an enforcer have to come out and fight every time Hornqvist takes a heavy cross check or a gloved punch. Our games would last 6 hours
On this forum I must have heard at least every other game last season that Hornqvist was being abused, fouled, yet nobody would stick up for him. He's not a star but if we hope for goals it would be good to help him and maybe others out. We don't want Hornqvist to quit driving the net because he's tired of getting blows to the face or cross-checked. Seems like officials miraculously get better eyesight, see more of the fouls, once teams take exception on the ice. Or maybe that's my imagination. They sure seemed to miss a lot last season.
But no, we don't need an enforcer to come out for a few minutes a game to fight the other enforcer. That's just stupid. It's ok for the fans if teams can afford to waste the ice time, but it's useless as a way to 'enforce' anything.
A tough who could play enough minutes once in awhile so they could go after the actual fouler at the time of the foul, (or on their next shift) would be good. SOB could do it, but doesn't. Tootoo and Weber are still our main guys who will go, and Weber going is a terrible idea because that fits the other teams plan of getting him off the ice, plus some added chance of injury. Wouldn't mind another tough forward besides Tootoo. (Wilson would've probably started in the playofs if he had that type of thing in him...)
So overall, yeah I say a tough guy would be good, if he can play. He's out there to go punch the fouler, not the other tough. A tough guy who can't play would be bad, because Trotz would play him anyway.
Completely agree.
ThirdManIn, I thought by the first sentence in your post you were saying we need to sign a star before we think of signing an enforcer, rather then saying that no one really needs protecting at the moment.
), but of course Belak never played and Tootoo was out half the season. When Tootoo came back, he seemed more focus on developing more as a scorer, and not worrying much about fighting, agitating, etc. (not saying him working on scoring isn't a bad thing).
