Quote:
Originally Posted by _Q_
I think Wideman and Brodie look so good because of the opposition they see every night, ie. not the opposition's top line. Similarly, I think Gio looks overwhelmed a bit because he's playing in a role he's not used to. With that said, I don't think Gio looks nearly as bad as some posters here make him out to be. My rankings:
Bouwmeester: A
Wideman: A
Brodie: A-
Giordano: B
Smith: B-
Butler: C
Sarich: C-
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That's definitely a good point. The comparison between who each defense pair faces is pretty stark. If you look at the top 30 opponents in terms of ice time for Giordano and Bouwmeester you see guys like the Sedins, Duchene, Zetterberg, Toews, Hossa, Hall, Eberle, Thornton, Pavelski, Parise, Marleau, Getzlaf, and Perry.
With Wideman and Brodie, their top opponents are guys like Higgins, Hansen, Weise, Heatley, Setoguchi, Cogliano, Gagner, Clowe, Granlund, Lapierre, and Filppula. They're not completely sheltered as they have gotten some time against guys like Kane, Sharp, and Datsyuk, but the overall quality of competition isn't even comparable to Giordano/Bouwmeester.
There's nothing wrong with them getting that ice time as they should be put in a position to succeed, but the quality of opponents should definitely be taken into account when comparing defensemen on the same team.