Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Bateman
For example, the Blackhawks use Nick Leddy on the bottom pairing in even strength situations, however, he is such a strong puck mover that against lower tier forwards he can really help orchestrate their offense and tilt the ice in the opposite direction.
Smid is certainly not capable of that. He does a fine job of goal prevention , but I feel like he only excels in that piece, and is still fairly limited going the other direction. To me a guy that has no problem taking a shift without a flurry of offensive chances against him, but not a guy who is adding much the other way. Just little offense on both sides in a situation like that, and not a guy who presents a significant advantage for his side when he takes a shift.
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we all know that Ladislav Smid is not a puck moving defenseman ... no one said he was. You don't have to be a puck moving defenseman to make it as a blueliner in the NHL. Smids bread and butter is blocking shots, killing penalties, playing a physical game. And that's fine, no one expects a 40 point season out of him, you know ...
Also, this part made me laugh:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Bateman
Smid is certainly not capable of that. He does a fine job of goal prevention , but I feel like he only excels in that piece, and is still fairly limited going the other direction.
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... isn't that the job of a defenseman? Why would anybody criticize him for that?!?