[MissTeeks]

ESPN with the Gio love:

Giordano is no longer sneaky good

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/11...name-need-know

We often talk about a team's identity.
Does it come from a collective or is it something more specific? As in, is it possible that a team's identity can be defined by one player?
You don't have to spend much time around the Calgary Flames to figure out which theory they subscribe to.
And if the rest of the hockey world has been slow to come around to the Tao of Mark Giordano, it's hard to imagine a single player who is talked about with as much reverence as the Flames' captain.
"What makes him so special today, I think it's the steps that he took to be the player that he is today," Calgary head coach Bob Hartley told ESPN.com. "I think it's a pretty unique story. I don't know how many captains of 30 teams didn't get drafted."

Yes, he was enrolled at York University in the summer of 2004, looking at taking advantage of Canadian junior hockey educational packages when he didn't have any other options.
"I had to get ready in case something didn't come up, right?" Giordano told ESPN.com. "A bunch of my buddies were going [to York]. I enrolled. I met with the coach. I was ready to play for their team and go to school."
But late in the summer, the Flames came calling and what might have been an early dead end to his hockey career became something else entirely.
"At heart, I really didn't want to have to go and use that school package," said Giordano, 31. "I wanted to play pro hockey."

Between the two, they have collected 33 points and are 1-2 in team scoring and first and third among all NHL defensemen. Both have strong offensive instincts and both love to jump into the play.
In fact, the Flames' game plan demands it.
"We have the green light, there's no doubt about that," Giordano said. "We rarely get in trouble for jumping in. They really want us to be aggressive and go, so that helps as well."
He and Brodie recalled a game last season when they were the two skaters going in on a 2-on-1. "It was hilarious," Giordano said.

Hartley admitted he sometimes smirks while standing on the bench and seeing his two top offensive talents -- who also happen to be defensemen -- leading the charge. But the depth of Giordano's impact on this team goes beyond points. Or, more to the point, the fact that he has emerged over the last two seasons as a premier defender is a constant reflection of the work he has put in to get here.
"I think it just makes you respect him that much more," Brodie said of his partner and friend. "You can see it in the style of his play. He never gives up. He always comes to work, no matter what day it is, no matter what the score is, he's always playing the same way. It's one of those things you just have to respect him for never giving up."

Jim Playfair, now an assistant coach for the Arizona Coyotes, was one of Giordano's early head coaches in Calgary. He happily gives up time on a day off to talk about the young man he said very early on had captain qualities. What struck Playfair was Giordano's commitment to improve. And to put in the work to do just that by watching, listening, learning.
"He doesn't expect anything," Playfair said. "I don't think he's ever lost that."
In Playfair's view, no one moves laterally with the puck under pressure as well as Giordano does. Hartley figures if he had 23 Giordanos on the team, there'd be no need for a coach.
"Obviously, I think that the more you spend time around Mark Giordano, that's where you discover not only a great hockey player but an unbelievable person. In many, many ways he reminds me of Joe Sakic, especially on the leadership side," said Hartley, who coached the Hall of Fame center while with the Colorado Avalanche, winning a Stanley Cup in 2001.
"You can look up the meaning of professional in the dictionary, or you can look at Mark Giordano.
"His evolution, I think he created himself. He's so committed to be a good pro, to be a great player, to be a great teammate. To be a great leader, that's why he's so important to us."

So, go ahead and start listing the top defensemen in the NHL right now. Drew Doughty, Duncan Keith, Alex Pietrangelo, Ryan Suter, P.K. Subban, Erik Karlsson. Where does Giordano fit into that pantheon? Top five? Top 10?
"I've thought that for a couple of years now," Brodie said. "It's not always based on the points. He's always done everything at both ends of the ice. There's not many guys in the league that do that and play that way. It's definitely nice to see he's finally getting recognized."