Quote:
Originally Posted by CroFlames
I seem to be one of the lone wolves defending Wideman this season.
He still has some pretty high end offensive tools. It just hasn't come together yet. He has a humdinger of a shot, and is usually pretty good at getting it through (either on net, or intentionally wide from the point). I argue he's get better offensive talent than Brodie does when they come in on the rush, or even on the powerplay, and that's no slight on Brodie. Brodie is a tremendous all-round defender in my opinion and one of the best skating d-men in the NHL.
For whatever reason, it's just not clicking for Wideman right now, but I think it will soon enough. Gio started playing better in the 3rd. Hopefully that's the start of Gios turnaround and then that rubs off onto Wideman..
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Wideman is perfectly fine on the PP. Plus if you take Wideman off, who do you put on with Brodie, Hamilton and Gio? Russell, who consistently shoots wide and send the puck out of the zone? Engelland? A forward?
I actually think that, while Russell has better mobility and obviously is better at blocking shots, Wideman's decisions on defence are slightly better - he doesn't go to the boards and get caught quite as much. He has a higher hockey IQ than Russell IMO.