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Calgary4LIfe · 12-25-2015, 11:58 PM

I think a few people are under-valuing Wideman on the point. I will say he is not looking quite like himself - especially for the first half of the games played thus far - but he is starting to look much more like last year's Wideman now. He was deadly from the point last year.

I think it takes a while for a defencemen to pick up Wideman's skills as a PPQB. He was awesome at getting the puck through to the net (horrible to start the season, but again, much better as of late). He is also great at pass-slapping, intentional slapshot off the boards, a decent wrister, and is great at holding the puck in. He can also make great plays while pinching (really seemed to have great chemistry doing so with Gaudreau in particular, whereas I didn't see it as much with Giordano or Brodie last year).

I can see why Hartley was still throwing him out on the PP. He might not have deserved his 1st unit PP-time after the first 5-10 games (which were indeed horrible), and the the next 10 games weren't exactly 'great' either, but there was a distinct improvement and there does continue to be an improvement. Getting Wideman to start generating offence at the same rate as he was last year would be a huge boon for the Flames, especially their league-worst PP.

Without looking, I would say Wideman probably was easily in the top 10 last year in PP points. If Hartley can get him going again, the PP will start becoming much more effective again, and teams won't be so inclined to take penalties against the Flames.

It is an 'if', granted, but Wideman was probably the biggest reason last year as to why the PP was fairly effective. If Wideman wasn't improving on the PP, I would be calling for a change as well. He is looking more like himself out there, so patience I think in this situation is warranted I think. If he isn't himself after a week or two in January, then I think Hartley needs to look at Hamilton or even Russell on the 1st unit (Russell has a pretty good shot too).

I love Brodie's playmaking and pinching ability, but I still think on the PP you need a guy with a bomb. I see Brodie more as an extremely effective transition player more than a 'set play' kind of guy, if that makes sense - by far the most effective from the backend at it.

12-25-2015, 11:58 PM	#219
Calgary4LIfe Franchise Player Join Date: Jun 2010 Exp:	I think a few people are under-valuing Wideman on the point. I will say he is not looking quite like himself - especially for the first half of the games played thus far - but he is starting to look much more like last year's Wideman now. He was deadly from the point last year. I think it takes a while for a defencemen to pick up Wideman's skills as a PPQB. He was awesome at getting the puck through to the net (horrible to start the season, but again, much better as of late). He is also great at pass-slapping, intentional slapshot off the boards, a decent wrister, and is great at holding the puck in. He can also make great plays while pinching (really seemed to have great chemistry doing so with Gaudreau in particular, whereas I didn't see it as much with Giordano or Brodie last year). I can see why Hartley was still throwing him out on the PP. He might not have deserved his 1st unit PP-time after the first 5-10 games (which were indeed horrible), and the the next 10 games weren't exactly 'great' either, but there was a distinct improvement and there does continue to be an improvement. Getting Wideman to start generating offence at the same rate as he was last year would be a huge boon for the Flames, especially their league-worst PP. Without looking, I would say Wideman probably was easily in the top 10 last year in PP points. If Hartley can get him going again, the PP will start becoming much more effective again, and teams won't be so inclined to take penalties against the Flames. It is an 'if', granted, but Wideman was probably the biggest reason last year as to why the PP was fairly effective. If Wideman wasn't improving on the PP, I would be calling for a change as well. He is looking more like himself out there, so patience I think in this situation is warranted I think. If he isn't himself after a week or two in January, then I think Hartley needs to look at Hamilton or even Russell on the 1st unit (Russell has a pretty good shot too). I love Brodie's playmaking and pinching ability, but I still think on the PP you need a guy with a bomb. I see Brodie more as an extremely effective transition player more than a 'set play' kind of guy, if that makes sense - by far the most effective from the backend at it.