Quote:
Originally Posted by Buff
I didn't notice Brodie struggling. Wideman's deficiencies wasn't as glaringly noticeable as normal, but it was still noticeable. He isn't just slow on his feet but his decision making and play execution is slow too. On one play the Wild dumped the puck in for a line change and Wideman was back in the corner to get it. It looked like his thought process was like: "Okay, I have the puck and my partner is in the opposite corner. Hmmm... Can I push it up along the boards on my side? Nope. Nobody there. I'll just pass it over to Brodie.. oh wait. Maybe I should look to see if he is ready. Yep. He is ready. Okay. I'll pass now. Here it goes. Oh geez! Somebody is on him! Crap, I just let the pass go! I hope he can clear it! Phew! He gets us out of so many predicaments."
|
I think on that play Brodie actually coughed it up. But, it was a poor decision on that play by Wideman that left Brodie in a fairly tough spot. That said, I actually think getting the puck out properly with a decent pass is Wideman's biggest strength, more than his shot.
I think Engelland and Bropdie can work, if Engelland plays within himself and lets Brodie do the passes out of the zone, which is Engelland's biggest weakness. I'm interested in what Engelland can do with more ice time and responsibility. However, that leaves Wideman and Jokipaaka. I thought that would be horrid, but mulling it over, I'm not so sure. Wideman has decent exit passes like I said and a hard shot. Those are Jokipaaka weaknesses. The only question I have is whether Kevin is fast enough.