Quote:
Originally Posted by stone hands
when brodano was a thing, brodie was bar none the best player on the flames and pretty much jesus
when gio went down everyone though this team was dead in the water but brodie kept the train going
i hate to speculate but i wonder how much of his decline has to do with his SO having ms. he has not been anywhere near the same player since she was diagnosed, its pretty night and day
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The day his 'decline' started was the day GG decided that left/right pairing absolutely had to be a thing. Brodie played RD his entire NHL career prior to that. When he got the full time gig with the Flames, Hartley lamented how Brodie had no idea how could he could be. During the early years of the rebuild, he was getting better and better every game.
I don't doubt his wife's diagnosis had an effect on him. But IMO the day his troubles started was the day he got shifted over to the left side simply because that's how he shot. Having Wideman as his partner didn't help of course.
I'm a patient guy and don't really get into the fire GG debate. But the one thing that drives me nuts about the coach is this LD/RD thing he has going on. Brodie on the RD was a top 20 D. A legit top pairing player. Brodie on the LD is a shell of his former self. He makes boneheaded plays that he simply never used to do. How many giveaways does he make a game now? He RARELY used to make those mistakes. Now it's a daily thing. Players aren't supposed to get worse in their primes years. Sadly, that is happening to Brodie.
Yes he has gotten better since Wideman left, there's no denying that. But no one can argue he's close to where he was previously. Even though Gio and Hamilton was a top pairing last season, I would still argue that Brodano was even better then them.
I hated how they got broken up, and I hate the LD/RD thing. Chemistry will always, 100% of the time triumph, over having players play a position simply because of how they hold their stick.