Quote:
Originally Posted by shadowlord
We went from Wideman, Engelland, Bartkowski in our bottom-3 D to Hamonic, Stone, Kulak. I don't think it's unreasonable to:
(a) have higher expectations for this team beyond just sneaking into the playoffs
(b) be satisfied with the changes on the blueline (including Hamonic)
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I'm actually not convinced that our defense is as significantly improved as we think. I know Hamonic is a bigger name, but I thought Engelland was excellent for us. He was pretty underappreciated around here and is now playing a big role as a captain for a likely President's Trophy winning team. That says a lot about him. Kulak was around as well last season but was fairly outplayed by Bartkowski at the time. The big difference is the swap of Stone for Wideman for a full season.
But regardless, I really don't think it's as big of a difference as others may think. Don't forget, after the poor start to last season where the team was adjusting to the Gulutzan's new system, the defense core was a top 5 team in goals allowed. Not too shabby.