Quote:
Originally Posted by 868904
I know it is absurd to many people, but I think Brodie really is better on the right side. If you watch tape of him, you notice a few things:
- while carrying the puck, he turns to his left much sharper than to his right, this allows him to elude forecheckers much quicker when playing the right side;
- while playing the right side, one of his favourite moves to evade a forechecker is to bounce the puck behind him on the boards and pick it up on his forehand while moving forward into the offensive zone; he can't do this when playing the left side, cause then he goes in to the opposite direction;
- he just sees the ice better from the right side, could simply be his peripheral vision in his left eye is better than his right eye.
- this will also be mocked, but his right crossovers seem to have more power than his left crossover; which is why he seems to be better able to evade forecheckers while turning left and crossing over with his right. He also looks a lot slower while playing the left side for this reason, I believe.
I know this seems stupid to many, but when I played, I always had stronger sides. It's not just as simple as being left shot - right shot. If you have stronger mechanics on one side of your body or if you have better peripheral vision one eye, that will affect how you play.
Having said all this, I think the Flames really have 4 "right shot" defensemen because that is where Brodie belongs. However, Brodie is also able to play the "left side", though he is considerably weaker doing it. The Flames don't have any other "left shot" defensemen after Gio who can play in the top 4. Kulak hasn't proven he is ready and Valimaki and Kylington are at least a year or two away.
I just don't think you trade Brodie unless you have a second pairing "left shot" defensemen ready.
You can trade a "right shot" defensemen because you really have 4 of them.
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You’re not off man. I see the exact same things. His edgework seems to be better on the right side and maybe that little extra speed gives him the time and separation to make better plays. I find he uses the boards better especially with that nifty play you mentioned. His backhand passes are elite and he seems more inclined to jump into the play on the right side.
I looked at his highlight package that AC created for last season and I found that a lot of his great plays just happened to occur on the right side. We’re not utilizing him in the correct way. It’s like how some wingers like Jagr and Ovechkin love to play on their off wing. Personally I think management should’ve recognized this and acquired a left shooting defenseman instead of paying an absolute premium for a right shooting defenseman.