11 games in...rate the defencemen

[puckluck2]

TJ Brodie: A-

Dennis Wideman: A-

Marc Giordano: D

Jay Bouwmeester: B+

Chris Butler: D-

Cory Sarich: C

Derek Smith: B+

[FBI]

Brodie: A
Wideman: A
Gio: C
Bow: B+
Butler: F
Sarich: D
Smith: C-

[keenan87]

TJ Brodie: A
Dennis Wideman: A-
Jay Bouwmeester: A-
Marc Giordano: C+
Derek Smith: C
Cory Sarich: C
Chris Butler: C-

[JazzyFlame]

Brodie: B+
Wideman: A-
Gio: C
Bow: A+
Butler: B-
Sarich: B-
Smith: C+

[Street Pharmacist]

TJ Brodie: A-
Dennis Wideman: A
Jay Bouwmeester: A-
Derek Smith: B-
Marc Giordano: C
Cory Sarich: C
Chris Butler: C-

[_Q_]

I think Wideman and Brodie look so good because of the opposition they see every night, ie. not the opposition's top line. Similarly, I think Gio looks overwhelmed a bit because he's playing in a role he's not used to. With that said, I don't think Gio looks nearly as bad as some posters here make him out to be. My rankings:

Bouwmeester: A
Wideman: A
Brodie: A-
Giordano: B
Smith: B-
Butler: C
Sarich: C-

[dammage79]

Brodie: A

Bouwmeester: A

Butler: D

Giordano: B-

Sarich: C

Smith: C+

Wideman: A+

[badger89]

Brodie: A-
Wideman: A
Gio: B-
Bow: A-
Butler: D
Sarich: C-
Smith: B

[killer_carlson]

Boumeester A-
Wideman A
Brodie B+
giordano B
Sarich C+
smith B-
Butler D

I think our blueline has been more accountable than before and is being managed better.

[Coach]

Wideman A
Brodie A
Gio C
Bouw A
Butler D-
Sarich C
Smith C

Wideman and Brodie ar a great tandem and I really think Brodie is overshadowed by guys like Fowler and Shattenkirk as a really good up and coming defensemen because of their draft position. Kind of in the second tier of top young Dmen behind guys like Petriangelo and Subban.

Bouwmeester is heads and shoulders better than the player he was for the first couple years and its obvious to me now that Brent's system was holding him back and forcing him to play a way that he doesn't know how to play. If he continues this way his salary will be earned.

Gio has seemed tentative at some points and looks to be settling in a bit to the top 2 role. I have never seen him blindly rim the puck so much, even going into the ozone when there are much better options around. Hopefully he can continue to be on the side of progress.

I think Smith is a servicable bottom defenseman than can be moved into the top4 if need be. I don't understand why its even a question to sit him over Butler at any point.

Sarich is Sarich. He is doing exactly what I expect of an aging physical dman.

Butler is just awful. Everytime I'm watching a replay of a goal against and say to myself "Where's the other dman?" Butler seems to slide into the frame late. Some people were saying last year that he's a good dman just over his head on the top pairing. I'm glad he's being exposed for what he is, which is awful no matter who he is playing against. Ship him out IMO, we don't need him.

[CaptainCrunch]

TJ Brodie: A+ - far above my expectations has taken major strides this year and is showing his hockey smarts, revised potential is becoming a top 3 two way defensemen

Dennis Wideman: A+ - One of the best free agent signings of the offseason and I'm not just talking about the Flames here. He's added instant offense to this team, his breakout passing ability is awesome and surprisingly he's been very good in his own end.

Jay Bouwmeester: A- He's had a career rebirth under Hartley and he has a bit of swagger. He's always been a bit under rated on this board about his own zone play but that's still the strongest aspect of his game. His skating and breakout passing ability are near the top of the league when he's allowed to do it, he's also trusted to pinch and come down to the point as his speed lets him come back quickly.


Marc Giordano: D - Why so harsh captain. Marc has been uncharacteristicly muted in all zones. The D represents not that he's terrible but that he's far off of his game over the last few years. Offensively he's still very good at sneaking in, but his defensive play has been poor and I haven't seen that mean streak that he needs to survive in the NHL

Derek Smith: C- In and out of the lineup, but really hasn't stood out as anything more then what he is, a bottom pairing guy that has to be more careful with his positioning and puck play.

Cory Sarich: D - The heart is there but the flesh is not as willing. I still love his physical game and his meanstreak, but outside of his hitting he'd been behind the play and can't catch up.

Chris Butler: B -I think he's improved his game significantly, he still makes some incredibly mind blowing mistakes in his own end but you can see that he's slowly starting to get the system. He's a strong skater and passes the puck well but needs to be more confident in his partner.

[EddyBeers]

Based on expectations:

Brodie - A+
Bouwmeester - A
Wideman - A
Sarich - B
Giordano - C+
Butler - C-
Smith C-

Based on play

Bouwmeester - A-
Wideman A-
Brodie B+
Giordano B
Butler C+
Smith C-
Sarich - C-

I like the Flames top four, the bottom two are not great but that is the situation for most teams.

[Imported_Aussie]

Brodie = A
Wideman = A
Bouwmeester = A-
Giordano = C+
Smith = C-
Butler = C-
Sarich = C-

Brodie and Wideman are a great pairing on D, Bouwmeester has been great
Giordano needs to step up his play on D though. The bottom pairing has been inconsistent and leaking goals. Sarich is too slow and should be saved for physical slugfests only. Butler and Smith have room to improve, but I would not be opposed to seeing Butler leave in a trade, but only if it can upgrade the D.

[moon]

Brodie- A
Bouwmeester- B+
Wideman- C
Smith- C
Sarich- C
Giordano- D
Butler- D

Gio probably has played overall better than Smith and Sarich but he has been so bad and disappointing at times that it is frustrating to watch.

Bouwmeester has had moments where he has looked great but also had more defensive breakdowns and complete misses this year so that holds him back from being an A.

Brodie has been great and outside of a few errors expected from a young guy he is progressing really well. Looks solid in the top 4 even playing with a guy like Wideman which can't be easy.

[malcolmk14]

Dennis Wideman with 8 points in 11 games, 25:06 of ice time (most on the team), and he's provided something on the back end of our powerplay that we haven't had in years; a calm consistency. When he has the puck I know he is going to move it efficiently and make a good decision with it. I've been so impressed with this signing; a perfect fit for this team and he is truly a #1 offensive d-man, which allows Bouwmeester to fit more comfortably into the #2/shutdown spot. On the defensive side of the puck, him and Brodie can do a better job of keeping shots to the outside and cutting down on those in-front-of-the-net scoring chances. A

TJ Brodie is a +6 in some decent defensive minutes on that 2nd pairing with Wideman, and he's adequately doing exactly what is asked of him. Not flashy, but steady and solid which is exactly what you want in a young d-man. He's shown he belongs at the NHL level and will be here for years to come. B+

Jay Bouwmeester has been doing pretty much exactly what's expected of him. 6 points in 11 games puts him on a better pace than his Florida days. He's jumping in the play more and definitely looks more comfortable on the offensive side of the puck than he did under Sutter. He isn't being asked to be that #1 quarterback guy on the powerplay which I think is huge, and he can play more minutes ES and on the PK. The PK has been atrocious so far this year, so I think Bouwmeester can do better than what he's currently doing. B-

Cory Sarich has been fine in his heavily sheltered minutes. He's a big body and the Flames lack that against other teams big centres. The Nystrom/Fiddler/whoever line ate us alive last night because of their size and toughness. You need a players like Sarich/Jackman/Jones who can battle down low and punish those guys or they will just walk all over us. Do I wish he was the Sarich of 5 years ago? Sure. As a $2 million #5 d-man, he's been alright. B-

Derek Smith has quietly been pretty solid as a 6/7 d-man. No points on the board but he's doing well in his sheltered minutes. No way he should be in the pressbox over Butler. C+

Giordano looks out of place playing on a pairing with Bouwmeester. He looks uncomfortable and lost. I think he is used to anchoring his own pairing, not being 2nd fiddle to a much better defenceman. He's always on the ice against the other teams best players so that's part of the -4 he's sporting. Him and Bouwmeester have done an OK job on the defensive side of the puck, except on the penalty kill where they have been piss poor. C

Chris Butler I just can't figure out. Sometimes the guy looks great and sometimes he is just god awful. I have no idea how he managed to stay on our #1 pairing with Bouwmeester ALL YEAR last year under Sutter; I think that is one of Brent's biggest failings as a coach. Anyway, he's played sheltered minutes and still been our worst defenceman by far. D

[Oling_Roachinen]

Based on play (A+ being franchise defenseman, F being less than NHL caliber defenseman):
Bouwmeester: A
Wideman: A-
Brodie: B
Giordano: B
Smith: D
Sarich: D-
Butler: D-

Based on expectations:
Wideman: A+
Bouwmeester: A
Brodie: A-
Sarch: C
Smith: C
Giordano: D
Butler: D-

[theg69]

Brodie: A
Wideman: A-
Bouwmeester: A-
Giordano: C-
Sarich: C+
Smith: C+
Butler: D


Grading is dependent on expectations for me. So it may not be relevant to compare them with each other. Giordano is a better defensive than Smith and Sarich, but he gets rated lower because the expectation for him is a lot higher.

Wideman has exceeded expectations. Brodie has absolutely hit it out of the park with the way he has been playing. Bouwmeester has exceeded expectations as well, and looks more like the player that we thought we had signed.

Sarich is Sarich - he is probably the worse of the bunch, being slow and terrible at passing. His only saving grace is his ability to actually hit a guy.

Smith has been ok but really too small a sample size at this point.

Butler is a head-scratcher. He is wildly inconsistent. I defended him last year because I thought that he was just put into a position where he could not succeed (top pairing) but now that his minutes are sheltered, if anything, he has looked worse.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Wideman- A
Bouwmeester-A
Brodie-B
Giordano-C-
Smith-C-
Sarich-C
Butler-D

[Parallex]

Brodie: B+
Wideman: A-
Gio: C
Bouwmeester: A-
Butler: D+
Sarich: D
Smith: C-
Babchuk: N/A

[Bertuzzied]

Now if Giordano can regain his form from 3 years ago we will make the playoffs easily even without Kipper for 3 weeks.

and Wideman.... what a signing.

He gets a ebay rating A+++++++ Item as described! Fast delivery!