Which of the Flame Big Three (Training Camp 2009) has best Playoffs?

[ricardodw]

Phanuef #1 d-man, Captain of the Leafs 25:11 /game 9 goals 27 points in 47 games -4


Bouwmeester 21 -25 minutes/game average 23.75 in St. L #2 to #5 in St.L. Pietroangelo is #1 and the others (Shattenkirk, Jackman Polak along with Bouwmeester ) can get a lot of ice time depending on the game . St. L. gave up the biggest future assets in their 1ST rd pick to get plus taking on the 6.8M cap hit for next year in hope of a long playoff run. Bouwmeester has delivered so far with 1 goal 7pts in 13 games and a plus 6. How will he react to the physical play in the playoffs?? It might be a challenge if the Blues draw the Kings in the first round.

Regehr 19-25 minutes/game average 21:06 but ice time picked up after his first 2 games with the Kings. On the number 1 pairing with Doughty.

Side drama in a LA- St.L series: Bouwmeester's contract was a major reason Regehr (and Darryl Sutter) were forced out of Calgary

As an aside ... Hannan who was let go so the Flames could keep Sarich is paired up with Burns in San Jose.

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Isn't Burns playing forward?

[saillias]

Regehr is a first pairing d-man again? This guy's career seemed near over in Buffalo.

[nik-]

wow ricardo ... why didn't you just come over to my house and punch me directly in the junk?

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by Sidney Crosby's Hat

Isn't Burns playing forward?

Turns out Hannan is paired with Stuart..... On the play-by-play on nhl.com Burns was on the ice as well and listed as a D-man.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by nik-

wow ricardo ... why didn't you just come over to my house and punch me directly in the junk?

yep All three are top d-men with playoff teams 3 years later.... hard to believe

Giordano must be wondering what he did wrong........ he was #4 on that team to start the season

[keenan87]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

yep All three are top d-men with playoff teams 3 years later.... hard to believe

Giordano must be wondering what he did wrong........ he was #4 on that team to start the season

There is always the off-season and next season

[Roof-Daddy]

How in the world did we manage to F-up and miss the F-ing playoffs with a team that had a defense consisting of:

25 year old Dion Phaneuf
26 year old Jay Bouwmeester
29 year old Robyn Regehr
30 year old Cory Sarich
25 year old Mark Giordano

??

Too much cap hit for that top 4 defense, not enough for forwards?
Brent Sutter?

Unbelievable.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

yep All three are top d-men with playoff teams 3 years later.... hard to believe

Giordano must be wondering what he did wrong........ he was #4 on that team to start the season

Yeah...to be fair, Regehr and Bouwmeester were both on bottom feeder teams for the last few years before they were traded to top contenders. The Leafs were bad for quite a few years even WITH Phaneuf in the lineup doing pretty much what he did this year. I do not for one second believe that those teams are in the playoffs because of those players in particular. Just the luck of the situation.

[PeteMoss]

Pretty sure I read here that Voynov is the Kings top d-man. The Doughty pair is clearly the 2nd unit.

[TurnedTheCorner]

Originally Posted by saillias

Regehr is a first pairing d-man again? This guy's career seemed near over in Buffalo.

He can be on the first pair heading into the playoffs even though his career is near over. He's still on the decline.

[PeteMoss]

To be fair - after Doughty, Scuderi, Voynov, Muzzin and Regehr all play about the same amount of time. And Matt Greene gets the scraps.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

How in the world did we manage to F-up and miss the F-ing playoffs with a team that had a defense consisting of:

25 year old Dion Phaneuf
26 year old Jay Bouwmeester
29 year old Robyn Regehr
30 year old Cory Sarich
25 year old Mark Giordano

??

Too much cap hit for that top 4 defense, not enough for forwards?
Brent Sutter?

Unbelievable.

And Kipper in net

[PeteMoss]

Nigel Dawes was the team's 6th highest scorer.

Also them not making the playoffs - led to Sutter's meltown at the trade deadline with the Phaneuf trade and the probably worse Kotalik trade.

[the_only_turek_fan]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

Nigel Dawes was the team's 6th highest scorer.

Also them not making the playoffs - led to Sutter's meltown at the trade deadline with the Phaneuf trade and the probably worse Kotalik trade.

Phaneuf was traded before the team missed the playoffs.

[Savvy27]

Originally Posted by TurnedTheCorner

He can be on the first pair heading into the playoffs even though his career is near over. He's still on the decline.

That seems like a very liberal use of the word near. He's 32.

[Canada 02]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

To be fair - after Doughty, Scuderi, Voynov, Muzzin and Regehr all play about the same amount of time. And Matt Greene gets the scraps.

That cant be right

[ricardodw]

Nobody has opinions on how our old heros will do?

I think that Phanuef and Regehr will be able to turn it up a notch in the playoffs.

If LA goes a couple of round people will be wondering why the heck the Flames dumped Regehr..... He very well could be a hotly pursed UFA this off season.

[killer_carlson]

phaneuf was always banged up at the end of a season played with reckless abandon. a less aggressive playing style and a shortened season likely has Dion free from concussions, hip pointers, and sore shoulders.

I suspect this would have been his best NHL moment, had they not been paired against the Bruins.

[Huntingwhale]

I think Bouwmeester will have the most success. The Blues are the strongest of those teams. And while we won't know until later on if Bouwmeester has that extra gear, I think Pieterangello does, and Bouw has really helped to stabilize their backend, Pieterangello in particular. So I vote Bouwmeester.