Jim Playfair comments on Giordano (And the history of finding him)

[Barnet Flame]

The biggest heart in mouth moment this season was when Gio crashed into the boards against Florida.

Him making his next shift has been the highlight of this fantastic season so far.

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Originally Posted by Table 5

I got it from this handy little graph.
http://www.quanthockey.com/Distribut...stribution.php

Obviously needs to be taken in context as it doesn't take into account all the factors of an NHL player, but my point was that what Gio has done tends to go against relative expectations for a player in the NHL. Yes, he's a late bloomer and an outlier, but I don't think its reasonable to expect that because he bloomed in his late 20s, everything else gets pushed back as well. At the very least, our long-term plan shouldn't be based on him being a force late into his 30s...even if we all hope he is.

As you said, needs tones of context. The average age of retirement means little to nothing in this context, given that much of the league is made up of players who don't have "full careers" in the NHL. If you could isolate the average age of retirement for a player that truly makes it in the NHL and gets a full career (not shortened by injuries) you'll have some take on how long Gio's prime could last. Many D-men that play Gio's style of game manage to keep "prime performance" close to the age of 35, so only time will tell with Gio, but what's he's accomplishing right now is not really as big as an outlier as looking at the averages would suggest. In this case, it's simply not the right population group to be looking at pulling an average from.

[Huntingwhale]

I personally think Gio can maintain a high level of play until his late 30s. Maybe not as productive as this season, but no reason to think he can't stay a #1 D during that time. Defensemen seem to play well longer in their career then forwards do. But the beautiful thing is that once he is ready to pass the torch, Brodie will be there to take the torch. Brodano will live on. What an amazing situation to have, and we are no where even close to that happening yet.

[handgroen]

that article...
love what george johnson is saying and i love gio as much as anybody, but my god you're a professional journalist. why are there like 10 typos in that article there's even once where he uses a 0 instead of an o in the word f0r.

this thread should be used for 4 things;
1.gio is the new gold standard
2.iginla was not was gio is now
3.george johnson is drunker than me writing in the PGT
4.trade glencross and general bickering et. al.

for a guy that drops the term inviolate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanctity_of_life on everybody that was just kinda a chintzy little piece of writing.

So f0r those who are only now ‘discovering’ Mark Giordano, sorry, you’re a little late to the party.

He’s Bob can be Bob, do his thing, knowing that in the room, Gio’s gonna keep it on the straight and narrow; knowing that Gio’s got the wheel.

wtf?

[badger89]

Giordano's 31. Lindstrom didn't peak until 35, then had 5 very productive seasons after that. Just sayin.

[dying4acup]

I think, as a person who is generally conservative about contract value, and generally under guesses, Gio is getting 8M AAV, at about 6-7yrs.

I'm guessing he plays at this level for the next five years, and when his play starts to slide, Brodie's play peaks.

Aaaaaand, if Gio wins the Norris, would he be the first undrafted player in the modern draft era (about 35yrs) to do it?

[getbak]

Originally Posted by dying4acup

Aaaaaand, if Gio wins the Norris, would he be the first undrafted player in the modern draft era (about 35yrs) to do it?

He would be the first undrafted player to win it since that guy who used to wear #4 for the Bruins. Orr came up during the era when the NHL teams sponsored junior teams and owned their players' rights without needing to draft them. So, Gio would be the first undrafted Norris winner of the Draft era.

Currently, Rob Blake (4th round, 70th overall) is the Norris winner who was drafted latest.

[PeteMoss]

Its obvious the Flames management loves Gio and we have cap space coming out of our ears and no long term commitments right now. He's going to get an extension this summer and its going to be for giant dollars as it should be.

We saw what happened last year when he got hurt and the Flames went into a tailspin. This year they are missing 3 of their 4 centres from opening night and still rolling on. There are two (maybe three) indefensible players on this team right and they are all defensemen.

[heep223]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

There are two (maybe three) indefensible players on this team right and they are all defensemen.

There might be two up front as well.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

I think Richie Regehr would have turned into a solid player as well - but injuries de-railed him. I fully admit that when I saw him and Gio on the ice - I like Richie better.
Yet another example of things I was really wrong about.

I can see why some preferred Regehr, but for the poster that said probably everyone did, I was always a Gio fan.

Proud to say I have argued for both Giordano and Brodie to be potential top pairing guys from very early on (pat's own back). Watching the two of them tear up the league is really enjoyable for me.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by RM14

What's his trade value these days?

Remember last year when people were saying trade him while his value was high?

Good times.

[jeffman]

Originally Posted by badger89

Giordano's 31. Lindstrom didn't peak until 35, then had 5 very productive seasons after that. Just sayin.

It all depends on how long his legs last. Explosive speed is crucial for number 1 d because it is needed to join the rush, closing defensive gaps and preventing breakaways

[SuperMatt18]

Lidstrom was always great, from when he was a rookie.

Won his first Norris at 31 though, and had 9 good seasons after that.

I would say he is the exception, not the rule though. Also Giordano plays a much more physically taxing game, Lidstrom was just more cerebral which is what made him great.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by jeffman

It all depends on how long his legs last. Explosive speed is crucial for number 1 d because it is needed to join the rush, closing defensive gaps and preventing breakaways

His game will evolve, as all defensemen's games have to when they play into their later 30s.

That's to be expected. But it sure is nice to think that we might already have the heir-apparent to the #1 role ready to take over.

[FireItUp]

I'm not going to lie when we had Phaneuf and Gio, I thought Phaneuf was going to be one of the the best D-man in the league not Gio..fast forward a couple of years and Gio is now one of the best D-man, ever since that "C" was put on his jersey he's an whole different man...they might have well put a "S" on his jersey cause he's playing like a superman.
As a fan of hockey and the Flames I'm proud he became our captain after our other great captain.

[ramizle]

Captain Giordano leading Flames on all fronts
By Aaron Vickers



"I'm trying to just do everything I can on the ice," he said. "It's easy for you to say things in the room and all that, but if you're not contributing on the ice or doing what you're saying on the ice, I know as a young guy it'd be tough to follow someone who you didn't believe.

"I just try to go out there and the best way to lead, I think, is by example on the ice."

[jeffman]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

His game will evolve, as all defensemen's games have to when they play into their later 30s.

That's to be expected. But it sure is nice to think that we might already have the heir-apparent to the #1 role ready to take over.

Yeah, I'd be pretty happy if he can be our Rob Blake in his later years here

[Fire]

Sign Giordano to a 5 year extension worth $7 million/yr in the off-season.

[robaur]

Iginla should have been relieved of his captain duties after 2 failures in the playoffs. I'm not considering the 04 run as a failure.

The inability of management to keep Iginla in line is eventually one of the many causes that poisoned the tree and led to the downfall of the team.

It's not just a coincidence that the Flames record with Giordano as captain is way above expectations even though he has a very poor supporting cast in terms of experience and skill compared to what Iginla had.

[waner]

Originally Posted by robaur

Iginla should have been relieved of his captain duties after 2 failures in the playoffs. I'm not considering the 04 run as a failure.

The inability of management to keep Iginla in line is eventually one of the many causes that poisoned the tree and led to the downfall of the team.

It's not just a coincidence that the Flames record with Giordano as captain is way above expectations even though he has a very poor supporting cast in terms of experience and skill compared to what Iginla had.

Bwhahahahahahahahahahaha

That's a good one.