Is Brodie now a 3rd pairing DMan?

[Itse]

Brodie and Giordano will be great with anybody, I don't see that as a problem at all. I think Russell is the same, although replace "Great" with "fine", as he's obviously a notch below these two guys.

For me the relevant questions are:

1) Who is the best partner for Hamilton? While good already, if we want him to develop to his full potential you probably want to pay attention to who he plays with.

2) Never make a pair out of Wideman, Smid and Engelland. These guys need a faster skater with them to be effective.

That's pretty much it. The rest will IMO work out pretty much any way you shake it.

[blankall]

How much of the season do people expect us to have all five of our top dmen healthy for. At any given time, we're probably going to have at least one out.

During times when all five are healthy, Russell and wideman will probably do a 4/5 thing with more PP time.

[ComixZone]

I think it ends up being...

Brodie - Hamilton
Giordano - Andersson
Russell - Wideman
Engelland

and we win the Stanley Cup.

[hockey.modern]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

I think it ends up being...

Brodie - Hamilton
Giordano - Andersson
Russell - Wideman
Engelland

and we win the Stanley Cup.

We're not winning a Stanley Cup if engelland is still here

[GreenLantern2814]

Gio-Brodie
Wideman-Hamilton
Russell-Engelland

Both guys with footspeed issues have a speedy partner. Engelland offsets Russell's lack of size, and Wideman playing 20 minutes a night on the second pair with Dougie shouldn't get anyone upset.

[GullFoss]

Just throwing it out there, but what if hartley rolls all three pairings during 5-on-5 with the only thjng seperating ice time being special teams?

5-on-5 (48 min a night)

Brodie gio (16 min)
Russel wideman (16)
Eng hamilton (16)

PP - 6 min
Gio brodie - 3 min
Hamilton wideman - 3 min

Pk - 6 mins
Hamilton engel russel (3 min)
Gio brodie (3 min)

Gio: 22 min
Brodie 22 min
Hamil 21 min
Russel 18 min
Wideman 19 min
Engel 18 min

[MisterJoji]

I cannot wait for preseason to how the D pairings take shape. Having too many quality D is a nice problem to have. It entirely possible to have a 1A/1B/2 situation.

1A: any combo of Gio/Brodie/Hamilton. 23 minutes TOI.

1B: whoever is left from Gio/Brodie/Hamilton + Wideman/Russell. 20 minutes TOI.

2: whoever is left between Wideman/Russell + Engelland/W'spoon/Morrison/Smid etc. 17 minutes TOI.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by hockey.modern

We're not winning a Stanley Cup if engelland is still here

Because the #6 D-man is the key to the whole winning thing? Chicago basically went with 4 d-men when they won the SC.... pretty sure Engelland could have subbed in for their #6/7 or 8 with no negative impact.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Bandwagon In Flames

Not wanting to split up the Wideman/Russell pairing is a silly argument.

Yep. People are talking like they're Keith-Seabrook.

And I like Russell better then Wideman. He holds the puck better and can skate his way out of trouble. Wideman can play third pairing and second PP unit.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by hockey.modern

We're not winning a Stanley Cup if engelland is still here

They had an 18 year old in the top 4 and your concern was with Engelland as the #7?

[PepsiFree]

Am I one of the few who thinks Brodie is better than Hamilton?

Love the trade, great piece with huge potential, but I don't know if Brodie gets as much credit now that the new toy is in the box.

Gio/Brodie
Then fill in the other four with whatever works best.

I'd move KR down to third pairing probably, because I think he can save a questionable partner.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Am I one of the few who thinks Brodie is better than Hamilton?

You're not. Brodie does things that we can only hope Hamilton can do.

[Bandwagon In Flames]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Am I one of the few who thinks Brodie is better than Hamilton?

Love the trade, great piece with huge potential, but I don't know if Brodie gets as much credit now that the new toy is in the box.

Gio/Brodie
Then fill in the other four with whatever works best.

I'd move KR down to third pairing probably, because I think he can save a questionable partner.

I think the majority of CP thinks Brodie now is currently better than Hamilton, but you have to consider that Hamilton is 3 years younger. He was an established NHLer at 18 and it's exciting to think of what he can do in the Flames offensive system. Hamilton has a lot of desirable attributes that you want in a top pairing defenseman.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Wideman always seems to be on the verge of becoming a whipping boy of sorts. It is crazy to me that people don't like him more as he has shown himself capable of playing top-pairing minutes without drowning. Is he is a good defensively as Giordano? No, but he is much better defensively then I think one would assume from reading Wideman-related posts.

As for Brodie - I think he is better than Hamilton today (as a few posters have mentioned). If the whole thing is about keeping Russell-Wideman together, then shouldn't the question be: "Is Hamilton a 3rd pairing defencemen now?"

At any rate, I definitely agree with posters like Pierre with a lineup like:

Giodano-Brodie
Hamilton-Wideman
Russell-Engelland
Smid

The biggest question marks will come when guys like Wotherspoon, Nakladal and Morrison make that push, and who they end up displacing.

[_Q_]

Is it more important to keep a fantastic second pair together, or one of the best first pairs in the league? Once you think of it this way, then it becomes a no-brainer.

Keep Gio-Brodie together and let Hamilton anchor the second pairing with whoever he finds chemistry with. The rest will just fall into place.

[You Need a Thneed]

Brodie was legitimately the best defensemen on the team for bunches of games last season, that with Gio in the lineup. Early in the season, you could have made an argument that Brodie was the best defenseman in the entire league at that point. He didn't slip much from that level all season.

It's not inconceivable that he could be the Flames best defenseman this coming season.

He's not going to be anywhere near the third pairing.

[doctajones428]

Maybe they are assuming Engelland can always play big minutes like he did when Gio got hurt? Not to mention that Brodie really helped him elevate his play

Pair 1: Giordano - Hamilton (25 mins)
Pair 2a: Rusell - Wideman (17.5 mins)
Pair 2b: Brodie - Engelland (17.5 mins)

Not that I agree Brodie should be on the bottom pair though

[Freeway]

Hey, did anybody see that movie, Tron?

[kehatch]

nm

[Fire]

Giordano - Hamilton
Brodie - Wideman
Russell - Engelland

Make the most sense in my opinion. I also don't see the need to keep Russell and Wideman or Giordano and Brodie together.