Rank the Defense Pairings

[420since1974]

Defense pairings with games played in brackets:

2013/2014
Giordano (64) - Brodie (81)
Russell (68) - Wideman (46)
Butler (82) - Smid (56)
Billins (10), Breen (9), Cundari (4), O'Brien (45), and Smith (14) filled in.

2014/2015
Giordano (61) – Brodie (81)
Russell (79) – Wideman (80)
Diaz (56) – Engelland (76)
Kulak (1), Potter (6), Ramage (1), Schlemko (19), Smid (31), and Wotherspoon (1) filled in.

2015/2016
Giordano (82) – Hamilton (82)
Brodie (70) – Wideman (51)
Russell (51) – Engelland (69)
Kulak (8), Nakladal (27), Smid (22), Wotherspoon (11), and Yokipakka (18) filled in.

2016/2017
Giordano (81) – Hamilton (81)
Brodie (82) - Wideman (57)
Jokipakka (38) – Engelland (81)
Andersson (1), Bartkowski (24), Grossman (3), Kulak (21), Stone (19) and Wotherspoon (4) filled in.

2017/2018
Giordano (82) – Hamilton (82)
Brodie (73) – Hamonic (74)
Kulak (71) - Stone (82)
Andersson (10) and Bartkowski (18) filled in.

2018/2019 (proposed)
Giordano - Brodie
Hanifin - Hamonic
Kulak - Stone
Prout
(Personally, I'd like to see Stone traded for draft picks a.s.a.p. and then have Andersson moved up into his spot).

Which season do you feel has/had the best D lineup combination?

[TheScorpion]

2014-15. Everybody was just killer that year.

[thymebalm]

Originally Posted by 420since1974

Defense pairings with games played in brackets:

2013/2014
Giordano (64) - Brodie (81)
Russell (68) - Wideman (46)
Butler (82) - Smid (56)
Billins (10), Breen (9), Cundari (4), O'Brien (45), and Smith (14) filled in.

2014/2015
Giordano (61) – Brodie (81)
Russell (79) – Wideman (80)
Diaz (56) – Engelland (76)
Kulak (1), Potter (6), Ramage (1), Schlemko (19), Smid (31), and Wotherspoon (1) filled in.

2015/2016
Giordano (82) – Hamilton (82)
Brodie (70) – Wideman (51)
Russell (51) – Engelland (69)
Kulak (8), Nakladal (27), Smid (22), Wotherspoon (11), and Yokipakka (18) filled in.

2016/2017
Giordano (81) – Hamilton (81)
Brodie (82) - Wideman (57)
Jokipakka (38) – Engelland (81)
Andersson (1), Bartkowski (24), Grossman (3), Kulak (21), Stone (19) and Wotherspoon (4) filled in.

2017/2018
Giordano (82) – Hamilton (82)
Brodie (73) – Hamonic (74)
Kulak (71) - Stone (82)
Andersson (10) and Bartkowski (18) filled in.

2018/2019 (proposed)
Giordano - Brodie
Hanifin - Hamonic
Kulak - Stone
Prout
(Personally, I'd like to see Stone traded for draft picks a.s.a.p. and then have Andersson moved up into his spot).

Which season do you feel has/had the best D lineup combination?

This is a little bit funny to look at, because last year was by far our best "on-paper" year for the defence core.

I think in 2015/16 we got the most out of our D, even though it has Wideman and Russell as mainstays on it.

Now I hold out hope that this years stable of defenders outshines all previous versions.

Time will tell. I'd like to see what Stone can offer this year and Brodie as well. I pray the coaching change is significant!

[Wolfman]

13/14

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

2014-15. Everybody was just killer that year.

They achieved the most. But were they the best roster? It's pretty hard to make that case.

[savardandjokinen]

On paper, coming into the seasons 15/16 and 17/18 should've been the best. 14/15 ended up being the best.

So hope is that 18/19 defence performs the best with better forwards and hopefully no injured goaltending

[flamesforcup]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

They achieved the most. But were they the best roster? It's pretty hard to make that case.

Well they achieved a hell of a lot more than the other "better" defenses. Brodie and Russel played out of their minds.

[savardandjokinen]

Originally Posted by flamesforcup

Well they achieved a hell of a lot more than the other "better" defenses. Brodie and Russel played out of their minds.

And Wideman 56 points.

[shotinthebacklund]

18/19 will be the best. Emergence of 3 stud dmen in one year (Valimaki,,Rasmus, Hanifin) Feel rasmus and valumaki get time in some capacity regardless of making team or not.If they dont? Great! no injuries is a huge blessing

[Kovaz]

Originally Posted by flamesforcup

Well they achieved a hell of a lot more than the other "better" defenses. Brodie and Russel played out of their minds.

Don't forget Wideman being over a point per game after Gio was injured.

14/15 for me because it's the only year where our top 2 pairings were both strong all year. Although the end of 16/17 with Brodie-Stone on the second pair was IMO stronger, just can't put it in front due to the small sample size.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by flamesforcup

Well they achieved a hell of a lot more than the other "better" defenses. Brodie and Russel played out of their minds.

Sure, I just didn’t think that was the question.

[N-E-B]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

They achieved the most. But were they the best roster? It's pretty hard to make that case.

If I was judging based on that season alone, then yes I would choose them, but if I were to judge based on overall careers I think I’d take 17/18.

[Vinny01]

Brodie, Russell, Wideman and Engellend all stepped up huge when Gio went down in 2015. Even Schlemko stepped in and played well. Wideman has 15 goals and 56pts in the one year he earned that big salary. Russell stepped in as the emotional leader that Gio was prior to his injury and also had a strong offensive year. Brodie was at the height of his play as was Gio who was a lock for a Norris nomination if he was healthy.

That was a magical team with a horseshoe up their ass all year. They were the opposite of this years Flames who crumbled when faced with adversity

[Gallick]

2018-2019 is the best on paper, best depth, and should by all means by the best results-wise, especially if Hanifin is steady and one of our D prospects sticks with the big club.

Looking at the prior years, there were some memorable moments and big individual years for sure, but I don't think you can argue that 2017-18 isn't the second best on paper with the addition of Hamonic and Stone.

[FranksandBean]

Giordano - Hamilton
Giordano - Brodie
Brodie - Wideman (15/16)
Brodie - Engelland (14/15)
Brodie - Hamonic
Russell - Engelland
Russell - Wideman
Jokipakka - Engelland
Kulak - Stone
Wotherspoon - Smid
Diaz - Engelland
Butler - Smid

The rest didn't play enough for me to remember them or deserve mention. Also to those advocating moving Stone for picks this is what our defence would look like;

Giordano - Brodie (will they return to their 14/15 form?)
Hanifin - Hamonic (will they be better than the 2nd pair from last year?)
Kulak - Andersson (can they be better than just an AHL top pair?)

How many of you would bet your livelihood (Job) on that being better than 5 other teams in the Pacific or better than 4 in the pacific and 3 in the central? While I agree that Stone may be hampering Andersson's progress to the NHL a Kulak - Stone pairing is better (safer) than a Kulak - Andersson pairing. One might argue that a Valimaki - Stone or Valimaki - Andersson would be better than Kulak - Stone but at this point that is just a hope. I believe an upgrade over Kulak is more important than a possible (possibly Homer glasses) upgrade on Stone, just my two cents.

Going into the 18/19 season I believe the two biggest questions that the team needs to answer either through trade or play on the ice are if the defence and goal tending are good enough to make and go deep in the playoffs.

[devo22]

lol 13-14 was so bad. Signing Engelland really was a smart move.

on paper, 17-18 should have been fantastic. The 14-15 group played out of its collective mind all year, still amazes me.

[Loudog]

A little bit off topic but shout out to Gio... he has played every game since that bicep injury with the exception of 1 which he missed because of the birth of his child. All on the other side of 30.

I love this guy