The Great Jim Benning Debate! (And personal insult thread)

[rikster]

I missed a few games when the MLB playoffs were on but generally speaking I tend to watch 70-80% of the games

Appreciate your honesty, but I'm guessing the 70-80% is more like a few. If I'm wrong my apologies...

I have the same problem with finding the time to watch the games live, as a season ticket holder I haven't made it to a game this year, so I pvr the games and get up early the next morning to watch them...

The level of criticism Sbisa receives based on his play and as compared to the other dmen, especially Tanev last season and Hutton this season is goofy...

Sbisa is very good at the 5 spot and his style of play is conducive to pairing him with younger players like Tryamkin who have arguably been the teams best pairing this year...

http://www.nhl.com/stats/player?aggrega ... ls,assists

Your complaints of him being over paid is quivling over a few dollars without considering the term of the deal and the age of the player...

And based on his play so far this season, the argument can be made that his contract is a value contract for the team...

The team last year and this year has a long list of issues, and if you list them in priority you should find Sbisa's name near the bottom of that list...

Take care...

[Blob Mckenzie]

Oh Sbisa is down the list of the calamities affecting this group. He is only signed one more year after this so hopefully he isn't brought back again at much more than a million if he's brought back at all , which would be my choice.. He's a lightning rod because the idiot gm and moronic president keep telling people how good good he is.

Tanev and Hutton played great last season. Tanev has been hurt this season but he and Hutton play against far, far better competition than Sbisa will ever see. Put Sbisa out against the other teams best players and he will end up -60. I see Hutton has regressed a bit this season but he is still a young guy a year out of college. Your Tanev complaint is bizarre to say the least and seems like a bit of a red herring to me.

I laugh when fans constantly harp on a player without even considering their quality of competition. Cough , cough Mëds, Reef , cough cough Edler.

And you don't need to apologize I'll stand by my 70-80 % number. Although that is getting difficult with the lack of talent and the poor coaching.

[Chef Boi RD]

Ya just don't go there with Blob when it comes to Sbisa, he's locked down and loaded permanently there. He's like an angry stubborn hillbilly Christian supremist with his musket.

[Meds]

Tanev and Hutton played great last season. Tanev has been hurt this season but he and Hutton play against far, far better competition than Sbisa will ever see. Put Sbisa out against the other teams best players and he will end up -60. I see Hutton has regressed a bit this season but he is still a young guy a year out of college. Your Tanev complaint is bizarre to say the least and seems like a bit of a red herring to me.

I laugh when fans constantly harp on a player without even considering their quality of competition. Cough , cough Mëds, Reef , cough cough Edler.

So what you're saying is that Sbisa is 3/4's the player that Edler was in 2013/14?

Blob, you are really reaching here. I have not harped on Edler for his play in the defensive zone or on the PK so much as I have for the blueline (offensive and defensive) blunders and turnovers. Other than that 2013-14 season he's not terrible in our end, at least not more so than a few others we've had. The difference is that those others haven't been touted as our number one defenseman. To me Edler is a 2B or 3A kind of guy. He's a solid top-4 blueliner who cannot QB a power-play, and makes those big mistakes under pressure that you don't expect to see from your "best" defenseman. There are times where I think he's overpaid, but other times his game makes him look underpaid. My argument for moving him was the same as my argument for moving Ohlund. Neither of them are true anchors on the blueline, but the team keeps trying to sell them as though they are to the point where I think they have sold themselves on this issue.

It's a similar argument as you make with Sbisa. No question, Edler > Sbisa. But they are both in roles that have them in a bit over their head. Edler is being sold as a top-2 guy (and he probably would be if partnered with a guy like Doughty, Weber, or Karlsson), and Sbisa is being sold as a top-4 when he's really an overpaid 6th.

[Ronning's Ghost]

It's a similar argument as you make with Sbisa. No question, Edler > Sbisa. But they are both in roles that have them in a bit over their head. Edler is being sold as a top-2 guy (and he probably would be if partnered with a guy like Doughty, Weber, or Karlsson), and Sbisa is being sold as a top-4 when he's really an overpaid 6th.

It might not make for the most exciting debates, but I love it when posters make balanced and reasonable assertions.

[Meds]

This article is all about avoiding bad contracts.

Down Goes Brown: 10 types of contracts to avoid
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/goes ... cts-avoid/

And would ya look at that.....Sutter and Eriksson both show up on the list.

[Mickey107]

This article is all about avoiding bad contracts.

Down Goes Brown: 10 types of contracts to avoid
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/goes ... cts-avoid/

And would ya look at that.....Sutter and Eriksson both show up on the list.

That was a hoot!
It's hard these days though. The price for UFAs is crazy and a GM, (or owner), has to make the decision to play ball or not. The risk in choosing "not" is whether or not your fan base and advertisers can deal with "not".

I'm hoping Larsen is not part of the future and that Tanev comes back strong.
Would really like to see the defensive pairings get more equal ice time now.
If I could do just one relatively major move this year it would be Edler for the equivalent of what we hoped Virtanen was going to be.
I say Edler solely because of his age and possible back issues.
Don't know if we should even consider moving 2 D-men right now.

[Strangelove]

This article is all about avoiding bad contracts.

Down Goes Brown: 10 types of contracts to avoid
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/goes ... cts-avoid/

And would ya look at that.....Sutter and Eriksson both show up on the list.

Also showing up: Brent Burns, Ryan Kesler, Anze Kopitar, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Dustin Byfuglien

... Marc-Andre Fleury, Jonathan Quick, Jason Spezza, Ryan O'Reilly, Dougie Hamilton, and Shea Weber.

Yours truly has explained in detail why the Sutter and Eriksson contracts are good for this team at this time.

(this putz just mentions them in passing along with dozens of other contracts)

And notice in his "We knew the later years were going to be ugly" category:

Marian Hossa, Roberto Luongo, Henrik Zetterberg, Ryan Suter, and Zach Parise.

Well those were all GREAT contracts until a surprise clause in a new CBA turned them into crap contracts.

"We knew"

Sloppiest, laziest article ever...

[SKYO]

Sutter and Eriksson picked it up after the coach deployed them better.

Eriksson the best corsi player on the team all season thus far, a real smart player, dangerous around the net.

[damonberryman]

Sutter and Eriksson picked it up after the coach deployed them better.

Eriksson the best corsi player on the team all season thus far, a real smart player, dangerous around the net.

Agree Skyo

[Blob Mckenzie]

Elmer the drafting wizard

Ehlers, Pastrnak, Konecny, Tkachuck >>>>>>>>>> Virtanen, McCann, Boeser, Juolevi

Not Even Close

Draft thief is more like an air thief

[Meds]

Elmer the drafting wizard

Ehlers, Pastrnak, Konecny, Tkachuck >>>>>>>>>> Virtanen, McCann, Boeser, Juolevi

Not Even Close

Draft thief is more like an air thief

It's way too early to be calling Koecny and Tkachuk better than Boeser and Juolevi. Neither Boeser nor Koency have played an NHL game yet. Tkachuk will probably top out as a 50-60 point forward, and Juolevi has the potential to contribute the same point totals from the blueline.

[Mickey107]

Speaking of Juolevi; The Canucks have a real tough decision next October.
Can't see another year in junior is going to help his final stages of development.
What's he supposed to do? Crush 16 & 17 year old kids?
Can't go to Utica, so if he's not quite ready, but close, should JB try a find a situation in Europe for him?
One that might allow for a mid season NHL debut?
But then that has contract implications.
I'm guessing he plays with the big boys right out of the gate.

God! That's a flowery post! Not like me..

[Blob Mckenzie]

Konecny is already playing top 9 minutes on a playoff team.

Juolevi scores 40 points last year and is on pace for 40 this year but he's going to score 50 or 60 in the NHL....... sure he will.

I'm just saying this team would look a fuck of a lot better if he had made different picks in the first round. Skyo and Doc and Dude seem to think the guy is some sort of drafting genius. I don't see it yet. Tryamkin as a 3rd rounder looks good and Demko in the second is a good pick. Virtanen looks like he may top out as a Dale Weise or Jack Skille type guy.

[Blob Mckenzie]

Speaking of Juolevi; The Canucks have a real tough decision next October.
Can't see another year in junior is going to help his final stages of development.
What's he supposed to do? Crush 16 & 17 year old kids?
Can't go to Utica, so if he's not quite ready, but close, should JB try a find a situation in Europe for him?
One that might allow for a mid season NHL debut?
But then that has contract implications.
I'm guessing he plays with the big boys right out of the gate.

God! That's a flowery post! Not like me..

No they don't. He's 175 lbs and he isn't crushing anyone. If he was 200 lbs and putting up 70 or 80 points sure. He is on pace for another pedestrian 40 points. Pretty meh for a top 5 pick.