Captain Phaneuf

[Highlander]

For those of us who go to the games, you see more of the effort that Phaneuf puts in. I was in Tampa last year and within three minutes had buried one of Tampa's players in their bench. He continued the rugged physical game each and every time I see him. Sort of like Kessel, you only really notice his energy when you see the games close up.

 

[leafplasma]

I'm actually shocked that he's tied for 2nd in goals among defencemen. I just didn't realize that he had that many.

Yep, I guess we have all been too busy complaining about him to realize what he has been up to of late, 3 goals in his last 6 games, some big ones at that.

 

[drummond]

I'm actually shocked that he's tied for 2nd in goals among defencemen. I just didn't realize that he had that many.

What I do appreaciate most is that he is scoring clutch goals as any captain should do.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Right on cue: Phaneuf deserves more credit for Toronto's success

But this is a player who arrived in a blockbuster trade with the Calgary Flames in January of 2010, with a r?sum? filled with question marks, some of them relating to defensive play and others to rumoured clashes with teammates and a media-unfriendly attitude.

None of which have surfaced in Toronto.

Instead, Phaneuf?s role on the ice has become more difficult with each season, to the point that this year in his first full season under Carlyle, you could argue he has one of the toughest jobs in the league.

For one, entering Friday?s games, he had logged more minutes than all but Brian Campbell of the Florida Panthers, including three minutes a game on one of the top penalty kill units in the NHL.

At even strength, Phaneuf has been on the ice for more defensive zone draws than any other player (260) and, according to behindthenet.ca, has faced tougher opposing players in his ice time than all but four others.

And, for all that, the offence ? what he became known for in Calgary ? is still there.

Despite the fact Phaneuf?s role has become more defensive than ever and he spent much of the season paired with career minor-leaguers, he enters Saturday?s game with the Ottawa Senators tied for seventh in scoring among defencemen with 21 points.

And because I tend to find Scrivens as a pretty intelligent, honest interview:

?I don?t have enough good things to say about him,? netminder Ben Scrivens said. ?Just because I could be talking for a half hour. He just leads by example and none of the guys work harder than he does.?

 

[maplesyrup]

Imagine if he went down with an injury (God forbid.) How do you replace him? I'm a fan of his - warts and all.

 

[Leaflifer]

I was pretty skeptical of DP at first. Part of it was his character description upon arrival. I thought, "Sounds
like an annoying, immature kind of guy"

He didn't show much on the ice either. My expectations may have been high due to his price and I was looking for excuses to beat up on him.

Winning sure has a way of changing someone's mind, however.

 

[nutman]

Its good to see all the picking players apart is stoping. Deon plays a big part in this team, and admiting he brings it, shows people are comming out of there decade of whine, and learning how to be fans of a winning team.

 

[Zee]

Dion has really picked up his play the last little while. Two huge goals in recent games and he's finally showing that "leadership" on ice that people criticized him for not having. Hope his up trend continues and he has a big playoff run.

 

[nutman]

Dion has really picked up his play the last little while. Two huge goals in recent games and he's finally showing that "leadership" on ice that people criticized him for not having. Hope his up trend continues and he has a big playoff run.

I'm also hoping he starts to bring the hits more often as well. he has a good history of that.

 

[drummond]

Imagine if he went down with an injury (God forbid.) How do you replace him? I'm a fan of his - warts and all.

You just nailed it.

 

[Corn Flake]

So Dion is now tied for 5th in d-man scoring. 

So that offense thing is pretty much back.

 

[Boston Leaf]

When he took that knee on knee hit last night I freaked. I cant imagine our D corps without the time he logs... Good luck chewing up thsoe minutes as efectively

 

[Zee]

For all the people that rip on Phaneuf, I think this is pretty telling of how he's regarded around the league:

Tortorella admitted he was line-matching, trying to get Nash away from the defensive pairing of Carl Gunnarsson and Dion Phaneuf.

If Phaneuf isn't all that great a d-man, why would Tortorella bother trying to match and get his best players to avoid Dion. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/09/sports/hockey/rangers-score-three-goals-but-fail-to-earn-a-point.html?_r=0

 

[Kin]

If Phaneuf isn't all that great a d-man, why would Tortorella bother trying to match and get his best players to avoid Dion. 

Because regardless of how good someone is in context of other defensemen around the league a coach is always going to try and get his top offensive players out against the other team's weakest defensemen?

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

For all the people that rip on Phaneuf, I think this is pretty telling of how he's regarded around the league:

Tortorella admitted he was line-matching, trying to get Nash away from the defensive pairing of Carl Gunnarsson and Dion Phaneuf.

If Phaneuf isn't all that great a d-man, why would Tortorella bother trying to match and get his best players to avoid Dion. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/09/sports/hockey/rangers-score-three-goals-but-fail-to-earn-a-point.html?_r=0

It could also be that Tortorella does it against every team and Phaneuf is just the guy on this team he was most worried about.

I do like that he's on an 82-game pace for 50 points.

 

[Zee]

If Phaneuf isn't all that great a d-man, why would Tortorella bother trying to match and get his best players to avoid Dion. 

Because regardless of how good someone is in context of other defensemen around the league a coach is always going to try and get his top offensive players out against the other team's weakest defensemen?

Sure, but some people have suggested that Phaneuf isn't a top pairing guy, and is only top pairing on the Leafs by default.  If that were the case, Tortorella wouldn't be all that concerned about line matching if Dion was so easy to play against.  Nash is supposedly a superstar and should be able to play against Phaneuf who some have suggested is weak defensively.

 

[Kin]

Sure, but some people have suggested that Phaneuf isn't a top pairing guy, and is only top pairing on the Leafs by default.  If that were the case, Tortorella wouldn't be all that concerned about line matching if Dion was so easy to play against.

Regardless of how good Phaneuf is or isn't you're still going to try and get your best offensive players away from him if other players are worse. It's not like coaches will stop coaching if the other team is really bad. I'm not concerned about any defenseman on, say, Carolina but I'd still want Carlyle to stress optimal match-ups.

 

[Zee]

Sure, but some people have suggested that Phaneuf isn't a top pairing guy, and is only top pairing on the Leafs by default.  If that were the case, Tortorella wouldn't be all that concerned about line matching if Dion was so easy to play against.

Regardless of how good Phaneuf is or isn't you're still going to try and get a player away from him if other players are worse. It's not like coaches will stop coaching if the other team is really bad. I'm not concerned about any defenseman on, say, Carolina but I'd still want Carlyle to stress optimal match-ups.

OK, but it just stresses the point that Phaneuf is the best the Leafs have, and even other coaches realize it. 

 

[Kin]

OK, but it just stresses the point that Phaneuf is the best the Leafs have, and even other coaches realize it.

Well A) Tortorella says "Gunnarson and Phaneuf" so it doesn't really stress that at all and B) even if it did I don't think most of the criticism Phaneuf has faced has been about his place in the Leafs depth chart.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Of d-men who have played at least 20 games, Phaneuf has the 3rd toughest quality of competition as defined by behindthenet.ca.  On top of that he's 5th in scoring for D.  He's having a very solid season.