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Jake Gardiner

Sarge said:
I've felt the same way about Kulemin this year.
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Me too. As much as Jake Gardiner is no Jake Gardiner, Nikolai Kulemin definitely is no Jake Gardiner.
 
Saint Nik said:
Heroic Shrimp said:
It's fair game on your part to say Gardiner's skill-set doesn't closely compare to Leetch's, and it's a reasonable argument.  It remains generally irrelevant to my point.  You can scratch Leetch from my arbitrary list of elite offensive defensemen to compare to if you like, not that it matters, and throw in the term "poor man's player x" if it makes any of it more palatable.
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I think obviously the issue here is that "compare" was sort of misused in the posts we're referring to. Like I said, I understand and agree with your point that any two hockey players can be compared to each other. I am, like I said, making a separate point about the validity and conclusions of the original comparison being made.

To my mind the "poor man's X" phrase always sort of applied to a guy who did all of the things someone else did but to a lesser extent. In this case I'm saying there are several key differences that make simply highlighting the similarities misleading.
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I said sorry.
 
Another good game last night for the kid. One good rush where he just lost control of the puck at the last minute. "Silver" seems to be getting more and more confident every game he plays.
 
RedLeaf said:
Another good game last night for the kid. One good rush where he just lost control of the puck at the last minute. "Silver" seems to be getting more and more confident every game he plays.
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I like Gardiner but i saw him lose a couple of puck battles in his own end last night, and a couple of times where he just gave the puck up instead of getting it out.  (In fairness, he wasn't the only one.)  I expect him to improve but right now he's iffy defensively.
 
Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate said:
RedLeaf said:
Another good game last night for the kid. One good rush where he just lost control of the puck at the last minute. "Silver" seems to be getting more and more confident every game he plays.
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I like Gardiner but i saw him lose a couple of puck battles in his own end last night, and a couple of times where he just gave the puck up instead of getting it out.  (In fairness, he wasn't the only one.)  I expect him to improve but right now he's iffy defensively.
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His offense is coming alive though. 5 points in his last 6 games is pretty good. His ice time has picked up as well, so we'll probably see some defensive deficiencies from him as he tries to put it all together. Overall he's looked better and better each passing game.
 
Only a few little things I see wrong in Gardiner's game right now. 1) He is so cool that occasionally he'll holding the puck longer than he really has time to. 2) Still a little tentative about making those daring rushes and getting caught (natural for a rookie not to want to screw up) 3) Getting his shot threw a bit more on the point like Liles does.
But man, these are just minor tweaks, he is clearly among the best of the rookie crop though his name doesn't get mentioned as much with the rookie scorers like RNH, Adam Henrique and Cody Hodgson. I like the way Wilson has the D set now, with Phanuef and Gunner, Liles and Franson, Gardiner and Schenn. While Gardiner and Schenn are so called "bottom pairing." Wilson can distribute the time pretty good by giving Gardiner PP time and Schenn PK time. I don't see Komi getting in much unless one of the top 6 gets hurt or slumps badly. Clearly Burkie will find a way to move his contract.
 
Ward made the reference to Nieds...Crawford called him a gem...just sayin.....either way he looks like a keeper for sure.
 
Sarge said:
Thought it was Crawford... Oh well... Either way, good stuff.
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I was out last night and missed the game but I thought you guys were talking about Cam Ward and Corey Crawford.  I was racking my brain trying to figure out what context those 2 goalies would be discussing Jake Gardiner.
 
Chazz-Micheal Liles said:
I thought he had rather horrid game last nite. He needs to take a rest again.
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He did.  His defense is very suspect.  He needs some time in the A. 

I think he'll be a good dman someday but Niedermayer?  As much as Stralman was the next Lidstrom.  And for the record, I like Stralman too.
 
He was a +11 since returning to the team after a twelve day rest, the past two games he has been -1, which puts him at +9 since his return on the 5th of January.  He does have some positional issues on the defensive side of the game, but he more than makes up for it with his skating ability and hockey sense 90% or more of the time.

We are in the middle of a playoff push and need all the help we can get, to suggest Gardiner is not among the six best dmen we have is borderline ridiculous.
 
Schenn +4 over the same stretch and Komisarek is -3.

Now obviously plus/minus is a deceptive stat at times, but when you add that to Gardiner's skating, breakout pass and being the only one able to compliment Franson on the second PP, it's pretty clear he needs to stick around.
 
WhatIfGodWasALeaf said:
He was a +11 since returning to the team after a twelve day rest, the past two games he has been -1, which puts him at +9 since his return on the 5th of January.  He does have some positional issues on the defensive side of the game, but he more than makes up for it with his skating ability and hockey sense 90% or more of the time.

We are in the middle of a playoff push and need all the help we can get, to suggest Gardiner is not among the six best dmen we have is borderline ridiculous.
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Not so.  I don't have the stats in front of me, but IIRC he was on the ice for at least 2 of the Flyers' goals and he definitely screened Reimer on Giroux's goal.

His offensive play is potentially good, no denying it.  But as you say his positioning needs work and I would add that he gets outmuscled a lot.

Frankly, Komisarek would have been more useful last night against a team with a vigorous forecheck and cycle game like PHI.

Over the long haul of course Gardiner will be better all-round player than Komi.  But he needs seasoning.
 
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/players/4493/gamelog;_ylt=Ag9h0ZuIadPIVGy8_WOTcsxivLYF

Those are the stats, so 'yes so'.

To suggest that Mike Komisarek can make more of a useful contribution to a hockey team than Jake Gardiner is laughable.

Maybe Mike has dirty pictures of you or is a great guy off the ice, either way, no thanks.
 
WhatIfGodWasALeaf said:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/players/4493/gamelog;_ylt=Ag9h0ZuIadPIVGy8_WOTcsxivLYF

Those are the stats, so 'yes so'.

To suggest that Mike Komisarek can make more of a useful contribution to a hockey team than Jake Gardiner is laughable.

Maybe Mike has dirty pictures of you or is a great guy off the ice, either way, no thanks.
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Nice job of "proving" a point I wasn't making.

Tell me, what was the last line in my previous post?  Or did you bother to read it?

What was laughable was how we got manhandled last night.  I say again, Komi would have been more use than Gardiner against a team like Philly.  Oh and by the way, the only stat that mattered from last night was the one that reads 4-3.
 
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