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Bryce Salvador appreciation thread

Chessarmy

Chessarmy

Registered User
Mar 16, 2009
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6,340
Florida
I wanted to start a thread for captain Sal because he deserves a lot more love on here but doesn't get it. He is dominant on the PK (against the Jackets he must have blocked 10 shots), he plays solid defensively every single game, doesn't make stupid mistakes, gives up his body routinely and clears the crease like a monster.

Yet, most people on here want him gone.

Just because the guy isn't a great skater and doesn't put up pointzz doesn't make him a bad hockey player. Bryce Salvador is the best defenseman we have at playing DEFENSE, and I hope he stays healthy and continues to play this way the rest of the season.
 
I agree, his play has been really steady those past few games.

Hoping Volch can follow his path, just like in the past 2 games, he's showing flashes of the Sens Volchenkov, hoping he can keep it rolling
 
I actually thought after last year that he was declining.

He's been very good this year IMO. Definitely our second best defenseman. I can't remember too many bad plays by him. That one in Calgary, but other than that he's been very good I think.

I can't complain about him. He's been a very pleasant surprise this year. He looks like the 11-12 Salvador again, and the 11-12 Salvador I thought was very good.
 
I certainly don't have any ill will against him, and he's been much better this year than I expected him to be, but it's frustrating seeing such a non-remarkable player get so many mulligans and be seemingly beyond reproach. I didn't want Lou to extend him after the 2012 run. It was the perfect time to transition our new wave of defenders into the NHL. But that didn't happen, Lou chose to keep the old guard, and we're paying the consequences for that right now.

It's nothing against him personally but he's pretty much the personification of everything wrong with this organization. Thinking that "grit and character" can replace talent and skill in todays game, giving guys unlimited excuses and the benefit of the doubt because they're "veterans that have earned it", placing an emphasis on loyalty over results. I admire his toughness, I love rooting for him, and he seems like a legitimately great guy....but he's just kind of there.

There's a kind of poetic metaphor in watching him battle his heart and put up a hell of a fight, only get completely outclassed by speedy forwards and have all of the "character" and "toughness" and "grit" amount to nothing more than a pat on the back by the coaches and a rehashed glass half-full catchphrase. Which is pretty much this franchise in a microcosm.
 
AfroThunder396 said:
I certainly don't have any ill will against him, and he's been much better this year than I expected him to be, but it's frustrating seeing such a non-remarkable player get so many mulligans and be seemingly beyond reproach. I didn't want Lou to extend him after the 2012 run. It was the perfect time to transition our new wave of defenders into the NHL. But that didn't happen, Lou chose to keep the old guard, and we're paying the consequences for that right now.

It's nothing against him personally but he's pretty much the personification of everything wrong with this organization. Thinking that "grit and character" can replace talent and skill in todays game, giving guys unlimited excuses and the benefit of the doubt because they're "veterans that have earned it", placing an emphasis on loyalty over results. I admire his toughness, I love rooting for him, and he seems like a legitimately great guy....but he's just kind of there.

There's a kind of poetic metaphor in watching him battle his heart and put up a hell of a fight, only get completely outclassed by speedy forwards and have all of the "character" and "toughness" and "grit" amount to nothing more than a pat on the back by the coaches and a rehashed glass half-full catchphrase. Which is pretty much this franchise in a microcosm.
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I was writing a counter-post until I realized I basically agree with what you said; doesn't feel good though, I really like Sal... and he has been a relative positive this year.
 
he seems to run hot and cold. this year, its hot (although hes getting crunched on a regular basis).

i dont even mean he's good as far as point totals (no idea what they are). his positioning and shot blocking seem to have improved greatly since the first week.
 
Salvador has been the Devils best defenseman this year.

Which tells you all you need to know about how poor the Devils defense is.
 
BenedictGomez said:
Salvador has been the Devils best defenseman this year.

Which tells you all you need to know about how poor the Devils defense is.
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Yeah, both Sal and even Volchie are not driving me to suicide quite like I had expected.

The weird thing, though, as the hockey Gods giveth and taketh away... Andy Green seems to be misfiring on all cylanders. Last year he was so strong, by far the most consistent play of his career, so much so that we spent a good chunk of the offseason debating if he was a legit first pairing guy. He looks like a 4-5 this season and it is hurting us badly.

And although this is entirely on our coach (who I have grown to despise) and despite being a useful complementary piece in our 2012 Cup run, Peter Harrold needs to be the #7, an injury relacement only. He gets blown up too easily in the D zone to get a regular shift.

The fact that Adam Larsson isn't being allowed to develop has been beaten to death (much like his confidence), but the fact is still driving me to madness.

Fayne and Larsson both need to be locked into regular roles and not fear for their jobs. That would create conditions for our entire defense to improve.
 
JerryGigantic said:
The fact that Adam Larsson isn't being allowed to develop has been beaten to death (much like his confidence), but the fact is still driving me to madness.

Fayne and Larsson both need to be locked into regular roles and not fear for their jobs. That would create conditions for our entire defense to improve.
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I don't think a 20 yr old defensemen needs to be locked into a role. Nor do necessarily think Pete is destroying his confidence or his development.

Although if this team continues to stink. It might as well stink with it's young players.
 
As per Sal. I think the issue, and I've said this b4, is not Sal per se, just like I don't see Volch as an issue per se. it's the Sal Volch combo. We have 2 old, slow, d-men with very limited offense.

I do like Sal though. Thought him coming back after slamming into the boards the other night was borderline heroic.
 
JerseyGuy276 said:
The problem is, he never gets scratched when he goes into ****-up mode over a stretch of games because hes the damn captain.
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there are quite a few other players who should be scratched before we even consider salvador, no matter how "bad" he's playing
 
MartyOwns said:
there are quite a few other players who should be scratched before we even consider salvador, no matter how "bad" he's playing
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I completely and utterly disagree. Certainly Peter Harrold and Stephen Gionta shouldn't be playing, but Sal doesn't get a pass because those guys suck more.
 
JerseyGuy276 said:
The problem is, he never gets scratched when he goes into ****-up mode over a stretch of games because hes the damn captain.
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Agree, making him the captain has limited our roster moves. He's old, and he's not our best defensemen. Why does he need to play every game? Not to mention potential trades.
 
JerseyGuy276 said:
I completely and utterly disagree. Certainly Peter Harrold and Stephen Gionta shouldn't be playing, but Sal doesn't get a pass because those guys suck more.
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:laugh: yes he does. we only have so many defensemen. ideally, the worst ones should sit (combined with keeping long term development goals in mind, of course. people dont get better by sitting (cough mark fayne). harrold and volchenkov deserve to sit before sal...and yeah, Zid should sit before him too. his offensive output doesnt warrant his piss poor defensive coverage. or, keep 7 dmen and only play zids on PP or in certain situations
 
MartyOwns said:
:laugh: yes he does. we only have so many defensemen. ideally, the worst ones should sit (combined with keeping long term development goals in mind, of course. people dont get better by sitting (cough mark fayne). harrold and volchenkov deserve to sit before sal...and yeah, Zid should sit before him too. his offensive output doesnt warrant his piss poor defensive coverage. or, keep 7 dmen and only play zids on PP or in certain situations
Click to expand...

Zids should be benched under no circumstances, the guy is the team's leading point scorer and he's the only guy on our defense who knows he's holding a hockey stick.
 
AfroThunder396 said:
Zids should be benched under no circumstances, the guy is the team's leading point scorer and he's the only guy on our defense who knows he's holding a hockey stick.
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this is sort of pointless because we both know he'll never be a healthy scratch...but what we need, ESPECIALLY when playing up by a goal or two, is a defenseman who can give us average points (think 5 to Zid's 7, all assists btw) while doing a better job being in position, shutting down the key players and clearing the crease.

want to play him? put him at forward. otherwise, until he is getting the strict 'defense oriented tedenby' approach, i'd bench his ass like the Undertaker in a weight room
 
Sal is fine I guess, hasnt been bad this year.

but he plays too much for my liking and I hated that contract. whatever.
 
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