Dion Phaneuf discussion thread

[KapG]

Gardiners skating rivals that of Karlssons. Bouwmeester isn't on that level.

Who are you? Do you follow hockey at all? Bouwmeester might just be the best skater in the league. Particularly when it comes to dmen....

 

[Al14]

He played too many minutes. He was tired and it cost us. If we use him correctly we should have no problem. We need one more solid defenseman.

We need more than 1 solid defenseman. I think we need at least 2 top D-men. We may have 1 in the system already, but, is he ready for the NHL yet?

 

[12345678910]

We need more than 1 solid defenseman. I think we need at least 2 top D-men. We may have 1 in the system already, but, is he ready for the NHL yet?

Gardiner will be that guy. He played awesome last night. We'll have to see what we have in Reilly, but defence could be a strength moving forward.

 

[Al14]

Gardiner will be that guy. He played awesome last night. We'll have to see what we have in Reilly, but defence could be a strength moving forward.

Gardiner? Can he actually play D? The overtime goal says NO!

 

[Sokil]

gardiner has some nice hands but that's it

 

[McMatthews]

Who are you? Do you follow hockey at all? Bouwmeester might just be the best skater in the league. Particularly when it comes to dmen....

One of the best.

 

[KapG]

One of the best.

which is why i said he "might just be". Gave myself a little wiggle room .

 

[Silent Knight]

All you need to do is pressure Dion, and he gets anxious and makes bonehead plays. If people can't see this they need to wake up and take off the fanboy glasses. I counted at least 3 giveaways or failures to clear the zone when he became pressured... in contrast to Gardiner with the puck... no contest. Gards deserves a pay raise, and Dion needs the boot out of here. I don't know how anyone with any real hockey sense can not see how awful he is defensively. Last goal... he stood there picking his butt, this happens so much it's not even funny. Franson was bad too, but the fact is he's more confident and steady with the puck than Dion any day, and that is the issue.... what good is Dion? He's an awful captain, he's awful under pressure, red bull... enough said. It has nothing to do with how many minutes he played, if you suck with puck control and the pressure of an attacker makes your hands shake and you cough up the puck then you are bad... that's all there is to it. Dion lovers and fanboys can go off on me now all they want... people who know hockey know the truth about this pilon.

 

[hockeyfanz*]

All you need to do is pressure Dion, and he gets anxious and makes bonehead plays. If people can't see this they need to wake up and take off the fanboy glasses. I counted at least 3 giveaways or failures to clear the zone when he became pressured... in contrast to Gardiner with the puck... no contest. Gards deserves a pay raise, and Dion needs the boot out of here. I don't know how anyone with any real hockey sense can not see how awful he is defensively. Last goal... he stood there picking his butt, this happens so much it's not even funny. Franson was bad too, but the fact is he's more confident and steady with the puck than Dion any day, and that is the issue.... what good is Dion? He's an awful captain, he's awful under pressure, red bull... enough said. It has nothing to do with how many minutes he played, if you suck with puck control and the pressure of an attacker makes your hands shake and you cough up the puck then you are bad... that's all there is to it. Dion lovers and fanboys can go off on me now all they want... people who know hockey know the truth about this pilon.

Franson was awful (but he scored 2 goals)...Gardiner was awful (But he skates brilliantly)..Phaneuf was his usual awful self...just terrible. Then there are the rest...invisible shmucks. Useless defenders like Liles/Kostka/Fraser etc....The Leafs defense is abhorent when it comes to playing defense.

They have some guys who can really fire the puck..throw open ice body checks, and pass the puck. They don't actually have one solid sound Dman who knows how to play defense. Not one.

 

[Al14]

Franson was awful (but he scored 2 goals)...Gardiner was awful (But he skates brilliantly)..Phaneuf was his usual awful self...just terrible. Then there are the rest...invisible shmucks. Useless defenders like Liles/Kostka/Fraser etc....The Leafs defense is abhorent when it comes to playing defense.

They have some guys who can really fire the puck..throw open ice body checks, and pass the puck. They don't actually have one solid sound Dman who knows how to play defense. Not one.

Not one, indeed!!!

 

[mikebel111*]

I don't understand the people who are supporting Phaneuf by saying he plays too much and has too much responsibility. He's not playing more minutes than other #1 defensemen. He doesn't have more responsibility than other #1 defensemen. Simply put, he's filling the role of a #1 defenseman, so if he can't handle that, what does it tell you?

almost every other # 1 d man, has support, that is why they look good
dion needs to have that

go watch some hockey dude

 

[Phaneuffan3]

almost every other # 1 d man, has support, that is why they look good
dion needs to have that

go watch some hockey dude

Agree 100%. We need a solid #2 to push gunner to the second pair

 

[Jtabo]

Is it legal to hate on a player in his appreciation thread? Maybe phaneuf haters should start their own Dion Blows thread and flock to there.

 

[613Leafer]

He's our best defenceman, theres no question about it.

People can complain all they want about him not being a legitimate elite defenceman... But so what, he still is OUR best defenceman. Why get rid of him? When we do finally get that franchise Dman, we're gonna want to have a guy like Phaneuf to help share the load, as opposed to a guy like Holzer.

The same thing happened with Kubina. Anybody remember what happened the season after we moved him? Oh yea, we came 2nd last in the league, the worst this team has done in like 25+ years.

 

[GreatSieve]

Has nobody mentioned that Dion took a point shot on the inside of the knee earlier in the game? He clearly wasn't the same after that.

 

[Jtabo]

He's our best defenceman, theres no question about it.

People can complain all they want about him not being a legitimate elite defenceman... But so what, he still is OUR best defenceman. Why get rid of him? When we do finally get that franchise Dman, we're gonna want to have a guy like Phaneuf to help share the load, as opposed to a guy like Holzer.

The same thing happened with Kubina. Anybody remember what happened the season after we moved him? Oh yea, we came 2nd last in the league, the worst this team has done in like 25+ years.

Phaneuf is that franchise dman. A franchise player is a key piece you want to build around. We have that key piece, now we just need to build around him. The problem in our D is not with him, but with the lack of support. Gardiner and Franson have bright futures, but even then, they still aren't the best options. As they continue to grow, and Gunnarsson as well, we have some solid pieces. Now we need a solid 1st pair stay at home guy (like regher in his prime) and a bottom pairing guy who can play a dependable 15-16 minutes on a pair with gunnar. Franson and Gardiner should be able to handle 20 minutes a game as they looked strong at points against boston, and Dion and the regher clone can handle the tough 24-25 minutes. Our bottom pair played less than 14 minutes each last night even with the game going to OT. Shows what the stanley cup winning coach thinks about their abilities. Dion consistently played over 25 minutes. Once again, shows what the stanley cup winning coach thinks about his abilities.

 

[zeke]

Absolute warrior for us this series. leads the playoffs in dman hits, and banging up against Lucic all series long ain't easy.

 

[Leafski]

Has nobody mentioned that Dion took a point shot on the inside of the knee earlier in the game? He clearly wasn't the same after that.

Kidding aside, Phaneuf did look quite good until that point. After he came back to the bench, he seemed to fall down nearly every shift, sometimes more than once; more than likely caused by that particular puck to the knee, as well as exhaustion. I truly hope that we can get him a proper 1st line d-pairing partner in the future, one that he can rely on.

 

[Lemons]

Dion has everything needed to play hockey except the IQ.

 

[Stephen]

Nothing wrong with Phaneuf at all. Upgrade on Gunnarsson and I think you have a way better version of Dion. He isn't Kimmo Timmonen in terms of intelligence but nothing you can't work around.

 

[Divine]

How much is Dion Phaneuf really worth?

I ask this in terms of trade value and contract value. For me personally, the Leafs need to trade Dion Phaneuf - his defence is almost a liability and he is vastly overrated, that combined with the fact I don't think his agent will accept a lower cap hit than his current one on his next contract - makes me feel like we need to trade him. The main problem is, what is his trade value? If we're going to trade him, best bet is in his UFA year, possibly at the deadline, what do you think we can get for him?

I understand that trading Phaneuf will probably make our defence even worse than it is now, which is why we would need a defensive piece back, but as a captain, I don't see Phaneuf as a captain that can lead us to a Stanley Cup.

 

[Man Bear Pig]

Yes, lets deal away a top offensive producer, a guy who logs 25 minutes a night against the best players in the league, and the teams captain. His D is a liability? Right. He's a top 20 dman. Lets deal him and have absolutely nobody to fill the void. Phaneuf has become so undervalued over the years and this whole "overrated" thing is ridiculous.

 

[Divine]

Yes, lets deal away a top offensive producer, a guy who logs 25 minutes a night against the best players in the league, and the teams captain. His D is a liability? Right. He's a top 20 dman. Lets deal him and have absolutely nobody to fill the void. Phaneuf has become so undervalued over the years and this whole "overrated" thing is ridiculous.

Dion Phaneuf has NEVER had a + season as a Leaf, always been a - player, put me out there 25 minutes against the best players in the league, I'll be a minus player too - just because he plays against them, doesn't make him good, he always loses.

I'd put Franson over him, including on our PP and PK, we can live without him, I think Phaneuf is too slow for the current game. Even on the PP, slowly takes the puck into their zone, and just shoots as hard as he can, I don't think he has any intention of hitting the net.

 

[Quarter]

Dion Phaneuf has NEVER had a + season as a Leaf, always been a - player, put me out there 25 minutes against the best players in the league, I'll be a minus player too - just because he plays against them, doesn't make him good, he always loses.

I'd put Franson over him, including on our PP and PK, we can live without him, I think Phaneuf is too slow for the current game. Even on the PP, slowly takes the puck into their zone, and just shoots as hard as he can, I don't think he has any intention of hitting the net.

And you think Phaneuf is a defensive liability? Christ.

 

[tp71]

About tree fiddy.