"Bouchard haters will hate that game"
In my previous post before your comment I literally said he was engaged and excellent tonight.
You are just looking for confrontation at this point
Player Discussion Evan Bouchard
- Thread starter Trafalgar Sadge Law
- Start date
In my previous post before your comment I literally said he was engaged and excellent tonight.
You are just looking for confrontation at this point
Bouchard was excellent last night. So weird they would rave about him.....
If we are talking about sportsnet, Bieska said something along the lines of "He's usually pretty sleepy out there but tonight he was great"
In the past he's also said Bouchard needs to wake up on the ice and engage himself.
If we are talking about sportsnet, Bieska also said it's Makar in the first tier and Josi,Hedman in the second tier
Weren't you crapping all over Hedman?
KeithIsActuallyBad
SPEEN!
Big boy pants game from Bouchard. That pairing was again excellent.
bobbythebrain
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You think it was just directed at you huh? You're not the only Bouch denier out there
bobbythebrain
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Nah, i just like correcting ppl who are wrong
guymez
The Seldom Seen Kid
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Its interesting and perplexing how this is so black and white for some posters.
You either love Bouchard or you are a hater/denier.
No nuance at all.
It is possible to acknowledge what Bouchard does well and what he doesnt do well without hating the player.
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There are players where the eye test makes you doubt underlying stats. At least from on the d-side of things, Bouchard may be the opposite where we should doubt the eye test. He can look too passive, too disengaged, too casual but maybe that's his strength. There were down low puck escapes last night that felt so passive, almost like he didn't care a King player was coming and he just casually made a turn or a quick stick handle and calmly made an escape.
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bobbythebrain
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I've said that from day 1. This goes unnoticed by a few on here. They also don't consider this as a defensive play it's never acknowledged.
Last nite the first thing i said after period 1 was that LA was choking the blueline. They needed to stop flipping it out and go up the middle more. Every single dman not named Bouchard gave the puck up a few times doing this. Some forwards too.
Bouchard however, was the only dman who either tapped it to an open man, or went up the middle as he recosnized their gameplan. Especially in the last minutes of the game w them pushing
He made one play where he stayed calm and passed it up the middle even while being pressured. Not long after he made another clear up the middle vs the boards.
He was by far the best defensive player in that one
PositiveCashFlow
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It's kind of funny that Darnell is getting paid 9.25M, but it's actually Ekholm and now Bouchard who are playing like 9.25M defencemen.
I guess I see why we didn't upgrade Ceci at the deadline, we're already strong at RHD with Bouch and VD. Did not see that happening
I guess I see why we didn't upgrade Ceci at the deadline, we're already strong at RHD with Bouch and VD. Did not see that happening
Bryanbryoil
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TheNumber4
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He will win a Norris. The only question is when and how many.
You aren't correcting me. You're actually attacking me at anything I post. ( I'll like your post when you say something intelligent. You wont like mine)
When I say Bouchard had a great game you don't acknowledge my post. When I say Bouchard has a turnover you cream your pants and quote my post. Hence you like confrontation.
Weird, when people don’t agree with your takes. You say they’re the biggest homers out there.
So If you are curious the real reason we didn't upgrade Ceci is because Murray Edwards (owner of the Flames) blocked the Tanev trade.
We tried to get Walker, but the price was too high. There wasn't any other reasonable options/upgrades out there. FYI
He's actually improved quite a bit defensively this season. As has been said, every player makes mistakes and sometimes Bouchard makes glaring ones but the good far outweighs the bad. He's using his body more to separate guys from pucks, he's elite at exiting the zone with the puck and we all know about his outlet passing.
He still has issues defending in space and has his "head in the clouds" moments at times but his defensive game is definitely evolving. Defending will never be the strength of his game but as long as he's at minimum average, this is a big time player because of what he brings offensively not only in points but with his ability to fuel transition is elite.
guymez
The Seldom Seen Kid
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I agree with you.
He really has improved defensively.
He has huge offensive talent as well. I could actually see him winning a Norris at some point.
I think for me I would much rather see him make a mistake from being too assertive instead of being too liesurely/lackadasical with the puck. Especially considering that lack of assertiveness was the part of his game that he brought with him into the League.
I would really like to see him gow out of that.
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He sometimes uses his “laziness” to his advantage, the amount of times he’ll look like he doesn’t care only to just spin away from a defender.
For example late last game he does a quick pivot, the player blows right past him and it allows him to reset behind his net.
guymez
The Seldom Seen Kid
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Fair point.
Its a bad look when he underestimates the urgency of a particualr situation though..
Like the O/T goal against Colorado.
If he were to make a mistake from being too assertive that IMO would be easier to live with.
At that point in the game against Colorado he should’ve just tackled Mackinnon, if there’s more than 2 seconds left I don’t hate how he played that, he can’t commit too much to Mackinnon there or it’s a potential for a spin off. McDavid does that all the time where a defender gets near him and he spins off and now he’s past them.
guymez
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Dieseloil
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Ekholm is actually a D-man, Bouchard needs a ton of work in that regard. He has looked better the last couple of games. Great on offense, no one is disputing that.
guymez
The Seldom Seen Kid
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I agree.
I need to see more from him for sure.
That said to his credit Bouchard is getting better.
IMO he played one of the best overall games in his career against LA on Sunday.
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I agree with that, he still has those moments which can be frustrating but hopefully it's just a part of the development process and he becomes more focused as he gains experience.
The thing with Bouchard is that he actually has pretty good defensive IQ. I find that he's pretty positionally sound and he's actually more physical than people think but it's that lack of recognizing danger and the lackadasical approach to retrieving pucks sometimes that bites him but the good in his game so massively outweighs the negative that it's becoming less and less of an issue.
Actually, one other part of his game that can be frustrating at times is his shot selection. There's been a few instances when he shoots into a shin pad when he could have just got the puck deep or pass it to his D partner that led to breaks the other way but those instances have become more infrequent as well.
