Tribute Tobias Enstrom

[Eye of Ra]

What are you guys memories of him? What did he bring to the ice?

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[AlphaLackey]

The longest stick in the NHL. Seriously. Dude looked like the right winger on a bubble hockey table.

 

[jetsforever]

Got scared from that Tribute tag and thought he died or something

Awesome player though, great offensively and then rock-solid defence when he aged out of the offence
Nice partner for Byfuglien

 

[Duke749]

Got scared from that Tribute tag and thought he died or something

Awesome player though, great offensively and then rock-solid defence when he aged out of the offence
Nice partner for Byfuglien

Excellent skater too. Could also defend the front of the net better then a lot of big guys because he would actually stick check them.

 

[blues10]

Nice of him to waive his NMC for the Vegas expansion draft.

 

[Tasteless Beaver]

Probably the best shut-down defenseman we ever had while he was in his prime. He and Buff will likely be my all-time favorite D pairing, it was just electric.

 

[hockeyarena]

Was equivalent to pionk the last few years where every goal against one would mutter "fing enstrom"

 

[Buffdog]

I'll mostly remember him for that goofy-long stick he used and how he was constantly having to change his grip

Still managed be a good passer/shooter

 

[Nickel eye Heel hers]

He was very good at boxing out players in front of the net using body position.

 

[Jet]

What are you guys memories of him? What did he bring to the ice?

View attachment 893783

Might be my favorite 2.0 defenseman of all time.

The essence of skill and smarts overcoming size. That guy would go into corners with dudes twice his size and come out with the puck.

Really good at everything, no weaknesses in his game. A real joy to watch.

 

[Jack7222]

Enstrom is a guy who taught me that evaluating defensemen is really difficult. If you look at the big events that happen around him, you'll see good passing, boxing out players along the boards, but also occasionally getting out-muscled and beat along the boards and in front of the net.

If you look at his stats and results though, it's clear that he was absolutely top-of-class 100% elite defensively. IMO that came from hockey IQ, awareness and positioning... his ability to always be predicting and countering what opponents were trying to do meant that there were just less opportunity for opponents with him on the ice. This impact is essentially invisible though (unless you're focusing on him in person and way better at evaluating D than I am heh).

In 2018 the guy carried Buff to best-in-league xga stats. Imagine having the top defensive pairing in the league, AND it has Dustin Byfuglien on it for offense; to me these two formed an absolutely insane pairing that was probably wildly underrated by most of us while it was here, certainly by me.

 

[Jet]

Enstrom is a guy who taught me that evaluating defensemen is really difficult. If you look at the big events that happen around him, you'll see good passing, boxing out players along the boards, but also occasionally getting out-muscled and beat along the boards and in front of the net.

If you look at his stats and results though, it's clear that he was absolutely top-of-class 100% elite defensively. IMO that came from hockey IQ, awareness and positioning... his ability to always be predicting and countering what opponents were trying to do meant that there were just less opportunity for opponents with him on the ice. This impact is essentially invisible though (unless you're focusing on him in person and way better at evaluating D than I am heh).

In 2018 the guy carried Buff to best-in-league xga stats. Imagine having the top defensive pairing in the league, AND it has Dustin Byfuglien on it for offense; to me these two formed an absolutely insane pairing that was probably wildly underrated by most of us while it was here, certainly by me.

The fact that he did what he did with pre-transformation Buff is really impressive.

 

[Gil Fisher]

Enstrom is a guy who taught me that evaluating defensemen is really difficult. If you look at the big events that happen around him, you'll see good passing, boxing out players along the boards, but also occasionally getting out-muscled and beat along the boards and in front of the net.

If you look at his stats and results though, it's clear that he was absolutely top-of-class 100% elite defensively. IMO that came from hockey IQ, awareness and positioning... his ability to always be predicting and countering what opponents were trying to do meant that there were just less opportunity for opponents with him on the ice. This impact is essentially invisible though (unless you're focusing on him in person and way better at evaluating D than I am heh).

In 2018 the guy carried Buff to best-in-league xga stats. Imagine having the top defensive pairing in the league, AND it has Dustin Byfuglien on it for offense; to me these two formed an absolutely insane pairing that was probably wildly underrated by most of us while it was here, certainly by me.

He's a reminder that 80% of the things you do on a shift are away from the puck. (and invisible to the casual viewer)

 

[bustamente]

 

[Channelcat]

A defensive tactician. I loved his game.

 

[Jetfaninflorida]

I recall that Maurice healthy scratched him from what would have been his last Jets game and last NHL game. What a way to end your time with your NHL club.

 

[jungles]

I recall that Maurice healthy scratched him from what would have been his last Jets game and last NHL game. What a way to end your time with your NHL club.

For Joe Morrow! Ouch.

Enstrom was underrated by a lot of fans.

 

[wasup]

I guess I'm in the minority here cause I was not a fan . He was a mosquito on an elephants ass when trying to win puck battles . That's the reason for the long stick although he did use it fairly well .

 

[Jets 31]

I was always amazed at how he would choke up on his stick and make great passes like that. Very smart hockey player that's for sure, and a great skater.

 

[JetsFan815]

Was always a joy to watching him box out a forward from the front of the net who was twice his size.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Why did he use such a long stick?

 

[StumpyTown]

Why did he use such a long stick?

He was pretty small by NHL defenseman standards. It allowed him to get at and disrupt possession from players much larger than himself using his brain and his stick instead of trying to out-muscle opponents. He was a cerebral player and excellent at his craft. I played a men's league game many moons ago and broke my normal stick. It was the one game I didn't bring a spare so I borrowed one from another, much taller player. While my stickhandling went to sh!t I was able to reach around bigger guys quite easily to disrupt their play with the much longer stick.

 

[Channelcat]

For Joe Morrow! Ouch.

Enstrom was underrated by a lot of fans.

I'm becoming convinced that most hockey fans don't even know what they're watching.

 

[blues10]

I guess I'm in the minority here cause I was not a fan . He was a mosquito on an elephants ass when trying to win puck battles . That's the reason for the long stick although he did use it fairly well .

There are others that felt the same. He was just hammered in that Vegas series. In fairness to Toby that was the end of his playing days.

At times I felt his awkwardly long stick affected puck retrievals when being pressed heavy on the forecheck.

I grew to appreciated his game and what he brought to the team. Even bought an Enstrom game worn playoff jersey.

 

[Jet]

There are others that felt the same. He was just hammered in that Vegas series. In fairness to Toby that was the end of his playing days.

At times I felt his awkwardly long stick affected puck retrievals when being pressed heavy on the forecheck.

I grew to appreciated his game and what he brought to the team. Even bought an Enstrom game worn playoff jersey.

Yeah unfortunately I think there's some recency bias with Toby.

He kind of fell off a cliff a bit in his last season, and I think injuries kind of caught up with him too.

For the vast majority of his time with the Jets he was an incredibly well rounded defenseman.