I too, agree with this. He's brings some decent sandpaper to the team for sure. The guy just needs to have a more hollow edge to his skate blades The guy blew more tires last season than the cars at the Indy 500. Maybe Teppo left a pair of his skates at HSBC when he retired?

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If it's a tight squeeze, spit on it! - NyI

He's a middling AHL player who had the good fortune of a drunk arbitrator. - The Squanto re: Tim Kennedy

Dude, your arguments are invalid. Monty was SOLID. Pick someone else to be mad at. Like people that are supposed to score.

Don't ever accuse me of just spitting stats.

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I watched about 70 games last season, and I only saw Montador or Lydman struggle for a stretch through January and February. Otherwise they played up to their average to slightly above average talent level.

Actually, Monty was shaky, imo(remember opinions, they are the reasons for message boards). You probably shouldn't assume that I blame his being shaky on him(here's where you start defending Lindy Ruff). If Monty plays defense with a guy with some quickness, and a cool head, he will be 'SOLID'. Lydman wasn't that guy(IMO once again, you're opinion may differ). This isn't a bash on Lydman either(before you take this route). I think both guys are too similar, which made them both tentative, and inefficient. Monty does need a little more help than Loods, and I hope Loods gets his in Anaheim(and I do honestly believe he will be coached correctly there), too. As far as us, I'd like to see Monty play with Sekera. If used correctly, I feel they could be a deadly pairing.

/just chill on the teen angst a bit man. j/k Sometimes this place makes the drunkie seem like a viable option. I'll just have to chalk it up to 'no hockey angst'.



We can go on all day about +/-, but we all know it's not what Lindy Ruff calls it. He said, "your stats are your stats". If so, he needed to switch Vanek to Defensemen 2 years ago. You also know that a better team will have a better +/- average than a bad team. This stat was irrelevant, and certainly did not prove my point invalid. We both know this.

Oh ya, I do apologize for saying that, even though it was what you were doing. I certainly realize you are a dedicated fan, for sure. I guess I just said it casually.

I think they did their job, which was to "not get scored on". I realize that the team shares that responsibility, but Lydman was a tank, and Montador played good enough to not lose, which was acceptable to me. He was a 3rd pair dman.

But yeah...opinions.

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Aside from that little stretch after the West Coast trip, I can't think of any time during the season where Montador was 'shaky' as you say.

Steve Montador is not going to be Tyler Myers. He's going to play defense, lay down the body once in a while, and occasionally get a hold of one and get a point or two.

What more do you expect from the guy?

Montador was great the whole season, outside of that stretch... and even more impressive in the playoffs.

And now he's in a contract year.

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Wheelhouse

I don't expect anything more than that from him. I saw him carrying the puck more than he should have(Loods too), which left him behind the play. Ideally if Monty plays with Leopold or Sekera, he may be able to stay at home, right where he belongs. I think Rivet kind of fits in this category too. I also think we all kind of know this team lacks puck moving defensemen, which is the real problem.

Montador, I thought, was excellent at the puck moving given his expectations. He made an error or two, but from what I remember he was fairly effective jumping into the offense if he found the right time. I watched like 80 games, about 10 in person, I saw him and thought he was really good in both ends and I loved the Lydman-Montador pair, great as a shutdown pair. I think we should re-sign him after his contract is up because I think he fits here as a 4th or 5th defenseman. If he gets his accuracy down, he could be good on the 2nd PP unit, IMO.

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Rest in Peace Nani. 10/3/10

Gerbacity



"Grier coming in over the line. He leaves it to Gaustad. The shot. THEY SCOOOREE!! RING UP ANOTHER ONE FOR THE GOOSE!!! HONK IF YA HEAR THE GOOSE!! 3-0 BUFFALO!"