Blueline Is Bigger – But Will It Be Better?
Somewhere over the course of the last year or so, Thrashers general manager Don Waddell seems to have bought into the theory that bigger is better when it comes to an NHL team’s defensive corps. Since opening night last fall, the D-line has indeed seen considerable growth in its physical size and weight. When the Thrashers handed the Capitals a 7-4 defeat to open last year’s campaign, the six defenders wearing blue that night were Nic Havelid, Ron Hainsey, Zach Bogosian, Garnet Exelby, Tobias Enstrom and Mathieu Schneider. Two of those players were under six-feet tall…Enstrom, (5′-10″) and Schneider, (5′-11″)… and that unit averaged 6′-0 1/2″ and 199.17 pounds. The man in the press box that night, Nathan Oystrick, goes at 6′-0″ and 210 pounds.
Even though we celebrated John Anderson’s first ever NHL victory that evening, the defense surrendered 4 goals and 43 shots. That’s right…forty-frickin’-three.
By the time early January rolled around, Atlanta’s defense was allowing teams an average of 32.6 shots on goal and 3.65 goals per game. One of the main problems was that the lack of size on the blueline was allowing opposing team’s players to camp out in front of the net and many close-range shots were being taken.
It also didn’t help matters that the 6′-2″, 200 pound Zach Bogosian was out for most of that time with a leg injury. However, when Zach went down, the 6′-7″, 240 pound Boris Valabik was called upon to fill the void and, depending on whether he or Oystrick was playing, the average size of the blueline grew about an inch…to about six-one.
As the trade deadline came and went, gone where the 5′-11″, 195 pound Schneider and the 6′-0″, 200 Nic Havelid. The defensive corps got younger…and it got bigger as well. When the Thrashers walloped the Lightning 6-2 in the season finale last April, the starting defenders in that game…Hainsey, Bogosian, Exelby, Enstrom, Oystrick and Valabik…averaged 6′-1.83″ and 208.33 pounds.
Those primary players, sprinkled in with nine games by the 6′-1″ Anssi Salmela, helped the Thrashers defense play much more respectably in the closing months of the year. The team that was allowing 3.65 goals per game was now only surrendering about 3.15…and finish the year with an overall total GA/G of 3.40. Also, the team penalty kill went from a putrid 73.9% effective at the mid-point of the season to 76.0%…still not great, but better.
Although the average shots-per-game stat really did not shrink, (32.7 SA/G season overall), to me it appeared that less of the time Kari and Moose were facing shots from point-blank range.
While its true, “team” defense includes the input from the forwards, I have always contended that good defense begins with good defenders. And as the defense got bigger, it seemed to get better.
Now, after the Exelby for Kubina deal this summer, the Thrashers blueline…much like what Johnny said of Leon…. is getting lar-r-r-r-ger!
As such, if you consider an opening day lineup that could include Hainsey, Bogosian, Enstrom, Kubina, Valabik and Salmela, you would see a defensive lineup that had only one player, Enstrom, under 6-feet tall and averages 6′-2 1/2″ and 211.67 pounds.
That’s an overall average gain of two inches and almost twelve pounds since last season’s opener.
Hopefully, the “bigger defenders = better defense” trend will continue.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
231 comments Add your comment
Glovesave29
July 28th, 2009
1:39 pm
PJ Axelsson just signed a 4 year deal with Frolunda of the Swedish Elite League.
The Earl of Bud
July 28th, 2009
1:40 pm
LAC, last year the only Thrashers defenseman who had more hits than Kubina was Exelby and obviously Kubina was a better player so I don’t rely on that stat alone. Kubina had 133 blocked shots, more than any other Thrashers defenseman last year. Only Bogosian and Hainsey had more takeaways last year than Kubina. Kubina also led the team in # of shifts per game, so clearly he was the defenseman that Wilson wanted out there the most.
GaVaHokie
July 28th, 2009
1:51 pm
WBF… i’m not giving Malhotra too much grief… he’s had to wait all summer for the dust to settle on the Tier 1 guys. This is his time to negotiate what’s best for him as teams fill in the gaps. Can’t fault him for weighing all his options.
Stroz… I’m fine with either Malhotra or Pyatt, sure.
GaVaHokie
July 28th, 2009
1:53 pm
Frank Kaberle just got bought out by Carolina…
http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=285999
Smoothie
July 28th, 2009
1:56 pm
Good stats EOB! I think I recall reading on another blog how Kubina played Top 20 “clutch” minutes in the league last year. It just happened to be for a bad team. I was also curious about his shot-blocking so that’s good to see.
When you are a team that stresses moving the puck out of the D-zone quickly and you are currently a bit undersized, then it makes sense certainly to bring in a bigger guy who can a) block shots b) move the puck c) shoot AND score and d) move guys out of the crease on the PK. But first and foremost, blocked shots can definitely help lead to transition.
If Hainsey can improve his back-checking and play a little more physical on the PK, that pairing could work out quite well.
Smoothie
July 28th, 2009
2:07 pm
GVH, first on Tanguay, I will not be surprised if the TBL did in fact cut Prospal thinking they still had an outside shot at AT. But VP was expendable with the glut of “talent” they now have on their roster. He is a very expensive 34 y/o player and a potential ingredient for cap suicide later.
On Malhotra, the fact that he wants to go to DET is very telling as they are at the mercy of the arbitration hearing for Hudler before they can really do anything. Once DET makes a move, we should see Malhotra make a decision I reckon. I’m sure he’s professional enough to do a good job if he came to ATL as let’s say a 3rd choice. But if you’re going to pay a guy a lot more money than an alternate capt who just gave the team a big hometown discount, then that could set a bad tone for the lockeroom later on if Malhotra does his best Jason Williams impression in Oct & Nov.
The Earl of Bud
July 28th, 2009
2:39 pm
Smoothie, MM is one of the top 5 FO guys in the league, far better avg than Reasoner. He is also 3-4 years younger. So you can make the argument that he can get a little more $$ than Reasoner. Williams was a bust because he couldn’t be a 1st line winger. That is hard to do in this league. MM is being asked to fill a role of PKer and 3rd line winger, that’s much more common to succeed at for bottom 6 guys. So, the bust potential is nothing compared to Williams.
Given our crappy PK I want to get the best that’s out there. MM seems to be one of the better options.
R. Stroz
July 28th, 2009
2:45 pm
Jason Williams was a bust because he plays like a pansy @$$.
Williams was such a pansy, I stopped calling Todd White Charmin.
GaVaHokie
July 28th, 2009
2:49 pm
Here’s the latest from Eklund… Bertuzzi and Satan on the radar for Atlanta.
http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Eklund/Rumors-on-the-21-Remaining-UFAs-That-Can-Still-Help-Your-Team/1/22313
The Earl of Bud
July 28th, 2009
2:53 pm
GaVaHokie, I actually floated Bertuzzi’s name before if we had to settle for a 30+ year old. I’d take him over Grier. But it is Eklund so it won’t happen.
GaVaHokie
July 28th, 2009
2:54 pm
Smoothie… which alternate Captain do you speak of?
Reasoner isn’t an “A” yet… Armstrong just got his pay doubled.
Smoothie
July 28th, 2009
3:00 pm
Mark my words, Reasoner, Player’s Player Award winner, will get an ‘A’. I am confident in that assertion. I’ll bet Stroz a whole $1!! And he knows how serious I am!
EOB, you are taking my comments too literally. I’m not comparing JWill’s abilities with Malhotra’s. I’m simply saying that an underperforming Malhotra making more money than market value can impact the lockeroom as negatively as an underperforming Williams who was overpaid by about $500 K to play Beyonce and Coldplay on the clubhouse stero…DJ Wussy Will obviously did not endear himself to teammates.
The Earl of Bud
July 28th, 2009
3:05 pm
“Reasoner isn’t an “A” yet”
I don’t know if this falls under the predictions that we aren’t making or the bets that Brendan is doing, but here goes: I say the opening night captains are Kovalchuk (C), Kozlov (A) and Bogosian (A). If not Bogosian then Hainsey. If not Kozlov then Armstrong.
GaVaHokie
July 28th, 2009
3:06 pm
Well, yeah, I’d almost say with certainty that Reasoner will get an “A”… that’s not really a stretch of the imagination, but he would have been no more a hot commodity this summer as he was last summer as a UFA. I wouldn’t consider his salary a “Home Town” discount… Malhotra, I’d imagine is more highly regarded league-wise.
… just my opinion.
The Earl of Bud
July 28th, 2009
3:07 pm
Smoothie, fair enough, I’ll agree on that. But I don’t see Reasoner getting an “A”. Oddly enough I was typing my post on captains the same time you said that.
GaVaHokie
July 28th, 2009
3:08 pm
Kovalchuk (C) Kozlov (A) Reasoner (A)
GaVaHokie
July 28th, 2009
3:08 pm
oh, and Armstrong (A)
The Earl of Bud
July 28th, 2009
3:27 pm
GaVaHokie, outside of the goofy “rotating captains” that sprung up, I think teams normally select 2 forwards and 1 defenseman. If a forward is the C, the other forward and defenseman are the alternates. If the defenseman is the C, the two forwards are the alternates. I can’t document that anywhere but I am pretty sure that’s the norm. 4 forwards ain’t gonna happen unless it’s some goofy rotating system which we won’t do now that we finally named Kovalchuk as Captain.
R. Stroz
July 28th, 2009
3:30 pm
Smoothie – I’m reluctant to take that bet as Reasoner has been a leader by his work ethic on the ice.
BTW GaVaHokie, I warmed that dollar up on some Varsity chili dogs Friday night.
Rawhide
July 28th, 2009
3:30 pm
I’ve already weighed in regarding Marty getting an “A”.
He deserves it…he should get it.
Smoothie
July 28th, 2009
3:35 pm
Bertuzzi…NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! Thank goodness it is only Eklund.
GVH, do you honestly think that Reasoner is not worth more than the following players signed during the July FA period?
Donald Brashear
Tomas Kopecky
Ian Laperriere
Vern Fiddler
Kyle Brodziak
Smoothie
July 28th, 2009
3:44 pm
We had 4 alternates last year, and then 3 after Kovy was given the C. We had Havelid, Colby, Slava and Kovy to start the year.
I don’t see why they won’t give the other ‘A’ to Reasoner. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if they gave out an additional 2 A’s, one to Marty and one to Hainsey to have one on D.
Glovesave29
July 28th, 2009
3:44 pm
Smoothie – the KHL has already weighed in on Hudler, and they do not consider his current situation as a contactual obligation to the Wings, and thus are expecting him to show up for camp in the coming weeks. The IIHF is too weak in this matter to do anything about it, so I guess he’s off to play in the Motherland. So I guess Malhotra will don the Winged Wheel in the coming days. That should make Alan quite happy.
If Tampa thought that they has to move salary to get Tanguay, why did they not wait until he was signed before jettisoning Prospal? Salary cap means little now, as long as they are where they need to be on opening night. Must have been some other reason to let him go.
Earl – DEAD ON….Eklund is NEVER right. If he says Bertuzzi is coming, I’d put some serious cash on him signing elsewhere. Don’t really know if I want him here anyhow, just an older player whos dominating days are getting smaller in the rear view mirror, and fades as the season plays out.
The Earl of Bud
July 28th, 2009
3:45 pm
Smoothie, he was making $950 thousand and he came to Atlanta on a 1 year deal for a $50 thousand raise to $1 mil. Now he just got another raise for $100 thousand this year and another $100 thousand the following year to bring him to $1.2 mil/year. I don’t think it was a big hometown discount given that he continually is getting more money and I don’t know how much of a demand there was for him from other teams.
Rawhide, while I can agree that Marty works hard and brings the effort night in and night out, do you think they would take an “A” away from Armstrong when he is on a 1 year deal (which he may take as an insult) when he is going to be seen as a hard worker? Or do you take it away from Kozlov as he is the senior leader of this team? You can’t have the whole team be full of alternates. You also need a defenseman to get one as well.
R. Stroz
July 28th, 2009
3:52 pm
You never know with Anderson as coach, he likes to hand out A’s like a retiring college professor.
The Earl of Bud
July 28th, 2009
3:56 pm
Smoothie, we will not have 5 captains/alternates. I’ll take all bets on that one.
Glovesave29, good tip on the IIHF there. The only way I would take Bertuzzi is if the only other option was some other mid-30’s player like Grier or Satan. I think the next best option would be Dominic Moore.
R. Stroz
July 28th, 2009
4:02 pm
EOB – All bets are limited to ONE DOLLAR, the rules established by the movie Trading Places.
GaVaHokie
July 28th, 2009
4:06 pm
Smoothie… Reasoner was a July signing last year… I’d put him in the same boat as Fiddler and Kopecky… I’d probably take Brodziak over Reasoner.
Stroz… I may have to insist on PayPal.
R. Stroz
July 28th, 2009
4:08 pm
GaVaHokie – I’ll get you a beer at Gorins for the laughs on that one.
World Be Free
July 28th, 2009
4:20 pm
Smoothie-Corkum actually broke in with the Sabres, so he had 2 tours of duty. That was Darcy Regier’s big trade deadline deal a few years back.
GaVa-I understand giving Manny some time, I just don’t like being left on ice while he tries to field a “better offer”. I don’t the Thrashers being the consoliation price for a tier 3 free agent. To let him off the hook would be like letting “Manny be Manny”. We may be missing out on other players that could help us while we wait for this guy to decide.
Eklund has a very low accuracy record. Love the way his posters pick on him for blowing so much smoke.
Smoothie
July 28th, 2009
4:22 pm
EOB, you realize that Donald Brashear got $1.4 M this year right? And a career 3rd liner, Chris Neil, just got $2.0 M to come back to the Sens. And Jussi Jokinen, who was given up for dead by both the Stars and the Lightning, was awarded $1.7 M for a couple of good playoff series.
Just goes to show there are suckers galore in the UFA market. I certainly think Marty could have gotten $1.2 – $1.4 M per from at least 1 or 2 teams, but he obviously likes the fit here in ATL.
GVH, Kopecky is given a bit more credit than I think he deserves as a shut-down guy, but $1.2 M is probably fair. I would think Fiddler is worth a little bit more than his $1.1 M price-tag, but he’s coming off a down year.
EOB, if a guy like Jussi Jokinen can parlay a good playoff run into a big raise, I don’t see what’s so shocking about Marty getting a couple hundred grand more after earning it over a full season.
LAC
July 28th, 2009
4:33 pm
I agree 100% with Smoothie on Bertuzzi, not enough left in the tank…
The Earl of Bud
July 28th, 2009
4:44 pm
World Be Free, while I give you a nice round of applause for “Manny being Manny”, I don’t think Waddell and Dudley are playing World of Warcraft in their office while they wait to hear back from MM. Or any other Atari 2600 game. Not that I want to use Eklund as a source, but you have to think we are also putting out feelers on the Bertuzzis, Satans, etc. to have a backup plan if Manny is being Manny.
Smoothie, guys like Brashear and Neil are 4th line goons, not on the 3rd line checking line. Chris Neil, while I agree is overpaid, is averaging about 150 – 200 PIM/year. MM gets about 25 – 50 PIM/year. 2 totally different roles so lets compare apples to apples. Keep in mind a good playoff run is worth a whole lot more than a good regular season.
Hockey Biltong
July 28th, 2009
5:02 pm
Kovy??? Where are you???? Kovaaalchukkkkkkk? Come out and play…..
Brendan
July 28th, 2009
5:02 pm
Hokie, interesting item on Frank Kaberle being bought out. I wonder what his next move is? Playing in Europe? Signing with some other SE division team, to make Carolina sorry? Retirement? Kaberle is 35, I believe. In 2006, he scored the Stanley Cup clinching goal, in Game Seven, vs. Edmonton, for the Hurricanes.
R. Stroz
July 28th, 2009
5:19 pm
EOB – Are you sure Waddell and Dudley aren’t playing Pitfall Harry.
BTW, Waddell was 22 in 1980.
Glovesave29
July 28th, 2009
5:37 pm
Congrats to John LeClair, Tom Barasso, Tony Amonte and the 1998 Olympic Womens gold medal winning for their induction into the US Hockey Hall of Fame.
Smoothie
July 28th, 2009
6:18 pm
Just to round out my “analysis” of Slater on the PK after his return from injury in March, Slater was on the ice for only 1 SHG over the final 8 games of the season. He logged a total of 26 M over those 8 games and also scored a SHG (I was incorrect before stating that he helped Perrin score a shorty but it was the other way around) to offset the SHGA.
It’s a small sample, I admit, but his SHGA for those 8 games would have been 2.31, which is way below the league avg of 4 – 5 / game. If Slater can just keep his SHGA down around 5 or 6, that would be a huge improvement over his last couple of seasons.
Of course the PK GA is a team stat and we suffered from not having enough size (Enstrom) and grit (Hainsey) when short-handed.
Hopefully adding some beef (Kubina along with a more matured Bogosian) in front of the net will take some of the pressure off of Slater, Pevs, Marty and _________ to be so much better.
Just in case you were wondering, Enstrom was on ice for 4 of the 9 SHGA during that 9 game stretch, but he was on the ice for two shorties. Hainsey was on for 5 of the 9 GA, 2 with XLB, 2 with Boris and 1 with Enstrom. Bogey was on the ice for 3 of the 9, but scored a shorty, and XLB was on the ice for 3 of the 9. As for the forwards, Marty led the way with 5, Stuart was next with 4 and Pevs & Perrin each with 2.
World Be Free
July 28th, 2009
6:51 pm
EOB-I knew you would like the “M be M” line. I just would like to get this done or move on to someone who can help us.
Frankly, I would like to suit up Duds and send him out to kick some ass. If Rocky Balboa can do it at 60, so can Duds.
World Be Free
July 28th, 2009
7:11 pm
If we sign Bertuzzi, then we can’t sign Dominic Moore. Don’t think Dom’s brother, Steve Moore would appreictae his “bro” playing with the thug that jumped on Steve’s back.
R. Stroz
July 28th, 2009
7:16 pm
Bertuzzi belongs in Toronto with the rest of the goon crew.
World Be Free
July 28th, 2009
7:28 pm
Eklund has the Leafs signing Ogie Oglethorpe
R. Stroz
July 28th, 2009
7:34 pm
World Be Free – PERFECT
The Earl of Bud
July 28th, 2009
7:35 pm
Smoothie, nice stats. I always appreciate those as you can probably tell.
World Be Free, while I liked the “M be M” line, I’m still waiting for that new name
Thanks for the reminder on the Bertuzzi thing, but obviously we are only going to sign 1 new guy, not 2. Either way, if something is going to happen it will happen before training camp. That Eklund list had 21 names on it that were the best of what’s left, so there are still some hands that need to be played out. Let’s see where the dominos fall.
R. Stroz, I actually thought of Pitfall along with some other classics. Although wouldn’t Waddell had to have been 21 to play in those Olympics? I was just throwing out the teenager reference since they obviously weren’t pros back then for our side.
R. Stroz
July 28th, 2009
7:48 pm
EOB – My reference was directed at whether Waddell’s age in 1980 had him growing up playing PONG or some really advanced video game such as Asteroids (please note facetious meter going off).
The Earl of Bud
July 28th, 2009
9:01 pm
R. Stroz, yeah, I was saying the same thing. I was referencing the last time we said this and I figured him to be 18-19 years old for the Olympic team. I thought you were just giving me the correct info that he was 22. Although I did think that he could only be 21 because he would already be pro at 22 and back then we only had amateurs. I was just continuing the conversation we had before on this. I think I said it was Pac-man or Combat. Am I just dreaming this up or was that conversation with someone else?
World Be Free
July 28th, 2009
9:06 pm
EOB-funny how Eklund always has a player, or 2 or 3 going to Buffalo, when you and I know it will not happen.
New name-so many choices, trying to find one that will live to the legend of WBF. Don’t know if it should be a player, restraunt or drinking establishment. Thoughts?
World Be Free
July 28th, 2009
9:26 pm
Stroz-would not surprise me, is that why they sign Christian Hanson, son of one of the Hanson brothers? Puttin’ on the foil in the 21st Century?
The Earl of Bud
July 28th, 2009
9:59 pm
World Be Free, player, restaraunt or drinking establishment? I thought you already voted down Anchor Bar? I need to hear the options before I cast a vote obviously.
R. Stroz
July 28th, 2009
10:22 pm
EOB – Same conversation, different Rawhide blog.