Re: NHL 2016.2: An All-Canada Final (Playoffs and Off-season)
Calmer heads though... Panarin (and Kane)... but especially Panarin, seemed pretty invisible in the Nashville series.
Definitely agree. Not that anyone on the roster had a series to be proud of. But playoff production is Job 1; and it just wasn't there for Panarin.
I can see why they believe this is an overall upgrade. The Hawks won three Cups getting pushed around by physical teams, but the core is older now and maybe we need to be sturdier.
It always bothered me to see us get beat down every playoff series, but the Cups spoke for themselves and how could I argue too much with that?
I'll be happy if we can go a little more toe-to-toe with the less skilled, goon squad teams like the Blues.
I'm with you on all of that, but it's really important not to overreact.
A bit of ancient history from the early '80s: At that point in time, the skate was on the other foot, so to speak. The Hawks were a team that tried to out-physical more talented foes. They won a playoff series against a good North Stars team with that recipe. The North Stars responded by partially dismantling their team -- and were the worse for it for a number seasons.
I'm certainly not saying that trading Panarin is the equivalent. But that history shows a path to be avoided.
Hammer gone though hurts to the core. As a defensive defenseman myself - him because he's tough as nails, me because I have no hands
- he was my hero.
Major loss.
While I want to be fair and see what the new guys can do, I have to admit I'm really concerned about the D Corps moving forward. We seem to be either a little too old or very unproven - pretty much across the board. Not saying everything would have been easy had we been able to keep TVR & #4. But we were already thin before losing those two.
Quick aside, in case anyone's wondering: Yes, having Panarin (and Saad before him) come to Columbus produces a twilight zone feel for me. I do root for the CBJ as a second favorite team. I'm genuinely glad the NHL is in town. I was even happier when the Jackets moved East, thus reducing the "conflicting loyalties" issue. But trades like this are just plain awkward. I guess I can only hope it works out well for both teams.
Bottom line(s)? Rooting hard for Saad to have a successful homecoming; and hoping that Stan Bowman has some answers on 'D' that I'm currently not seeing.
