Re: UNH 2018-19: Souza The Opportunity
How many minutes does Wise toll on the power play? He has been bringing the puck through the zone and is a great skater and wonderful defensemen. He also has the second best defensemen on the team in Maass as his sidekick. I like them all but Max is our best offensive defensemen and he does carry the puck through the zone and in the offensive zone. His defense is very good. It was not Max's fault entirely for BU and Robinson did save his butt once this weekend. Max is the top drafted player on UNH and that is for good reason.
I do hope that Pierson, Maass and Charley will be back soon.
Honestly, I could not disagree with these Max Gidon takes any more than I do. He is not only the best player and talent on the roster (by a very WIDE margin), but, nearly every night, Gildon is not only the best Wildcat on the ice (in terms of both talent AND impact) but the best player period. HockeyRef is right when she states that most of these knocks on Gildon are relative to his potential - and that is 100% fine, as he is not a perfect player, does make mistakes and has areas in which he can improve. But that is not remotely where it ends...
He is constantly criticized and blamed for UNH's shortcomings and losses. What exactly do you think people are saying about him when they call him a 'turnover machine' that makes 'rookie mistakes' and 'doesn't skate hard' and 'isn't a team player', DB? Its not just that one recent post, either - its a constant critique of Gildon on these threads. A primary opinion shared just this week was that UNH would play better on Friday without Gildon. They played OK against a weak opponent (yes, Im saying it, Miami still stinks - five of their wins are against AHA opponents and Colgate). They managed to tie the RedHawks. The expectation for the following game was that they'd be worse when Gildon came back on Saturday night. Yet, they dominated. They scored one more goal and gave up two less. Gildon scored once and essentially created the BVR/Blackburn chance with a patient and decisive breakout pass (more on this play later).
Gildon handles the puck FAR more than any other teammate and I would wager he turns the puck over at a MUCH lower rate than any of the other defenseman. Assuming we watched all 6 and expectations aside. When the other defensemen turn the puck over - and they do quite a bit of this in their own rights - no one says boo. This was the point I made when I pointed out Boyd giving the puck away at the defensive blue line against UMass. It would have never been mentioned or remembered if I hadn't. I mentioned Crookshank's turnover as it happened. DC is the only other player to point it out, since. Wyse fumbles breakouts and turns pucks over. So does Maass. Surprisingly, no one ever holds them accountable. Relativity to expectations is one thing, completely ignoring the mistakes of some while harping on the mistakes of another - without qualifying those frustrations as burdened by (unreasonable) high expectations is another...
Yes, Gildon occasionally makes decisions to turn back around the goal. He got pestered a couple of times this weekend and nearly every time escaped or re-won the puck and broke the pass out. He takes his time making breakout passes because he is skilled enough to do so and much more often than not makes the right decision. He makes these plays not only because he's the one defenseman with the ability to do so, but because he can make more impactful plays by waiting. He makes high-end plays - sometimes they don't work. Big deal. Imagine UNH without him attempting these high-end plays? He could make 10 foot passes to UNH forwards on the side board, too - and UNH would spend MUCH less time threatening on offense as a result. All this ignores that he's very successful making these plays and does his job at a high rate...
Those are the kinds of passes UNH needs Gildon to make, ASKS Gildon to make and that Gildon DOES make at an extremely high-rate. Without those passes UNH goes from a team averaging just above 2.00 goals per game to a team averaging around 1.00 goals per game - and giving up a lot more because they cant move pucks out of their zone and up the ice. It is WAY past time that people acknowledge not only how inept UNH's offense would be without him - but also how many goals he prevents simply by moving the game to the other end of the rink. His biggest 'flaw' is that the puck is always on his stick, by design, and everyone's eyes are always on him, expecting perfection. The rest of the D blend in and are essentially only noticed when they make a good rush/play. Lets compare UNH's top-4 defenseman...
Points by Defenseman:
Gildon: 2-9--11
Wyse: 0-2--2
MacKinnon: 0-2--2
Maass: 1-0--1
+/- by Defenseman:
Gildon: E (30+ mins/gm)
Wyse: -2
Maass: -4
MacKinnon: -6
Gildon has outscored the remaining entirety of the UNH defense, 11 points to seven. Despite constant criticism of his defensive play, Gildon is even this season (I know what the stats say, he was on the ice for Blackburn's goal Saturday - his patient, risky stretch pass created it), while his regular defensive partner is a -6 and lauded for his defensive prowess. Both Wyse and Maass are negative. So to sum up Gildon's season to date - he's been the best offensive player on the team regardless of position and the best of the four regular defensemen from a goal-differential stand-point. And many still want to pretend he's a liability for this team. If you want to analyze Gildon's game, you can start here - there is a very good chance UNH is still winless (and with a lot fewer ties) without him...
Again, critiquing his game is one thing. Claiming he's a liability, that the team would be better off without him or questioning his character and effort is embarrassing. Along the lines of blaming Poturalski when he put up 50+ points and was a Hobey finalist. Which happened constantly...
SOG is always lurking in the shadows!