Dan Hamhuis was the prize defenseman of last Summer's fee agent class. He's a British Columbia Native, and his desire to play close to home probably had as much to do with his landing with the Canucks as the finances involved. But he wasn't the only physical yet gifted blueliner added by the Canucks prior to the start of this season.
Keith Ballard also left a southern climate to venture into Western Canada, and despite what many are viewing as a disappointing regular season, the Minnesota native is a gritty, heart and soul defender.
Its seems everyone is focusing on either the talented forwards employed by the Canucks or their Olympic yet enigmatic goalie, and the stellar play and elite talents of the Sedin's and Roberto Luongo certainly merit that. But looking at this team, and after watching their first round series with the Blackhawks, it seems there's something being overlooked... Their back six.
Philly's collection of defensemen has been generally regarded as the best in the NHL. I'm not arguins the talents and abilities of an impressive group that includes Mr. May himself, Chris Pronger. Pronger's will and physical ability to dominate have been instrumental in putting 3 teams in recent years in the Stanley Cup finals: the Oilers of 2006, the Cup Champion Ducks of 2007, and last years Cinderella Flyers squad. But the rest of the group isn't shabby either.
Braydon Coburn is a physical compliment to Pronger, Matt Carle's skating and passing abilities make him a natural fit to pair with Pronger, Kimmo Tommonen is a great compliment to Pronger on the opposite point on the power play. Yes, there's grit and talent galore on Philly's blueline group.
But no one seems to mention Vancouver's group in comparison.
Christian Ehroff's offensive abilities overshadow his play in his own end. He is a key component to their impressive powerplay. Hamhuis is physical and certainly is worthy of the hoopla he received last offseason. Kevin Bieksa does a fine enough job offensively to give the 2nd powerplay unit enough juice there isn't much of a drop off when the first group needs a breather. But did you see him plowing over Blackhawk forwards to clear Bobby Lou's crease repeatedly in the first round? Jeremy Roenick stated last night on Versus' post game show that Bieksa was one of the meanest, most difficult players he ever played against. He flat out said he hated and feared playing against him because of the edge with with he plays. JR played a lot of hockey in his career, enough to register 500+ career goals. That's mighty high praise.
I've seen Ballard play live a few years back against a stacked Penguins squad when he was on an overmatched Coyotes team. I love the style with which Ballard plays. It's like punishing the opposition is what fuels him. His numbers don't show it, but he's also very capable offensively. Hard to put up numbers when you're excelling as the fourth defenseman.
Rounding out the top 6 are Sami Salo, a versatile and productive blueliner who has struggled with injuries but is very valuable to this Canucks squad. And then there's the young but very talented Alex Edler, who many feel will grow into an offensively talented yet well rounded blueliner who will peak as an elite #2 or 3 blueliner. All he needs is experience and to fill out his frame.
Compare this group to Philly's. I'm not so sure I'm willing to give the title of "Best Defense Group" to Philly. I think Vancouver's is better. And you can say that about their forwards, and their goalie. It's certainly up for debate. But what other team left stacks up so well in every single area. There's a reason the Canucks are the favorite. But the biggest reason plays behind the touted Sedin twins.
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