Green a Norris Finalist, Focused on Game 5
Mike Green, Zdeno Chara and Nicklas Lidstrom are your Norris Trophy finalists. Green acknowledged the honor, but noted, "I am just thinking about tomorrow."
about 3 years ago
J.P.
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I'm a homer but
I like his chances. 30 goal D-men don’t come around that often and to me that should be rewarded.
Hey, you win, DMG – I had figured it’d be at least three comments before someone took a shot at Green for his playoff performance so far.
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So what odds do you guys have that he has his arm in a sling when he goes to the awards shows. I could see this being one of those “surgery announced right after the playoffs end” scenarios. He just doesn’t look right.
I’ve decided it’s a lower body issue. (Not that this is actually reality)
Maybe a groin or something he can play on that just limits his speed.
He is not breaking very hard on O and he’s not taking shot opportunities we’ve seen him take in the past. And then there was the hooking penalty he took last game racing back for the puck into our zone. He was motivated to get the puck, but I recall him not moving his feet while hooking – the hook was substituting for footwork momentarily.
He’s hitting too hard for it to be lower body, IMO. Groins don’t really allow you the strength it takes to make good checks if they’re not healthy. Could be wrong, but that’s what I think.
I’m guessing ill, personally. I’ve said Flu before, could be an infection (throat, sinus) that’s making him sluggish. Because it’s definitely sluggish, in my eyes, not hurt.
by DrinkingPartner on Apr 23, 2009 2:19 PM EDT up reply actions
I’m sticking with shoulder. His passing isn’t as good, his shot is nowhere to be found. I’m looking back at that Stamkos incident.
That’s what I thought, too, but he’s hitting guys. He’s going up against the boards.
It’s his puck skills that are off. Tentative with his passes. Nervous on the point. Afraid to take shots.
All of which point to a case of nerves.
Has the pressure gotten to him?
Which shoulder is he hitting with? I’m pretty sure it was his right shoulder that got hurt (which would kill a Righty’s shot) and I can only remember him leading with his left shoulder on his hits.
You’re saying that he’s been hitting with one shoulder for 3-some weeks, now? No, I don’t think so. We’d have noticed long before this. Not to mention, that shouldn’t affect his skating speed.
by DrinkingPartner on Apr 23, 2009 2:38 PM EDT up reply actions
I’m suggesting it. Not saying it. I haven’t been paying close enough attention to him since the Stamkos hit. He also may have aggravated it more recently (i.e. in the playoffs) so we wouldn’t have noticed earlier. I do know that Greens two big hits this series (Sjostrom and Betts) were both left shoulder hits.
It’s not that hard for a defenseman to commit to leading with the same shoulder every time, especially for a guy who skates like Mike Green. A shoulder wouldn’t slow him down but skating 30 minutes a night when he isn’t physically at his best might take something out of him.
We don’t have anything against him getting a case of nerves, right? Last year he scored twice in Game 1 and was pretty good after that. And his OT heroics aren’t exactly playoff time.
by red army line on Apr 23, 2009 5:20 PM EDT up reply actions
Maybe the start but he played way too many games at way too high a level for that to be the issue now. He may have been at 80% since the Pronger hit (Scaaaaaary thought) but something had to have aggravated it. That’s why I’m looking at Stamkos. That’s the last time I can remember him being put in any discomfort and it fits the bill for my hypothesis.
Well truth be told, our “Norris finalist” has been the worst defenseman on either side.
TSN analysts are talking about it. Why can’t we?
Because we’re smarter than they are and have actually watched him play more than four times this season.
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Difference in the series… our guys play hurt and are liabilities. Their guys play hurt and score game winners (Drury).
Wrong. Difference in the series… Henrik Lundqvist.
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I’d like to see us making a bit more contact with Lundy.
But please Caps, don’t look to Avery for examples of the Right way to do this.
Wrong #2. Difference in the series…, Luck. How many posts? How many lucky-ass stupid soft goals for NY?
by DrinkingPartner on Apr 23, 2009 2:20 PM EDT up reply actions
Yes. We need to cancel practice and looking for ways to beat Lundqvist and offer up a virgin to the hockey gods so we can win next game.
Any volunteers?
Crap, we have to find a virgin! Somebody find Briere, quick!
by DrinkingPartner on Apr 23, 2009 2:32 PM EDT up reply actions
have him and his ridiculous salary, i’m hoping our gm holgrem just goes badass on him and gets to the chase and sends him down to the phantoms unless he saves us from a similar 3-1 fate, either i eat these words on a glorious playoff comeback to remember for decades, or this comment is still valid, we’ll know soon enough.
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by J.P. on Apr 23, 2009 3:12 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Briere has been Holmgren’s one, massive misstep. I shudder to think how good the Flyers would be if they’d taken that money and signed/acquired a decent goalie.
i thought the difference was that we are the caps and the hockey gods hate us
by sincitycapsfan on Apr 23, 2009 4:19 PM EDT up reply actions
Besides Callahan, all their forwards have gotten opportunities by taking advantage of our mistakes. No question 9/10 times we win that game 1-0.
by red army line on Apr 23, 2009 5:21 PM EDT up reply actions
Difference in the series Ken Wregget Nikolai Khabibulin Martin Biron Henrik Lundquist!
by Rompy on Apr 23, 2009 2:10 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
painful memories. We can still wipe Lundy of that list though.
by Sombrero Guy on Apr 23, 2009 2:48 PM EDT up reply actions
It should at least be mentioned as it is related to the subject:
Kromwall is supposed to be our poor-man’s/back-up Green if we need him.
We don’t need him though. Injured or mental, Green is still currently better than Kromwall by far.
I have been begging for us to get McLeod all season though….
Did anybody else notice that Ovechkin lost to Bobby Ryan in the TSN play of the year?
by DrinkingPartner on Apr 23, 2009 3:16 PM EDT reply actions
Wait. What?
From TeB. The money quote:
when I talked to Coach Bruce Boudreau about Mike Green just yesterday, I said, ’What’s going on? He just doesn’t seem right,’ and Bruce actually caught me off guard with his candid response. He thinks that Mike’s gotten caught up in his quick rise to superstardom a little bit, and maybe now is trying to please fans, and maybe do too much, and make all the perfect plays, and score four goals and impress people, instead of just going out and playing his game.
I talked to Mike about that and he sort of acknowledged that it might be the case and he needs to get back to the basics.
Most creative rue-ing gets a puppy?
if green is injured, BB hasn’t been told. i can’t imagine a coach would smokescreen for an injury by suggesting the player’s head has become too big.
by Natty Bumppo on Apr 23, 2009 3:30 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah, but if BB is told about injuries when they happen in the regular season (which he is/has been), I’d doubt (or more to the point, wonder why) they’d not do it now.
Most creative rue-ing gets a puppy?
by Bald Pollack on Apr 23, 2009 3:36 PM EDT up reply actions
I don’t find this as surprising as Tarik does. All he’s saying is that Mike’s trying to do too much as a result of the added pressure of his contract and accolades. He’s said it before, in fact. Am I missing something?
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you’re right that he said basically the same thing before game 4. also from TEB’s blog
“There’s been a lot of positive press for Mike this year and sometimes he feels the weight of the world on shoulders,” Boudreau said. “Instead of just playing like Mike Green, he’s trying to impress people with hits and skating and staying out on the power play. When you do all of those things, usually you don’t do anything of the things as well as you can. So we’ve talking to him about playing within himself.”
i think “getting caught up in his own superstardom” is far more harsh than “feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders,” though. interesting that TEB can’t get a direct quote to this effect.
by Natty Bumppo on Apr 23, 2009 3:41 PM EDT up reply actions
either way, this line of commentary from BB would be an awful weird and accusatory approach to cover up an injury. (unlike GMGM’s “he’s got the flu” strategy.)
by Natty Bumppo on Apr 23, 2009 3:43 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah, not knowing what the exact quote was, the wording of that was curious.
Most creative rue-ing gets a puppy?
by Bald Pollack on Apr 23, 2009 3:46 PM EDT up reply actions
I meant even earlier on – like when he had his post-record drought.
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
I think Tarik thinks it’s a cover-up for something. Sounds like it to me.
Maybe something family-oriented?
by DrinkingPartner on Apr 23, 2009 3:44 PM EDT up reply actions
I know his Mom’s health was weighing on his mind an awful lot (she’d had a heart attack or something serious), but if I recall, that was in the offseason.
Most creative rue-ing gets a puppy?
by Bald Pollack on Apr 23, 2009 3:47 PM EDT up reply actions
He hasn’t played this poorly since early in his rookie campaign. It’s significant because you never see a player hit the skids this hard unless it’s due to injury.
Maybe he’s gotten scared since his pinching was part (although not all) of the reason Dubinsky scored the GWG in Game 1.
Is he taking long shifts?
by red army line on Apr 23, 2009 5:25 PM EDT up reply actions
i’ve read a couple places about mike green breaking up with a long-term girlfriend pretty recently. could be just bullshit gossip, but i’ll try to go backtrack and find those links.
by alright alright alright on Apr 23, 2009 9:57 PM EDT up reply actions
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