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Who is on Defense


Goon

Tough Decisions on defense  

73 members have voted

  1. 1. Who sits on defense

    • Derrick LaPoint
    • Dillion Simpson
    • Joe Gleason
    • Jake Marto
    • Ben Blood
    • Defense by committee play bad you sit
    • None of the above


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I have been putting a lot of thought into this. When Andrew MacWilliam and Derek Forbort return to the line up from their illnesses who should sit?

Joe Gleason looked pretty good this past weekend getting two starts on the weekend.

I think Derrick LaPoint has had tough season and was a health scratch in favor of the 17 year old Dillion Simpson. Hakstol has some tough decisions to make soon.

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So if Who is on defense does that mean I Don't Know is playing forward, and What's in net?

Well I think it's easier to say who is playing goal. We only have two choices.

The Forward discussion is more interesting and dicey.

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There are no "bad" players at this level, only bad systems or players and systems that don't mesh.

UND has done really well developing forwards under Hak, but name a dman under Hak that has developed up to potential???

Chorney is the closest, but he is still in the minors and he was a second round pick

Lee was a top 10 pick and has been up and down his whole career

Finley, yeah he had injuries, but he was a first rounder who was playing in the east coast league last year.

My point is that the Hakstol staff hasn't been great at developing dmen for the next level. Excellent at forwards, not real great at D. Odd considering Hak was a solid dman himself. It also begs the contention that if high end talent isn't developing, and we aren't winning titles, is the defensive coaching the missing ingredient?

I am not throwing any coach or player under the bus, but contemplating this interesting set of circumstances that might be coincidental or might be contributory.

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There are no "bad" players at this level, only bad systems or players and systems that don't mesh.

UND has done really well developing forwards under Hak, but name a dman under Hak that has developed up to potential???

Chorney is the closest, but he is still in the minors and he was a second round pick

Lee was a top 10 pick and has been up and down his whole career

Finley, yeah he had injuries, but he was a first rounder who was playing in the east coast league last year.

My point is that the Hakstol staff hasn't been great at developing dmen for the next level. Excellent at forwards, not real great at D. Odd considering Hak was a solid dman himself. It also begs the contention that if high end talent isn't developing, and we aren't winning titles, is the defensive coaching the missing ingredient?

I am not throwing any coach or player under the bus, but contemplating this interesting set of circumstances that might be coincidental or might be contributory.

It really depends on what their potential is. Just because someone was a first-rounder doesn't mean he's destined to play in the NHL unless he's coached out of it. Sometimes they're drafting mistakes.

Chorney's small by NHL D standards and not a puck wizard; that's not a good combo for being an NHL regular, and there's nothing a program can do about it.

Finley got a lot better in his time at UND (consider where he was his first year and how well he played post-concussion as a senior), but his big limitation is footspeed. Washington took a flyer in a year they had two first-round picks, hoping for the next Chara, but that doesn't mean he didn't develop a lot at UND.

Lee has good hands, feet and size, and if there's one guy who didn't reach his potential here it would be him. Maybe he should have stayed another year. His brother is sure a nice defensive d-man at Denver.

The current group of defensemen has developed nicely. Genoway, LaPoint, Marto and Blood are much better players than when they arrived. It's hard to get a read on Mac and Gleason yet.

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UND has done really well developing forwards under Hak...

He has done a fantastic job developing forward's defensive game. That is why they do well in the NHL because he makes them rounded.

I don't think he develops a whole lot of offensive play-making skills though. I think that is his weakness and therefore the teams as well..

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