He is; the game is played on the ice, not an excel spreadsheet. I don't care what those stats say to be honest as I think anayltics are as valuable as parachutes in estate sales. It's painfully obvious watching Bouchard play that he has no hope of ever learning how to play acceptable defence at the NHL level. Any stats that suggest otherwise are suspect
How about seeing him disgrace his country in the WJHC a couple of years ago? He is still just as terrible in his own zone now as he was then The thread is about Dobson and Bouchard; I am simply saying that Dobson has some hope of being a solid contributor in his own zone.
He should not have even made the team; he played like complete trash all camp and didn't even attempt to play acceptable defence once the tournament started. I can live with it if he was putting in an honest effort, but he didn't even care and added laziness to his already long list of defensive deficiencies. Tim Hunter should be ashamed of himself for allowing Bouchard to continue playing like trash despite it being obvious he couldn't play defence and didn't care to learn.
I've seen him play at multiple levels; it's pretty much impossible to measure how bad someone is in their own zone statistically, so the eye test is the best solution. Given you're an Oilers fan, you might be a little biased here; try watching teams that make being able to play in one's own zone a requirement to play on their blueline.
When it’s only your eyes coming to this conclusion.
I ask for just a dram of support for your position that he is a "massive defensive liability" and all you've got is the WJC from a couple of years ago? And he disgraced his country? Did this guy run over your dog or something? Because you seem to have no objectivity.
Oh, I get that. It's just fun seeing him embarrass himself. He's disgracing his country with these posts.
Oh, I get that. It's just fun seeing him embarrass himself. He's disgracing his country with these posts.
.
I'd say the same about Gostisbehere, Rielly, Dunn, or literally any defencemen who can't play defence. Bouchard was the subject of this poll though.
I've called out Rielly multiple times on here. If you can't handle Bouchard getting a little heat, maybe stay on the Oilers boards.
He probably thinks Luke Schenn is the next Bobby Orr, I mean, he did pass the eye test and score the other night, right? (no disrespect to Luke Schenn who is a fine man, but not to be confused with Mr Orr).Except your heat is nothing but garbage. Instead of actual proof of how Bouchard is this apparent defensively poor dman, your argument is 'my eye test' which is frankly BS. Your eye test is better than actual stats? Maybe the canucks should hire you then, so maybe Elias Pettersson will get out of his funk or Quinn Hughes being better defensively without having Tanev to support him
There are no actual stats that accurately reflect how a defenceman plays in his own zone.Except your heat is nothing but garbage. Instead of actual proof of how Bouchard is this apparent defensively poor dman, your argument is 'my eye test' which is frankly BS. Your eye test is better than actual stats? Maybe the canucks should hire you then, so maybe Elias Pettersson will get out of his funk or Quinn Hughes being better defensively without having Tanev to support him
Fine. He is easy to go wide on, doesn't use his size effectively, has a super low compete level, struggles with his positioning, and has a tough time getting back quickly enough to his own zone when the opponents counterattack.
Eye test is the best solution? What does the eye test tell about Hughes’ defensive acumen over the past 2 years?
He's been better this year and he still has the handicap of Nolan Baumgartner. He's not nearly as awful as the guys I mentioned.
Eye test says otherwise
