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stormboy

Lilja, as of late

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i was thinking the other day that i haven't seen a lot of lilja-bashing threads on lgw, and decided to check some stats.

it is interesting that lilja is tied for second in +/- among our seven/eight d-men (depending on whether you count meech as the 8th) at +9--tied with rafalski and second only to lidstrom. he has a better +/- than hudler, filppula, sammy, and cleary.

i realize that +/- isn't an all-telling statistic, but i think it says something about lilja's tighter defensive play lately. i haven't seen nearly as many giveaways from lilja as i have kronner and rafalski. he's blocking shots, making some hits, and even scoring a little bit (he's on pace for a career high in points).

just thought i'd point out that lilja's actually playing pretty well for us right now. anyone else agree/disagree?

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I absolutely agree. Lilja has limited his turnovers, thrown his body around, improved his stick handling, kept his feet moving and has even shown that he can score a goal or two. He better keep it up throughout the playoffs.

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Lilja has been possibly the most consistent force on the blueline, given Nick's nagging elbow problems. Obviously Nick still ranks higher but Lilja is having a fantastic year so far.

His plus/minus statistic is particularly telling because he usually scores so little. Very few goals for, but even fewer goals against. An uncommon theme on this team this year.

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Haha, I was just going to make a thread like this.

What is up with Lilja this year? Apparently it wasn't just a good start to the season. 50 games in and hes been a BEAST. Hes been our most consistent Dman game in and game out. Hes made me a huge fan of his this season.

The most impressive thing about Lilja, IMO, is that its not a contract year for him. Hes seriously just going out there and getting his head in the game, giving 100% every night. I find that really admirable.

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As a former harsh critic of Lilja's (guy's play begged for it), I must agree. He's playing great! He's chasing a lot less than he used to and (gasp!) he's he's anticipating plays and knocking guys down. While I realize that he's liable to turn back into a pumpkin (head) at any time, I'm glad to see him improving.

Edited by dicksmack

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haven't checked his stats at all... but from what i remember last few games Lebda is lighting the lamp a lot too.... maybe becoming a good partnership

yeah, lebda's got 4 goals this year (career high is five) and the same number of points as lilja. he's also climbed back from a season-low -9 rating to a decent +5, for a guy who doesn't score a ton. he he beats stuart's +4 and kronner's -5. (kronner also has double the amount of points that either lilja or lebda have, though only 13 of them are at even strength [which is still more than lebs or lils at even strength].)

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Dont care what anyone says if you watch the PK he is out of position on most goals

I disagree. But then again, the nature of the PK is generally that you're out of position when the team scores. Comes with that whole one extra man to cover thing. I've seen Lidstrom out of position on more PK goals against this year than I have Lilja, to be honest.

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The Truth of the matter is that Lilja reads LGW and has seen the posts bashing him, since those posts have been on display for everyone to bash, he has tightened up his game. I am still not the biggest Lilja fan, but as of late he has been better than some.

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haven't checked his stats at all... but from what i remember last few games Lebda is lighting the lamp a lot too.... maybe becoming a good partnership

Mr Kahn over at MLive has said that Lebda is having difficulty holding onto his 6th dman spot. Kronwall for the most part has stunk it up. Too bad we're not so close to the cap and it could be time for our 6ft 5 beast from GR to start playing.

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Dont care what anyone says if you watch the PK he is out of position on most goals

it would be interesting to see stats about goals against per minute of PK time. that, of course, wouldn't even tell the whole story, because if lids is out of position for a goal, lilja gets a PK GA, and vica-versa. i can honestly say that i haven't noticed lilja being out of position on the PK as i have some of our other d-men, but i've also seen lilja make some good defensive plays on PKs, including a lot of blocked shots.

one of my biggest gripes all year as been that a lot of goals against, powerplay or otherwise, come from a guy controlling the buck behind the net then passing it out to someone on the periphery of the crease for a tap-in. it seemed like no one was clearing--or even covering--the guy in front of the net. lilja has been stronger there than most of our guys this year, including lids.

but, yeah, i'll keep an eye out for that. our PK has been brutal as of late, so i'm guessing a lot of people are out of position a lot of the time.

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I was down on Lilja like crazy the past couple years, but this year, the guy's been everything the Wings could ask for. He blocks shots and plays a solid, stay-at-home game. He's still pretty physical, too, although he'd be much enhanced if the Wings dressed a tough guy.

I'm pleasantly surprised.

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Here's the thing about Train. Game in, game out, he's a solid stay at home defenseman who hits and blocks shots. He PKs like a beast and will occasionally drop the gloves to boot.

Then, out of nowhere, he makes a mistake so baffling and horrendous you wonder how he could possibly be a regular in the NHL (see: Teemu Selanne).

Looking over the whole of his time here in the Winged Wheel, I can't see how anyone could be disappointed in his play.

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