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titanium2

Jonathan Ericsson Watch Thread

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Last night he was +1 with 21 shifts, 2 Penalty Minutes, 4 hits, 2 blocked shots and 2 giveaways in a total of 14:18 TOI.

I figured why not start a thread to talk about his game by game progress like the Eaves thread; maybe "help" get him going.

How come he's struggled so much this year? You can never really point to one reason. There's the high expectations, Lebda, the injury, umm... Lebda. Wait I already said that. Oh well.

Lastly, I can't believe I beat Drake to this thread idea.

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He seems to either have a very good game, or a very bad game. Really needs to work on consistency. Good thing is he can usually make up for the mistakes he makes with his size and skating ability. He also played extremely good in the playoffs and probably caused him to have to live up to an unfair expectation, that coupled with the injuries seemed to delay/harm his progression.

Even with the mistakes he's making I still think he's a fine 5-6th defenseman at the moment. And hopefully he can straighten his game out and start moving up the depth chart. Either way it's like playing with house money when you hit on a player like Ericsson with the last pick in a draft. At the very very least he's a solid depth defenseman.

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He's looked utterly atrocious for a while now. Giveaways galore and seems to literally just STAND in the crease without making any contact with the player he's defending. Whats the point of that huge body then? I'd be more then happy to see Meech take his spot. I think another year in Grand Rapids would do him good.

Edited by ShanahanMan

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He didn't just have 2 giveaways last night, he had 2 pinpoint on-the-tape passes to the other team in a good scoring position. In the neutral and offensive zones he looks fine, but he's struggling with the rudiments of the game in the defensive zone. I can't remember the last time I saw Ericsson make a breakout while retrieving the puck along the boards where he didn't get trapped or just make the simple play. As stated above, his size is a waste. He could be an absolute behemoth of a defenseman but he very rarely uses his size effectively and relies far too much on his stick when fighting for pucks in the corner.

He'll get better with time and getting off a pairing with Lebda is imperative because it's just a recipe for disaster.

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Guest Lidstromboli

i don't get why he still isn't on the powerplay :confused1:

Edited by Lidstromboli

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i don't get why he still isn't on the powerplay :confused1:

I'm with you, although Babcock likes to have a right-handed shot at the point on both PP units, but I agree that he should have gotten a more realistic shot on the PP when everyone was hurt.

I attribute most of his recent struggles on lack of confidence, which began when he went cold offensively. That and having Lebda as a defensive partner magnifies every little mistake he makes because neither of them are good enough to cover for the other when one decides to pinch in, and both of them like to.

I hope he can turn it around, because we have all seen the kind of upside he has, and he could develop into a top 4 blue-liner on this team for many years, but in the here and now it's been painful to see him (and the team as a whole) struggle this much.

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Ericsson will be fine in the long run.

I really think right now he needs a stable partner on the 3rd pairing. I also think he needs to play a more physical game. I believe this is an understatement.

He needs to be able to play his game, and that means being aggressive on offense and defense. He can't really do that with the partners he's had.

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Guest Crymson

He needs to start being more careful and stop being so careless. Maybe it's a matter of lack of poise. Hopefully that will change as he grows in experience.

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Lastly, I can't believe I beat Drake to this thread idea.

:lol: I'm so damn biased when it comes to Ericsson that I find my disappointment in him pretty scary right now. I know he's still getting used to the NHL game and we have to expect growing pains in the first few years of an NHL d-man's career... but hey, I wanted him to be a star from day one. :P

Good things come to those who wait?

Worst case scenario he can be a Hall Gill type of guy and be valuable for his size and strength alone. God knows Gill's hockey sense isn't better than Lebda's.

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20100129221302_2010-0129-dg-wings0184.jpg


Red Wings D Jonathan Ericsson struggling to regain confidence

Chris McCosky / The Detroit News

Detroit -- Coach Mike Babcock and Jonathan Ericsson stood together along the boards at the end of practice Saturday. Ericsson's head was down and Babcock was doing all of the talking.

"He was talking about things that I know, just making sure everything was all right," Ericsson said.

Things definitely are not all right at the moment for Ericsson. He's enduring some painful growing pains in his first full NHL season and Friday night, in the Wings' 4-2 win against the Predators, might have been as ugly a game as the 25-year-old has ever played.

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"I didn't get much sleep after that one," Ericsson said. "I just don't have the answers right now. I feel pretty good. I didn't play badly in Minnesota (Tuesday), but then this game comes back and bites me pretty good. I just kind of froze out there."

What Ericsson is going through is not uncommon for young defensemen in a league where even the slightest hesitation or misstep can result in a turnover and scoring chance for the opponent. Although he was only marked for two giveaways against the Predators, he struggled to move the puck out of the zone the entire game.

"The great thing about this game is, you are only as good as your last shift," Babcock said. "Confidence is fleeting. It doesn't matter if you are 35 or 25. You earn the right to feel good about yourself each and every game. And sometimes you are your own worst enemy. All I tried to reinforce with E today was, 'You're a great player, play.'

"We'd like to get him back to the form he was at last spring. He was a dominant player for us. He's a big man with a lot of talent, but confidence is the toughest thing in this game. No one gives it to you. You've got to earn it yourself."

When Ericsson talks about how he "just kind of froze" on the ice -- that's a manifestation of having no confidence. When he's slow to react to a situation, slow to get to a loose puck, slow to make a check or a clearing pass -- that tentativeness is a manifestation of having no confidence.

"When you lose confidence, you don't talk, you don't go get the puck, you're not assertive," Babcock said. "You end up being in-between all the time and that's a hard way to play. When you are confident, you go after things and you are in control. I've always said confident people talk and they make things happen. They are on their toes.

"As soon as you are not on your toes in any sport, you are in trouble."


Ericsson knows this. But, as Babcock said, the only way to regain confidence is to start making positive plays.

"I know I am thinking too much," Ericsson said. "And when things aren't going your way, you think even more. I just have to start trusting myself again."

When asked if he had sought advice from captain Nick Lidstrom, Ericsson said, "Yeah, I try to get help from him, but this is about me and no one else."

Homer update

The return of Tomas Holmstrom (broken bone in his foot) has been put on hold.

Holmstrom skated again Saturday and proclaimed himself ready to play Sunday at Pittsburgh. But, after talking to Babcock, it was decided he would wait a couple of extra days and play Tuesday in San Jose.

"He could probably play Sunday," Babcock said. "But just confidence-wise I think it will be good to wait a couple of days."

Holmstrom agreed with Babcock's call.

"It was still tender at the beginning, but the more I skate it got warmer and looser," he said. "I am still worried that I could snap it again. I don't want that."

Others wounded

Valtteri Filppula (foot), Brad Stuart (shoulder) and Todd Bertuzzi (groin) all were held out of practice Saturday.

Babcock said that Filppula (who took a hard shot off the top of his foot) and Stuart (who sprained his left shoulder in Minnesota) were kept out as a precaution and he expected them to play against the Penguins.

Bertuzzi, he said, was more questionable. If he couldn't go, Ville Leino would dress for the first time in three games.

Tape to tape

Andreas Lilja will not be making the trip to Pittsburgh or going out west with the team next week. And for once, that's good news. Lilja is hopeful he will sent to Grand Rapids to start his rehabilitation stint.

"I think I am going to Grand Rapids, put it that way," Lilja said.

There still is some administration work to be done, getting official clearance from doctors and some contract issues to iron out -- but health-wise Lilja said he's ready to start playing.

... Babcock on playing the Penguins: "We need to get the points, but there's definitely more juice to this game. We've got a little history with them. We have a lot of fun playing them and they have a lot of fun playing us. And it's especially fun for the best players on each team. They like to see who's better in these kinds of games."

From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100130/SP...6#ixzz0eALkzRYl
Edited by titanium2

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I never understand the high praise he always gets. To me whenever i see him on the ice he is usually turning the puck over or comming very close to a turn over. Im not saying he sucks or anything but the media act like he is captain Nick sometimes.

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I never understand the high praise he always gets. To me whenever i see him on the ice he is usually turning the puck over or comming very close to a turn over. Im not saying he sucks or anything but the media act like he is captain Nick sometimes.

I think a lot of pressure is put on this organization and it's remaining defense core to somehow replace a void that will eventually be there, when Lidstrom retires. Not that anyone is capable of replacing Lidstrom, the pressure is there. And when you look at a player like Ericsson, who is young, large, and has the ability to play here. The question will be there.

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The giveaways in front of the net in the defensive zone have really increased lately.

I think he needs to go to a Chris Pronger hockey school next summer

He plays like a little man instead of a big man

I wonder if he's bright enough to play on this team like a few other fellows of questionable intelligence on this team ....Bertuzzi..... did I say that?

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