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titanium2

Ericsson: "I need to perform this year"

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There's nothing wrong with suggesting that Ericsson should fight a little more.

He's the biggest guy on our team, and he's shown that he can handle himself alright. If it adds more of a mean streak to his game, then I'm all for it.

Ok heres why I don't like the idea of him fighting: Hes got a lot of upside right now to be a top four d-man, if he was a career bottom pairing guy, I'd be all for him fighting, but as it stands theres more risk than reward for him droping the gloves in my mind. Feel free to disagree this is only my opinion.

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Ok heres why I don't like the idea of him fighting: Hes got a lot of upside right now to be a top four d-man, if he was a career bottom pairing guy, I'd be all for him fighting, but as it stands theres more risk than reward for him droping the gloves in my mind. Feel free to disagree this is only my opinion.

Meh him asserting himself in fights 5 times a season isn't going to stunt his development. If anything it'll just help him add a new dimension to his game that will make him a better player. If he fights and realizes he's good at it he would be more likely to start hammering guys infront of the net because he knows if they wanna fight him he can handle them.

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Well if NHL 10 is any indication (and we all know it is) Big Rig has risen to the occasion. In the third year of my dynasty (2011-2012) he is an 84 overall, and hits people into next week. It shall happen. So sayeth the Xbox 360.

But on a serious note, the guy has all the right tools to develop into a top 4 guy. He's got size, mobility and a nasty shot from the blue line. If he gets some confidence under his belt, I think we'll really see him grab the bull by the horns.

I think that perhaps Babs and co wanted him to really work on his defensive game last season, and so he was over-thinking the game quite a bit. I think it was 2007-08 where he was the leading scorer in Grand Rapids at a certain point in the season, so he does have competent offensive skills too. I guess it's easier said than done to bring out the best in a player.

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Ok heres why I don't like the idea of him fighting: Hes got a lot of upside right now to be a top four d-man, if he was a career bottom pairing guy, I'd be all for him fighting, but as it stands theres more risk than reward for him droping the gloves in my mind. Feel free to disagree this is only my opinion.

There's nothing unusual about a top 4 D-man fighting. There are plenty of guys who were top defensemen in the past, and fought quite a bit. Still happens nowadays. Better players than Ericsson too.

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There's nothing wrong with suggesting that Ericsson should fight a little more.

He's the biggest guy on our team, and he's shown that he can handle himself alright. If it adds more of a mean streak to his game, then I'm all for it.

E seemed to play better last year when he was physically engaged in the game. This doesn't always mean fighting, but physicality leads to fighting. In addition, the team could use some additional toughness, especially from someone E's size. I don't want to see this happen again...

Edited by WorkingOvertime

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E seemed to play better last year when he was physically engaged in the game. This doesn't always mean fighting, but physicality leads to fighting. In addition, the team could use some additional toughness, especially from someone E's size. I don't want to see this happen again...

E does play better when he is physical and I really hope he brings it to the table this year, I'm going to go out on a limb and say he gets in 5-7 fights this year. This team wont be able to add any toughness this year because roster is full and no cap space. Be prepared to see " that " all season long. Just gotta hope guys like abby and E step up the physical game and try to put a hurting on the other teams star players for once.

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E seemed to play better last year when he was physically engaged in the game. This doesn't always mean fighting, but physicality leads to fighting. In addition, the team could use some additional toughness, especially from someone E's size. I don't want to see this happen again...

It's kind of hard for someone "tough" to do something in that case. It's a first line with guys like Datsyuk, Z and Lidstrom. Other teams whose star players are Getzalf and Richards are going to be a bit tougher up front. We'd have to get a line match-up where the third pairing on defense or the fourth line of forwards (Abdelkader in particular) would get out there.

Speaking of which, I fully expect Abs to get in a few scraps this season, especially after talking about how he went for boxing lessons. I doubt he'll be a full blown fighter, but I think he'll def drop the gloves a few times.

It just annoys the hell out of me to hear players say stuff like this. As if it was something they just realized after a life of playing hockey.

I agree to an extent, but I guess this is really about hindsight and self-motivation. If he realizes he had one poor year and wants to improve then I'm all for it. The season before when he got some games in I thought he looked pretty good. I know he had better partners, but he still looked calmer overall.

I don't think E's a bad player, I just think he had zero confidence and got stuck with Lebda as a partner for a good portion of the season. It seemed to me like when Lilja got back, E had more freedom to play his game. I'm hoping Salei can be the stay-at-home guy to give him that confidence too.

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I agree to an extent, but I guess this is really about hindsight and self-motivation. If he realizes he had one poor year and wants to improve then I'm all for it. The season before when he got some games in I thought he looked pretty good. I know he had better partners, but he still looked calmer overall.

I don't think E's a bad player, I just think he had zero confidence and got stuck with Lebda as a partner for a good portion of the season. It seemed to me like when Lilja got back, E had more freedom to play his game. I'm hoping Salei can be the stay-at-home guy to give him that confidence too.

Jonathan Ericsson... An example of what happens when keeping it real goes wrong.

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Guest Stolberg

Ericsson was at his worst last year when he tried to be a bruising stay at home d-man. Went out of position to make hits and despite trying, rarely cleared the crease. He looks a lot more confident when he's given the freedom to carry the puck, especially in the offensive zone.

I wouldn't be surprised if they forced a square peg into a round hole by trying to mold him into a stay at own type of player. Who knows, maybe he'll be a lot better this year in the physical department.

Edited by Stolberg

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I wouldn't be surprised if they forced a square peg into a round hole by trying to mold him into a stay at own type of player. Who knows, maybe he'll be a lot better this year in the physical department.

http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2010/07/st_james_red_wings_believe_eri.html

"I think you'll see a big step for Ericsson," coach Mike Babcock said during June's draft in Los Angeles. "The big thing with E is, sometimes a player thinks a coach is trying to change him, but a coach's job is to help you get better. We think he's a great player."

The plan on defense is to pare down the minutes of the top pair, Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski, especially during the first half of the season. With that, "We need Ericsson to play 20 minutes a night, for sure," Babcock said.

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http://blog.mlive.co...elieve_eri.html

"I think you'll see a big step for Ericsson," coach Mike Babcock said during June's draft in Los Angeles. "The big thing with E is, sometimes a player thinks a coach is trying to change him, but a coach's job is to help you get better. We think he's a great player."

The plan on defense is to pare down the minutes of the top pair, Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski, especially during the first half of the season. With that, "We need Ericsson to play 20 minutes a night, for sure," Babcock said.

I hope he can end up handling it, I really do. Salei is capable of playing 20 mins a night, or at least he was in 2008-09. Hopefully Ericsson and Kindl can hang too.

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Ericsson was at his worst last year when he tried to be a bruising stay at home d-man. Went out of position to make hits and despite trying, rarely cleared the crease. He looks a lot more confident when he's given the freedom to carry the puck, especially in the offensive zone.

I wouldn't be surprised if they forced a square peg into a round hole by trying to mold him into a stay at own type of player. Who knows, maybe he'll be a lot better this year in the physical department.

Who says you have to play a stay at home style to be physical? Ericcson can carry the puck all he wants but when he is physically engaged he seems to have his head with him more and just plays all around better. Growing up playing hockey (in Canada anyways) the coach would always say go out first shift and have a big hit or get hit hard, it puts your head in the game and has you thinking out there more. This seems like the case for Ericcson. Noone is saying dont skate and don't play a finesse style when you dont have the puck, but when a guy is coming down the wing on you you can still put him through the glass or smash anyone near the crease.

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I wouldn't be surprised if they forced a square peg into a round hole by trying to mold him into a stay at own type of player. Who knows, maybe he'll be a lot better this year in the physical department.

Also, the whole square peg in round hole idea reminds me of this quote of Babs' about Jonte:

http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2010/05/if_stuart_cant_go_mike_babcock.html

"We actually think the Big E plays better like that," Babcock said. "That's why we cycled E through. He's a real good player, and we think he's going to be a better player when he plays in the top four and plays all the time. He makes those skill plays that sometimes the people he plays with don't expect. Every D-man, every player will tell you it's easier playing 15 minutes than eight minutes. And when he plays with everyone, he plays that much."

I imagine that at times Ericsson wanted to just play his game but that didn't work out so well.

Side note: Man it took me forever to find that quote about Ericsson and skill plays.

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