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Ozzie30

Jonathan Ericsson Appreciation Thread

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Guest Crymson

Fischer was knocked on LGWs plethora of times for not "using his size" to his potential, and "playing soft" when he could have "delivered a nice check". Also, his pairing influence was Chelios, who is Ericsson's pairing influence?

To be honest, not sure what you're trying to argue? Are you saying Ericsson will never develop into a solid #2 defensman someday? If so, I agree. I think he'll develop into a solid #4. He might even become a lethal 2nd unit PP quarterback specialist.

I think he demonstrated his potential in the first half of the season and then slipped back into boneheadedness for the rest and for the playoffs. That's when I utterly lost faith in him.

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Fischer was also 19 years old and still growing into his body, Big Rig is 26 and still a softie. Imagine a 26 year old, 7 year vet Fischer playing in the league, the dude would have been a beast!

Why would I want to torture myself?

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Guest Heaten

Fischer was also 19 years old and still growing into his body, Big Rig is 26 and still a softie. Imagine a 26 year old, 7 year vet Fischer playing in the league, the dude would have been a beast!

Yet he was still the LGWs official whipping boy...

Ericsson has the 2nd best +/- stats among DRWs defencemen. 1st best was his defence partner, Rafalski. Ericsson scored more points in his first two season than Jiri Fischer. Ericsson also had better +/- stats than Jiri Fischer's 2nd year in the NHL.

Both players are clumsy, both players got knocks for not being physical enough at the start of their respective NHL careers. Fischer was younger and had more upside. Ericsson wasn't a first round pick and isn't expected to be a top 2 defenceman on his team. Defencemen don't even start to peak until their early 30s. Lidstrom wasn't even known as a star until his early-to-mid 30s.

What does this mean? That fans (LGWs posters) have unrealistic expectations of players, and don't understand the development process. Bottom line, whether anyone wants to admit it or not, Ericsson is a good young defenceman. He is still learning and finding his identity (the same identity that most defensemen don't find until they get into their 30s). The guy is a damn good bottom pairing d-man, and will develop into a rock solid #4. Holland, Babcock and crew haven't been this patient with him because he's a flop. He's a guy that will be pursued by other teams... but according to the latest report (previous page), he said he was never made an offer by Holland, never rejected an offer, and wants to play for the Red Wings because he knows they are a winning team. So the guy seems to have some loyalty and wants to stay here. And I hope he does re-sign. Because who replaces him may be a flop.

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Yet he was still the LGWs official whipping boy...

Ericsson has the 2nd best +/- stats among DRWs defencemen. 1st best was his defence partner, Rafalski. Ericsson scored more points in his first two season than Jiri Fischer. Ericsson also had better +/- stats than Jiri Fischer's 2nd year in the NHL.

Both players are clumsy, both players got knocks for not being physical enough at the start of their respective NHL careers. Fischer was younger and had more upside. Ericsson wasn't a first round pick and isn't expected to be a top 2 defenceman on his team. Defencemen don't even start to peak until their early 30s. Lidstrom wasn't even known as a star until his early-to-mid 30s.

What does this mean? That fans (LGWs posters) have unrealistic expectations of players, and don't understand the development process. Bottom line, whether anyone wants to admit it or not, Ericsson is a good young defenceman. He is still learning and finding his identity (the same identity that most defensemen don't find until they get into their 30s). The guy is a damn good bottom pairing d-man, and will develop into a rock solid #4. Holland, Babcock and crew haven't been this patient with him because he's a flop. He's a guy that will be pursued by other teams... but according to the latest report (previous page), he said he was never made an offer by Holland, never rejected an offer, and wants to play for the Red Wings because he knows they are a winning team. So the guy seems to have some loyalty and wants to stay here. And I hope he does re-sign. Because who replaces him may be a flop.

Let's not kid ourselves, E's +/- was due mostly to Rafalski's puck moving skills. Their +/- would have been much better if Ericsson ever learned to pinch at the right times.

Lidstrom wasn't a mainstream star until his 30s when the Norris voters learned you didn't need to be a Scott Stevens type to be an effective DMan. Lidstrom should have had more Norris' in his late 20s, but the voters had a hard on for big hitters and gritty DMen.

Fischer was also on a 30 point pace during his final season before his injury :( Ericsson will be lucky if he ever tops 20 points.

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Guest Heaten

Let's not kid ourselves, E's +/- was due mostly to Rafalski's puck moving skills. Their +/- would have been much better if Ericsson ever learned to pinch at the right times.

Lidstrom wasn't a mainstream star until his 30s when the Norris voters learned you didn't need to be a Scott Stevens type to be an effective DMan. Lidstrom should have had more Norris' in his late 20s, but the voters had a hard on for big hitters and gritty DMen.

Fischer was also on a 30 point pace during his final season before his injury :(Ericsson will be lucky if he ever tops 20 points.

Who knows what Fischer would have scored. Too bad we'll never know. But saying what Ericsson will never score has me scratching my head, especially considering he had 15 points in 74 games in his 2nd in the NHL. *IF/WHEN* Ericsson learn's how to get his bomb of a shot through to net, he could put up some respectable points... especially if he gets some PP time.

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Who knows what Fischer would have scored. Too bad we'll never know. But saying what Ericsson will never score has me scratching my head, especially considering he had 15 points in 74 games in his 2nd in the NHL. *IF/WHEN* Ericsson learn's how to get his bomb of a shot through to net, he could put up some respectable points... especially if he gets some PP time.

I always wished Ericsson would have learned to shoot. If you have a 100+ MPH shot, you use it, and he NEVER did.

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I always wished Ericsson would have learned to shoot. If you have a 100+ MPH shot, you use it, and he NEVER did.

Ericsson apparently has a bomb of a slapshot, but his windup takes friggin forever. He just can't get it off at the speed of an NHL game and hasn't really adjusted it.

Even if his slapshot loses some power, he needs to figure out how to get that thing off fast and through traffic. There's plenty of guys on the team to help him with that, namely Lidstrom and Rafalski.

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Guest CaliWingsNut

Looks like his agent just found some more money for him if Retire is going to retire.

doubt it. He maybe back now, but he won't be replacing Raffy.

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Ericsson is no Fischer.

The only thing Ericsson has over him is a slightly harder shot (that he can't use in-game).

Fischer was better in every area and would have been a beast for us now at the age of 30 - you could just see it all starting to come together for him in his final couple years.

Heck, reading reports from prospect camp, Fischer is still able to school every one of our hot shot prospects at camp.

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He's gotta decide what kind of defenseman he wants to be. Babs keeps talking about they want him to be more like Brad Stuart but sometimes it seems as if he prefers to use his stick and skill with the puck.

For now he should try to be like the best version of Lilja, only with a much better first pass. Make the simple play, block shots, PK, play physical, and occasionally get in scraps where he hopefully doesn't get his ass handed to him.

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For now he should try to be like the best version of Lilja, only with a much better first pass. Make the simple play, block shots, PK, play physical, and occasionally get in scraps where he hopefully doesn't get his ass handed to him.

I'm sure that's what a lot of us on here think. It probably isn't what he feels right now.

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The difference between early Fischer and Potential Ericsson (this "potential" thing is being treated like a completely different player, so I'm giving him a name) comes down to passing. Fischer was a whipping boy because he had the bad habit of getting out of position and often taking stupid penalties trying to recover. In spite of that problem, his passing was never a problem because he knew his role and didn't try to get cute. Potential Ericsson seems to think he's a regular dishin' machine when the reality is he can't make a safe tape-to-tape to save his life. Positioning is something a Dman learns with experience. Picking your spots, for the physical guys, is another (think how Kronner has had the light come on the past two seasons compared to earlier when he's tend to go for hits when a miss meant certain goal against). Smart passing doesn't seem to be something these guys learn with experience. Either they come into the league being a puck handler, or they don't.

Potential Ericsson is a turnover machine and that's not likely to get better, even once he gets more comfortable with positioning and using his size. We're a puck possession team and it starts with reliable first passes. We're losing a very skilled passer in Rafi which will put an ever bigger spotlight on the primary weakness of Potential Ericsson.

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Ericsson is no Fischer.

The only thing Ericsson has over him is a slightly harder shot (that he can't use in-game).

Fischer was better in every area and would have been a beast for us now at the age of 30 - you could just see it all starting to come together for him in his final couple years.

Heck, reading reports from prospect camp, Fischer is still able to school every one of our hot shot prospects at camp.

If not for his medical issues, Fischer would have been a legit star defenseman by now. He was faster than any current Wing except maybe Helm, he could shoot harder, he could hit as hard as anyone, he was a smart passer, good defensively, he could scrap... he was like a European Chris Pronger but with rocket skates. And it was all coming together and then boom, it all fell apart.

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Yeah I don't mind seeing Ericcson walk especially if he's demanding more than 2 million +. Not worth it obviously but then again slim pickings imo for what's out there in the market. Honestly don't know about Smith quite yet and Kindl sure but we need now 2-3 guys on D pending on Nick. Sort of worried now compared to last offseason when everything was fine and dandy...

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