Here are a few. They don't saw he is "awesome", but it's clearly that they think he is worth keeping around and is a good player.
Right. So you agree the examples you chose, no one said he was awesome. Or really anything close to it.
Worth keeping or good player is a long way from awesome.
I never quoted you to begin with. Cleary looked better tonight standing in front of the net but he still looks a gear behind Datsyuk on the 2nd line. Saying he's good on the PP and PK are ridiculous because Tatar is a far better skill player and speedster than Cleary which would work well for both of those. To be honest I have less of a problem with Cleary being on the 2nd line than I do with Tatar NOT being on it. This is the perfect opportunity to see what he can do with skill players while all these other guys are injured. Cuz you know when Bert and Sammy and Franzen are better, seniority will once again win out and Tatar will either be dropped to bottom lines or sent back to GR. To see Tatar on the 3rd when Cleary (who HAS pretty much sucked up until tonight) and Abdelkader are on the 2nd is painful. Hell Tatar almost got Huskins a goal with his skill. As I said before, Pavs line shouldn't spend the majority of their shift digging the puck out of the boards. And Cleary is far from "responsible" defensively.
esteef
My point was no one said he was awesome. It was making something up to rail against it.
He's definitely a gear behind Datsyuk. As I've said before he looks slow this year. I also said he can play on the PP and PK. Not that he was necessarily the top choice for all of them. It was in the context of me calling him a utility player. And given the Wings injuries right now, that makes him more valuable than he otherwise would be.
And yes, Cleary is responsible defensively at 17 minutes a night. Especially compared to some of the players people want to put on the 2nd line above him, like Tootoo. When the Wings get healthier, I would guess his minutes will come down unless he plays like he did last night.
My main point was he had a good game last night and that the Cleary bashing has become sport regardless of what he actually does or doesn't do during a game.