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NYC Wings Fanatic

Is the Real Brendan Smith Finally Starting the Show Up?

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Babcock sure seems to like throwing the guy into the deep end.

Along with the remainder of our season if Smith doesn't wise up with the puck like...immediately. Here's his chance to shine, and I sure hope he takes advantage of it.

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Guest DeGraa55

Babcock sure seems to like throwing the guy into the deep end.

Last time he was with kronwall he did great so I expect the same to happen. It truly is amazing what happens when he isn't paired with Quincey, kindle or lashoff.

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I thought smith did a respectable job at playing forward. I've been there , my natural position is d but I've been pressed into playing forward and it's hard to let that defensive mindset go.

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Last time he was with kronwall he did great so I expect the same to happen. It truly is amazing what happens when he isn't paired with Quincey, kindle or lashoff.

True.

I'm glad that moving him to forward wasn't some sign the Babcock had given up on Smith. If he's putting him the top pair, he must still believe in him.

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Ive actually kinda thought they should shake it up a bit. Ever since the Olympic break Ericcson hadnt been his usual self, they should tried throwing Smith up there even if Ericcson didnt get hurt because they played really well together last time

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Watching tonight game I maybe have figured out smiths issue, it's mental but not how you'd think. The way he played tonight got me thinking , I don't think he trusts his d partner so he tries to do to much ( cover 2 guys etc) and ends up out of position or making passes he shouldn't because he isn't sure of the other guy.

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What I saw tonight and have been seeing for a while is that when he is in the offensive zone (on a night that he is playing as a defenseman!), he will too often pass up really good, legitimate shot opportunities and attempt to make a low percentage tricky pass to a forward who does not have a better scoring chance than his, but no goal and often even no shot results from this. Even in that zone, he is trying to do too much, and when he simplifies things in both zones, things always seems to go better for him. The times that he flies in to join an offensive rush or comes in on a pinch, the less thinking he does the better, meaning that when he shoots or passes without too much time and simply reacts instinctively, he seems to do much, much better.

The other thing I noticed tonight was his really getting much better and more comfortable at using the poke check more and more as an effective defensive weapon, as he can really have a pretty active stick when he chooses to. It still seems it is his thinking about tactics and reactions that do him in. This really stands out in contrast to Danny D, who seems to grasp his abilities and limitations far better than Mr. Smith, but hopefully this will come with time, coaching, and experience. Danny just "gets it". Brendan is often fumbling around with getting it. The future will be interesting!

Edited by NYC Wings Fanatic

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Guest DeGraa55

Smith looking good yet again when he actually has a decent partner. What a surprise that Quincey and kindle bring everyone else down. They should just be paired together on the these line by now.

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Smith looking good yet again when he actually has a decent partner. What a surprise that Quincey and kindle bring everyone else down. They should just be paired together on the these line by now.

E looks good with Kronwall, Smith looks good with Kronwall, I'm noticing a trend.

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I actually wouldnt mind seeing the Smith Kronwall pair together when Ericcson is back. Then have Dekeyser with Ericcson and Lashoff with Almquist next year (or Ouellet or Quincey is hes back I guess). Dekeyser and E could be used more as a shut down pair while Kronwall and Smith could provide some offense, these lines could play the bulk of the minutes and limit Almquist more to PP time

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Smith's still getting sheltered minutes. He played fewer minutes than Kronwall, Dekeyer, and Quincey tonight, and no special teams of any sort. He just had someone better covering up for him tonight, it's not like he stepped his game up. All the hard minutes went to the guys previously mentioned. Here's the crazy thing though, if you paired Kindl or Lashoff with Kronwall they'd look better too. That's naturally what happens when you play with guys who are miles better than you are.

I'll start thinking Smith has turned a corner the minute he plays his way into more responsibility. So far he hasn't played his way into s***, he was paired with Kronner because of an injury after being the odd man out on the d-core the game before.

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Smith's still getting sheltered minutes. He played fewer minutes than Kronwall, Dekeyer, and Quincey tonight, and no special teams of any sort. He just had someone better covering up for him tonight, it's not like he stepped his game up. All the hard minutes went to the guys previously mentioned. Here's the crazy thing though, if you paired Kindl or Lashoff with Kronwall they'd look better too. That's naturally what happens when you play with guys who are miles better than you are.

I'll start thinking Smith has turned a corner the minute he plays his way into more responsibility. So far he hasn't played his way into s***, he was paired with Kronner because of an injury after being the odd man out on the d-core the game before.

He was playing great this game. If you didn't see that then you're not paying attention. He's starting to put something together.

Kindl can sit though. Get Almqvist in there.

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He was playing great this game. If you didn't see that then you're not paying attention. He's starting to put something together.

Kindl can sit though. Get Almqvist in there.

Yep, he played so great with Kronwall that Babs split them up 8 minutes into the first period and only once, sporadically, in the second period allowed them to play together again. And, as I've said, he was fourth on the team in time on ice as well.

So I guess my question is, if he was playing so good with Kronwall as everyone says, why was he demoted from the top pair and why didn't he get more ice time?

Babs probably just has it out for him huh? He'd rather give the ice time to an "undeserving" Quincey because he's purposely trying to ruin the season? Maybe it's Gary Bettman's fault?

Or maybe, just maybe, you and all the other Smith apologists are seeing what you want to see, and making excuses for a guy you want to succeed.

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Yep, he played so great with Kronwall that Babs split them up 8 minutes into the first period and only once, sporadically, in the second period allowed them to play together again. And, as I've said, he was fourth on the team in time on ice as well.

So I guess my question is, if he was playing so good with Kronwall as everyone says, why was he demoted from the top pair and why didn't he get more ice time?

Babs probably just has it out for him huh? He'd rather give the ice time to an "undeserving" Quincey because he's purposely trying to ruin the season? Maybe it's Gary Bettman's fault?

Or maybe, just maybe, you and all the other Smith apologists are seeing what you want to see, and making excuses for a guy you want to succeed.

He wasn't demoted. 18 of his 27 shifts were with Kronwall, including one in OT. PPs/PKs looks like the main reason they were separated at times.

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He wasn't demoted. 18 of his 27 shifts were with Kronwall, including one in OT. PPs/PKs looks like the main reason they were separated at times.

Here's a video of the game highlights, about 10 seconds into the clip Mickey and Ken talk about how the Babs had changed the defensive pairing. It was about 8 minutes into the game, and the only penalty in the period had occured 5 minutes before.

Could he have been tinkering? Sure. But if the Kronwall-Smith pairing was such a resounding success as others (not you) have made it appear, I don't see why he'd need to. The truth is, while Smith wasn't bad last night, he didn't really have much of an effect one way or another. So I don't understand all the back slapping. Our penalty kill won the game for us last night, and Quincey and Lashoff had HUGE nights on the Pk, but I don't see anyone going to such great lengths to congratulate them on their contributions. But if Brendan Smith manages to go one game without a mindblowing f*** up it's a cause for celebration.

http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2014/03/red_wings_show_resiliency_batt.html

Edited by kipwinger

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Yep, he played so great with Kronwall that Babs split them up 8 minutes into the first period and only once, sporadically, in the second period allowed them to play together again. And, as I've said, he was fourth on the team in time on ice as well.

So I guess my question is, if he was playing so good with Kronwall as everyone says, why was he demoted from the top pair and why didn't he get more ice time?

Babs probably just has it out for him huh? He'd rather give the ice time to an "undeserving" Quincey because he's purposely trying to ruin the season? Maybe it's Gary Bettman's fault?

Or maybe, just maybe, you and all the other Smith apologists are seeing what you want to see, and making excuses for a guy you want to succeed.

Disregarding the fact that Babcock hands out icetime based on the lottery numbers of that day, Smith doesn't have to get more icetime than Kronwall, Dekeyser and Ericsson/Quincey to be playing well. I was one of Smith's biggest critics last year, but he's improved a lot. He has a long way to go before he's someone to be trusted in key situations, but lately he does a lot of good things and not as many boneheaded mistakes.

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