Mater_Horn

Fatigue isn't the only issue here.

He was an unknown commodity with no NHL experience when the season began.  He scored a few goals early off, had a highlight reel shootout experience, and a few weeks later he's among the lead leaders in goals.  Suddenly, teams stopped treating him like a soft Euro and started taking away his time and space.  He's more tightly covered whilst sneaking into the slot from the soft-side.  Defense are on him much quicker and harder in the corners, and while Brunner can mentally adjust to North American hockey, it will be a slower process to build up the physical strength to be able to fight through the coverage that he is now experiencing.

Secondly, Brunner has really focused hard on playing a more defensively sound game.  He is back-checking much more effectively than when the season began, and he's playing much deeper in our own zone instead of floating at the blueline waiting for a breakout.  He has also been more conscious of opponent's breakout potentials and is adjusting his game in the offensive zone to accommodate this.  His new-found defensive responsibilities are also going to lower his offensive output.

Combined with the brutal North American schedule and travel, its no surprise at all why Brunner has suddenly gone quiet.  He's with good role models though, and I suspect that he will be able to overcome the schedule and the added defensive attention he has over the next few years.  Given his commitment to learning the defensive side of the game, and how far he has come already, I'd say the guy is willing to do whatever it takes to be successful at this level.  Lets hope my assumption is correct.

One of the things we all have to keep in mind is, brunner, Z, and Datsyuk were all in game shape when the season started. part of the reasons for their hot start. Now that the rest of the leahue is in shape, the league "caught up" to them. This is part and only part of the reason why all 3 are struggling to score lately. Now add in the offensive limits of the others on the team and yes it does make our O weak.

You can tell when Tootoo is on the ice because it's the only time a Wings player hits someone.

I hope Brunner gets a goal tonight.

Bought a Package of Toblerone this day and will eat it during the game. So it would fit in very nice if Brunners scores tonight. GO Wings GO !

i think hes developing well, hes getting much better defensively. the will go to the gritty parts, he does have a good shot and i dont mind a long range shot unless theres a better play to be made. i hope he develops patience so he will hold on to the puck longer and make smarter better plays. he always seems to get the puck and want to pass it off or shoot it off real quick. 

It's hard to judge a player when the entire team suddenly tanks.  Plus, scorers go into slumps once in a while.  If Datsyuk and Zetterberg can disappear for 6 or 7 games, I think we can cut Brunner, brand new to the league, a little slack.

is Franzen overweight? cause he skates like he is.

Here we go boyz!!!!!  Filp with the PPG

...wait, I though Datsyuk was already centering the 4th line...

I don't know what could really be done to address this. In high-speed contact sports like hockey, serious injuries of this sort are always a risk, albeit a remote one. It comes with the territory, so to speak.

One thing I remember growing up was there was a class or series of on ice sessions that taught everyone there on how to properly deliver a body check and how to take a hit.  First thing you learn is if you are going to get hit, get against the boards.  9/10 times you won't get hurt.  The moment you're even a foot away from the boards, you're vulnerable and risk injury.  I know for a fact that I wasn't taught to engage a player before getting to the boards.  Maybe this is a new teaching or it is just people being scared to be hit (and not knowing any better), but I see this play a lot now in the NHL.  In this case, clearly, it isn't a wise decision.

This. Make it $2.2 - 2.8M.

 

Noone is going to offer 3.5M+ for a 3 year contract. Why?

 

a) his current goal scoring stats are overrated (a couple of goals were useless, a few could and would be scored by ANYone, 2-3 were good, but only 2-4 were great)

They don't ask how, they ask how many.  Phil Esposito scored a bazillion goals from within 2 feet of the goal that "anyone" could have scored.

He'll get a 1 year around $2M....why? Because Holland will tell the agent "lets see what he does over an 82 game season and then we'll talk long term..."

And then Brunner's agent says "Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"

It's about time for Brunner to score one with 30 seconds left when it's pointless isn't it?