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What’s Wrong, Dion?
by Alanah McGinley on 01/13/09 at 02:31 PM ET
Comments (6)
From George Johnson of the Calgary Herald (via the Vancouver Sun):
For the first time in a meteoric rise to the front lines of NHL defenceman, though, Dion Phaneuf’s timing has betrayed him.
His minutes may be up. But his plus-minus is lagging, badly, and his goal and hits total are way down. After being feted a Norris Trophy finalist nod and first all-star team selection last year, he wasn’t even an addition for the Jan. 25th All-Star Game at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
That couldn’t help but sting. During a half-season of astounding maturation for the Calgary Flames as a group, Phaneuf’s individual struggles have become a staple of Calgary Flames’ chat rooms. He’s on pace for six goals this season. He notched 20 a year ago. A minus-8 is second-worst on the team.
Inquiring minds want to know why.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Calgary Flames | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: dion+phaneuf,
Comments
Maybe his douchey-ness overshadowed his over-rated “skills” and people finally noticed instead of swallowing the party line about how he’s a top-tier defenseman? Maybe?
Posted by Mike @ MHH from Oklahoma City, OK on 01/13/09 at 03:34 PM ET
Maybe a decent player is just having a bad year. I hear it does happen sometimes.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 01/13/09 at 03:43 PM ET
I agree with Baroque, he’ll bounce back...simple case of a young guy who had 2 amazing first seasons hitting a little slump. Don Cherry’s endorsement for rookie of the year, 2 increasingly productive seasons in a row lead to expectations that were probably way too high. He’s still on pace for 52 points this year, only 8 behind his career high of last year. If he doesn’t come out of his funk in the 2nd have of this year, I wouldn’t count on it carrying over to next.
Posted by Animal Drew from A Nightmare on Helm Street on 01/13/09 at 03:53 PM ET
Kevin from Pittsburgh makes a good point.
Posted by Jalapeno on 01/13/09 at 04:03 PM ET
Maybe a decent player is just having a bad year.
Sorry, Ms. B., but this Neanderthal couldn’t spell decent let alone be decent. He’s the second biggest goon in the league (after Chrissy) and he’s now proving that he’s been grossly over-rated for two years. I, for one, couldn’t be happier to see him being sloppy on the ice and getting sloppy seconds off the ice.
Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 01/13/09 at 11:34 PM ET
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Must be all those sloppy seconds he’s getting, his mind isn’t on hockey.
Sean Avery strikes again!!!!
Posted by Kevin from Pittsburgh on 01/13/09 at 02:43 PM ET