Well former Norris winner Randy Carlyle does...
- Big_Lightnin

Hes good, but not that good. He cracks under pressure, either he is too tired for all the minutes he has played or is trying to hard which leads too mistakes

Sutter wasnt high on Dion because he liked Regehr more.


In an interview in a book called Behind The Moves, Burke was talking to Sutter about Dion. Burke heard some things about him in the dressing room.

He went down and talked to Wayne Primeau who was a leaf about it. Primeau said "If you have a chance to get Dion Phaneuf. You (frank)ing get Dion Phaneuf".
- jbold

Phaneufs alright, just a little dumb is all.

I used it as an example of how he did against the Krejci line. Are you illiterate or just a kid?
- JasonDM

And we used the same example with Franson, but all of a sudden it "Doesnt matter" to you.





Yeah, you're def a canucks fan. Noone can be this stupid.

Hes good, but not that good. He cracks under pressure, either he is too tired for all the minutes he has played or is trying to hard which leads too mistakes
- Mapleleafs_91

agreed... but my whole argument on the subject is that he is in fact the best option on the team.

And that is a not a good thing.

Im pretty sure Jesus (most likely a fictional character) and a Mac truck (slow moving object) would really suck at playing defense in the NHL..
- Arctic_AARDVARK

Nah, have you seen Jesus in Junior? he performed miracles on ice. Seriously. He can literally turn a mack truck into Chris Pronger.

Hes good, but not that good. He cracks under pressure, either he is too tired for all the minutes he has played or is trying to hard which leads too mistakes
- Mapleleafs_91

He has to try to hard when he has Kostka and Holzer as his partner lol

Good job at it? Why are the Leafs always in the bottom part of the league in GA then? Shouldn't Dion "God" Phaneuf be shutting the other teams top lines (Which he almost never does)?
- JasonDM

11th in Norris voting. Top ten in several categories. Top TOI on 5th best team. Hardest minutes in the NHL.

What is your definition of doing a good job? You already said you hated him before he ever played a game as a Leaf. Maybe your subjective opinions aren't so reliable?

If Phaneuf isn't a #1, then there are probably fewer than 10 #1D in the league. Surely, that doesn't make sense, now does it?

You mean the regular season when he had Kostka/Holzer as his partner? You know, going up against the likes of Tavares, Ovie, Crosby, ect?
- jbold

So why bother keeping gunner, kostka, holzer, etc? Those guys can't play with phaneuf so we might as well use gunner as tradebait.

_______ Phaneuf

Gardiner Franson

Fraser ________(Blacker)

Nah, have you seen Jesus in Junior? he performed miracles on ice. Seriously. He can literally turn a mack truck into Chris Pronger.
- Phenom

A broken down Mac Truck, maybe.

So why bother keeping gunner, kostka, holzer, etc? Those guys can't play with phaneuf so we might as well use gunner as tradebait.

_______ Phaneuf

Gardiner Franson

Fraser ________(Blacker)
- Mapleleafs_91

Or you can slot Gunnar where he belongs. On the 2nd pairing.

Yes, he made up for it by taking two more minuses that game.

Look, I'm not bashing Franson, but he's a sheltered 3rd pairing guy. He hasn't proven one tenth of what Phaneuf has and we're ordaining him our best defenseman now?

Subtract Phaneuf and Gardiner and Franson will get chewed up by the same fans that chewed up Phaneuf.
- Leeman4Gilmour

Franson played 2nd pair minutes all year. Phaneuf is overrated, he's a big bulk of the reason why the Leafs are always at the bottom of the GA department.

Hes good, but not that good. He cracks under pressure, either he is too tired for all the minutes he has played or is trying to hard which leads too mistakes
- Mapleleafs_91

Personally dont think its the pressure. Hes the only D we've had in a looong time that can handle the Toronto pressure.
On the ice? Yeah I guess so, but like you said, its too many minutes with no partner.

Or you can slot Gunnar where he belongs. On the 2nd pairing.
- jbold

Gunnar-Franson would actually be very good 2nd pair I think

Gardiner-Franson would not be pretty, which we have already learned

Franson played 2nd pair minutes all year. Phaneuf is overrated, he's a big bulk of the reason why the Leafs are always at the bottom of the GA department.
- JasonDM

Weird. I thought the reason could have been goaltending..

He has to try to hard when he has Kostka and Holzer as his partner lol
- jbold

Jumping in the play in OT or not covering chara in front of reimer, is mental mistakes. Either 1) he tried to make a play happen because he is offensively minded 2) more minutes= tired phaneuf, mental breakdowns on what is important 3) scared of chara 4) leadership kicks in when he basically left chara and reimer hung out to dry 5) He is too tired to get in the scrum with chara in front and try to shove him aside or move him.

Franson played 2nd pair minutes all year. Phaneuf is overrated, he's a big bulk of the reason why the Leafs are always at the bottom of the GA department.
- JasonDM

17th last year. Not great, but not terrible, especially when he's helping us get to 5th best in goals for.

Gunnar-Franson would actually be very good 2nd pair I think

Gardiner-Franson would not be pretty
- Big_Lightnin

With REilly, Percy and others in the minors, will there be a place for Gunner down the road?

Or you can slot Gunnar where he belongs. On the 2nd pairing.
- jbold

To take a useless man's personal opinion: I'd rather use him as trade bait. Dont really like him.

Gunnar-Franson would actually be very good 2nd pair I think

Gardiner-Franson would not be pretty
- Big_Lightnin

They were the best pairing in the 2nd half of the Boston series.

Makes sense for us to acquire stastny because mackinnon should be playing 2nd line center and he will eventually take over Stastnys job in the future eventually
- Mapleleafs_91

Agreed. Hefty price tag but I honestly think he's the type of player that might flourish here. He seemed to lose a little bit of mojo when Duchene came on the scene, for some reason. A change of scenery might do him really well.

11th in Norris voting. Top ten in several categories. Top TOI on 5th best team. Hardest minutes in the NHL.

What is your definition of doing a good job? You already said you hated him before he ever played a game as a Leaf. Maybe your subjective opinions aren't so reliable?

If Phaneuf isn't a #1, then there are probably fewer than 10 #1D in the league. Surely, that doesn't make sense, now does it?
- Leeman4Gilmour

Phaneuf will be run out of town and no one will cry about it.. The sooner you come to terms with it the sooner we can move on to something else.

Franson played 2nd pair minutes all year.
- JasonDM

False.

He averaged about 18 minutes of ice time and about 3 minutes of that was on the first PP unit with Dion.


Meaning even strength, he played about 15 minutes of sheltered minutes.

Jumping in the play in OT or not covering chara in front of reimer, is mental mistakes. Either 1) he tried to make a play happen because he is offensively minded 2) more minutes= tired phaneuf, mental breakdowns on what is important 3) scared of chara 4) leadership kicks in when he basically left chara and reimer hung out to dry 5) He is too tired to get in the scrum with chara in front and try to shove him aside or move him.
- Mapleleafs_91

Maybe he should watch Kadri hit Chara.

Personally dont think its the pressure. Hes the only D we've had in a looong time that can handle the Toronto pressure.
On the ice? Yeah I guess so, but like you said, its too many minutes with no partner.
- UsernameUnknown

The toronto pressure is all bullpoop if you ask me, the media are donkeys and have the IQ of a peanut.

When he knows the team is relying on him to get the job done, that is alot of pressure since he knows his defensive partner sucks poop and he has to carry the team on his back.

They were the best pairing in the 2nd half of the Boston series.
- JasonDM

game and a half actually.

right up until the last shift.