i also disagree that zidlicky's point totals are purely because of the position the coach puts him in. yes he gets put in good offensive situations but he capitalizes on them. he's tied for 3rd in the league in D scoring. plenty of dmen are given the chances zidlicky has on other teams and are not producing the same. i agree his D work is sketchy but some people go over the top on him and far to often and you cant knock what hes done offensively
- BDizzlez

Yes lots of other D get similar minutes but how many of them don't have to worry about turning the puck over Karleson still has defensive responsibility even though he is an elite offensive D Zid just has 0 consequences for his lack of defensive play name a defense man who has free reign like Zid all these top guys still get in poop from their coaches for making mistakes and if they made as many as Zid they would be punished for it. I never see Pete giving Zid poop for his constant mistakes.

(frank) zidlicky

Damnit, Bishop is in the net, we never score against him
- Twist

Tampa might score on him though

Tampa might score on him though
- K-dizzle

Goalies shouldn't be allowed to be 6'7

Can't wait for tonight. I'm glad we are playing another good team after the Boston win. If we can get a W tonight the confidence should be booming. Hope there isn't a let down like in Columbus.

Yes lots of other D get similar minutes but how many of them don't have to worry about turning the puck over Karleson still has defensive responsibility even though he is an elite offensive D Zid just has 0 consequences for his lack of defensive play name a defense man who has free reign like Zid all these top guys still get in poop from their coaches for making mistakes and if they made as many as Zid they would be punished for it. I never see Pete giving Zid poop for his constant mistakes.
- blizzzard

i guess we'll agree to disagree, as i said earlier not going change your opinion

todd most people here view zidlicky in a biased light. he's been playing much better lately but he's still one of the scapegoats for a lot of fans and your not going to convince some of these people otherwise
- BDizzlez

The people criticizing him even when he plays good are an absolute joke.

The people criticizing him even when he plays good are an absolute joke.
- Rseen

its a pretty common psychological occurrence:

"Confirmation bias (also called confirmatory bias or myside bias) is a tendency of people to favor information that confirms their beliefs or hypotheses.[Note 1][1] People display this bias when they gather or remember information selectively, or when they interpret it in a biased way. The effect is stronger for emotionally charged issues and for deeply entrenched beliefs. They also tend to interpret ambiguous evidence as supporting their existing position. Biased search, interpretation and memory have been invoked to explain attitude polarization (when a disagreement becomes more extreme even though the different parties are exposed to the same evidence), belief perseverance (when beliefs persist after the evidence for them is shown to be false), the irrational primacy effect (a greater reliance on information encountered early in a series) and illusory correlation (when people falsely perceive an association between two events or situations)."

The people criticizing him even when he plays good are an absolute joke.
- Rseen

He's a bum. 2 of you can like him all you want. Pretty strange that more people dislike him then like him but you're probably right guy's a stud !

He's a bum. 2 of you can like him all you want. Pretty strange that more people dislike him then like him but you're probably right guy's a stud !
- blizzzard

dont twist our words. we never said he's a stud i just said he's playing better and that i dont think every Dman can put up 9 points in 11 games like you seem to think

dont twist our words. we never said he's a stud i just said he's playing better and that i dont think every Dman can put up 9 points in 11 games like you seem to think
- BDizzlez

You tell me not to twist you're words then twist mine in the same post. I think it's impressive he has 9 points in 11 games. I don't think every D man can do that what I think is if more D got away with what he does and don't have to worry about missing a second of ice time for poor play, Bad penalties, turn overs ect. Then there would be a lot more defenders only worry about offense which should by logic increase their pts. When has he ever been benched for taking a stupid penalty or for 2-3 turn overs. The guy has no accountability. From games I have watched around the league I have seen other offensive players benched for constantly making bad decisions. Norris winners get sat but not Zid if some one like Subban never got sat for pinching and taking runs at guys he would have an insane amount of points but even the best defense men for the most part get benched for bad play if it is as consistent as Zid's. I don't think I have yet complained about his production. It's the rest of his game and perhaps he is getting better this year.

It comes down to this: If Zidlicky was a winger everyone would love him. His production this year has been great, and at this point when you look at our defense I believe he should definitely be in the lineup every night. The problem is, he isn't good at defense. He turns the puck over way too much and seems to take a silly penalty every game. The answer is to have him paired with a very conservative, defense first type d-man, which they've been doing with Salvador and the last couple games with Volchenkov.

It comes down to this: If Zidlicky was a winger everyone would love him. His production this year has been great, and at this point when you look at our defense I believe he should definitely be in the lineup every night. The problem is, he isn't good at defense. He turns the puck over way too much and seems to take a silly penalty every game. The answer is to have him paired with a very conservative, defense first type d-man, which they've been doing with Salvador and the last couple games with Volchenkov.
- MannySilvers

Or Canadian

Zid's been with us for one and a half years and if his underachievement last year is easily a reason the team didn't make the playoffs.

We haven't had a number one offensive dman since Rafalski bolted for Michigan. Hey, if Zid can keep it up all year and get 50+ points, he's at least producing like a first pairing offensive d-man and a decent one... but where the hell was that Zidlicky last year while we were in the middle of suck central? Where was that Zidlicky when we traded for him? Heck, where was he when he fell off in with the wolves?

If he gets a 50+ point year, I'll "forgive" him for last year...

He's probably the best defenseman we've had since Niedermayer.

He's probably the best defenseman we've had since Niedermayer.
- FAZOOL

Oh god

Zid's been with us for one and a half years and if his underachievement last year is easily a reason the team didn't make the playoffs.

We haven't had a number one offensive dman since Rafalski bolted for Michigan. Hey, if Zid can keep it up all year and get 50+ points, he's at least producing like a first pairing offensive d-man and a decent one... but where the hell was that Zidlicky last year while we were in the middle of suck central? Where was that Zidlicky when we traded for him? Heck, where was he when he fell off in with the wolves?

If he gets a 50+ point year, I'll "forgive" him for last year...
- archromat

this is what i mean by scapegoat. the entire team sucked the big one not just 1 or 2 players it was a team failure

Oh god
- shvingter88

You know one day when we retire Zid's number and it's hanging from the rafters at the Rock we'll all be laughing about this.

best case scenario tonight: stamkos hatty

Damnit, Bishop is in the net, we never score against him
- Twist

So damn tall!

Ben Bishop is a damn tree gr8

I don't love the guy or anything but Zidlicky is not THAT bad. The thing with him is that he can put up solid play in the defensive zone and then make the occasional glaring mistake, as he did on the Lucic goal the other night. I get why people have issues with the guy but usually there is a gray area in between the black and white.

He's probably the best defenseman we've had since Niedermayer.
- FAZOOL

Are you including Rafalski?

hey man not tryig to be rude but barberio is a defenseman,

top 3 lines are good to go. the right wingers could switch but its always like that so thats fine,

4th line : P.C labrie, thompson, crombeen

DEFENSE:
Matt Carle - Radko Gudas
Sami Salo - Victor Hedman
andrej sustr- Eric Brewer


not sure if you care enough to change it or not, doesnt bother me...just letting you know!

Tampa might score on him though
- K-dizzle

bastard.