How Much Does Mattias Ohlund Mean to the Canucks?

[AtLossForWords]

How much does Mattias Ohlund mean to the Canucks?

Kevin Bieksa returned to the lineup, Salo is back and scoring on a pace that is expected of him, and Edler hasn't missed much time at all this season. Mitchell and Weaver have also made considerable contributions on defense most of the season.

However this team without Mattias Ohlund seems to be in its worst defensive posture all year. In the last two games they have given up over thirty shots, and they seem to get outshot most any night they play.

The penalty kill had finally risen to the top ten in the league, but when a good penalty was believed to be at it's best on home ice, Mattias Ohlund went down and suprisingly a powerplay goal was what was the difference in the result of the game.

We all keep talking about what a great season Alexander Edler has had, in 69 games he's given this team a very important 20 points. However in only 53 games Mattias Ohlund has given us 24 to lead our blueliners. It is not amazing Ohlund has four more points than Edler, but Ohlund has four more in more than ten less games.

I think Mattias Ohlund is essential to how well this team can play. While a defenseman like Salo or Edler can jump up into the play and pinch, Mattias Ohlund is the only defenseman I have ever seen play so smart for this team as to be able to pinch behind the goal line as part of a cycle and rarely if ever get caught up ice to give up an odd man rush.

Mattias Ohlund is a smart skilled hockey player, but fans of this team hesitate to call Ohlund a number one defender for this team or recognize how big of a contribution he makes for this team at both ends of the ice.

He leads the defenseman in scoring, he's second in our blueline in powerplay goals. He's a penalty killer, he can cycle the puck and never be a liability defensively. He even lead our defenseman in playoff point scoring by what I remember to be a wide margin last season.

We want to call Mitchell our best defensive player, Edler our best powerplay guy, and even before both of them were on the rise I remember even members of manageman called Sami Salo our best blueliner over this season and last.

I think Ohlund is our team's best defender, and our streaky defensive play is a signal of not having his stabilizing abilities on the ice for us.

Some guys you don't know how much you need until they aren't there, and Mattias Ohlund is one of those guys.

[rustybadcock]

Will reply more later, gotta go face the world. However, in a nutshell, ohlund is massive to this team, always has been and as long as he's a Canuck he always will be.

RB

[gordphish]

Funny. They blew at least a half dozen third period leads on home ice down the stretch and into the playoffs last season WITH Ohlund in the lineup.

Ohlund and Salo are now useless to them. What good is tying up 7 mil of cap space on two defensemen you count on to be in your top four when together they miss over 40 games a year? Absolutely none.

And it is disgusting that our highest scoring defenseman has a measely 24 points.

I'd go to both Ohlund and Salo in the summer and tell them to give me a list of teams that they'd be willing to play for and then trade them. If they refuse, then I'd tell them to not bother showing up to camp because they aren't playing for the Canucks anymore.

Naslund, Morrison, Linden, the Sedins, Ohlund and Salo should all be gone this summer. They've had almost a decade here together and haven't accomplished sh1t. The core is rotten; time to gut it.

[TimmyTabasco]

Wow Poisson, bad coffee this morning?

Ohlund is a very good defenseman, and at an alright price

[gordphish]

Wow Poisson, bad coffee this morning?

Ohlund is a very good defenseman, and at an alright price

I don't think he comes at an alright price anymore. He has limited vision in his bad eye that adversely effects his play. He has a hard time picking up the puck in his feet, and it prevents him from one-timing the puck.

His body is showing signs of wearing down. That's the second time he's had to have bone chips removed from his knee, and he isn't nearly as physical as he was before the lockout.

And do you realize that he has now finished as a minus player for four straight seasons, and has been a minus player in 6 of his 11 NHL seasons?

I think Ohlund is another one of these players that appears a lot better than he is to Canuck fans because of the low standard that has been set here, just like Kaberle is to Leaf fans. If we were to get a chance to see guys like Lidstrom, Neidermayer and Chelios every night here, we'd see Ohlund for what he really is; a secondary defenseman.

And after next season, they are going to have give him a raise on his 3.5 milllion. Not worth it IMO.

Clear out Salo and Ohlund and go after Campbell in the summer.

[AtLossForWords]

Gordo, I think with the exception of this season, Ohlund has played over seventy games, including an 82 game season in '04.