Kukla's Korner Hockey
Ryan Suter Drawing Comparison To Lidstrom
by Paul on 01/24/11 at 03:53 PM ET
Comments (8)
from Josh Cooper of The Tennessean,
Since Suter does everything well, he seems somewhat unspectacular on the ice to the common fan. The phrase “under-the-radar” and the name “Ryan Suter” go hand in hand. But a breakthrough Olympics in 2010 and a stellar 2010-11 season have given people cause to take notice and see Suter as one of the top defensemen in the NHL.
“He doesn’t have any super powers, but he does everything at an eight or a nine level,” USA TODAY hockey writer Kevin Allen said. “He is to Nashville what Nicklas Lidstrom is to Detroit. I don’t think there’s any question.”
Lidstrom comparisonBefore turning aside the association with the six-time Norris Trophy winner (as the NHL’s top defenseman), four national analysts were interviewed for this story. Each, without solicitation, brought up Lidstrom in comparing Suter to him.
“Not that he is Nicklas Lidstrom, but the kind of things you’ve seen from Nicklas Lidstrom for 20 years, those are the kinds of things Ryan Suter brings to the game every night,” ESPN.com’s Scott Burnside said.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Nashville Predators, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: ryan+suter
Comments
I’d still want Weber on the Wings’ blue line.
Posted by SYF from impossible and oddly communally possessive sluts on 01/24/11 at 04:37 PM ET
I’d want either. But I’d rather have Suter. He makes fewer mistakes, and because he’s so balanced, he’d probably be easier to pair (since he’d work well with just about anyone).
Posted by Sven22 from Grand Rapids on 01/24/11 at 04:52 PM ET
Very true, Sven. It would definitely give Uncle Mike options (which he absolutely loves) to mix and match as you said.
But Ericsson (and his 102 mph slapshot) paired with Weber (103 mph slapper) makes me happily drunk.
Posted by SYF from impossible and oddly communally possessive sluts on 01/24/11 at 04:58 PM ET
On a related note, you wanna know why Nashville always makes the playoffs despite an offense powered by a collection of undersized, injury-prone, third-line-and-lower forwards?
For the same reason they’ve also never won a round in the playoffs: they play an incredibly conservative grind it out style and try to win every game 2-1. In the regular season there’s a slightly larger margin for error, so that style can be successful in terms of making the playoffs. In the playoffs that margin for error is much smaller.
Posted by HockeyinHD on 01/24/11 at 06:06 PM ET
There are lots of teams that play grind-it-out and still don’t have the kind of success that the Preds do (see: Minnesota Wild). Nashville wouldn’t be able to pull it off without top-notch personnel on D and between the pipes.
I actually think their playoff woes have more to do with the fact that Barry Trotz just isn’t the kind of genius supercoach that everyone thinks he is. He couldn’t win in the playoffs when Nashville had a dynamic, high-powered offense (2005-06 and 2006-07, both of which featured first-round losses to the Sharks). He couldn’t win in the playoffs with a more conservative, defense-first team. I just think that, over the course of a playoff series, when teams have the time to tailor their style to counter a specific team, he gets outcoached. Badly.
I’ll at least give Trotz this: he does have the edge over Bruce Boudreau Randy Carlyle for best NHL coach without a neck.
Posted by Sven22 from Grand Rapids on 01/24/11 at 06:22 PM ET
I’ll at least give Trotz this: he does have the edge over Bruce Boudreau Randy Carlyle for best NHL coach without a neck.
Would they be in the running for the Addams trophy? Boudrea certainly looks a bit like Uncle Fester.
Posted by hockey1919 from mid-atlantic on 01/24/11 at 08:04 PM ET
Kris Letang watches video footage of Lidstrom after practices
Posted by StevieSteve on 01/24/11 at 08:36 PM ET
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Suter doesn’t quite have Lidstrom’s defensive consistency, but I think it’s a fair comparison.
On a related note, you wanna know why Nashville always makes the playoffs despite an offense powered by a collection of undersized, injury-prone, third-line-and-lower forwards?
Answer: They are world-class from blueline back. Weber-Suter is probably the best top pairing in the NHL (better than Keith-Seabrook IMO, especially this year), and Pekka Rinne is a Vezina-caliber goalie. They’re also catching up to the Red Wings in the Central standings, which has me a bit worried.
Posted by Sven22 from Grand Rapids on 01/24/11 at 04:29 PM ET