Gonchar Asessment

[Jim]

I'm not talking just about the points, I mean
little things keeping the puck in the zone...showing an urgency
to keep puck in the zone.

HA! Name ONE (save Francis) Penguin in the last 10 years that did that! The Penguins are HORRIBLE at keeping the puck in the zone. We wouldn't know what to do with ourselves if we had a player that would do that on any sort of a regular basis.

Larry Murphy - the best at the point

Did Larry Murphy play for the Pens in the last to years? He might juuuuust squeek in there...

[Jim]

He's Andy Delmore with a rep. He's crappier than McCabe. He's Jackman without the stupid desire to throw body checks at center ice. He's a point man, thats it. He is garbage in his own end and defenseman who are garbage in their own end shouldn't make big bucks, period.

Comparing Gonchar to Delmore and Jackman (I assume you mean Ric) is a joke. Period.

[Jim]

IF this team had Nick Lidstrom, they'd still suck. The reason Gonchar is playing horribly is because he plays with horrible players.

Gonchar has ALWAYS played at the level he is now though.

That's assinine.

Nice call!

[Jim]

Let me break it down for those who still think Gonchar is worth $25m:


1) Makes bad decisions consistently. For some reason he thinks he has the skill to carry the puck all the way to the offensive faceoff dots. ~7 out of 10 times he is stripped of the puck and the PP suffers. Even Whitney, a rookie, knows when to get rid of the puck. Sergei's decisions to pinch in are also often wrong.

2) Poor shooting. What happened to the Gonchar that consistently rifled pucks into the roof of the net from the point? Clearly this Gonchar is not the same as the Pens' #55 who misses the net so often.

3) Slow as hell. He tries to carry the puck up ice and constantly gets caught because he's barely moving. Being slow is bad enough, but not realizing it is worse.

4) Most importantly, his production does not make up for his suicidal defending. Gonchar has a grand total of 8 goals and 47 points. I would approximate that, through bad penalties or atrocious defensive decisions, Gonchar has been responsible for at least 30 goals against. In sum, Gonchar is exponentially more of a liability at all times than he is a scoring threat only on the PP.

So the concept of having a bad year just totally eludes you doesn't it?

Gonchar has been (previous years) very good and taking the puck up the ice across both blue lines and setting up the play. He has not done that this year because there are often two opposing players coming at him before he gets to his own blue line. That's okay if you can pass the puck... well no other Penguins are ever open to pass it to so he dumps the puck. As the Pens seem incabable of getting a loose puck it ends up being a turnover. Can you explain how that it Gonchar's fault?

As far as the shooting goes... everyone knows Mario doesn't like Dmen shooting... so odd that while Mario was on the team... Gonchar didn't shoot... But not that Mario is gone... Gonchar is shooting... Hummmmm... wonder if there is a connection...???

[Jim]

Let me break it down for those who still think Gonchar is worth $25m:

Have I missed where anyone said they thought he was worth $25 mil?

Comparing salaries across the league... $25m is fine with me.

[Jim]

And as usual, its obvious to anyone who watched him play and understands hockey that I'm correct.

How many games did you see at the USAir Arena last year? Last 5 years?

[Jim]

You don't need stats to see that he sucks and has sucked in the past.

There is a statement that demonstrates the value of your argument and opinion on the topic.

[Jim]

And as we all know, GM's never make mistakes.

Does that mean you're a GM then? According to you, you are never wrong either.

I haven't been wrong about the NHL since....
hmmm. I predicted Lemieux to make it 33 games this year before retiring, so I was wrong there.

I mean, to say I'm never wrong would be a lie. It wouldn't be far from the truth, but it would be inaccurate.

We can compare that to your average Penguin fan who thought the team was a cup-contender -or at the very least, playoff bound- what with Recchi, Gonchar, Leclair, Mario and Teeball. Boy oh Boy I remember arguing some penguin fans who said it was better to sign Leclair than Cory Stillman... that gonchar was a great signing. That Teeball will really solidify the goaltending situation. That Recchi will be great to have around, that the leadership and ability that he and Johnny Vermont bring to the organization is going to really lift the team up to a higher level. Hehehe. Penguin fans are funny.

Why do you come here again?

[Jim]

The day Gonchar was signed I was shocked at first. Then I was sad. Then I laughed a lot.

Except for the middle part... most people that know anything about Gonchar would agree with you... why... because that was a good day for the Penguins!

[Jim]

stupid people are funny.

So you are saying that you like to make people laugh? Hmmmm....

[Vanbiesbrouck]

Folks, this has degraded to the point that it's not worth getting bumped to the top of the forum for the rest of us.

If someone has an idea of how we can smuggle Malkin over here and get him to wear Gonchar's jersey next season so the Russians can't find him, let us know.

Otherwise, maybe this should be taken to PM's to resolve whatever it is that you two are going at it over anyway.

[Jim]

He is attempting to argue Gonchar's negatives, I am discussing the upside. It's not my fault he was incapable of answering direct questions or coming up with any solid points so he digressed to remarks about "stupid people"...

[Jamie]

And as usual, its obvious to anyone who watched him play and understands hockey that I'm correct.

How many games did you see at the USAir Arena last year? Last 5 years?

The same number of games that you did, which is 0. THe Capitals moved to the MCI Center in 1997. And the MCI center has since been changed to the Verizon Center.

[Jim]

HA! Talk about a faux pax. HA!

I have no idea whay I put that in there. I did go to a few games at USAir, but not enough for that to be set in my mind... odd...

It's the Verizon Center now. THey changed it mid week about a month ago or something like that. I went to one game, MCI... the next Verizon... I wonder if in NHL 2007 it will change halfway through the season too.

[DayWalker]

you're joking me right? Tell me exactly what he's done this year besides his one end to end rush.

You can't even think of another nice play that he made!! Offensive defenseman are supposed to be offensive, not just assist collectors off rebounds, and he can't even do that well since he gets so many shots blocked.

Boy... I type "He's having a bad year" and you come back with this? Wow.

He's Andy Delmore with a rep. He's crappier than McCabe. He's Jackman without the stupid desire to throw body checks at center ice. He's a point man, thats it. He is garbage in his own end and defenseman who are garbage in their own end shouldn't make big bucks, period.

Paul Coffey? Phil Housley? Brian Leetch?

lol.
Gonchar stinks.

Jesus lord almighty, watch the man play! he's been terrible for atleast 3 years now!

He doesn't.

I do.

No he doesn't.

Do you know what defense is?

Uh, yup.

He is pedestrian at best in his own end, but is a good offensive d-man.

Ergo, he doesn't "suck."

And say, you still haven't gotten back to me about those goals against that Recchi was solely responsible for on a night-in-night-out basis...

[Jim]

If you couldn't see them when they happened you weren't watching.

Talk about someone not watching...