Quote:
Originally Posted by timothy
Freddie is right, he's a middleweight guy. I look at Crombeen as a mid-point between Konopka and Downie. He's a better skater and hockey player than Konopka -- better hockey sense and smarts; skates better; more offensive upside than Zenon; really good defensively; but same size, energy, peskyness and agitation. But not as good in the offensive, skating, playmaking areas as Downie. Maybe that helps. He's solidly 3rd or 4th liner. Not a tweener.
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I think of Crombeen as a poor-man's Steve Ott; he's served as an effective "shift disturber" in the past (i.e. Downie circa the time he spent primarily on the Lightning's bottom lines). Yzerman has re-established some edge to the lineup with Crombeen who, at a salary of just $1 million, is a cost-effective option for this role.
I see this move as very much in line with what I believe I recall hearing SY express (on a morning 620WDAE interview in late May or early June) was his intent to reshape the bottom lines with more size and become "tougher" to play against, which (of course, given comments he's made in past interviews) I took to mean in terms of physical aggression and not mere pugilism, particularly as he cited the loss of Sean Bergenheim and the spark he gave the club with his often gritty play.
07-10-2012, 06:29 PM
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