Davis Drewiske will be a healthy scratch tonight for the second consecutive game. This morning, I asked Terry Murray about which parts of Drewiske’s game he needs to see improvement in, and, as you can read below, Drewiske brought up something from Drewiske’s past. Drewiske played at the University of Wisconsin, where the home ice is 97 feet wide, rather than the traditional North American 85 feet.
Drewiske had a plus-10 rating in his first 15 games, but is minus-8 in his last 12 games. We can debate the value of plus-minus — I’m not a big fan of it — but Murray talked about what he wants to see from Drewiske, going forward…
MURRAY: “There’s no one that’s angry with him or upset or mad at him. It’s a young player that has played some games in the NHL. I think he ended up with 17 last year. So he’s a young guy getting into this level of play, and you’re seeing the top players in the world coming at you. Limiting time and space and opportunities to make plays, that’s critical for a defenseman.
“You have to be able to react and close fast, and I think that with his time in university [NCAA], playing on the big sheet of ice, you get into that `contain’ game. You’re kind of playing the rink within the rink. So those habits have a tendency to surface. He’s getting better at closing and finishing. He’s a big guy, a strong guy, and we want him to be a good NHL shut-down defenseman. That’s getting on players fast. Just do the one thing: finish and pin. You don’t have to knock the guy off the puck, get the puck and make the first outlet pass. That’s maybe a tendency that is there also. So we’ve talked about that, and he’s a smart kid. He will get better at that.”
Drewiske will (should) be a relatively cheap staple of this team for many, many years to come.
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I’m a little surprised that Drewiske is getting scratched again, especially after Jones’ recent one-shift third period. Of course, Jones put up a lot of points before that and is a veteran. I’m thinking OD will get the night off tomorrow.
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Drewiske is a good athlete who was also an outstanding linebacker in football at Hudson High School in Wisconsin. I seem to recall he had a concussion issue at that time but came back strong and had a good run at Univ.of Wisconsin on that big rink with, I think, Mike Eaves as the coach.
Drewiske though labeled a defensive defenseman has more offensive talent than given credit for which will gradually surface as he gains self confidence as well as the confidence of the coaches. He is also a character type guy demonstated by the community service award he recieved while playing in Manchester. He’s a keeper.
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Am I missing something or is what TM described exactly how Drewiske is playing now? Jones is putting up points which is probably the only reason keeping him in the lineup. I don’t remember if Drewiske has been paired with DD before, but I think this would be a great combo since their styles would seem to naturally compliment each other very well(mobile defensive dman with a mobile offensive dman). This could be an excellent shutdown unit since the puck shouldn’t be in our zone for too long with their mobility and passing ability. Also it would be fun to come up with a good nickname for this pairing… maybe quad-D dynamic duo
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According to 90% of all posters here, most of which claim to play hockey, but never have, plus/minus is the best stat ever. That’s why Jack Johnson sucks.
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They have been paired together at times, particularly when jmfj was paired with OD last year after his injury. I like the pairing as well but for one reason or another, its never more than a couple games tops.
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jack johnson does suck
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@crown royal- how do you know abt his football background? Seems like a random fact that nObody talks abt. I like it! Makes for really physical player IMHO.
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I’d be curious to know how many of those minuses, if any, Drewiske got while he was out there with Johnson. It’s amazing that Johnson gets played so many minutes night in, night out making mistake after mistake yet he doesn’t get scratched and gets more minutes. Johnson has the only plus/minus in the negative column for the defensemen (unless you count the one game Martinez played).
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everybody who has a minus rating should be benched.
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They probably were not paired together long since both were rookies last year… I think it’s something definitely worth trying in the near future.
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Jpuck,
I saw Drewiske play when he was in high school. The Hudson hockey team was the Wisconsin state high school champion then. Joe Pavelksi of the Sharks was also playing high school hockey there about the same time but in another part of the state.
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JJ is very young to be a regular defenseman in the NHL and should have played a year in Manchester before becoming a staple on this blueline. That said he has elite level skating forward and backwards, world class hands and like to throw around his body. He needs to mature into the position without a doubt but is BY FAR the second most talented d-man in the whole organization. Any of you wanting to see more of Greene, Whiskey, OD or any of these other guys need to have yourself examined. JJ has the talent to be a Scott Stevens type d-man, in fact he’s more skilled then Stevens ever was. The question are does JJ have the heart and smarts to get there and you don’t find that out by not playing…
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Alls I gotta say is that MURRAY is AT IT AGAIN!
Drewiske is a FINE defensmen
Jones is a Flyer….Flyer wins over skill any day of the week on this team
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Alls I gotta say is that WWAMD is AT IT AGAIN!
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