Friday, May 24, 2013

The Under-appreciated: Matt Greene


What better way to see the value of a punishing defensive-defenseman than Matt Greene in game 5 against the Sharks? There's been a certain sentiment that defensive d-men are going extinct in the post lockout NHL, but while it did weed out some of the defenseman with suspect hockey-sense, there still very much is a role for Matt Greene types. 

Matt Greene was plastering Sharks into the boards and over the ice all game long, setting a physical tone for the whole team to follow, San Jose's forecheck soon went MIA and they had trouble even with breakouts from their own zone as the Kings established their physical dominance. 

How do you quantify the value of that? You can't. Maybe the Oilers should pay attention the next time they deal players like Stoll and Greene away, the same type they now years later are looking for to supplement their kids with. 


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