Yes, he did do a good job just recently playing with Giroux and while you wouldn't rate his skill set as top 6 it's a matter of effective chemistry.
Having him as part of my bitter dogfight with another team to top my hockey pool this year, I was acutely aware of his hot streak and what was happening there is he was showing top notch board control of the puck, driving the net, and setting screens. He also would be available if people mess with Grioux to respond immediately.
Now, all this puck control goes for naught if there is nobody there to help out and Briere isn't exactly the best at playing off that board game.
It isn't a uqestion of skills as much as it is shaking out the lines. Jagr is turning it over a ton lately and I'd like to see a switch that had worked. The scoring is drying up and so why not go back to what was working?
As far as Talbot goes, all I question is where is the great team guy when some of this stuff has gone down? He's been on the ice for some of the hits people are calling for response too and never has.
Posted on Mar 14, 2012, 8:22 PM from IP address 64.201.178.27