2010-11 Canes Country Exit Analysis: Tim Gleason
by Bob Wage on Jul 28, 2011 11:52 AM EDT
in 2010-11 Exit Analysis
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Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Tim Gleason had an up and down performance last season. For the first time in his career, he played in all 82 games, but he also had the worst plus/minus stat in his career, (-11).
Gleason's 216 hits were third highest on the team and 17th best in the league. But according to HockeyFights.com, the blueliner had an NHL career low number of fights last season. (A knockdown of Nikolai Kulemin was technically not a fight, he was given a game misconduct for that one and Kulemin was given a roughing call. So technically, he had one fight for the year.)
Some fans felt pretty sure that the defenseman was playing through an injury last season, but nothing official was ever released about that. To add fuel to the fire though, Gleason's teammates voted for him to receive the Steve Chiasson Award, which goes annually to the player that best exemplifies determination and dedication while proving to be an inspiration to his teammates through his performance and approach to the game.
It was the first time the defenseman won the award.
The Good:
Gleason played a career high number of games last season and had a solid number of hits, (216), third best on the team. His 140 blocked shots led the team. Gleason was on the ice against the other team's best and had the fourth highest ice time on the club. He is considered the team's top shut-down guy. Earning the votes of his teammates for the Chiasson Award shows a lot about what they think of him in the locker room.
The Bad:
Gleason's offensive numbers dropped from the previous year, even though he played 21 more games. As mentioned previously, his performance in his own end was inconsistent and he finished with the worst plus/minus stat in his career. Some feel his "aggression factor" was not as high as in the past because of the lower fight totals. At his end of season press conference, even Jim Rutherford called out the defenseman a bit. For whatever reason, he was not as solid as he was the previous season, when he made the USA Olympic team.
Note: Did his performance in his zone have anything to do with his defensive partner? Gleason was paired with Joe Corvo for over 60% of his total ice time, and Corvo is not necessarily known as an all star in his own end. The previous year, Gleason spent about 27% of his time with Corvo, 24% of his time with Niclas Wallin, and 14% with Joni Pitkanen.
The Money:
It's an important season for the defenseman because he is in the final year of his four year deal. He will be paid $3.5 million this season and his cap hit is $2.75 million.
How would you grade the defenseman's performance last season?
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C
Hard to argue last year was anything but a step back for Gleason as far as his development/playing was concerned. I have no reasons why, but he did not appear as aggressive or solid defensively as he did for us the previous year or during the Olympics.
Not a fail, but not an A. B out becuase he regressed. C is avarage to a slight disaapointment…. He could have and should have been beter defensively.
I give him a weak C
The injury is simply a non issue. It is not cool or heroic to play hurt if it affects your team in a negative way. If he was hurt all season long, he should have been a good enough teammate to sit it out until he was able to perform. In fact, playing with an injury, in some ways is hurting your team. There is a line that players often cross with respect to injuries. When a player that heretofore played consistently at a high level suddenly starts to stink up the ice, someone needs to do what is right for the organization…. Let him heal.
The play on the ice was not acceptable. The shut down guy needed to be shut down. Cam Ward was not the one that needed the break. The continued decision to play Gleason when he was hurting is another knock against the Coach. If the players voted him as the SC award winner, his injury was understood by all especially the coach. I don’t get it… Its like the team was being run by Congress….
by KenRab on Jul 28, 2011 12:10 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Do you think there was a player who could have matched or exceeded his performance if he wasn't playing, though?
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '010: Save the Richardson family coffers! We'll take the winning if we stumble into it.
by MichaelProcton on Jul 28, 2011 2:08 PM EDT up reply actions
That is a great question....
Certainly we have players that could have shifted up and taken those assignments. It would have been nice to see how McBain faired in that role. I am positive the team would have gotten better results with a healthy Gleason for half the season than an unhealthy Gleason for the entire season. Really, injuries are a part of the game and when guys go down, it should be an opportunity for everyone else to step up and get challenged. We have an organization that has depth and those young guys need a shot. Joslin played great in very limited time. I would have loved to see him take regular shifts last season. At his best, Gleason is a slightly + defender. He makes a lot of possession mistakes with the puck. Having him out of the lineup would not have been the difference between a win and a loss on most nights.
This season, there are plenty of guys that can move into any slot with the big club should the need arise. Definately a call that should be made by the coach(and Doctors) ….not the player….
Blocked shots??
He led the team with 140 blocked shots, so how can you say someone else could have done better? Let’s not get hung up on +/- … it’s a team stat more than a player stat, especially when you’re a shutdown D-man (above individual stats show he did very well)!!
I agree that he didn’t have the best year, but defense requires teamwork, and one D-man or Goalie can be hung out by a forward screwing up
The article is about Gleason...
We can talk all day about defensive responsibility of the forwards and there is no question they are to blame for the team’s defensive problems. The article is about Gleason. Each defensman is responsible for the plays that he makes. Gleason had a lot of defensive lapses this past season. I watched that guy do everything from throwing the puck across his own crease to standing around and watching the play happen around him. No one should ignore plus/minus. Over the course of the season, it does speak to how an individual is playing. In the NHL, anyone who is not at the top of his game will look bad. Even a player that is performing at 85% will get exposed. Look at Brind’ Amour in his last season. He was at around 80% but was -26 or something.. It matters…. Gleason was passive and not the in your face defender that he has to be to compete in the NHL. He is not going to beat you with offense, he is not going to beat you with blocked shots. He helps the team win with strong, smart, bruising hockey. Blocking a lot of shots can be a sign of a player that is out of position a lot too… He dives back into a play after getting beat and he gets rewarded with a blocked shot.
Don’t misunderstand me. I like the guy and his game. He is not a 90% guy. For Tim Gleason it’s 100% or sit down. IMHO
We can talk all day about defensive responsibility of the forwards and there is no question they are to blame for the team’s defensive problems.
That’s a bit strong… There’s no question they SHARE some of the blame…
Gleason himself was not as good as he was last year. Pitkanen made obviuos blown assignements leading to goals as did the other defenders. Forwards help, but the entire defense could have played better. Part of that was personnel, which JR recognized and addressed twice during the year—by the last 29 games the defesnsive personnel were doing better. At that part Mo schooled the forwards and the entire team defense got better.
I’m hoping that’s what you meant…
Joslin wasn't here for long.
And you’re crazy if you think that the player has veto power on lineup decisions.
Advance apologies if the contents of this sports-based post offended you. I'm just aiming to educate the masses. My law professor says they're asses.
Panthers '010: Save the Richardson family coffers! We'll take the winning if we stumble into it.
by MichaelProcton on Jul 29, 2011 6:18 PM EDT up reply actions
On another team with a stronger overall defense, I'd give him a D
On this team, knowing how important he is and what he was working with, a C+ (with the + for effort)
Of Maurice, Karmanos said: "I’m happy Paul is back but he’s going to be judged the same way as any other coach. We need to win more consistently."
by Sergeant Stinky on Jul 28, 2011 12:17 PM EDT reply actions
baby factor
I blame Pitkanen and Gleason’s performance last year on adjusting to Daddy life. Having babies and being on the road has got to be tough. Probably tougher on the mom, but still a possible distraction to their game.
I’m expecting both to step it up this season.
I think it is just the opposite...
I know when my children were born, it gave me a renued sense of urgency to provide for my family. An acute need to achieve. Maybe that is just me…? What does everyone think about that?
Babies usually endow me with the spirit and vitality I require to excel in life. Perhaps Gleason doesn’t have the same affinity for babies.
Unrelenting Optimism! ☺
by Positive Plus on Jul 29, 2011 1:40 AM EDT up reply actions
1) I’m sure his sense of urgency wasn’t a problem, but maybe distracted by feeling bad perhaps b/c he was on the road pretty often? I know I would feel that way so I kinda buy into that argument.
2) If me making millions of dollars a year depends on me getting a full-night’s sleep, wifey better be taking care of the baby at night. Not trying to be sexist or anything, just sayin…
In the post where I look at defensive errors, Gleason had one of the lowest percentages among regular defensemen and had the toughest assignments among Canes defenseman while doing so. I would not consider him a “top shutdown” defenseman in the league and he doesn’t do much offensively either but he was probably Carolina’s best defensive defenseman last season. That isn’t the best thing, though because he got hammered in his own zone last season despite not having that many goal-causing errors. I’m wondering if the Canes will pair him with Bryan Allen to give the team a “shut-down pair.” That could help him a little bit.
www.shutdownline.com
I’m wondering if the Canes will pair him with Bryan Allen to give the team a "shut-down pair."
Wouldn’t be a fun pair to play against, the only problem with that pair is lack of foot speed, which every top line in the EC has, especially teams like Montreal, Tampa, Toronto, Winnepeg, etc. I’m really interested to see what Allen looks like in camp, what did he do over the summer and another year removed from the major knee surgery (also another year older). If he could get a little quicker, he’d be like having Chris Pronger minus the offense.
Yeah, that’s definitely a cause for concern. That and it would be smart to have Pitkanen and Kaberle paired with a more defensively sound partner like Allen or Gleason.
www.shutdownline.com
by MyFriendCorey on Jul 28, 2011 2:17 PM EDT up reply actions
Rated Him B
I believe Gleason has been held accountable by us fans for the lack of defensive prowess of the rest of the team. Hockey is a team sport and he is only one man. If he was playing against the other team’s top forwards most of the time, then any dropoff in performance by the players playing with him is reflected in Gleason’s plus/minus stats. A defenseman who plays mostly against the other team’s 3rd and 4th lines can look better plus/minus wise and still not be in Gleason’s class. I’m glad we have him.
“A defenseman who plays mostly against the other team’s 3rd and 4th lines can look better plus/minus wise and still not be in Gleason’s class.”
That sounds kind of like Jay Harrison.
www.shutdownline.com
by MyFriendCorey on Jul 28, 2011 2:16 PM EDT up reply actions
B- - - -
I can’t rate the guy lower than a B. Even though he stunk it up much of the year in my eyes, he still led the team in blocking shots so that says a lot to me. And I’m still mancrushing from 2009.
If he’s going to be a step behind anyways (which he was most of the year) I would have expected to see more hits. I realize it’s kind of self defeating, but if you think of it in terms of some d-men making hits and ending up out of position… if you’re a step slow, why not throw the body more?
D
Important team player, great character guy, but there is no denying that his season was absolute crap. I would have given him a C, but I give him a D for being too proud of himself and not talking a few days off to help whatever injury he may or may not have.
Maybe a combination of things
So I think his less-that-stellar season might be due to a combination of things – all of which has been well said by everyone. If I had to pick the 2 biggest reasons, I’d say 1) Corvo and 2) Baby. Corvo was a disaster in his own end and being paired with Gleason kept Corvo’s +/- numbers from being in the -20’s. Being paired with Joni will make somewhat of a a difference.
I don’t totally buy the injury angle – he was throwing his weight around and blocking shots way too much for a guy who was nursing a body-part.
I gave Tim Gleason a "C"
as with new baby or no…his preformance in the critical areas dropped off..sure on the things we expect him to excel in ( hits & blocked shots) he did ok…but still he and his over all preformance has dropped off hopefully we’ll see and major improvement this coming season…man it is 95 outsoide my door in Winston-Salem..and it’s to be worse tomorrow too…sigh…
What did you do during the summer when the playoffs are over ?
Go Canes & Checkers !!
gave him a b
not great, but not bad. maybe a B minus would be more apropriate
as an aside: is that a good not sure if serious pic or is it just me?
I am not a heavy drinker. I can sometimes go for hours without touching a drop --Noel Coward
gave him a C...
Not sure if Tim was playing through an injury, or trying hard not to get penalized much, but his play for the latter 75% of the season was not Tim Gleason. It was a shell or shadow of his former self. I hope he just had an off year due to nagging injury… :(
Ready for the Canes to win the Cup again! :)
B
some of this evaluation has to fall on those behind the bench & the system they impose.
Timmy is just one, of the very pissed off veterans; that won’t accept missing the playoffs again next season.
Expect his leadership to be exemplary out the gate, come October. TG – Rocks!
by oldskoolwhalercane on Jul 28, 2011 10:48 PM EDT reply actions
Agreed
I think that this is true especially with how he didn’t fight as much last season. Do you remember in his exit interview how he said that the coaching staff asked him not to fight as much (he then made the being Irish joke)? It’s possible that by doing this they took a lot of edge off of his game i.e. the defensive defensemen enforcer type of player.
by sgrossman139 on Jul 29, 2011 7:53 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Tough year for a tough player
Though Timmay had a tough year, I have even more respect for him for what he labored through.
He was seen hobbling to his car after home games for a large portion of the year. It was clear to anyone who witnessed this that Gleason was injured somewhere….
If the Canes had not been in the playoff hunt down the stretch I imagine Timmay would have sat a few games out.
"He has all the virtues I dislike, and none of the vices I admire." -Sir Winston Churchill
by SouthernHockeyFan on Jul 29, 2011 9:11 AM EDT reply actions
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