Sunday 23 March 2008

Mike is No Dream Weaver

by Jes

Mike Weaver is certainly not one of my favourite Vancouver Canucks. I don't hate him personally, but I do get nervous any time he is on the ice and the puck is in the Canucks' zone.

I'll admit that Weaver has done a decent job as a fill-in defenseman, but he's played far more than he ever should, thanks in large part to the decimation of the Canucks' defensive corps over the season.

Today's paper featured a cheeky column by Ed Willes that highlights just how bad Weaver's (lack of) offensive production has been.

Weaver, the vertically challenged blueliner, has no goals and no assists for no points in 49 games with the Canucks this season which, depending on how you look at it, either placed him in a 93-way tie for 739th place among NHL scoring leaders before last night or 832nd, and last, in the league because of the 93 players who've yet to score this season, none have played more games than Weaver.

To put it in perspective, Canucks backup goalie Curtis Sanford has one assist in 13 games this year.

"I've never really looked at points," Weaver said. "It's like I've got a shock-collar if I go past the blueline. Everybody has their own thing. That's not mine."
OK ... getting out-scored by Curtis Sanford is akin to being beaten in a game of scrabble by a toddler. Ouch.

While it's safe to say Weaver provides NO offense, I'll argue that he provides a net NEGATIVE to the Canucks offense.

Think about it ... a comparible fill-in defenseman should at least have 2-5 points, given the same amount of ice time that Weaver gets on a nightly basis.

Mike Weaver has played 701 minutes of NHL hockey this season (14:18 a game), and hasn't even managed a single, accidental, assist?

C'mon, that's just pathetic.

Unless Weaver is the world's greatest defensive defenseman, which he is not, than he really is of negative value to the Canucks.

0 assists suggest a guy who can't make good breakout passes, is not good at getting the puck to the net, and has a slapshot that would make Craig Janney laugh.

Unfortunately, Weaver is going to be in the lineup a lot more thanks to the season-ending hurts of Ohlund and Krajicek.

*sigh*

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