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Chiarot’s being thrown under the bus unfairly in my opinion.



https://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/2619645

I know there’s been a lot of discussion about Chiarot this year. Lots of complaining. BUT I watched every Wings game, and although it didn’t work out well with Mo, I thought Chiarot was much better than his underlying numbers indicated. He skates well, is tough as nails, and is a true team guy. Yes, the contract is a little high but that’s the nature of being UFA. No one else on the Wings could play 2nd pairing. All in all I’m happy he’s back next year.

by Chizzer19

10 Comments

  1. elvishblood_24

    His issue is that he’s never in position and does random ass shit

  2. dontcaredontcaer

    I’m sure he’s a great guy for the locker room just keep him off the ice

  3. Denver_Law14

    He was bad in Montreal and Florida. He had one good playoff run because the refs put away the whistles which doesn’t help the other 82 regular season games necessary to get into the playoffs. Stevie Y’s worst signing and will likely require a buyout by the final season

  4. Shotokanguy

    If you went back and looked at every minus he’s accrued over the course of the season, you’d be shocked at how little are directly his fault.

    There’s a reason Lalonde likes him, why Yzerman signed him, and why some of us defend him. We’re not imagining some intangible quality that makes all of his horrible mistakes worth it. He doesn’t make all kinds of horrible mistakes. He’s a top 4 defenseman on a bad team. His stats are going to look bad, especially because he’s not an offensive dynamo. But no one had an issue with him early in the season when the Wings started strong. Then the team started floundering and people started looking for scapegoats.

    Please, try to put aside whatever notions you’ve already created in your head and really pay attention to the little things. He wins a lot of battles, reads the play fairly well, and does a pretty good job moving the puck toward the other end, he was 2nd on the team in blocked shots behind Seider, well ahead of Maatta in 3rd. He hits better than almost anyone on the team, except maybe Seider. He seems like a good guy for leadership qualities. If Ben Chiarot is one of our biggest issues, this team is in good shape.

  5. SpiritBamba

    No he isn’t, whatsoever. He sucks, he should be third pairing at like 16-17 minutes a night. Playing him 19-20+ is recipe for disaster. He made countless mistakes every night, and he wasn’t even sticking up for our players when we needed him to. I don’t hate the guy but he’s clearly been deployed over his head, and his underlying numbers are absolutely atrocious. There’s a reason seiders game returned when he played with Walman.

  6. big_phat_gator

    I view the Perron/Chiarot/Copp signings (You can add guys like Staal in here too) as consultants, or on-ice developmental coaches. If Seider can take something from Chiarot, good or bad, thats a big win in my book. And it doesnt have to be on the ice stuff either, it can be off-ice things too. Sure its expensive, but money is not an issue. And we are not competing any time soon so its not like we need the space either to sign big names or what-ever. We just need to bring in as many good people as possible to have around Raymond/Seider/Edvinsson, and hope that something sticks.

  7. DarkRitNighthawk

    Our team always needs a whipping boy. Whether it’s DeKeyser, Howard, or now Chiarot, the fans aren’t happy unless they have a single player to blame for the failures of the whole team

  8. shoostar813

    He averaged 1.93 hits per game this season. Not exactly what I’d call “tough as nails” play. For comparison, Seider was just over 2.5, while actual “tough as nails” guys are well over 3, closer to 3.5/game.

    He did excel in blocked shots, though (he and Mo are 12th and 5th, respectively). Not quite sure that justifies him as “much better than his underlying numbers”, but it certainly is a plus.

    What exactly is a “true team guy”? If you could provide something tangible here, some examples in context, that’d be great. Assuming you’ve no access to their bench or locker rooms during games, I think this statement is a little more than contrived. He’s done nothing exceptional or out of the ordinary as far as being a “good teammate” goes.

    The only other plus I can come up with, is that he doesn’t often turn over the puck, though when you consistently struggle to break it out of you own end, that plus is slightly diminished.

    I’m not on board with absolutely shitting on the guy, especially over the first part of the year when he was paired with Seider. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out, I get it. In reality, Chiarot was mediocre at best/worst, but nobody should be particularly “happy” he’s returning; they should be expecting more of him. Anyway, he was objectively NOT better than his underlying numbers, and no amount of rose tinting on your shades should confuse you into thinking so. He underperformed, especially given the cushy contract he was given.

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