Ryan Johnson

[Spunky Porkstacker]

I have liked what he brings, and up until Sunday he really had'nt had a lot of consistent minutes, Against the Pens on Sun. though I thought he really added alot with his faceoffs, battling for pucks, hustle and grit. If he can stay healthy it could really give the missing 3rd and 4th lines a much needed boost.



Apparently the captain likes his game as well My link “It was fun to see him sliding across the ice blocking shots,” Toews said with a smile. “We haven’t had too much of that from our forwards. He’s the type of guy we can learn from. He definitely gave us a boost.”



I'm not saying he's the long term solution, but this years 3rd and 4th line have been practically nonexistent. Jake Dowell has been invisible lately.

 

[R K]

I agree. I'd much rather he play Center than Kopecky.

 

[PatrickShart]

Dowell has been invisible. I hope they can get a guy like Reasoner...scratch Dowell...and play Johnson.

 

[R K]

Dowell has been invisible. I hope they can get a guy like Reasoner...scratch Dowell...and play Johnson.

Shame they couldn't have kept Reasoner. Would have made that deal awesome.

 

[MassHavoc]

As someone who has recently been critical (? I guess you could call of that) of him, (Go **** Yourself) This is good to hear, unfortunately I didn't get to see much of the pitt game because NBC's sound was infuriating, and didn't see Monday because I was here at work, but I hope what you say is true and he's fully healthy and finally able to contribute meaningful minutes.

 

[PatrickShart]

Seriously...that 4mil cap hit = Ladd (2.35mil) & Reasoner (1.15mil)

Reasoner - 11g - 14a - 25pts - +5



All of the sudden, the depth would be huge for this team...the PK and Faceoffs much better...

Sharp - Toews - Kane

Ladd - Bolland - Hossa

Bickell - Reasoner - Brouwer

Kopecky - Dowell - Stalberg



...sigh....



Fucking Toews winning the Conn Smythe. They shouldve given it to Briere for all I care.

 

[MassHavoc]

On a side note, I find all of this hilarious because my friends name is Ryan Johnson, and I like to make fun of him. He's from Minny though so **** him.

 

[JOVE23]

On a side note, I find all of this hilarious because my friends name is Ryan Johnson, and I like to make fun of him. He's from Minny though so **** him.

Cool story bro

 

[MassHavoc]

Cool story bro

I'm not your bro, guy.

 

[the canadian dream]

Come on. What is Toews going to say to the press about a fellow teammate? Of course he is going to speak positives of him.



Sorry I think Johnson is a dime a dozen player. I do like his work ethic but really now, has he played one game where he has stuck out for the Hawks? One game where you can say..that Ryan Johnson sure did play well tonight. He doesn't shore up the 4th line and he isn't 3rd line center material on any team unless they are cap struck like us. He actually barely makes the starting roster on 80% of the teams in the NHL.



And this has nothing to do with him being an ex Canuck. Sopel was an ex Canuck and I loved that guy. I see nothing from Johnson that makes me elated that he is on the club.

 

[R K]

I don't give a shit he's a better Center than Kopecky. That's all that matters.



He has yet to HURT them while he's playing.

 

[chasman]

Come on. What is Toews going to say to the press about a fellow teammate? Of course he is going to speak positives of him.



Sorry I think Johnson is a dime a dozen player. I do like his work ethic but really now, has he played one game where he has stuck out for the Hawks? One game where you can say..that Ryan Johnson sure did play well tonight. He doesn't shore up the 4th line and he isn't 3rd line center material on any team unless they are cap struck like us. He actually barely makes the starting roster on 80% of the teams in the NHL.



And this has nothing to do with him being an ex Canuck. Sopel was an ex Canuck and I loved that guy. I see nothing from Johnson that makes me elated that he is on the club.

He has done very well on face offs.

 

[the canadian dream]

I don't give a shit he's a better Center than Kopecky. That's all that matters.



He has yet to HURT them while he's playing.

That doesn't say much. My gold fish is a better center than Kopecky and Johnson for that matter. But when I sit back and think about this..is he really? Kopecky may not be the worlds greatest center but at least he has some play making abilities. Johnson has zero. I like my 3rd line to contribute on the scoreboard as well as be a shut down line. Don't think that's possible when you have a player with Johnsons ability centering the 3rd line. He is also 35 and isn't getting any better.



As for his face off numbers are solid..no doubt about that. Can you not get those face off percentages on the 4th line? This isn't a debate about if he can take face offs. Does very little to sway my opinion of him as an overall player. This is a matter of slot allocation and he doesn't belong on the 3rd line because he has good face off numbers. The rest of his game is b b b b b b b oooooring.



He would hurt the team if he logged more ice time. Something we need from a 3rd line center. Does this club feel confident in giving a guy like Johnson more ice time? I doubt it. And that says a lot. If he is going to be an active roster player I still say 4th line where he belongs. And in that sense he sort of does hurt this team (but to no fault of his own if that makes sense). You can't give guys like Johnson 3rd line center ice time minutes. So why is he here? Keep him on the 4th in my opinion.



Don't pull the blanket over my eyes trying to tell me Johsnon is a asset to this team. I know why Johnson is here and I know why this club can't go out and nab a better 3rd line center than both Kopecky and Johnson. But in the meantime he is still a dime a dozen player. I also know there is nothing we can do about center depth. So the pressure for now lies in the hands of Toews and Bolland that much more. Which frightens me. Johnson nor kopecky are centers that are going to relieve that pressure. We aren't better with either of them in that position on the 3rd line. And I am not 100% sure if I agree that Johnson is a better option than Kopecky to be honest. Wish I could say he is because you are right Kopecky as a 3rd line center sucks balls also.



P.S. Johnson's staggering -87 career plus/minus really has always excited me also. I don't want to read into that too much as he has played on soe bad teams but boy that's a hearty plus minus isn't it?

 

[R K]

Bla bla bla bla... Holy fucking HF50....!



Right now there aren't any other options other than splitting up the hottest line on this team. That said, AGAIN, he has yet to hurt this team and has played with energy.



You find another "better" option so be it. Right now Cap Space says you can't.



I don't give a shit what he's done in the past, I care what he can do to help this team win now. We have very FEW options at Center.



And I call bullshit you don't have a bias against him because he has yet to do ANYTHING to make this team worse so far. Especially knowing how PATHETIC they are at face offs. I could understand had he, as I would probably not be too happy either.

 

[the canadian dream]

Just admit he sucks.



I don't care about the other options stuff. I am talking about a players hockey abilities here not management abilities. As an NHL hockey player Ryan Johnson is as dime a dozen as you can get.



I am not content with a dime a dozen player getting 3rd line center minutes.



So yah I would actually rather have Kopecky there. Call me crazy. I will always take the less sucky over the more sucky.



Tired of the cap stuff being the basis for every player evaluation. Take the cap out and just look at the player Ryan Johnson is. Lets pretend the cap doesn't exsist for a second. Is Ryan Johnson a good NHL player? Is he a well rounded player in any capacity? Or is he a one trick pony? **** players like Johnson should have to wear a "CAP" on their jersey because that's the only reason they are playing. Another reason I hate the cap. No one evaluates talent any more they only evaluate cap worth.



He is a one trick pony.

 

[R K]

Just admit he sucks.



I don't care about the other options stuff. I am talking about a players hockey abilities here not management abilities. As an NHL hockey player Ryan Johnson is as dime a dozen as you can get.



To fucking bad they don't have Cap Space to do much else.





I am not content with a dime a dozen player getting 3rd line center minutes.



So yah I would actually rather have Kopecky there. Call me crazy. I will always take the less sucky over the more sucky.



You are and the ONLY one I've seen say that. Again Bias against the player.



Tired of the cap stuff being the basis for every player evaluation. Take the cap out and just look at the player Ryan Johnson is. Lets pretend the cap doesn't exsist for a second. Is Ryan Johnson a good NHL player? Is he a well rounded player in any capacity? Or is he a one trick pony?



Tuff SHIT thats the way it is.



He is a one trick pony.

Remind me when he does something that costs this team a game. So far he hasn't. When he does, it will be his first of the year.

 

[PatrickShart]

I agree with you TCD. I'd take Kopecky at center over Johnson every day of the week.



All they have to do, is make sure he isn't taking Dzone faceoffs (which he doesnt) and change him on the fly.



However...I may take Johnson over Dowell...who has looked awful the last few weeks.

 

[R K]

Id rather none of the three be at center but this isn't NHL 11.



Kopecky sucks ass at Center.

 

[PatrickShart]

If Kopecky sucks ass at center...Johnson sucks sweaty balls...hairy ass and even some nipples.



Johnson skates up and down the ice - does nothing else. Nothing/zero on offense, cant hit, cannot set up a play or create offense...average defensively. He's good at blocking shots and faceoffs. Thats 4th line stuff...not third line.

 

[the canadian dream]

Remind me when he does something that costs this team a game. So far he hasn't. When he does, it will be his first of the year.

Remind me when he plays more than 12 games and starts getting the 3rd line minute ice time that you want his 35 year old crippled up body to handle. Cause right now what is he averaging 8 minutes or so? Want that to go up? I don't. I don't think he can handle it and it's at that point where I think you would see him costing us games. That argument doesn't work with me.



Need to play and be on the ice to cost teams games. I think there is a reason why the coaching staff don't allow Johnson to log heavy ice time. If he isn't costing us games then why do you want to move him to the 3rd line? If he is contributing by not "costing us games" why adjust anything?



I can reverse this all and say he isn't winning us games either. This works 2 ways.



Sorry I just don't see what others are seeing with Johnson as a player. I am sure he is a nice guy and I am not going to sit here and bash his character as I don't know the guy and he has never done anything to make me question it anyways. But he isn't deserving of more ice time than he currently gets.



I agree pmx Dowel has been iffy here and there. Haven't been overly impressed by his play this season either. But I have seen worse. Dowel seems like a guy that will need some time. There are moments where you see his skills come out and it makes you go hmmmmmm maybe a couple years down the road. I wouldn't give up on Dowel just yet. I also agree if Johsnon is here for face off abilities then change him up on the fly like we used to do with Yannick that one season lol..although that drove me nuts too sometimes. But it worked many times.