Giveaways

Just wanted to comment on something I heard on the radio this morning. The emailer to the Team1200 warned people about Jason Smith's giveaways - including how he led the league in giveaways in his last year in Edmonton. They said people who were upset with Redden's giveaways should expect more of the same with Smith.

Here are the stats:

Player	Year	Giveaways	TOI	Minutes/Giveaway
Redden	05-06	62	1525	25
	06-07	65	1466	23
	07-08	66	1777	27
Smith	05-06	86	1493	17
	06-07	109	1733	16
	07-08	33	1380	42

No doubt Smith's improvement last year was a result of him being in the later pairings and getting reduced icetime against the top lines and perhaps a lighter workload from the Edmonton days suits his 35yr old body better. Nobody is expecting him to be on a top pairing. A even strength partner in Mezsaros is appealing with some PK time with Schubert.

As for the comparison with Redden... if you don't hit at all (and you don't block shots more than the average D) you'd better not give the puck away. Seeing Redden getting creamed into the boards again and again isn't something I'm going to miss. You'd like to give him credit for taking a hit to make a play but eventually it just gets depressing.