Final Grade: Scott Hannan

Very nice.

Suck it, Winkler

This was 1st heard when Pat Morita returned to the Happy Days set after Henry told Pat he’d never work again.

(I bet this is the first time Dan has heard a joke that played on the fact that him and The Fonz share a last name)

I still think people looked at Hannan and saw his raping of Peter Forsberg in the playoffs as the type of defender the Avs were getting. Unfortunately, post-lockout rules didn’t allow that kind of raping. It’s the same thing that made Adam Foote less effective than during his 1st tenure with the Avs (that, and Adam Foote got slow as hell as age took over).

Hannan was still a good stay at home defender. Not flashy, but effective. I wish the Avs would have a few more of those instead of trying to rely on a bunch of puck movers who couldn’t take a body if their lives depended on it

It’s just too bad people wanted him to be physical, and score goals, and carry everyone on his back and justify his salary

That contract is off the books now, so we’ll all need to find something new to bitch about.

Paging Paul Stastny. Paul Stastny to the courtesy phone.

So, he’s a UFA, and we need a strong stay at home guy to pair with EJ. The only way it could be better is if there was some kind of sexual innuendo that could be made from his name.

I wonder how badly the bridges were burned.

Yeah, Hannan sure showed us when he was traded and the defense went from “sucks” to “sucks.” Sure, you could make the case that it went to “really sucks.” But the truth is that the defense didn’t give up all that many more goals a game after he left (Valentine’s Day be damned notwithstanding). When Hannan was there, the Avs were giving up 3, 4, 5 goals a game and won when the offense clicked. After his trade, the Avs were giving up 3, 4, or 5 goals a game and couldn’t score to save their lives. Are you telling me that Hannan’s crisp clearing passes were what was funding the offensive game?

Don’t get me wrong. Hannan was fine. I just don’t feel the seller’s remorse. Part of his job was to clear the zone and he kinda sucked at that (along with everyone else on the team). Yes, the deal was a lose for Sherm. But I’m still pretty meh over Hannan.

I’m a little surprised at all the love Hannan is getting here. He’s not really a guy I like to watch play hockey and I’m not sure he’s a big factor in helping your team win games.

I think his pros are that he’s reliable and durable. He is good positionally and makes sound positioning decisions. Because he’s so commited to playing his position by the book he’s rarely beat by a bad pinch or line change.

I think his cons are that he’s a non-factor on offense and when he gets a wide open shot he misses the net like no pro player I’ve ever witnessed. He’s not particularly quick and is making up for it more and more with positioning (see Foote). He’s conservative to the point of hurting his linemates because he will shift early because he knows his clock is up. On many occasions he’s abandoned the rush to make the conservative line change. In the playoffs he cost Washington a game because he did this on a long change without considering the play in front of him. He’s part of the defensive core that couldn’t clear a puck to save their lives in two disasterous seasons in 2008 and 2010. His straight legged, face to the boards backand clearing attempt highlight can sum up his Avalanche career. I absolutely abhore is dispassion on the ice. He’s not angry and he’s not excited..he’s just there. That level of passion is basically how I feel about him as a player. Not excited to watch him, not exactly blaming him for most of what went wrong either. Hannan is a guy at Vegas down to his last $20 and holds on a 16. He’s safe to his teams detriment.

Only 3 players evaluated so far on the 2nd-to-worst team in the NHL have received less than a B-. That includes two bottom-6 forwards who had to play above their talent at times because of injuries, and a defenseman who got injured early in the season and only played 18 games*.

I fear the worst for Koci, Stoa, Wilson, Hunwick, Foote, Cody Mac, and Elliott.

*This same defenseman had more TOI/game and more points than the subject of this evaluation, was a key part of both the PK and the PP, yet received a C- compared to Hannan’s B+.

a B+ is very high for Hannan. Are you saying that he had a near perfect season for the avs? If so, his +/- should have been a lot higher than 6. Good defensive players on good teams (see this guy: http://www.forecaster.ca/thestar.com/hockey/player.cgi?1496) traditionally rack up big positives on the ole p/m. Hannan was an average defender on team that was scoring at an insane rate then the well dried up (mostly concussed up) look at the results, even when they won, it’s was a high scoring game. http://www.forecaster.ca/thestar.com/hockey/schedule-regular.cgi?col&x_seasonID=209&x_date=all

Hannan is no higher than a C+ at best.

Interestingly enough, Hannan came into my Whole Foods yesterday with his toddler son. I guess since it was his last year of contract he knew he might not stay in DC, but it still caught me a bit off guard.

Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to ask him what he thought about playing out east.

I would love to have Hannan back. I think people underestimated his contributions considerably. But then I’m a Hobbit fan girl…even if he did rub up against my boobs when we were taking a picture in Vegas.

Who?

I know many folks were amped up when Flash performed so well after the trade, but what were the long term effects of the deal? To sort of quote Bill Murray in Stripes, the Avs essentially lost their big toe. Hannan had finally became the force we had hoped he would be early in the season. Steady. Bruising. Positionally sound. Infuriating to play against. Probably one of the top 3 or 4 defensive defensemen in the league.

Injuries forced the Avs to panic, trading their only solid defensive defenseman for a stop gap forward with a medical history. And I think that, more than anything this past season, led to their downfall. I would give Hannan an A. And watching the Avs stumble around the ice without their big toe late in the season was just painful.