Is Edler worth the money?

 

  

Garth McLennan

sports editor
t the beginning of last season, the
A= that the Canucks’ young
defenseman Alex Edler has been
inked to a four-year, $13 million contract
extension was greeted with general approval
by the city. After all, Edler was just coming
off his first full season in the NHL after
two years of development split between the
Canucks and the Manitoba Moose, and from
all accounts he was easily the team’s top
blueline prospect in years.

Edler’s rookie season, which was largely
the basis for his new contract, went about
as well as anyone could expect. He scored
eight goals and posted 20 points in 75 games,
impressive numbers for any rookie defender,
and was named to the Young Stars Game
during the NHL’s All-Star Weekend. He also
wowed the team’s brass with his offensive
instincts, including excellent long-range
passing skills and a booming slap shot, which
was clocked as the team’s hardest during the
Super Skills competition that year.

Best of all, Edler was making just
$525,000 and playing a very prominent role
for a blueline decimated by injuries that
season.

Yes, things were only looking up as Edler
entered his sophomore season last year. He
built on his rookie statistics and improved in
every offensive area. Heading into the start
of this year, with the free agent departure of
long time stalwart Matthias Ohlund, Edler
was supposed to play a leading, 25-28 minute
per game role on the Canucks. When looking
at his career progression up this point, in
which he’s advanced his game rapidly every

 

year, that didn’t seem unrealistic. Instead, to
the surprise of almost every one, Edler has
completely stalled.

This is the first year that his new deal has
kicked in, he’ll make $3.25 million per for the
next four seasons, but through 19 games Edler
hasn’t played even close to that level. He’s yet
to score this season and has just nine assists.
Even worse, he’s had little to zero impact.

Now, it’s not like Edler hasn’t been given
his chances either. He’s been presented with
ample power play time to get his game going
but has done nothing with it. Defensively, he
hasn’t been much better. So far Edler is a -7,
which is unacceptable for a guy playing 20
minutes plus each night. To make it worse,
he’s looked overmatched and overwhelmed in
his own zone and made a number of painful
to watch bungles—to put it bluntly, Edler has
been a liability.

Take the November 10 debacle against
the St. Louis Blues for example. Edler was
the culprit on the opening goal scored just 18
seconds into the game, where he was unable
to defend the Blues’ attack off the rush and
got himself so turned around that he wound
up facing his own net, and basically doing
nothing, while Andy MacDonald had a clear
shot on goal and scored.

Now, it’s easy to write this type of stuff
off early on, but, when you think about it, it
really isn’t that early anymore. I mean, 19. *
games without a goal? Ice time decreasing:
each game? That isn’t good, especially for
a guy who’s making a considerable sum of
money and will be for the next few years.
Gillis has invested a ton of money into
his defence corps and having a weak link,
especially an expensive one, won't fly for
long.

  
  

 

By Garth McLennan, Sports Editor

[ are a ton of people out
there that will tell you golf
isn’t a sport. They'll point out
the obvious: The physical component
of golf isn’t exactly taxing. There’s
no contact, it’s not a huge workout. If
guys like John Daly and Craig Stadler
can be among the best in the world
with their physiques, how can golf be
considered a true sport? There is some
truth to that but in the end, it really
doesn’t matter.

The skill level for elite golfers
is huge, and it far exceeds the
importance of a lack of physicality.
For proof of that, all you have
to do is look at Tiger Wood’s
recent performance at the BMW
Championship. In the third round,
Woods shot a ridiculously good round
of 62. On a professionally designed
course made for PGA Tour players
that is just amazing, considering that
the all-time best record is 59.

For the average, non-Tiger
player, shooting 62 is the equivalent
-of winning the lottery. It’s mind-

+ boggling. To be able to play that kind
golf is something very few athletes
‘hould accomplish.

There’s a saying that says golf

 

-}is-90 percent mental and 10 pefcent

physical. That is perfectly true.More
than almost any other type of athlete,
golfers are subject to streaks. There
are very few injuries, as you might
expect, but the mental toll it can take
has the potential to be excruciating. At

 

 

y every level, from the Sunday duffers

right up to the PGA pros, golfers
can lose their mental fortitude and
collapse in an incredibly short span.

To be a successful golfer, you
have to stay level. You can’t get too
pumped up for the good shots or too
down for the bad ones. If you do,
you'll find yourself starting to think
about other things besides your golf
game, and that’s when self-doubt
creeps in.

Plus, the pressure in golf can be
enormous, just the same as it is in any
contact sport out there. Standing over
a six or seven foot putt, regardless of
who you’re playing with or where, is
a pressure activity that most wouldn’t
expect. Because there is this notion
that you should make such a short
putt, the average golfer is terrified of
missing it, because it'll make them
look terrible.

Also, the strategy in golf is
extremely underrated. The decision to
hit an eight-iron or a nine-iron can be
huge, even if doesn’t seem like it at
first glance. Golf is a game of inches
and selecting the wrong club can often
be the difference between a good and
a bad round.

4

THE VERDICT:

The intricacies of golf are often
ignored, and.that-ca@lises people to
doubt its standing as a sport and cast
it more as a game for seniors and rich
people. That is far from reality; golf
is a sport.

OE