ERIC BREWER and Team Canada

Wow guys...for all the people who think that he's Canada's weak link...

CONSIDER...

On a team where he's played alongside Neidermayer, Regehr, Hannan, JBo, Redden, Jovo and Foote who are all elite defensemen and Eric Brewer is the 6th or 7th defenseman on the Oiler team who belongs in the ECHL... here are some stats that say a little something.


PLUS MINUS RATING


#1. He's playing a lot and currently has a +4 rating. That just disgusting. He's horrible defensively!!!

Your elite defensemen who he's disgraced being mentioned in the same sentence with are rated:

Adam Foote: +5
Neidermayer: +2 (Mr.Norris)
Redden: 0
Hannan: +4
Regehr: +2
JBo: +3

That's pretty bad that Eric is ONLY a PLUS 4 on the top 4 pairings. Playing with Foote, Brewer should be +27 because Foote is so mighty and is only +1 rating higher making that much better than Brewer.


GOALS/POINTS


Wow fellas... Guess who's leading all Canadian defensemen in GOALS, ASSISTS and POINTS again? Wow that ECHL Player Eric Brewer is really starting to get on my nerves!!! He's supposed to be the worst defenseman on the blue line yet he's getting all these points out of no where. It's like he's a walking fluke on the ice. He has the best +/- rating and most goals, tied for most assists, has most points out of all defensemen yet all these ELITE defensemen around here are not getting criticized because they are all sooo much better.

Eric Brewer 5GP 1G 2A 3PTS +4
Adam Foote 5GP 0G 2A 2PTS +5
Scott Neidermayer 5GP 0G 1A 1PTS +2
Wade Redden 2GP 0G 1A 1PTS 0
Scott Hannan 4GP 0G 1A 1PTS +4
Robyn Regehr 5GP 0G 0A 0PTS +2
Jay Boumeester 3GP 0G 0A +3


Is he really a fluke? I mean...He did lead all defensemen in team Canada at Salt Lake City. He was the youngest defenseman there, proving that with a solid supporting cast (he doesn’t have this in Edmonton) he can perform at a high level. He scored one highlight reel goal deking a whole team out.


Conclusion (In all seriousness)

Guys, I’m not bashing any of you, nor am I advertising that he's the best defenseman there because he's NOT... and I admit that! But please stop bashing Eric Brewer. He's done nothing wrong and has played solid yet Brian McCabe should have been there because of him.....? Good Lord! No one is question the Regehr and Hannan selection but that Eric Brewer has been a scapegoat when he doesn’t deserve all the crap you're all throwing at him. There are a lot of player that were left out because Canada has the greatest pool of talent in the world. Why can’t we all just be happy for a guy who works hard and is getting recognition by samrt hockey people like Wayne Gretky and Pat Quinn?

Brewer plays fantastic in big game situations. Otherwise, he's actually somewhat poor. That's why I think alot of people think he's overrated. They've probably only seen him in one of his (many) lackluster games. If he could play near his "big game' level all the time, he'd be one of the best defenseman in the league.

Brewer plays fantastic in big game situations. Otherwise, he's actually somewhat poor. That's why I think alot of people think he's overrated. They've probably only seen him in one of his (many) lackluster games. If he could play near his "big game' level all the time, he'd be one of the best defenseman in the league.
That is true its easier to target him because he tends to be over-rated. Its the little things that make me think Brewer will never be a star. He has jumped in nicely to contribute on offense and his goal was well timed tonite. I do not think McCabe should be here ahead of him so don't put me in that category.

Eric Brewer is the 6th or 7th defenseman on the Oiler team who belongs in the ECHL

What?

What?
Hi. Look back at all the past threads. Read at all the hatred bombarded towards him. Everyone under-rates Eric Brewer so much yet he's over rated. I'll give you a couple minutes to look at that when ur done...check back with us. It's not hard to find it. If the people here at Hfboards made a roster for Team Canada (not Gretzky and co. who don't know anything about hockey) Eric Brewer wouldn't make Team Canda #100. I guess he's not good enough.

REALITY CHECK: Apparently Eric Brewer sucks. That's what that means.

Eric Brewer gets no respect because Edmonton is a small market, and outside of Edmonton, nobody really gets to see him other than the few times their favourite teams play the Oilers.

Eric Brewer is easily among Canada's top 6-7 defencemen. He proved it in 2002 at the Olympics, and he is proving it at the World Cup this year.

Eric Brewer gets no respect because Edmonton is a small market, and outside of Edmonton, nobody really gets to see him other than the few times their favourite teams play the Oilers.


just cause we aren't a big market, doesn't mean our players don't get noticed. I can name players that have been noticed, pretty darn well in Oiler silks.

1) Doug Weight
2) Bill Guerin
3) Janne Niinimaa
4) Curtis Joseph (was good in STL, but wasn't as noticed until he came to Edmonton & proved he's an elite goalie)
5) Jason Smith
6)Tommy Salo (for the first few seasons in Oiler silks)
7) Anson Carter (wasn't a "star" player, but still put up solid #'s.

the list goes on...

Brewer is just underrated, he's a solid defenseman, and he has yet to break out to his potential, I believe he'll break out really soon, we still haven't seen the best from him yet (in the NHL).

No one is question the Regehr and Hannan selection but that Eric Brewer has been a scapegoat when he doesn’t deserve all the crap you're all throwing at him.

thats not true, most people that i've talk to (both in real life and in forum) are more shock of the regehr and hannan selection then brewer. in hindsight, they all played great and im happy about that, but to be honest i hated the regehr and hannan selection in the beginning.

just cause we aren't a big market, doesn't mean our players don't get noticed. I can name players that have been noticed, pretty darn well in Oiler silks.

1) Doug Weight
2) Bill Guerin
3) Janne Niinimaa
4) Curtis Joseph (was good in STL, but wasn't as noticed until he came to Edmonton & proved he's an elite goalie)
5) Jason Smith
6)Tommy Salo (for the first few seasons in Oiler silks)
7) Anson Carter (wasn't a "star" player, but still put up solid #'s.

the list goes on...


I'm not saying Edmonton players don't get noticed by other teams. All the above players got their popularity in the following cities...

Weight...St.Louis
Guerin...New Jersey (before he went to Edmonton)
Niinimaa...NY Islanders (same as Guerin)
Joseph...St.Louis (again, before he went to Edmonton)
Anson Carter...NY Rangers

Jason Smith isn't noticed much outside Canada. I doubt the average Tampa Bay fan knows who he is.

Tommy Salo got his popularity against Belarus in 2002 (and to a lesser extent, when he stopped Kariya in that shootout at the 1994 Olympics).


All the players you mention are easily noticed by other teams, but honestly, the average hockey fan outside Canada doesn't know much about Canadian teams other than Toronto (and Calgary this year, for obvious reasons).

I'm not saying Edmonton players don't get noticed by other teams. All the above players got their popularity in the following cities...

Weight...St.Louis
Guerin...New Jersey (before he went to Edmonton)
Niinimaa...NY Islanders (same as Guerin)
Joseph...St.Louis (again, before he went to Edmonton)
Anson Carter...NY Rangers

Jason Smith isn't noticed much outside Canada. I doubt the average Tampa Bay fan knows who he is.

Tommy Salo got his popularity against Belarus in 2002 (and to a lesser extent, when he stopped Kariya in that shootout at the 1994 Olympics).


All the players you mention are easily noticed by other teams, but honestly, the average hockey fan outside Canada doesn't know much about Canadian teams other than Toronto (and Calgary this year, for obvious reasons).



your saying Doug Weight was popular when he was in STL & not in Edmonton?? I doubt it. he was pretty poplular around the league IMHO (without putting bias) when he was an Oiler.

Guerin...i'll agree, but he still didn't establish himself as well as he did, until he came to Edmonton, where even MORE teams took notice of Guerin.

Niinimaa...VERY popular as an Oiler IMHO again.

Cujo...yeah..popular as a blue, same as Guerin, got a boost in popularity once he stole the series in '97 vs Dallas & erased a 3-1 series deficit in '98 vs Colorado, recording back-back shutouts, and had a shutout streak of over 170 minutes or something, IIRC.

Anson Carter...NYR...are you kidding me? popular as an Oiler. was involved in the Guerin trade, put up pretty good #'s as an Oiler. he was popular BEFORE he was dealt to NYR.

Tommy Salo was a solid netminder when he came to Edmonton, i'd say he was pretty popular, he sucked on the island (NYI), but once he got to Edmonton, he had a fresh start & turned things around, I believe he was even at an NHL all-star game, as one of the "World" all-stars goaltenders.

I'm not saying Edmonton players don't get noticed by other teams. All the above players got their popularity in the following cities...

Weight...St.Louis
Guerin...New Jersey (before he went to Edmonton)
Niinimaa...NY Islanders (same as Guerin)
Joseph...St.Louis (again, before he went to Edmonton)
Anson Carter...NY Rangers

Jason Smith isn't noticed much outside Canada. I doubt the average Tampa Bay fan knows who he is.

Tommy Salo got his popularity against Belarus in 2002 (and to a lesser extent, when he stopped Kariya in that shootout at the 1994 Olympics).


All the players you mention are easily noticed by other teams, but honestly, the average hockey fan outside Canada doesn't know much about Canadian teams other than Toronto (and Calgary this year, for obvious reasons).


Actually, Niinimaa was traded from Philly to Edmonton THEN to NYI....

Actually, Niinimaa was traded from Philly to Edmonton THEN to NYI....

My bad.

I think Cujo_31 is misunderstanding what I mean by popularity. Every NHL team knows about every average-and-above player in the league.

What I am talking about, are the fans. The average fan (key word here: average) south of the border knows next to nothing about Canadian teams, especially small market teams like Edmonton, Calgary (when they don't make the final) and Ottawa.

The average fan down south doesn't see guys like Eric Brewer except when their teams play the Oilers. They don't see him night-in, night-out, thus he doesn't get the league-wide respect he deserves.

Any player you have said was popular as an Oiler was popular as an Oiler in Edmonton.

My bad.

I think Cujo_31 is misunderstanding what I mean by popularity. Every NHL team knows about every average-and-above player in the league.

What I am talking about, are the fans. The average fan (key word here: average) south of the border knows next to nothing about Canadian teams, especially small market teams like Edmonton, Calgary (when they don't make the final) and Ottawa.

The average fan down south doesn't see guys like Eric Brewer except when their teams play the Oilers. They don't see him night-in, night-out, thus he doesn't get the league-wide respect he deserves.


I still think Doug Weight got league-wide respect BEFORE he was traded to STL. he was right up there in NHL scoring a few of the seasons with the Oilers.

I still think Doug Weight got league-wide respect BEFORE he was traded to STL. he was right up there in NHL scoring a few of the seasons with the Oilers.

He was and you are correct. Van seems to have missed or ignored the buzz on Weight around the league leading to his massively oversized contract with the Blues.

I'm guessing Brewer gets slagged because people go to the Oilers board and read all the complaints about him... coupled with the extremely high expectations he carries due to his selection on the national teams, people are suprised when he's not the same as Pronger. Fact is Brewer is a decent top line guy who plays best with a solid partner... he is not JBoumeester calibur, but then again how many are?

If Brewer had done what Regehr did tonight, everyone would be on his ass (especially Garfield and MrMastodonFarm). I don't understand why people don't like Eric. Robyn Regehr made two boneheaded plays in the final six minutes and the latter almost cost Canada the game, yet I haven't seen a topic regarding how bad he was.

1. He didn't even know what the **** he was doing on the third goal.

2. Pinched in with under a minute left, which then gave the Czech's a 2-on-1.

I'm not a big Eric Brewer fan and no amount of statistics is gonna change that. I cringed when I heard "Jagr being covered by Brewer" cause I just ahd a feeling he was gonna get burned. Luckily I was wrong and he played well, and even scored a goal which I missed.

I don't mean to bash Brewer, but I would feel a lot more comfortable with Redden in there instead.

This needed it's own thread?

If the dozens of know-it-alls who confidently stated the "fact" that Brewer had no right to be here, and is the "weak link" would actually show their face and either a) admit that they didn't know what they were talking about, or b) provide some kind of logical arguement besides "I personaly just don't like him".

So uzziman - he did a *** awesome job on Jagr..... the guy can't win points there? If last night doesn't make you feel more confortable with Brewer on the ice rather then Regehr you simply have something personal against Brewer because their play this tournament has been at two different levels most of the time. Brewer has stepped up and been one of the big three (with Foote, and Neids).

Brewer has gotten stronger every game so far. The first couple he was getting beat to the outside, was out of position in his own zone, and wasn't involved in the offence. Every game his D has gotten that little bit better, and he has done more in the offensive zone. Eric Brewer of the first 2 games was Canada's weakest on the ice. Eric Brewer of the last 3 games has been one of our better defenseman.

Eric Brewer of the first 2 games was Canada's weakest on the ice. Eric Brewer of the last 3 games has been one of our better defenseman.

I think this pretty much sums up why Brewer frustrates a lot of us Oiler fans... it also is why we tend to complain a bit about him :)

You're really not too sure what Eric Brewer you're going to get on ANY given night... although I'll admit that he DEFINTELY seems to play better in bigger games which is a huge plus for the Oilers...

Hopefully his great play the last little bit for Canada will translate into a breakout season for him whenever hockey resumes...

Eric Brewer was pretty darn good last night!

Do we have to have a thread or post every day to justify Brewer's presense on Team Canada?

Seriously, you don't see us Flames fans making threads every day as to why Regehr should be on the team.

Simply put, people didn't think Brewer deserved to play on the team because he had a poor season overall. He was on the team because of experiace, late season play and the World Chamionships. I didn't agree with it and had him #9 on the initial list (behind Blake, Pronger, Niedermayer, Foote, Redden, Regehr, Jovo and Bouwmeester) but would have made the team anyways with Pronger and Blake going down. Since then, he's played very well and deserves to be on the team, and his selection has been a great choice.

Can we all be happy now?

Do we have to have a thread or post every day to justify Brewer's presense on Team Canada?



People have made threads as to how horrible Brewer supposedly is, and why he shouldn't be on the team.

What goes around comes around.

Do we have to have a thread or post every day to justify Brewer's presense on Team Canada?

Seriously, you don't see us Flames fans making threads every day as to why Regehr should be on the team.

Simply put, people didn't think Brewer deserved to play on the team because he had a poor season overall. He was on the team because of experiace, late season play and the World Chamionships. I didn't agree with it and had him #9 on the initial list (behind Blake, Pronger, Niedermayer, Foote, Redden, Regehr, Jovo and Bouwmeester) but would have made the team anyways with Pronger and Blake going down. Since then, he's played very well and deserves to be on the team, and his selection has been a great choice.

Can we all be happy now?

We talk less about Brewer deserving to be there - then Flames fans love-in with RR - who has quickly become one of the most over-rated Dmen on this entire board.

We talk less about Brewer deserving to be there - then Flames fans love-in with RR - who has quickly become one of the most over-rated Dmen on this entire board.

agreed he is getting over rated fast

Do we have to have a thread or post every day to justify Brewer's presense on Team Canada?

Seriously, you don't see us Flames fans making threads every day as to why Regehr should be on the team.

If you had everyone telling you Regher made the team only beause of Sutter then you'd be pissed too, because alot of people say (not surprisingly mostly Knuckleheads and Flamers) that the only reason why Brewer made the team is because of Lowe. :shakehead

We talk less about Brewer deserving to be there - then Flames fans love-in with RR - who has quickly become one of the most over-rated Dmen on this entire board.
Pot calling kettle, what can I say?

You are free to think what you want. Personally, I don't get the love in with guys like Ryan Smyth either, but that's just me.

(Note: I am not saying that Smyth doesn't deserve to be on the team or whatnot, because I know Oiler fans will take it that way)

PPS: I don't think the ONLY reason why Brewer made it there is because of Lowe. If I thought that, I would also think that McCabe is on the team because Quinn is there. I thought it was a huge gamble for the reasons he was on the team, but it payed off, so good for Team Canada management.

PPPS: There WAS alot of talk (mostly from Oiler fans, to deflect attension from the Brewer argument) that Regehr shouldn't be there... and I can accept that there is some merit to that argument, although I don't agree with it.

(behind Blake, Pronger, Niedermayer, Foote, Redden, Regehr, Jovo and Bouwmeester) but would have made the team anyways with Pronger and Blake going down. Since then, he's played very well and deserves to be on the team, and his selection has been a great choice.


You had Brewer higher on the depth chart than Aucoin?

Personally, I don't get the love in with guys like Ryan Smyth either, but that's just me.
Every single GM in the NHL would kill to have Smyth, especially teams that are close like the Sens, Avs, Wings, Flyers, Leafs, Devils. Fact is, Smyth is a top 6 scoring LWer in the NHL (even though he played the first third of the season out of position at center, which killed his numbers) and he brings nearly every intangible a coach/GM wants.

Every single GM in the NHL would kill to have Smyth, especially teams that are close like the Sens, Avs, Wings, Flyers, Leafs, Devils. Fact is, Smyth is a top 6 scoring LWer in the NHL (even though he played the first third of the season out of position at center, which killed his numbers) and he brings nearly every intangible a coach/GM wants.
Yes yes, I know, your an Oiler fan and you love Smyth. I get it.

It's not slam to Smyth, I just think he's way overhyped. Don't take it personally or anything, I just think way too many people go head overheals over Smyth. Kind of like Regehr, eh? Every single GM in the NHL would kill to have Regehr, especially teams that are close like the Sens, Avs, Wings, Flyers, Leafs, Devils. Fact is, Smyth is a top 2 blueliner in the NHL and he brings nearly the steadiness and toughness every coach/GM wants.

Again... pot calling kettle?

Yes yes, I know, your an Oiler fan and you love Smyth. I get it.

It's not slam to Smyth, I just think he's way overhyped. Don't take it personally or anything, I just think way too many people go head overheals over Smyth. Kind of like Regehr, eh? Every single GM in the NHL would kill to have Regehr, especially teams that are close like the Sens, Avs, Wings, Flyers, Leafs, Devils. Fact is, Smyth is a top 2 blueliner in the NHL and he brings nearly the steadiness and toughness every coach/GM wants.

Again... pot calling kettle?

wow, Captain Canada, Ryan Smyth can play defense too? wow, what can't this guy do. he's amazing.

wow, Captain Canada, Ryan Smyth can play defense too? wow, what can't this guy do. he's amazing.

Can we please stop with this Captain Canada crap ?? If his NHL team could make the playoffs or get somehwhere when they do, the guy would never captain a Team Canada. He's not even captain of the Edmonton Oilers.

Back on topic, Brewer is playing great and is proving that it was a good decision to choose him. That aside, people still have the right to question him being chosen based on how bad he was last season. Lots of people have questioned the Regehr selection too but I still feel he deserves to be there. I would not go as far as making a thread on how he deserved to be there.....but that's just me.

By the way, there was only 1 thread about Brewer. It lasted a while but was only 1 thread. I stated from day one that I did not agree with the selection and I'm not going to take it back now. The guy is playing extremely well, that is good for Team Canada and Canadians. Let's just win it all and forget about all this garbage.

This needed it's own thread?
Oiler fans are a gentle bunch, they need constant reassureance on the play of Eric Brewer.

When the NHL regular season starts again, and he goes back to playing his usual good game, bad game routine I will update all the time since that is what they seem to need.