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He's a Ninja Turtle? wow. who knew?

Yeah...the thing with not being particularly quick is that, if you DO lose a step, you are suddenly skating in cement. I agree that a player who relies entirely on their speed is up the creek when their speed drops off, but guys like Subban (or the much greater Nik Lidstrom) are not one-dimensional speedsters like Russ Courtnall; they have a range of assets that they bring and will continue to make them effective even after the speed declines somewhat. (What we can say is that Subban will have to adjust his game; he will no longer be able to spin-a-rama his way out of jams and will have to simplify his game in just the way that the Therriens of the world have been calling upon him to do since he was a rookie). But if you're a guy whose quickness is merely "acceptable," and you lose that, then you are going to struggle to get yourself in a position where your other attributes can be deployed. This is, I believe, the line of thinking that leads people like myself to be concerned about a drop-off in Weber. Weber is actually a very powerful skater once he gets his stride going. But when he loses his first step, that's when we're going to see the kind of struggling that even the mighty (and loathsome) Chara has succumbed to in recent years. This is why I believe a Subban, barring injury, can continue to star in the NHL for another decade. I don't foresee the same for Weber. That said, it's not really worth worrying about RIGHT NOW. It's a concern for down the road.

We gave up one of the most popular popular with the fans players on the team. I loved watching him as much as anyone did. What we got in return is a better defensive defenceman with an equal point output. He will never be as charismatic or seen in the media as PK was, but on the ice he is proving to be a stud. His numbers are amazing, his control of the play is great. He is definitely not, as others state, a problem in his own end. He does not have a fast stride but like Chara covers the ice very quickly due to his size giving him a big stride. Therefore you don't see him caught up ice of beaten by faster players. This thread is well named as there are so many who continue to whine about a trade that is proving to be a huge success. The trade was made for now not 8 years down the road when we no longer have a prime Carey Price. This is our cup window, not 8 years down the road. Accept that fact and you will come to like the trade. Last year when Carey went down somehow the team totally fell apart. We were lacking leadership in the locker room IMO. Nobody that I know of on this forum are privy to what goes on in there but I have to say we should not have been as bad as we were without Price. This team has the ability to compete regardless of which NHL goalie is in the net. Price does put us over the top but we still should have been a playoff team. This move may easily have addressed that issue as well. That of course is speculation but something was obviously wrong in that room for the past few seasons. We all spoke of it on here. Hopefully those theories are not needed anymore and we continue to dominate on the ice. Glad to have Shea here. Didn't get the trade myself at first. Hated it in fact. Now I remember why I am only an armchair GM. Good trade.

I'd be more concerned this season if Pleks hadn't had an amazing World Cup tournament. The points will come.

Feel better getting that off your chest...it is quite original stuff, do tell us more.

Okay that one gave me a chuckle