Erik Johnson's Road to Redemption

[angus]

Spent some time putting this together. His career has been like a game of snakes and ladders, but he appears to be getting back on track (slowly).

http://www.anguscertified.com/erik-j...to-redemption/

Colorado’s season hit a low point following a 4-1 loss to San Jose on November 20th. The team was bag skated the next day by head coach Joe Sacco. During the skate, Johnson strained his groin, compounding an already miserable stretch of play for the big defenseman.

He missed a few weeks with the injury, but seemed like an entirely different player upon returning.

“His play drastically turned around from December on. He hung back and concentrated more on playing a strong defensive game instead of jumping into the play all the time. His passes… got better, simpler, and more on target. He never allowed his offensive contributions to outweigh his defensive responsibilities.”

In 2011-12, Johnson once again had a high offensive zone start rate. Johnson doesn’t get to choose where he starts, but the zone starts continued to be an indicator how his coaches wanted to best utilize him.

[kevinsrangers]

im still calling bust, but great write up as always.

[ericdaoust]

A dman's first job is his own end, so it's no surprise he had more success when he became more aware defensively.