Thursday, June 26, 2008

 

Kyle Wellwood: Damaged Goods

When the Canucks picked Kyle Wellwood off of waivers, I didn't think too much of it, other than we're getting a risky Leafs castoff.

Then, I did a little more research, and I'm not liking what I'm seeing.

First, the injury history. It's not good news when any player has groin troubles, but how can a guy have to need THREE different surgeries on the area before they reach 30? Not to mention the fact that Wellwood broke his foot playing soccer earlier this off-season ... yeesh ...

The real cause for these injuries? Piss poor conditioning.

Take this diatribe from a Leafs fan over at "He Score, He Shoot!"
To say that Kyle is a baby-faced guy is the understatement of the century unless you quickly follow it up with "baby-bodied", "baby-legged" and "baby-conditioned". Everything on him is round. Kyle is so out of shape, he wouldn't make it in my league; and my league features Wash, who regularly samples an entire tasting menu with wine minutes before a game.

Everything about Wellwood's shit season can be attributed to the fact that last summer, the heaviest lifting he did was hauling the empty 2-4 case out of the back of the pickup and into his local LCBO. How do we know? Because unbelievably, Wellwood's dad said so last year before training camp.

Want proof?

How about this picture of his beer belly doing some hard rehab with his puckbunny girlfriend.



Second, Wellwood's style of play. The boy is soft, and not just his stomach, and also very small. 5'10"? With skates on ... Wellwood doesn't take the body, and doesn't shoot enough.

Basically, we have a tiny Power Play specialist in the mold of Herbert Vasiljevs.

Lovely.

Welcome to the Mike Gillis era.

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# posted by Unknown @ 7:43 am
Comments:
I feel dubious about sending this guy to the Manitoba Moose, much less trying him with the Canucks. Aren`t there better candidates?

Mike Gillis brags of a new system that looks at players "on paper". I guess his paper doesn`t include injuries and being out of shape.
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 8:17 am
 
seeing that picture of wellwood makes me realize that even at 34, i still have a shot to make the nhl.
# posted by Blogger heed : 8:30 am
 
I have an idea that should make everyone happy, let's transplant some of Wellwood's belly, fat into his otherwise hot GF's skinny butt! :D
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 10:04 am
 
Hi guys, enjoy your blog. Thanks for the link.

A couple extra notes on Kyle: He broke his foot WARMING UP for a tough round of INDOOR soccer, so, you know, bring on that checking line!

Also, that girl is the lifeguard at the pool at Wellwood's condo. That's where he's sitting in that picture while doing some cardio. No, wait...while doing nothing.
# posted by Blogger Greener : 10:16 am
 
it looks like he's rolling a joint to me. that's a far cry fo doing nothing.
# posted by Blogger heed : 10:34 am
 
1) Its not like vancouver made a huge monitary investment. Worst case scenario he goes back into wavers and down to the AHL if there are no takers(suckers).
2) If he puts up 40-50 points, and isn't a huge defensive liability, thats not bad for a player earning under a mil.
# posted by Blogger FAUX RUMORS : 12:29 pm
 
Jes - you're totally right. For a guy who said he was going to be completely different from Nonis, we're still waiting. Wellwood is yet another project, slated for the first or second line before we see how the hell he plays with his Sami Salo body in a Vigneault system. Not expecting much is a good place to start.
# posted by Blogger Mike : 1:32 pm
 
If he gets his act together, he'll be a steal. His puck talents are undeniable. But at this point, he's just coasting his way out of the league.

The Leafs will miss him in a few years when the newly drafted size can't figure out how to manufacture a scoring chance.
# posted by Blogger mike : 9:37 am
 
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