All during the month of December, every time I turned on any NHL related broadcast or recap show, all the talking heads were telling me how Dustin Byfuglien was the leading candidate to win the Norris Trophy and how he was going to lead his team into the playoffs. And every time I heard it, I just shook my head. Sure he was on pace to shatter his previous season high in goals (19) and he was second to Mike Green in goals by a defenseman, but was he helping his team out defensively? I never saw much evidence of it. So far this season Byfuglien is a +1. How the hell can you be the front runner for the Norris Trophy when you are a +1? To be fair, he was +7 when the pundits were singing his praises. But since the calendar flipped so has Byfuglien's game.
On December 31, Dustin Byfuglien had 39 points, 14 goals and 25 assists through 40 games. In the 15 games since the new year, Byfuglien has two points in 15 games. He had a goal in the first game of the year and a goal in last nights game, that leaves 13 games in between with zero points. Last night he had one of the worst turnovers in I have ever seen a defenseman make in his own end. Skating across his own crease he decided to attempt a drop pass to his D-partner who was around the face off circle. To bad the Maple Leaf's forward was five feet behind him and ready for the easy goal.
The rest of the Thrashers have followed Byfuglien's lead and have only won four games since January 1. They have been outscored by 25 goals over that time frame and lost their playoff spot to their divisional rival, the Carolina Hurricanes. Ondrej Pavelec has been in net for this entire stretch, so he might be a little tired, but Chris Mason is coming of IR on Friday, which might bring a little relief. The bad stretch can't be blamed on Pavelec, the Thrashers are only averaging 2.2 goals per game since the new year, down from 3.6 before that.
You can't even blame the Thrashers downfall on Byfuglien. The team has looked completely uninterested in committing any extra effort to the cause of winning. Players stand by with no response as teammates a run illegally, forwards refuse to go to the difficult areas of the ice and pay the price to score goals, and defenseman make asinine plays in front of their own net. If the Thrashers have any hope of making the playoffs for only the second time in their teams history, someone on the team needs to step up and set an example for the team to follow. Maybe it is time for Byfuglien to live up to all that praise he was receiving early this season, and by the man that steps up and shows his team how to win again.
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