egroen

I shudder to think what Kovalchuk could do with a good center. Next up is Chara.

He had announced his retirement, as Jack Adams had planned on sending him to the bottom-feeding Rangers at the time -- but the Maple Leafs managed to acquire his rights and convince him to come over.... it was pretty much a game-time decision to play him at center in order to cover Beliveau. http://www.legendsofhockey.net/html/spot_oneononep196903.htm

Creative to put Kelly at center, though in Detroit, while he did fill in at forward on numerous occassions, he was a far more effective defenseman, until his ankle injury limited his skating and he contemplated retirement but was convinced to play center for Toronto and enjoyed another great 8 years and 4 more Cups.

hockeydb.com has Stevens at 6' 200 lbs, which is ridiculous. Pretty much every other source has him at 6'2 215 lbs.

The past two seasons he has averaged .43 GPG in the regular season and .64 GPG in the playoffs. Which puts him anywhere between 35 and 52 goals over 82 games. It will definitely be interesting to see where he ends up.

I do think Brodeur is on the downslope, and with his first significant injury last year (missing half the season, where his backups ended up outplaying him) I think he will pick up speed.

I have a tough time seeing him ahead of Hasek, Plante, Roy, Sawchuk and Hall.

His past two years, Luongo has had a .930 SV%. He is not the reason Vancouver lost. Lundqvist has a .909 throughout the past two years in the playoffs. Though you might be able to say he has been more "clutch".

He's something special all right... but I think Luongo is still ahead.

Boo.

Which players were not "great" in the year they won it? .... if you know so much of hockey history, please enlighten me. The majority of those players are Hall-of-Famers or will be.

You're dumb! The leadership award is dumb because: A) It's Messier: Who is one of the most overrated leaders ever. Beliveau is still alive and was a much greater leader --universally respected; as opposed to Moose. B) How does he measure it? I picture him eating corn nuts at a strip club and writing out the finalists on a cocktail napkin based on whatever highlights are playing on the TV over the bar that night. I doubt he is in the locker room; I doubt he is interviewing players from each team. It's rather hard to measure that sort of intangible on a team-by-team basis each year. The Byng has not merely been awarded to "some greats" - it is specifically awarded to greats, or Kyle Wellwood would have won it by now. The ability to be effective on the ice both offensively and defensively w/o setting your team at a disadvantage short-handed, and not be in the box, when you're team needs you is invaluable.... and it is not easy in hockey. It's a unique, historical award that has unfortunately been downplayed and disrespected over the past few decades by lugheads who are frankly ignorant of the great value of these type of players and the great spirit of the intent of the award.

Delmore and Kindl on the PP.

Flyers almost give up a shortie - Tardif couldn't finish. Good ol' Hartnell nullifies their PP. Heh... double minor. Another goal post. Sounds like a nice game.

In all honesty, that 2009 team is probably going to be one of the best we see post-lockout in some time. Something unforeseen had to happen for them to lose the Cup -- and it did: 70+ man games lost in the playoffs due to injury. If healthy, that team would have steamrolled through all rounds. Darnit.

I hope he makes it -- usually I never question Holland's MO of taking his time to develop players before bringing them up before they are ready (which has derailed countless NHL potentials) but someon like Tatar should benefit more from being challenged in the AHL, vs. running rampant over the OHL. I think Grigorenko should have been brought over earlier as well.

It upsets me to see the generous Viscountess Byng of Vimy being disrespected. But in all seriousness, the gal was a huge hockey fan -- what's not to like? And she dedicated the trophy to reward gentlemanly play and sportsmanship -- and those in it for the love of the game. For a long time, the Lady Byng was actually considered the "Hart Runner-up" and held much more prestige than it does today, where it now comes with a certain stigma. That is unfortunate. Consider some of the players that have won it: Red Wings Datsyuk -- In no sense of the word is Datsyuk "soft". He may not be a fighter, but I actually consider him one of the best hitters in the league. His hits are precisely timed masterpieces that accomplish exactly what he wants. He has cleanly broken noses and leveled players almost a foot taller and 100 lbs heavier than him. Red Kelly -- Kelly was a Golden Gloves boxer who could tear apart almost anyone on the ice (and did so on a few occassions), yet he played an intelligent, quiet, positional game much like Lidstrom today. Marty Barry -- A Hall of Famer who was considered one of the hardest workers in the NHL and one of the toughest -- in 11 seasons he only missed 2 regular season games. He was a vital cog in Detroit's back-to-back Cup wins in the 30s. Bill Quakenbush -- Another Hall-of-Famer and one of the first elite two-way defensemen, one of the greatest Red Wings defenders of all time and once went 131 NHL games without a penalty. Earl Reibel -- Once outscored Gordie Howe and actually played on a line with Howe and Lindsay, contributing to two Cup wins in the 50s. Alex Delvecchio (3 time winner) -- His number hanging in the rafters alone says how much he meant to the Red Wings. By no means a "soft" player he was elite at both ends of the ice and often played through numerous injuries. Unquestioned passion for the game and the Red Wings in particular. Marcel Dionne -- Unquestionably one of the most exciting and productive players in HNL history. You did not succeed in the NHL in the 70s by being a pushover. -------------------------- Mike Bossy won the Byng 3 times, and he was as tough as nails, able to score from all over the ice, including the crease where he took an incredible amount of punishment, shortening his career. Butch Goring played with ruthless abondon, but cleanly, and was another NHL iron-man, playing 379 NHL games without missing one to injury. Bobby Hull is probably one of the strongest players in NHL history. He did not look for trouble, but did not back away from it either. He fought (and beat) feared enforceres John Ferguson, Reg Flemming and Bryan Watson Johnny Bucyk was a feared hitter in the NHL. Stan Mikita was a dirty player until his 6 year-old daughter asked why he spent so much time sitting alone away from his teammates - he changed his style, but was still tough as nails, and went on to win Lady Byngs. One of the greatest two-way players ever. The year Sakic won it he was also a finalist for the Selke. Frank Boucher was an outstanding two-way forward... Dave Keon and Syl Apps as well. These were forwards asked to cover the best offensive forwards in the game, and they produced offensively as well. Gretzky may have been "soft" but he is unquestionably one of the hardest workers ever in the sport, having done far more with less, than any other player ever. Mats Naslund was a beast known for completely laying players out. Even blowhards like Don Cherry respect the award and realize the importance of playing the game hard, without taking penalties -- Don Cherry tells about how he used to always tell his team "We're the Boston Bruins and we're the toughest team in the world! There's no Lady Byngers here!" One year Jean Ratelle ended up winning the award and he went to apologize to Cherry for it, saying he wasn't trying to win it. Cherry had to reassure Ratelle that it was great and he didn't want him doing any fighting... not taking penalties did not mean he was "soft". It should be one of the most prestigious awards in the league. Sportsmanship should be honored. Play hard, play tough, play aggressive. You can play physical in hockey, and not take a penalty. When I look at the list of players who have won it, I see many of the best players in the history of the sport. With a few exceptions, I see very few "soft" players, but instead an incredible amount of tenacious, hard-working players who played hard on both ends of the ice. People who dismiss the Lady Byng award are ignorant to the history of hockey and how the game is meant to be played.

I love that Holland has given himself so many options for next year: Jason Williams, Jeremy Williams, Bertuzzi, Newbury, Eaves -- all these guys are on one-year contracts, hopefully ensuring they work their asses off this year. Holland then has the luxury of re-signing the ones that have bought into the system and are working out, and letting the ones who did not pan out walk.

An at comparison to Jeremy Williams is Kyle Wellwood, IMO (Williams with the better shot and Wellwood the better playmaker). Questionable work ethic, little two-way play, soft players who toiled in Toronto but flat-out produced in the NHL in the games they played. Wellwood has done well in providing scoring from lower lines in Vancouver, and I think Jeremy Williams might do well in a similar role with Detroit (sort of a hudler-light), but with the depth Detroit has, I'm not sure Williams will have that much of a chance, barring a lot of injuries. As suspect as players like Jason Williams, Eaves and Bertuzzi can be, they still have a significant leg up on Jeremy Williams. All-in-all, I am really pleased to see someone like Jeremy Williams with the Griffins. There is no doubt this guy can score in the NHL if called upon (last year he had 5 goals and 7 points in 11 NHL games), but hopefully the other (lacking) areas of his game can be worked on with the Griffins... and at the age of only 25, there is certainly a chance of that happening. He already has an elite NHL-level shot.

Unfortunately, it is often the retaliation that gets caught and punished.

Nash, Carter, Richards, Green, Neidermayer, Pronger, Heatley, E. Staal, Keith, Spezza, Alfredsson, Hossa, Gaborik and a fair amount more would be in my Tier 3.

You're right... I completely forgot about those two, and would definitely put them in Tier 2. St. Louis especially, is underrated -- he has a great two-way game.

It would be a bit weird to not have a single goalie in the top 10, considering how important they are. Specific order is tough, and I typically group them in tiers (not listed in any order): Tier 1 Ovechkin Lidstrom Crosby Malkin Datsyuk Tier 2 Luongo Chara Lundqvist Iginla Thornton Getzlaf Zetterberg Brodeur Parise Kovalchuk

I do see a difference between "embellishing" and "diving". Playing against a team like the Ducks, that purposefully play dirty knowing the refs will not catch it all, I can't really fault someone like Holmstrom going down in an attempt to draw some attention to the amount of abuse he takes. Crosby swan diving and laying motionless on the ice after Maltby barely clipped him on the back of the skate was hard to defend. Franzen was guilty of that against Anaheim (and so was Pronger).

Agreed. It worked for Pittsburgh and Anaheim against Detroit -- big bodies and good shot blockers. Forces shots from the perimiter, and with Holmstrom injured and off his game as well as Datsyuk's reduced mobility it was hard for Detroit to be effective.