toby91_ca

I don't see any hype about him being the greatest goal scorer. You don't have to be one of the best goal scorers to be one of the best players. But just for reference, he's easily been in the top 20 in goal scorer every year he's been in the league, except the year he only played 53 games (still scored 24 goals). Not bad for a guy that isn't considered much of a goal scorer. He's also a guy that works his ass off every summer to improve, this past summer he focused on improving his shot and look at the results (then again, part of his goal total may have something to do with the lack of scoring ability of his linemates). He focused one summer on improving faceoffs, now he's one of the best. I understand hating the guy for whining, etc. (whether it's founded or not), but trying to rip for his actual on ice abilities is a lost cause. Just out of interest, if you take his goal total/games played * 82 games, you get 41 goals....not really a total I would think suggests a player struggles to score goals.

Regardless of Malkin winning the Conn Smythe and you thinking that he's more important to the Pens, if you watch any Pens games, you'll notice pretty quickly that every team in the league (including the Wings) put their best defensive players out against Crosby, he's the guy they try to shutdown.

Am I the only one that doesn't quite understand this "face of the NHL" thing? Everyone talks about it like it's a fact and he's listed as such. I doesn't understand it at all, because I don't see anyone really being the face of the league. Maybe it's different in the US than here in Canada, but from a media perspective, I don't see more mention of Crosby than other players, in fact, I see a lot more of Ovechkin than I do of Crosby. Take yesterday as a clear example. Just before the start of the Canada game, yes, you would have saw stuff on Crosby, but also on several other players. The Russia game, they mentioned, coming up, would be Ovechkin and the rest of team Russia against Latvia and then after the commercial, they show a quick video of him and no mention or even photos of anyone else on the team. Fast forward to this morning and reading the game recaps. On TSN, the headline from the Canada game was something like: Opening Salvo and the rest of the recap mentions chemistry and Crosby's line, along with a few of the other lines, etc., but makes no mention at of Crosby's 3 assists, didn't even mention that he had any points. The Russia game recap on the other hand, the headline was "Ovechkin scores twice....blah, blah" - this, while 4 or 5 other teammates also had 2 points in the game and another guy on the team also had 2 goals. Not sure I'm seeing how Crosby is shoved down people's throats anymore than someone like Ovechkin.

Not sure why you think this, in my opinion, Canada, traditionally, does the opposite.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't get it. I know "ov" is very, very common ending for Russian names, but only 9 of the 20 skaters have a last name that ends in "ov." So what do you mean by every line?

It's even late for local time (9pm)

His goals pace is way down from last year and for a guy in his 3rd full season of junior, I would have expected better stats. I know stats aren't everything, but I would have expected better, certainly nothing to get excited about.

Really, I always thought that you were limited to 18 skaters + 2 goalies

You also can't ignore some key facts. If the NHL stops sending players to the Olympics, it's not going to be the same as it used to be where Canada and the US were at a disadvantage. Back then (pre-90s), Canada's and the US's best players were in the NHL, the same could not be said about the rest of the world. In fact, you woudl be hard pressed to even find palyers in the NHL that were not Canadian or American. Today, the NHL is home to the best hockey players in the world, not just Canada and the US, generally speaking. So, if the NHL stopped sending players, Russia, Sweden, etc. would have weaker teams as well.

WHAT??? Janssen had hit elbow up (whether or not hit hit him in the head with his elbow is irrelevant if you ask me, fact is that it was up), it was one of the latest hits I've seen in awhile and it's hard to tell, but it looks like he may have even jumped into the hit. Neal's hit actually looks perfectly clean, his elbow was glued to his hip and I don't even think it was all that late. The only problem I see with the hit is that Prucha was in a vulnerable position and I know they are trying to get rid of hits to players in such positions.

Exactly. This appears to be lost on most people. I think a lot of people want to see the Bertuzzi of old, early 2000s when he played for Vancouver. But he's not that player anymore and he's not paid to be that player anymore. He currently sits 4th on the team in points and he's 1 goal away from the team lead in goals. The 3 guys ahead of him in points have an average salary of $6.8 million while he's paid $1.5 million. You have to go all the way to 10th in scoring on the team before you find a guy making less money. No point in sugar coating it, if this team is going to be succussful, Datsyuk and Zetterberg need to score more.

I'm surprised that the guy was even drafted at all. I suppose it's due to his size (6'4"). I'm sure if he was just of average size, he wouldn't even have been drafted. Then again, being drafted in the 9th round is almost the same as not being drafted.

Because for some players, it is not reasonable to expect them to paly for a full season.

Perhaps, but you don't really know unless they were to actually play in that conference. The only facts you really have to go on are this: Wings record against Western teams: 21-16-8, winning percentage = .467 (straight win/loss percentage) Wings record against Eastern teams: 6-5-3, winning percentage = .429 I think the general idea that the West is the stronger conference tends to get exagerrated a bit. Surely, a team like the Caps benefit quite a bit by being able to feast on the teams in their division, but on an overall basis, I don't think there really is a signficant difference.

Where did you get that idea?

I dont' know about that. I think players should start letting up when they know the other guy has no idea they are going to get hit. I know it never used to be that way, but with guys getting bigger and equipment getting harder, guys lives are at risk here. I'm not saying someone is going to get killed, but the damage to the head can't be good. I remember a few weeks back a similar player, or at least a similar player who was vulnerable to a big hit. Player was coming around that net, followed by a defender and Iginla was coming from the other side getting ready for a big hit, but when it was clear that he was looking the other way, in a vulnerable position, Iginla let up big time and just bumped the guy. I think part of it is showing respect for the other player. I think it's tough though and a pretty fine line because a lot of me thinks that if you have a guy driving the net with his head down, he needs to be taught a lesson.

My numbers didn't include WHA, only NHL.

I see people dismissing a lot of the totals Gretzky put up since he put them up in the 80s, but let's not forget how much ahead of the rest of the competition he was. I don't think I've ever seen a guy dominate the score sheet like him. 2nd place in the scoring race was a long, long way away most years. Oh, and if you are going to try and bring his stats down, do the same for a guy like Howe, have you seen video of goals scored back then?

The goal total is really the only one worth discussing. Points total, I won't even give a 0.1% chance, it's 0% chance of happening. On the surface, the goal total is within reach and it actually doesn't look like it's all that difficult based on current pace, etc. However, the real issue here is scoring at that consistent pace and consistently staying healthy over a very long career. Those are the things that make getting there more difficult. Looking at Gretzky, after getting hit by Sutur from behind into the boards, his back was wrecked and he was not the same player since (this was at or just below the age of 30). You never know what will happen with Ovechkin. If you want to compare stats at the same point in time, just for fun though (2 scenarios, both at 5 seasons and both at Ovechkin's current age - 24) After 5 seasons: Gretzky - 356 goals, 914 points Ovechkin - 279 goals, 540 points (this assumes he scores 60 goals and 120pts this year, which may or may not happen) At the age of 24: Gretzky - 429 goals, 1,122 points Ovechkin - 279 goals, 540 points Probably also important to point out that while this is both at the age of 24, Gretzky would have just turned 24 and Ovechkin would be a few months away from 25.

I tend to agree, although, the reply isn't really good enough to assess. Guy kinda stuck his arm and head out there to get the puck, that's the biggest reason I think. The guy that got suspended looks to be sticking his stick out to get the puck as well, however, I suspect he did throw his left arm up, but really hard to tell exactly what happened from that video.

Here is the rule. I was only able to catch the third period (long day at work), so I didn't see the goal with any good replays and the only video I have seen is inadequate, so I'm not sure whether the call was legit or not, but I think it is entirely possible that the bolded part is what applies here. I see it as being like the distinct kicking motion rule. You can stick your hand out and deflect a puck and if it goes in, it's a good goal, unless you clearly direct the puck in the net with your hand. Not sure the relevance of the hand pass rule though, it's not the same thing, but that rule is somewhat grey as well.

He's not the same age as Ericsson, he's a year younger.

They were down 3-0 and came back to win 5-3. Both Sedins have been great players for a number of years, but this year is definately above where they have been in the past. Burrows does help a bit, he's been great, but other than that, not sure why they are so much better this year.

Why is there such a discussion on this? Datsyuk didn't score and neither did Williams. Why aren't people questionning whether Datsyuk was the right person to put in there? I know, he's got a good track record in shootouts....so does Williams. Fact is, they both missed and both Crosby and Malkin scored, that's why they lost. Had Williams scored, Zetterberg would still have to score just to keep it alive.

I think Tyler Myers is the only name worth mentioning....yes, I do believe he's that far ahead of all the other potentials. Unless something strange happens, he's winning.