Spider-Man NL Posted March 3, 2004 Share Posted March 3, 2004 A local sports writer Don Power has a column today agruing that Ryder is the highest scoring Newfoundlander to play in the NHL - does that make him the best? and the article..... Oh, you mean the born and bred Newfs By Don Power As Michael Ryder approaches 50 points in his NHL rookie campaign – to become the first Montreal Canadiens rookie to reach that plateau since Claude Lemieux – it’s time to recognize his as one of the highest scoring Newfoundlanders in NHL history. Already, Ryder has surpassed the point total to Tony White, who scored 25 goals and added 17 assists for 42 points in 1975-76 with the Capitals. That makes him, to me, the highest scoring Newfoundlander. Some other people don’t agree, and on semantics, they are right. Dave Pichette scored 17 goals and added 40 assists for the 1984-85 Devils. He was born in Grand Falls in 1960. Technically speaking, that makes him the highest scoring Newfoundlander in one NHL season. However, Pichette is not a born and bread Newfoundlander. While he was born here, he learned the game elsewhere. The same can be said of Keith Brown, who enjoyed a lengthy NHL career, mostly with the Blackhawks. Brown was born in Corner Brook in 1960, but moved off the island when he was two. So do you take his 876 games played and 342 points (68-274) and count them among the top Newfoundlanders? I’m not so certain. To me, the Newfoundlanders in the NHL are the kids who played here, at least through the formative part of their years. I consider former NHLer Mark Fitzpatrick – a goalie who played with six teams in a 12 year span – more of a Newfoundlander than Brown. At least Fitzpatrick, whose parents and family all hail from St. Lawrence, spent the better part of his youth in the province, living here from age two until 11. That’s longer than Brown or Pichette. Granted you have to leave home to advance your hockey career, and any player who has achieved anything in the sport left home to do it. But they still learned the game here. Brown didn’t. Neither did Pichette. Ryder, obviously, did. That’s why he deserves the accolades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danyjay Posted March 3, 2004 Share Posted March 3, 2004 we aint see nothing yet of Ryder ! that guy got a lots of talent and CJ know how to handle and how to use him. Next season, ryder will explode .. 30 goals for sure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonavistaman11 Posted March 4, 2004 Share Posted March 4, 2004 7 more points and he'll be the highest scoring newfie and then there's nothing they can say about it!.. I agree, The Newfie's playing hockey in the NHL to me are the ones that got recognized while playing in NFLD, like Ryder. The guys who were just borned here and then raised somewhere else dont even get big coverage here in NFLD. For example, Brad Brown theres never a word about him on the local news, while Ryder, Druken, King, Langdon and even Michael's younger brother Daniel get all kinds of coverage. :ghg: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.