DON Posted June 5 Posted June 5 Yes, awesome for him to win a pretty big award... now time for Hughes to swing a deal for legit #2 centre to take some of load off Nick. Quote
Meller93 Posted June 5 Posted June 5 2 hours ago, DON said: Yes, awesome for him to win a pretty big award... now time for Hughes to swing a deal for legit #2 centre to take some of load off Nick. I have a feeling Hughes is gonna make a very big swing for one of em. Larkin, Thomas, Petterson all have their names circulating (not sure the validity of the rumours) …can you imagine McDavid on the CH? Quote
Neech Posted June 6 Posted June 6 I remember mid season it seemed like this was already a done deal, kinda strange. It really is a 'guy who's good at defense while scoring a ppg' award. Is Nick the best defensive forward on the team? Danault and Evans have good cases. There should be a separate award for best pure defensive player. That said, happy for Nick. Quote
tomh009 Posted June 6 Posted June 6 1 hour ago, Neech said: I remember mid season it seemed like this was already a done deal, kinda strange. It really is a 'guy who's good at defense while scoring a ppg' award. Is Nick the best defensive forward on the team? Danault and Evans have good cases. There should be a separate award for best pure defensive player. Maybe it would be good to start with an award for a defensive defenceman! 1 Quote
hab29RETIRED Posted June 6 Posted June 6 3 hours ago, tomh009 said: Maybe it would be good to start with an award for a defensive defenceman! This was an award for best defensive forward. Award was originally created for Gainey typen player - if not for the Gainey himself. Somewhere along the way it shifted to the best offensive defensively responsible player. Quote
GHT120 Posted June 6 Posted June 6 10 hours ago, hab29RETIRED said: This was an award for best defensive forward. Award was originally created for Gainey typen player - if not for the Gainey himself. Somewhere along the way it shifted to the best offensive defensively responsible player. It was created because of Gainey, who legendary Soviet coach Anatoli Tarasov famously called the world's best all-around player Quote
Commandant Posted June 6 Posted June 6 10 hours ago, hab29RETIRED said: This was an award for best defensive forward. Award was originally created for Gainey typen player - if not for the Gainey himself. Somewhere along the way it shifted to the best offensive defensively responsible player. Probably because people realized that there is more to defensive hockey than blocking shots and playing in your own end at some point. And that being purely defensive isnt the best way to prevent goals. If you have the puck, the other team cant score. So being good at both ends of the ice and playing a 200 foot game is better defensive hockey than just being good in your own end. Quote
GHT120 Posted June 6 Posted June 6 8 minutes ago, Commandant said: Probably because people realized that there is more to defensive hockey than blocking shots and playing in your own end at some point. And that being purely defensive isnt the best way to prevent goals. If you have the puck, the other team cant score. So being good at both ends of the ice and playing a 200 foot game is better defensive hockey than just being good in your own end. I think it also reflects a strategic change in the NHL with more teams being willing to match strength to strength rather than having a dedicated checking line Quote
hab29RETIRED Posted June 6 Posted June 6 58 minutes ago, Commandant said: Probably because people realized that there is more to defensive hockey than blocking shots and playing in your own end at some point. And that being purely defensive isnt the best way to prevent goals. If you have the puck, the other team cant score. So being good at both ends of the ice and playing a 200 foot game is better defensive hockey than just being good in your own end. I think you can say that about Gainey. He scored 20+ goals four times and he didn't win a conn smythe by just blocking shots and playing in his own zone. He won the first four times and than they allegedly, they just stopped giving it to him. The shift in voting started to giving it to more offensive stats started with the Gilmour and Fedorov being awarded the Selke - which i think was fine - because in addition to being great offensive players they were on the pp an pk and were solid players defensively. I don't have any issues with more offensive players win it. I have no issues with players like Datysuk, Barkov, Fedorov Koitor and now Suzuki win it, because they are solid players defensively, in addition to being elite offensive players. What i do have an issue with is when the toronto media were suggesting Matthews and Marner for the Selke, or when there are suggestions in Edmonton that McDavid should win it. Just because you have possession of the puck a lot, doesn't mean you deserve the Selke. Quote
Commandant Posted June 6 Posted June 6 I think you massively underrate Matthews and Marner above. Maybe not this past season, but both have had seasons where they absolutely deserved to be in the conversation. Quote
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