Abel to Yzerman
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The Halfway Poll
by IwoCPO on 12/21/08 at 08:56 AM ET
Comments (9)
Saw this over on the Emperor’s page and thought it would be nice of me to pull out all the Wing-specific items for you. It’s almost Christmas and little gifts like that from me to you are going to be pretty common around here.
That’s the kind of guy I am.
Rankings. A bunch of ‘em. Players, execs, writers all voted.
Find them all here at the Ottawa Sun. What follows are where the Wings fell out in various categories.
Fastest skater? A bunch of guys who won’t be able to use that speed past late April: Gaborik, Chimera, Lombardi. Ovechkin, who will be using his speed well into May and maybe even beyond, was tied for third. Hossa got an honorable mention.
Darren McCarty got three votes for slowest skater. Your boy Hatcher took that category. Funny, and he was so fast for the Wings.
Joe Sakic can’t operate a snow blower without losing digits, but he’s got a good wrister. Or at least he did when he was last playing in 2004 or something. He got a buttload of votes to win that category. Hossa finished third. Lidstrom got an HM in best slapper.
This was gratifying:
#5 MOST OVERRATED PLAYER ...
1. Sean Avery, in limbo ... 9
2. Dion Phaneuf, Calgary ... 8
3. Wade Redden, New York Rangers ... 4
4. Jeff Finger, Toronto ... 3
4. Dustin Penner, Edmonton ... 3
4. Jason Spezza, Ottawa ... 3
Others receiving votes ... Joe Thornton, Mats Sundin, Marian Gaborik, Marty Turco, Brian Campbell, Bryan McCabe, Luke Schenn, Saku Koivu, Alexei Kovalev, Martin St. Louis, Olli Jokinen, Marc Savard, Ron Hainsey, Brad Richards, Chris Pronger, Matt Stajan, Jay Bouwmeester, Bobby Holik, Mike Commodore
Take Avery out of the equation. Much of that is based on timeliness and dislike. Overrated in terms of talent and meaningful minutes? I don’t think so. Look at the others though and join me in some chuckles: Phaneuf, Pronger, Thornton, Turco. All mentioned. Zero Wings.
On the other hand, multiple underrated Wings: Datsyuk, Draper, Hudler, Franzen.
Uncle Mikey got a vote as best dressed coach. MacTavish took that category. Should come in handy while he’s dishing donuts at Tim Horton’s after he’s fired. The category Babcock got more than one vote?
Smartest coach. He took that one going away. 12 votes for Babs, with an interesting 7-vote second place finish for McClellan.
More fun:
#9 BEST STICKHANDLER ...
1. Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit ... 18
2. Alexei Kovalev, Montreal ... 7
3. Ales Hemsky, Edmonton ... 4
3. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh ... 4
3. Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit ... 4
Like that? Good. Because there’s also this:
#11 BEST NHL CITY ...
1. New York ... 14
2. Montreal ... 12
3. Chicago ... 8
4. Vancouver ... 7
5. Toronto ... 5
Others receiving votes ... San Jose, Boston, Calgary, Nashville
Whoa. That stings.
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Comments
Detroit wasn’t rated the #11 NHL city. We didn’t even make the list.
The question was #11.
Posted by Squiboda from Port Huron, MI on 12/21/08 at 10:27 AM ET
First and formost, to rate Hockeytown as #11 best NHL city is a real slap in the face. Are they going on the “economy”? Joe Louis Arena? The fans who came out in the millions for the Stanley Cup parade? The metropolitan aea that produces a huge number of NHL players?
The question itself is a little too subjective…sure…but it seems to me that they’re just asking which is the best city that has an NHL team, not which city has the best team spirit. Detroit’s got a special place in my heart, but I’d have a pretty hard time placing it among North America’s finest cities. The reason I think that? Nashville’s on the list. Now I’ve never been to Nashville, but as a HOCKEY city? Ahead of places like Edmonton and St. Paul? I really, really doubt it.
Posted by Gabriel from San Diego, CA on 12/21/08 at 11:14 AM ET
OK, some serious beefs here. Draper not getting mentioned in the faceoff category? Srsly??? Seems a bit absurd. Datsyuk not even getting mentioned for best passer. Huh? I must have read that wrong. That is the only possible explanation. And Draper as a dirty player? And apparently no on from Nashville, Colorado, Dallas, or Pittsburgh voted in the hardest hitter category. Or maybe they did, but had forgotten about running into the KronWALL trying to get out of the neutral zone last spring. Amnesia’s a bitch.
And on an unrelated note I was watching some bone crunching hits on youtube yesterday, and boy… do I miss Dany Markhov. Little skinny dude, with an extra 4 inches and 60 pounds of attitude. Good times…
Dan
Posted by ITDeuce from The Land of Ice and Snow on 12/21/08 at 12:38 PM ET
This poll is taken among NHL players, execs, and writers, so on the surface, it is tough to criticize.
A rather complicated way of saying ‘unnamed sources’.
Based on the number of votes, it seems like a very small sampling.
Kind of curious just how many in each category were polled, and how many responded.
I wonder if ‘hockey writers’ refers to all our local talent that only watch about 10 games
a year (when the local team is playing and there is free food), or actual hockey writers
like George, Paul, Wyshinski, or Myrtle.
Posted by HockeyTownTodd on 12/21/08 at 12:48 PM ET
Interesting, there was a discussion of Howard going on here yesterday about how he isn’t turning out good enough, and he gets a 28 save shutout for the Griffins. Cool.
Posted by Tyler from Arizona on 12/21/08 at 02:38 PM ET
Draper as a dirty player? Huh? Drapes must do some serious cheating and swearing in the face off circle because that is the only possible way he could be considered dirty. And NYC as the best hockey town, ahead of Montreal? I’m not even going to think about how Nashville makes that list as my head would would hurt. What drugs were these people taking?
Posted by UMFan from Colorado on 12/21/08 at 06:51 PM ET
Haha, off-topic, but I’m catching the 2nd intermission between the Bitter Blues and the Bitch Bruins and their text-to-vote question is most heartbreaking goal against the Blues. They have it between Orr’s tripped-across-the-crease goal, Owen Nolan from center ice, and Stevie Y in the 2nd OT.
Stevie Y has 76% of votes. I’m a bit surprised it’s not higher.
Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 12/21/08 at 07:54 PM ET
Stevie Y has 76% of votes. I’m a bit surprised it’s not higher.
Still love that moment, JJ. Breaking the hearts of Bitter Blues Bitches in super slow motion on many countdown shows to this day.
A friend over at HFBoards is one of the current entries in the Home for the Holidays contest at the Red Wings official site. His room is a dedicated Stevie Y shrine. Including cute dog (a Westie) which hasn’t been sacrificed (he’s not one of the 19). More of a hockey fan than those who did some of those rankings, Chief. A million and a half at a Stanley Cup parade and the fourth highest revenues mean we make the list, bitches. Near the top.
Check out my buddy’s Yzerman/Red Wings shrine (with Santa Chelios):
I get all misty looking at that dedicated a Wings room. Makes my single Wings banner that I got at JLA last playoffs look inadequate. If you would do me a favour, follow the link below and vote #1 for Yzerman’s rec room in the contest, he and I would appreciate it.
Click here for the contest page
Only a couple of days left to vote, so please help out with your vote. Muchos gracias, 19.
Posted by VooX from Behind the Bar in the Hasek Club Car on 12/21/08 at 09:27 PM ET
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Well…where to start? This poll is taken among NHL players, execs, and writers, so on the surface, it is tough to criticize. But who took the time to fill it out, people with an agenda?
First and formost, to rate Hockeytown as #11 best NHL city is a real slap in the face. Are they going on the “economy”? Joe Louis Arena? The fans who came out in the millions for the Stanley Cup parade? The metropolitan aea that produces a huge number of NHL players?
Slowest skater? Homer should at least win honorable mention!
Underated player? Dan Cleary!
Face-offs: Draper has dominated this for years!
Dirty player? Maltby must be slipping….
Posted by w2j2 on 12/21/08 at 10:24 AM ET