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Don’t Forget Doughty For The Calder
by Paul on 03/27/09 at 01:46 PM ET
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from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,
At this point, with Steve Mason carrying the Columbus Blue Jackets to their first playoff berth, it would be a shock if the stellar netminder didn’t win the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year.
And we’re not here to dispel that. He’s the obvious choice. But we are here today to make a case with our fellow members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association, who vote for the Calder Trophy, not to forget a defenseman with the Los Angeles Kings who may not have caught the attention of most fans, but definitely the rest of the league.
“Drew Doughty is a special, special player,” an NHL coach told ESPN.com. “To me, he’s a young Scott Niedermayer.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Los Angeles Kings | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Drew+Doughty,
Comments
Not to mention Hodgson’s domination in the OHL and Colin Wilson’s in the NCAA.
I love this kind of insight as well.
“He’s just a smart hockey player with and without the puck,” said Lombardi, who drafted Doughty second overall last June out of the Ontario Hockey League’s Guelph Storm. “Really good defensemen don’t make high-risk plays. If you think of Nick Lidstrom, he never gets himself in a situation where he really has to make a real high-level play. He just makes the right play at the right time. That’s what strikes you when you watch Drew.”
Lombardi said it’s the little things that explain the effect Doughty has had this season.
“Even the way he gives pucks to forwards, he’s thinking about the way that forward will be able to handle it and do something with it,” he said. “Or if he has some space, he may take that extra little second, but not high-risk, to get that forechecker to bite on him and then give his partner more time.”
A great article from Lebrun as usual.
Posted by DobberHockey_Angus from British Columbia on 03/27/09 at 01:46 PM ET
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This seems to be an impressive draft class early on. Bogosian, Doughty, Schenn, Bailey, and Stamkos as of late, and Filatov and Sbisa in the short time they’ve seen with the big clubs all seem to be working out well for their teams.
Posted by Russian Rocket on 03/27/09 at 01:06 PM ET