The Puck Stops Here
Next entry: Bob Gainey Steps Down As Habs GM
Previous entry: Crosby vs. Ovechkin Defensively
Lady Byng Leader
by PuckStopsHere on 02/08/10 at 10:24 AM ET
Comments (5)
In late November, I picked Brad Richards of the Dallas Stars as the Lady Byng leader. He has been surpassed in quality of play by a better Lady Byng candidate. Martin St Louis of the Tampa Bay Lightning has the same point total (63) as Richards, but plays a better defensive game. This is shown in part by the fact that Richards has the second worst +/- rating on his team at -11 (Steve Ott is -13), while St Louis has a 0 rating, which is more in line with his team. St Louis also has a slightly lower penalty minute total (8 vs. 10). This makes Martin St Louis a better Lady Byng candidate at this point.
Though Martin St Louis has never won the Lady Byng in the past, I think he should have and would have voted for him last year. Perhaps this will be the year he wins it.
Filed in: | The Puck Stops Here | Permalink
Tags: Brad+Richards, Martin+St+Louis, Tampa+Bay+Lightning,
Comments
The point of showing St Louis is a better defensive player is that St Louis has played better than Richards so far this season (despite the fact they have the same point total) and further St Louis has (marginally) fewer penalty minutes.
Higher standard of play and similar (if not slightly better) standard of gentlemanly play.
Hence St Louis is the front runner and Richards the likely runner up.
Posted by PuckStopsHere on 02/08/10 at 04:01 PM ET
Your reasoning is sound for the Selke, but not the Lady Byng.
The Lady Byng’s “higher standard of play” in terms of defensive play means little to nothing to the voting. As I said, Mogilny and Hull were two notoriously poor defensive players when they received the award.
You need a better argument than “St Louis is a better defensive player”. Otherwise, the Byng being awarded to players like Kurri, Gretzky, Kariya, and Pierre Turgeon were all farcical in their winning the award. None of those players at the points of their careers were “defensive players” by any definition. All were notoriously prominent scoring machines who stayed out of the penalty box. And that’s precisely what they were judged upon - scoring and low PIMs.
Posted by Teebz from Canada on 02/11/10 at 12:11 PM ET
what about Hank Sedin
Posted by skullski on 03/22/10 at 01:58 AM ET
all of these are good points except the real lady byng winner should be kopitar, considering all the offensive numbers he has only 14 pm, 78 points with a few games left and leads all candidates with 34 goals.
Posted by martin from seattle on 04/04/10 at 06:14 PM ET
Add a Comment
Please limit embedded image or media size to 575 pixels wide.
Add your own avatar by joining Kukla's Korner, or logging in and uploading one in your member control panel.
Captchas bug you? Join KK or log in and you won't have to bother.
Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.
Most Recent Blog Posts
Missing Other League All Star Games
Top Defenceman So Far This Season
Karlsson Top Offensive Defenceman
About The Puck Stops Here
The Puck Stops Here was founded during the 2004/05 lockout as a place to rant about hockey. The original site contains over 1000 posts, some of which were also published on FoxSports.com.
Who am I?
A diehard hockey fan.
Why am I blogging?
I want to.
Why are you reading it?
???
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
When learning from experts it’s best to learn personally from them, or from their blog. We can provide that with poker lessons blog, your home to learn poker personally.
Do you get shocked from the luck in the game of poker? Stop getting shocked and start being a Poker Shoker
Donate to Kukla’s Korner
How does playing a better defensive game factor into Lady Byng voting? They already have a trophy for defensive play by forwards called the “Selke Trophy”.
The Lady Byng is given to the “player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability”. While points scored in comparison to penalty minutes is a major factor, a player’s defensive ability is rarely taken into account. If that were the case, guys like Alexander Mogilny and Brett Hull would never have received it.
Posted by Teebz from Canada on 02/08/10 at 03:37 PM ET