Saturday, February 19, 2011

Who is the best player in the NHL right now?

For the first half of the season, Sidney Crosby was the best player in the NHL. Following his injury, Steven Stamkos exploded, and some believed he was the best player in the league, but as of today, who's the best player the league has to offer? Check out my analysis.


Henrik & Daniel Sedin - Some NHL statisticians have been claiming that they may have mixed up some of the points awarded to Daniel Sedin. They said something about not being able to tell him apart from his linemate. Ironically enough, they said the same think about Henrik. Excuses...

Steven Stamkos - While he's a nice guy, he didn't have to take measures to such extremes as to cool off his goal scoring to wait for Sidney Crosby to come back from his concussion. This has Martin St. Louis annoyed.

Alex Ovechkin - Ovechkin leads the NHL in shots, yet he has managed to be tied with a NY Islander, John Tavares, for 21st in the NHL in goals, and trails another Islander, Michael Grabner, overall. Another interesting point is that while they may live in the same city, it may be tougher for Ovechkin to visit the White House than teams from far away.

Corey Perry - While Perry is talented, he hasn't managed to take a big step into becoming a true NHL star. How do you accomplish that? Have your name mentioned on ESPN at least once a year.

Mikhail Grabovski - Hey, just because he's the best player on the Leafs does not automatically mean he's the best player in the NHL...

Henrik Zetterberg - He doesn't lead the league in any statistical categories, but I'd love to know what he wears to games on gameday, especially after pulling this off at his wedding. http://bit.ly/eiVofr

Matt Cooke - Amazingly, this pesky dirty forward does not lead his team in suspended games.

Loui Eriksson - Two thoughts come to mind when thinking about Eriksson, especially to the casual hockey fan, and it can't be both. Who? OR Most talented athlete in the state of Texas. Actually, I'm pretty sure nobody in Texas thinks that...

Brad Richards - Yes, Richards is having another great season, but consider 2 things: He's un unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, and might be signed by the NY Rangers. Glen Sather then overpays for Richards, and Richards becomes bust #2334 in New York, just behind Wade Redden and Carl Pavano.

Sidney Crosby - He didn't have enough time to lock up the Art Ross trophy before he got knocked out, but I'll tell you what he does have plenty of time to do right now: develop normal facial hair. When he does, he'll have to teach Jeff Skinner how to do it.

Paul Bissonnette - These days, people are judged by how many followers they have on Twitter, right?

Eric Staal - Not sure about Eriksson in Texas, but it's safe to say Eric Staal is North Carolina's most talented athlete, yes, including college basketball. I don't think any Carolina Panthers will be upset or insulted that I said that...once someone tells them who Eric Staal is.

Keith Yandle - The 24 year old has 41 assists in 59 games from the blue line, trailing 3 Swedes and St. Louis in the league. Now, put him on a team with real offensive players, and he's a superstar.

Brandon Dubinsky - Dubinsky is tied with Lucic for the NHL lead in empty net goals.

Dustin Byfuglien - If he was an actual defenseman, his stats would be quite impressive, but he's not, nor is he a candidate for the Selke Trophy. Still, I figured I'd include him because I remembered how to spell his name correctly.

Sean Avery - Whoa, I have no idea how that got there.

Chris Pronger - His ability to shatter fellow players and intimidate them just by being in the same state has to draw some consideration. That may reveal why Crosby and Malkin will be out so long.

Ilya Kovalchuk - Only Couture has more game-winning goals than Ilya, nobody has more overtime goals than Kovy, he's also scored the first goal of a game seven times, and he only has one empty net goal. Since he has 4 game winners over the past two weeks, and he's got points in 9 straight games, goals in 4 straight, as well as 11 goals during the Devils' 14-1-2 run, I conclude that Kovalchuk is the best player in the league right now...no bias.