[hpNYR]

Originally Posted by HockeyBurd

Not to rain on your parade, but I just don't see most of that. At least not to the degree that you do. Praise from Forsberg and Naslund is almost meaningless to me. Aasen is very popular in the country these guys play in. He's very tiny, yet talented and leads the league in scoring at a young age. That's the ultimate formula for fan favorite type of success. The ultimate underdog story. So he becomes marketable and gets some endorsement deals there and hence becomes associated with those Swedish stars. Naslund and Forsberg have played limited games in that league in the past 1 or 2 seasons on the same team with Aassen. They do endorsements in the country and do charity work with other marketable guys. Somebody approaches them and asks about Aasen. Well what the heck are they going to say? That he's too small? That he will have a hard time getting over obstacles to have an NHL career? Be realistic. They say the only thing they can say. He is very talented and has a good chance to do well. Easiest thing in the world to say. The only thing they can say, really.

As for his game. You see the same things I see. But I interpret them differently. I see an extremely diminutive person. Slight in all dimensions. Not somebody with blazing speed that will be hard to catch. Not somebody very strong on his skates that will be impossible to knock off the puck in spite of his size. You see "magical" puck control. I don't. That implies elite. I don't see anything elite about him. I see high skill level. The same level with which many others couldn't hang in the NHL with... without his shortcomings. Relentless? We'll see how relentless he is. As relentless as Prucha? That is probably the reason Prucha is an NHL caliber player at this point. Of all the players he has been compared to, this to me would have been the best comparison. We'll find out just how much more talented and skilled Aasen is. Because when Prucha was playing with Jagr and company in international tournaments, he was impressing a lot of people and getting quite a bit of praise from very big NHL talent.

And just very quickly, Pavel Brendl had 65 g 112 pts in 108 SEL games. Tony Martensson tears that league to shreds with his "magical" hands. I understand there are all kinds of circumstances that make it different. His age and experience, etc. My only point is, it's a very nice accomplishment for somebody his age. But no matter how you slice it, it's the SEL and it doesn't tell us very much.

Prucha is a very good comparison in terms of the bite and fiestiness you'll see from Aasen. He isn't going to back down from anybody. I'd pick Aasen as the better skater when comparing the two players, and definitely the much better play maker b/c of his puck control. I'd give the hockey IQ to Aasen too.

Like I said earlier. The Brendl's and all those other no shows haven't shown an impact to the EXTENT Aasen has. When did Brendl play against NHL players during his reign in the SEL. Aasen did so when he participated for Norway in the Olympics. He did a phenonemal job too.

As far as Forsberg and Naslund. I think when they talked about Aasen they went way out of their way. Naslund went as far as comparing Aasen to Mats Naslund who was a very good player. They could have easily said; There is a big adjustment to the NHL, it's going to be tough but he can do it"..etc etc. However, they took the realist(agressive)approach. If they're off they're the two who are going to look bad. This isn't even the point. It's just a bonus to all the other analysis.