Quote:
Originally Posted by poetryinmotion
What has OEL done to merit such praise? I'm quite baffled at the accolades he seems to be getting for some time, is it because people don't watch him and believe the hype? I admit I can't watch Phoenix where I am, so I am judging purely based on stats, and by that alone he didn't have a better rookie season than say Gardiner who was equivalent in every way statistically but on a lottery team.
Someone explain this to me?
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Speaking as a Blues fan who has watched a fair amount of Coyotes games, OEL is a
lot like Pietrangelo in their style of play. You don't see how good they are by comparing stats; it's what they do on the ice, on every shift, every play, that matters. Like Pietrangelo, OEL is an extremely cerebral player who sees the ice on a different level than most players. His hockey sense is off the charts, and it's very rare to see him make a bad play.
You don't judge guys like Pietrangelo and OEL on mere stats, just like you could never fully judge Lidstrom on stats. He has top ten talent. Gardiner's stats may be similar, but his overall production is not at the same level of Ekman-Larsson's.