Givent he fact that the real All Star team was never selected, I have chosen to build the ideal team for the Western Conference. Not a team of four skill lines...but a shutdown line and a grind line as well as two scoring lines. Based on the last 12 months of hockey since the last game, this is who I would select.
Rationale....don't think anyone can complain about Bert, Naslund, Forsberg, Hejduk, Doan, or Morrow, So I will just atlka bout the rest of the forwards. Weight was an absolute one man wrecking crew in last year's playoffs and was unfortunate to not go into the next round. I feel very confident that if St louis beat Vancouver and got on a roll, they would have made it to the Cup final as they had better veteran leadership on their team. It means of course not Datsyuk but I feel quite justified in that decision. Yzerman has been an absolute freak show for the past three years. How any guy can withstand the physical battering he puts himself through and still be the bet two way centre in the western conference is beyond me. Alex Tanguay has been labelled a leech by many fans, but have any of them considred that in the lst calendar year whichever line he was on has been providing all the offense. He is a highly underrated playmaker and is emerging as the elite talent Lacroix saw when he drafted him. He beat out Tkachuk for that spot narrowly. Lehtinen I should not have to explain, he is the best two way forward in the game....bad season this year or not. Draper is ahaving an exceptional year and gets the nod over Linden for the last pivot spot. matt Cooke is a grinding pest with Selke abilities and an scoring touch. Ohlund is the most underrated defenceman in the league and Jovo, whil having been hurt and falling prey to the same flu bug that has hit Lalime, is still worthy of drawing in the top 6.
Vokoun may be a surprise to some as a top 3 goalie, but he is a no-brainer from what I have seen. Osgood has been solid up untill the last three weeks and has been the victim of a depleted defence. He narrowly beats out Cloutier and Roloson for the last spot. Giguere could have been 31 but he has been average at best since the start of the year.
Thoughts on the real western all-stars?
On D, Pronger and Blake ar the best two defencemen in the league so I will leave it at that. Schneider has had an amazing 18 months and is worthy of All Star inclusion. Zubov had a rough start to the year but has been the impetus behind Dallas' recent resurgence.
My biggest problem is with having Cooke on there he's been injured for half of the season and Datsyuk should be there IMO. So switch those two is what I would do.
I know I sound like a complete homer here, but I think Mike York is getting overlooked on the oilers...dont have the exact stats but he has about 37 points and is a +15 on the Oilers squad which without him would be at the basement right now.
What's your reasoning here? Cloutier has played great this year and has been a big factor in the Canucks' success thus far. Cloutier is among the top 10 in GAA, Save %, and wins for goalies who have played more then 25 games. How has Turco been "much better" than Clouts this year? If anything they have been on the same level.
Quote:
Abeischer should be the starter, with Turco, and then Vokoun.
I did say "take your pick" between Cloutier and Turco. Besides, everyone has a differing opinion, your view is not neccessarily the correct one.
Last edited by Peter Griffin: 01-31-2004 at 01:04 AM.
I know I sound like a complete homer here, but I think Mike York is getting overlooked on the oilers...dont have the exact stats but he has about 37 points and is a +15 on the Oilers squad which without him would be at the basement right now.
You could also make a case for numerous other players as well. The fact is, not every player that is having a solid season can go to the all-star game.
Maybe you guys should go back and read the first paragraph of my post...would make it much easier to have a discussion. Two scoring lines, one shutdown line and a grind line. And no way in heck would I take Morrow out of that lineup. He has been probably the Stars best forward this year.
Givent he fact that the real All Star team was never selected, I have chosen to build the ideal team for the Western Conference. Not a team of four skill lines...but a shutdown line and a grind line as well as two scoring lines. Based on the last 12 months of hockey since the last game, this is who I would select.
Rationale....don't think anyone can complain about Bert, Naslund, Forsberg, Hejduk, Doan, or Morrow, So I will just atlka bout the rest of the forwards. Weight was an absolute one man wrecking crew in last year's playoffs and was unfortunate to not go into the next round. I feel very confident that if St louis beat Vancouver and got on a roll, they would have made it to the Cup final as they had better veteran leadership on their team. It means of course not Datsyuk but I feel quite justified in that decision. Yzerman has been an absolute freak show for the past three years. How any guy can withstand the physical battering he puts himself through and still be the bet two way centre in the western conference is beyond me. Alex Tanguay has been labelled a leech by many fans, but have any of them considred that in the lst calendar year whichever line he was on has been providing all the offense. He is a highly underrated playmaker and is emerging as the elite talent Lacroix saw when he drafted him. He beat out Tkachuk for that spot narrowly. Lehtinen I should not have to explain, he is the best two way forward in the game....bad season this year or not. Draper is ahaving an exceptional year and gets the nod over Linden for the last pivot spot. matt Cooke is a grinding pest with Selke abilities and an scoring touch. Ohlund is the most underrated defenceman in the league and Jovo, whil having been hurt and falling prey to the same flu bug that has hit Lalime, is still worthy of drawing in the top 6.
Vokoun may be a surprise to some as a top 3 goalie, but he is a no-brainer from what I have seen. Osgood has been solid up untill the last three weeks and has been the victim of a depleted defence. He narrowly beats out Cloutier and Roloson for the last spot. Giguere could have been 31 but he has been average at best since the start of the year.
Thoughts on the real western all-stars?
On D, Pronger and Blake ar the best two defencemen in the league so I will leave it at that. Schneider has had an amazing 18 months and is worthy of All Star inclusion. Zubov had a rough start to the year but has been the impetus behind Dallas' recent resurgence.
Even if you do have yzerman in his place, i really so no reason why datsyuk shouldnt be selected...
Yeh, that's so funny, Walker has more goals, more assist, in 8 less games. What exaclty does Morrow do better?
I don't think you can judge any Stars player on their stats right now, the team has been in a major scoring funk all season. There's no one that can stand out on this team, I bet that Peter Forsberg wouldn't even average a ppg here.
But, to answer your question, Morrow does everything better.. and he doesn't see first line minutes or even as many PP minutes. Yet he's still the Stars best player ever since last year..
I don't think you can judge any Stars player on their stats right now, the team has been in a major scoring funk all season. There's no one that can stand out on this team, I bet that Peter Forsberg wouldn't even average a ppg here.
But, to answer your question, Morrow does everything better.. and he doesn't see first line minutes or even as many PP minutes. Yet he's still the Stars best player ever since last year..
What was I thinking, I mean just because Walker has played in 8 less games, put up better numbers, no way could a Predators player be better than the great Stars player.......
What was I thinking, I mean just because Walker has played in 8 less games, put up better numbers, no way could a Predators player be better than the great Stars player.......
