More points this season: Hemsky or Pierre-Marc Bouchard?
I like both players but they've both had injuries the past few years. Historically Hemsky has slightly better numbers but PMB is a centre and does have a bit more durability. With the lockout, both are going to likely be healthy for the entire year. Who do you think scores more points this season?
I like both players but they've both had injuries the past few years. Historically Hemsky has slightly better numbers but PMB is a centre and does have a bit more durability. With the lockout, both are going to likely be healthy for the entire year. Who do you think scores more points this season?
Bouchard actually isn't a center anymore, but I think it's gotta be him. He's looking really good so far, and he's going to be playing on the top powerplay unit with Parise, Koivu, Heatley and Suter.
Bouchard actually isn't a center anymore, but I think it's gotta be him. He's looking really good so far, and he's going to be playing on the top powerplay unit with Parise, Koivu, Heatley and Suter.
Hemsky will be playing sofer 2nd line minutes with Gagner, and Yakupov. He'll also get 2nd unit PP time with Schultz, and Whitney/Petry.
The Oilers had the number 3 PP last year with Barker, and Horcoff on the ice for a significant amount of time. Add in Schultz and Yakupov(albeit unproven) and I'm sure it will be lethal.
Cant see how this is even close. Especially if Whitney goes down we'll see Hall, RNH, Eberle, Hemsky, and Schultz on the 1st unit.
Bouchard is just as injury prone with less production than Hemsky
Hemsky will be playing sofer 2nd line minutes with Gagner, and Yakupov. He'll also get 2nd unit PP time with Schultz, and Whitney/Petry.
The Oilers had the number 3 PP last year with Barker, and Horcoff on the ice for a significant amount of time. Add in Schultz and Yakupov(albeit unproven) and I'm sure it will be lethal.
Cant see how this is even close
Bouchard will start out playing third line with Brodziak and Clutterbuck, and first powerplay unit with Parise, Koivu, Heatley and Suter. That's a lethal line itself. In time, I can see Bouchard getting moved up to the second line with Granlund and Setoguchi, because Cullen won't work out there. He'll still be playing the first powerplay unit. That's how this will be close.
Hemsky has been the better producer throughout their respective careers. Both have been injury prone in recent years.
If they both have healthy seasons I will go with Hemsky. Bouchard's best PPG in a season was 0.77. Other than last year (where they both saw big drops in production) Hemsky has been well above that each season since the last lockout. Hemsky has over 100 points more in only 40 more games played. Bouchard has had more points in a season than Hemsky once. 4 more points in 06-07 when he played 18 more games.
At this point neither are the picture of health. Bouchard's health is perhaps slightly more of concern as his issues have been largely concussion related while Hemsky has had shoulder issues.
Hemsky will be playing sofer 2nd line minutes with Gagner, and Yakupov.
If Hemsky is getting soft 2nd line minutes, who is taking on the toughs? It's certainly not Eberle/RNH. Hemsky will no doubt play a lot of tough minutes because he's one of the only Oilers who can.
Hemsky is a far superior offensive player but he might not be afforded the same opportunities as Bouchard. I'll go Hemsky by 10-15 points.
I'm not sure if you are joking somewhat, completely or being 100% serious, but Bouchard is maybe one of the few players in the league who has had more injury issues than Hemsky over the past few years. I would be less certain about his health than Hemsky's at this point.
If Hemsky is getting soft 2nd line minutes, who is taking on the toughs? It's certainly not Eberle/RNH. Hemsky will no doubt play a lot of tough minutes because he's one of the only Oilers who can.
Hemsky is a far superior offensive player but he might not be afforded the same opportunities as Bouchard. I'll go Hemsky by 10-15 points.
Who do you think was playing against teams top checkers last season? The focus will be on RNH/Hall/Eberle as it was last year.
Training camp has been
Hall-RNH-Eberle - playing vs teams top checkers
Yakupov-Gagner-Hemsky - playing vs 2nd line
Smyth-Horcoff-Hartikainen - playing vs teams top forwards
Eager-Belanger-Hordichuk.
Bouchard hasn't been a center in many years, if ever. This is an interesting poll. Both players have had many injury problems over the last few years, but of very different proportions. Hemsky seems to get injured with a huge variety of injuries, one after the other while Bouchard has only had concussions, but they've kept him out for months, even years at a time.
I gotta say, when healthy, both of these guys are a treat to watch. Both are very crafty with the puck and both are great skaters, very sneaky.
If healthy, I think Hemsky puts up more points for a couple reasons. One, the Oilers have more firepower than the Wild do, that's just a fact. Two, the Oilers play a more offensive oriented system than the Wild do. And three, it sounds like Yeo actually wants to play Butch on the 3rd line with Brodziak and Clutterbuck, and instead keep Cullen on the 2nd line with Granlund and Setoguchi. Personally, I'd rather see Bouchard on the 2nd line and Cullen on the 3rd, but Yeo has his reasons. I guess a 2nd line of Bouchard - Granlund - Setoguchi wouldn't exactly be too gritty either.
Who do you think was playing against teams top checkers last season? The focus will be on RNH/Hall/Eberle as it was last year.
Training camp has been
Hall-RNH-Eberle - playing vs teams top checkers
Yakupov-Gagner-Hemsky - playing vs 2nd line
Smyth-Horcoff-Hartikainen - playing vs teams top forwards
Eager-Belanger-Hordichuk.
Renney did everything he could to get Eberle and RNH *away* from other teams' best players. He gave the tough minutes to Horcoff, Jones, and Smyth.
[Horcoff] faced the toughest QualComp on the club with the second hardest zone starts had a better shots rate than more than half of his fellow forwards.
Not too hard to guess from that profile that Horcoff’s most frequent teammates were (in order) Smyth, Smid, Hemsky, Jones, Petry, and Gilbert. Not much in the way of even-strength time with primo offensive mates like Hall, Eberle, Nugent-Hopkins, or Gagner — all of whom were given lots of offensive zone opportunities while the vets looked after the defensive end. Judging by those nice blue bubbles, the youngsters were able to make good use of those offensive minutes. Nice theory, might have been better in practice if the bottom end of the roster didn’t get destroyed by the weakest players on the other team.
