Kopitar has become one of the top players in the faceoff circle this season, winning 763 of 1418 attempts and overtaking teammate Jarret Stoll, long considered one of the best in the league, as the go-to face-off man for the Kings.
WOW 53% faceoffs! Has anyone even been that good before?
O'Reilly should be somewhere around 5th-10th this year for the Selke. It is an award you have to build reputation over a few years to be nominated for.
You gotta wonder if that writer is an LA fan, or if he even watches the Western Conference. To choose Kopitar over Backes or Hossa is odd, to say the least.
As for O'Reilly not meriting a mention, that's not shocking or controversial. He's done great, but he shouldn't be in any serious Selke discussions. Hopefully in a few years. But not now.
As for O'Reilly not meriting a mention, that's not shocking or controversial. He's done great, but he shouldn't be in any serious Selke discussions. Hopefully in a few years. But not now.
There's a difference between not a finalist and not in the discussion. He's discussion-worthy, but not finalist-worthy (yet). He needs sustained play and some more league experience to grow on voters.
Last edited by Lonewolfe2015: 04-12-2012 at 07:11 AM.
Players that impressed me the most in when it comes to defensive play were: Bergeron (if he doesn't get the Selke he can say he's robbed), Backes, Hossa, Eriksson, Datsyuk, Callahan, Parise,Staal and O'Reilly.
Finalists should be Bergereon, Backes and Hossa IMHO.
Backes is a fore-checker but he's not a defensive specialist like the other ones. O'Reilly is better in his own end of the ice than Backes (though probably not the other ones). I think people constantly confuse these type of aggressive fwds that can check and score like Backes and Callahan for being defensive specialists.
Meh it's gonna go to Datsyuk or Bergeron so who cares.
Backes is a fore-checker but he's not a defensive specialist like the other ones. O'Reilly is better in his own end of the ice than Backes (though probably not the other ones). I think people constantly confuse these type of aggressive fwds that can check and score like Backes and Callahan for being defensive specialists.
Meh it's gonna go to Datsyuk or Bergeron so who cares.
Backes has the same SH TOI/G (give or take 1 second, in some cases) as Hossa, Eriksson, Bergeron and Callahan (1:47). He ranks 77th in that category. For comparison, O'Reilly averaged 1:10 per game SH, ranking 169.
But you're right in that it doesn't matter as Bergeron should win it in a cakewalk.
O'Reilly should be somewhere around 5th-10th this year for the Selke. It is an award you have to build reputation over a few years to be nominated for.
Wasnt Foppa nominated pretty early on in his career? Then again it is Foppa
And as has been stated, Backes being snubbed is a much bigger deal than ROR. For me, Ryan is a top 10 guy right now in this award category, while Backes is a legit top 3 along with Bergeron and a guy like Datsyuk.
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