Who wants my spot in the Top 10?

Question

Sigh... I don't want it.
(But thanks to everyone who congratulated me.)

The only reason I beat out Zam is because he wasn't around for awhile. I think he'll pull ahead again.

Anyway, questions concerning your favorite NHL team:
1) Who's been MVP so far?
2) Who's been a surprise... pleasant or unpleasant?
3) Who's been injured, that you can recall? (Is it just me, or is this the point in the season where injuries really start to show up?)
4) Who's been the best PKer?

My answers, of course:
1) Sidney Crosby. (Most points, great work ethic every night, and has drawn 36 penalties so far this season, I believe.)
2) Kris Letang. He's more physical than people give him credit for, and he's pretty fearless in general. I like his character and his game so far, they seem to make him fit in with the team.
3) Talbot(ankle), Fleury(ankle), Gonchar(groin), and Christensen(neck).
4) Mark Eaton. Surprised he isn't the next option after Sabourin, before Conklin. What a shot blocker.

JK Nation - Hello, JK. If you were going to give me thumbs downs before because of my name, does that mean you'll consider getting me Sid now? :P

One thing though: those questions were supposed to be concerning YOUR favorite team... Whew, I'm not that much of a homer that I'd nominate all Pens for the best of everything leaguewide!

Thanks anyway though. :)

Answer 1

E, you EARNED your spot (don't think of it like Goose and Maverick in Top Gun...you worked your butt off for your spot, fair and square. No affirmative action necessary)!

Pittsburgh Penguins

1. MVP- Sidney Crosby. He has been a worthy captain this season (much better than Jaromir Jagr in the same role). At times I wonder when he will need back surgery from carrying the Penguins for so long (to borrow from a quote of yours)
2. Surprise- Tyler Kennedy. By far the only Kennedy doing anything in the world these days (just ahead of the late RFK and the slob who mascarades as Senator Edward Kennedy), the rookie has chipped in to help the Penguins when needed. Kind of reminds me of a Shawn McEachern.
3. Injuries- MAF (ankle), Max Talbot (ankle), Sergei Gonchar (groin), Erik Christensen (neck), Ryan Whitney (ankle?), Ty Conklin (lack of talent), Mark Recchi, Daryl Sydor, Petr Sykora (lack of heart).
4. By far it has to be Brooks Orpik. Like Mark Eaton, Orpik is an ace shot blocker.

Answer 2

Love Letang. And you're right, I think he's a little beefier than he was during his 10 game stint last year (which is to be expected given his age) and he's a lot stronger on the puck as well.

As for my Rangers...

1) Henrik Lundqvist is the unquestionable spoon that stirs the coffee on that roster.

2) The pleasant surprise has been the Defense. Mara is playing more consistently and Staal is really coming along quickly. The team's offensive bite has not been there, though, which makes for the unpleasant surprise. The biggest surprise, however, has been the overall inability to develop better cohesiveness, offensive flow and chemistry.

3) They've really missed Avery so far and Lundqvist's wrist may turn out to be a problem as well.

4) Chris Drury. Smart, hard worker and gives up the body. He's also great on the bench and in the room. I've always been a fan. Nice to have him in Ranger blue.

Answer 3

1) Chris Osgood. He's been saving Haseks butt all year long. 15-1-1. C'mon. How is that not MVP??

2) Chris Osgood. Who would of thought 30 games (or however many) into the season, he would be leading the league in GAA and tied (i think) for 2nd in wins.

3) Lets see. Hasek, Franzen, Draper, Maltby (that never happens)...

4) As the old saying goes, your best PKer is your goalie. But I'm going to have to say Dallas Drake. Every time I look he's blocking shots and clearing the zone. He's not putting up the offensive numbers, but hes a great penalty killer.

Answer 4

Don't go pinning any badges on me !!!! I might feel inclined to try and look like I earned it and start trying to give real answers. Then I'd be in trouble, having to rely on knowledge.

MVP - Cap'n Mats
Biggest surprise - Jason Blake, surprised how snakebitten he is, and Antropov has been fun to watch, finally starting use his size
Injuries - McCabe twice, first time it looked like a blessing, now we might actually miss him. Carlo Coliacovo WTF??? Most 2 way contracts include the NHL and AHL, his is NHL and IR. Hasn't played yet this year, has a total of 69 games played in the last 2 1/2 years. The Leafs should just take the name off his sweater and replace it with FRAGILE. Kubina And Poni missed a few games.
Toronto's PK has been inconsistant, imagine that. Gill has probably been the most consistant on the PK, Sundin and Antropov have looked ok when they're out there.

Answer 5

1. Sidney Crosby. Great work, tons of points, amazing man. =)

2. Pleasant - Sykora and Letang both. I didnt expect much out of either of them, but both are doing pretty well in my book.
Unpleasant - Sydor.

3. Talbot, Fleury =(, Gonchar, Christensen...
Oh, and since Ruutu got stepped on, I don't know how things are with him, and Scuderi left the game because of his leg...and Sabourin played the Islander game with the Flu I heard.

4. Yepp, Eaton.

Answer 6

You'll both pull ahead of that guy who cheated to get 300 "best answers."

Anyways, does this mean you don't <3 thumbs down anymore? I don't know what I'm going to get you for Christmas anymore. :(

1) Vinny
2) Pascal Leclaire has been a pleasant surprise.
3) Marty Havlat, to name one. But he's healthy now.
4) Sheesh, I haven't been following closely enough. I guess Eaton.


Woah, oops, just my favorite NHL team...whoops...here goes

1) Brodeur. Easy. We are 14th in the East without him.
2) Not much of a surprise, but Zach Parise is producing.
3) I just checked, the only guy on our injured reserve is Janssen...which mean we will be lagging in the PIM department.
4) Eh, I guess Colin White? He's supposed to be our top d-man. Although if we are not being too strict about it, Brodeur is clearly our best penalty killer.

I can trade you Sidney Crosby from my fantasy team if you have Luongo or Lundqvist to trade in return. :)

Answer 7

You ever get an itch you can't seem to satisfy?

I'm getting this nagging desire to go over my 8 gazillion answer history to count all my BA's from the Hockey Category to see if this system is one of promotion based on behavior or cold statistics.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not eager to get any Yahoo awards. My realationship with the Sunnyvale Hamsters isn't so sunny but, if I find that my Hockey BA's qualify me for the list, I'll be sending them some Christmas greetings - Awesome Bill style.

ANSWERS:

1) Mike Richards
2) Joffrey Lupul
3) Derian Hatcher
4) Mike Richards

JOE B - Dag, what kind of Flyers fan can I be if I can forget Gagne? My bad, Simon......

ERICA - I like your dig at Conklin there at the end. Good questions!

Answer 8

1. Paul Stastny

2. Jaroslav Hlinka (pleasant surprise that is, he's been on fire lately)

3. Ian Laperriere (we own with Lappy in the line-up), Joe Sakic (speaks for itself), and Jordan Leopold were/are the 3 main injuries.

4. Ben Guite! The guy was born to kill penalties! I should start calling him the penalty-slayer!

~

Snoop: LMFAO @ Conklin's lack of talent being an injury! looooooool

Answer 9

1) Jonathon Toews and Patrick Kane
2) Pleasant Surprise: Everybody but Samsonov
Unpleasant Surprise: Sergei Samsonov
3) Martin Havlat and Rene Bourque
4) Patrick Sharp and Rene Bourque

Answer 10

1) Sundin, for sure, there is nothing this guy hasn't done yet this season.

2) Nik Antropov, where did he come from? i guess he's finally healthy, and this is his true potential

3) Well lets see, Colaiacovo, McCabe, the whole team..

4) Hal Gill, Handdssss down. He's the best PKer on the team!