Rather than talk about my FP situation ad nauseum (been there, done that), here are some other questions for us to debate over the off-season;
#1 Is Theoren Fleury a Hall of Fame candidate?
Here are some stats and figures collected by 'Five Hole Fanatics' that make his case;
- Fleury is 56th in all time scoring
- Recent inductee Glenn Anderson was 55th
- Theoren averaged 1.004 pts/game good for 47th all time.
- 51 goals, 104pts, +48 (1st in league in +/-) in 90/91.
- 8 30 goal seasons, and had 29 in 47 games in '94 (strike year).
- Played in 7 NHL All Star games.
- 11 pts in 22 playoff gms in 89 playoffs for Stanley Cup Champs as a rookie.
- 79 career playoff pts in 77 career playoff gms.
- 67 game winning goals, 37th all time.
- 35 career Short Handed Goals; 9th all time.
- Never won a major award, or (aside from one year of awesome +/-) lead the league in any category.
- Did not reach the magic number of 500 goals (though 455 is nothing to sneer at)
- Serious off-ice issues marred the later stages of his career.
#2 According to Bob's and my back of the envelope calculations, as many as 6 teams could be taking new FPs this year (Severed Heads, Shadowmen, Highlanders, Lost Boys, Knights Templar, and Great Whites), with Jagr, Elias, Marleau, Sakic, Hejduk, and Whitney all potentially being on the block. Lecavalier is a good bet, as are Crosby and Erik Staal who are both RFAs. With Getzlaf being both young and very talented we have a good idea for who four of these new FPs might be, but who are the other two?
#3 Once Nabokov and Giguere are off the board, who is the next best goaltender to take?
#4 What round does the newest Calgary Flame Todd Bertuzzi get picked?
#5 How many non-forwards (goalies/defensemen) will be taken in the first round of the prospect draft? (this question comes courtesy of Doug)
6 comments:
My answers:
1 - Yes (and given some of the inductees of late like Neely, Hawerchuk and Anderson, I'd say 'obviously' - but he may have to wait a while before it happens)
2 - St Louis, Nabokov or Gonchar would be on my list
3 - I'm going out on a limb and guessing Kiprusoff gets the nod as a high risk high reward option after the top two come off the board.
4 - 4th rnd
5 - 5 (Doughty, Pietrangelo, Bogosian, Sekeras, plus either Wishart or Hickey)
i feel left out and feel like i should trade an fp for i can pick a new one too.
1, Definitely yes - and not just because I'm biased as a Flames Fan. He was the heart and soul of the Flames when in his prime and an electrifying player to watch. He was one of the first players EVER in the NHL to prove that a small, but fast player can not just make it in the NHL, but excel in the NHL. And on top of this, Fleury wasn't a wimp - he had no fear of anybody. Sad of course his problems with drugs/alcohol but when you look at what he went through in his childhood, it makes it more difficult to 'smear' the guy on that front. And as Cam says - if Neely, Hawerchuk and Anderson make it in... (Anderson being the top of those 3) then Fleury definitely should.
2. St.Louis, Nabokov, Kiprusoff, Frolov and 'maybe' Nash. Gonchar is an excellent draft pick but how much time left to be a good FP?? Will be interesting to see how confident Richard and Chris would be with drafting a new FP and especially if Mike decides to do so. There are several promising players available though. As to Dan dropping Whitney?? hmmm. I agree E.Staal has more upside as an FP but if Dan makes that decision, Whitney might be good short term solution for Bob, Richard, Chris or Mike.
3. Kipper for sure... and to see him ranked behind Nabokov and Giguere is rather sad. I think he will rebound this year.
4. I agree with Cam - 4th rnd. Maybe 5th.
5. Wow- I think only 1 or 2 d-men "should" be picked although I guest more probably will be. I have 3 picks in first round and once Doughty is gone, I don't plan to pick any d-men. BTW, Wishard is owned by the Lost Boys.
i wasnt planning on picking a new FP... am i missing something here?
I figured with your comment about feeling left out of Cam's potential FP droppers, I'd throw you in the mix.
1 - Fleury, now of the Golden League Calgary Vipers, does not belong in the Hall.
2 - There will only be 4 FP replacements this year: Cam will still choose to take Lecavalier as an FP, I will match on Crosby, Bob will take Getzlaf and Richard will take Frolov.
3 - The third goalie taken will not be Kipper but Osgood.
4 - Bertuzzi only goes in the 4th round if Cam is taking him. He will be drafted but not until the RFA rounds.
5 - Doughty, Bogosian and V.Hedman will be taken.
Post a Comment