gbelleville@watrose.UUCP (gbelleville) (03/03/86)
< Donning Asbestos Suit > > In article <1796@dciem.UUCP> jeff@dciem.UUCP (Jeff Richardson) writes: > >Dahlin's great stats are dismissed because > >about half of them (13 goals and I don't know how many assists) have come > >while playing on the top power-play in the league, with people like Mats > >Naslund, Larry Robinson and Bobby Smith helping him out. > I've seen Dahlin play a few times this > year and am of the opinion that, if he were on a different line, he would be > an acceptible rookie, but not good enough for the Calder. I suggest you watch a few more Montreal games. Kjell Dahlin is NOT riding on the coat tails of Naslund and Smith. Did Montreal have the best power play last year? Noooooo. And why do you suppose it is a lot better this year? Did Bobby Smith score 80+ points last year? Did Mats Naslund score 100+ points last year? What has been added to the Montreal power play since last year? Yup... Kjell Dahlin. I'm sick and tired of Dahlin being devalued simply because others are having good years. (Bobby Smith is the one benefitting from playing with Naslund and Dahlin). > >The name I hear the most as the league's top rookie is Toronto's Wendel > >Clark, and that talk is coming from across Canada, not just the Toronto > >area. Clark is well down the list of rookie scorers and Toronto scorers > >with only 35 points, but what really catches people's eyes is his > >aggressive play and his ability to get things going by whatever means are > >appropriate, and he is seen as a much more complete player than Dahlin. > > Definitely! He can really get a game going with his hitting. > He reminds me of Terry O'Reilly, except with more talent. And we all know how many awards O'Reilly won. The bottom line is Clark has spent far too much time in the penalty box. How many goals has he cost the Leafs this year by stupid penalties? (Like Saturday vs Detroit). I agree the man has goal scoring talent, but its awful hard to score from the penalty box. > > >Also, he has scored almost as many goals as Dahlin (26) playing on a bad team > >with nowhere near as much help. What they fail to mention, however, is how > >such a great complete player can have the second worst plus/minus on the > >team (-27), > But when you watch him play, you don't see any obvious flaws in his defensive > style. Ha! Maybe you don't but I do. He rarely back checks, and is always coasting at centre ice. (The only reason he has so many goals is because Courtnall is spoon-feeding him all the time). When someone is -27, that says something about his defensive ability. And don't use that "HE'S ON THE LEAFS AND THEY ARE A CRUDDY TEAM" argument, because that doesn't cut it. Check Courtnall's, Thomas' and Salming's plus-minus. > >Mike Ridley of the Rangers may also be ranked ahead of Dahlin. He's second > >in rookie scoring, 13 points behind Dahlin, but he is leading his team in > >scoring and getting much less help than Dahlin. He obviously means much more > >to the Rangers than Dahlin does to Montreal. > > I haven't seen much of Ridley but, based on the numbers, I would agree with > Jeff. So What? The Calder Trophy is not for the most valuable rookie, but for the *BEST* rookie. Just because Clark plays for the hapless Leafs is no reason to hand him the Calder. How can you justify giving the Calder to someone with NINE assists? NINE !! Clark beats up an opponent more often than he completes a pass. The last time I checked (3 weeks ago), Clark was 188 th in the NHL in scoring. Rookie of the year??? Gimme a break. Here is a list of who I think the best rookies are: 1. Kjell Dahlin Mtl 2. Mike Ridley NYR 3. Per-Erik Eklund Pha 4. Steve Thomas Tor Awaiting your flame, G.B.