Quote:
Originally Posted by combustiblefuel
I think the fuss over guys in their early to mid 30s is starting to get overblown. Yes they are not mid 20s BUT I think the trend of guys who are going to go into vety late 30s and early 40s will be the norm if they have been good players in the past.
Players and society in general have never been more health focused at another time in the games history. Drinking is declining, smoking is massively way down, player focusing on heath is at an all time high. The Flames have Colman,Backlund, Kadri, Weegar and Hubey all around that age and they don't look ready for retirement. In the past when you saw 30 year old plus aged players and you looked at them you were wondered when they would call it because they were starting to get so behind the speed ,physicality and hockey sense out side of a few elite players. If you look around the leugue now the average age a player stays relevant in the league seems to be way up.
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I don't think so. In fact it is more of a young man's game then ever before
Just because you are more fit later in your career doesn't overly matter if everyone else is younger and also fitter. With the game so based on speed nowadays older players actually have a harder time sticking around - or at least older forwards
Last year the only players 35 or over years old to break 60 points (top 85 points in league) were Crosby, Ovechkin and Kopitar.
That is 3 sure fire 1st ballot hall of famers and two players who will be in the discussion for top 10 ever.
This season for players 35 and over? Where do they sit in league scoring?
Ovechkin 25th, Crosby 25th, Malkin 25th, Tavares 25th, Marchand 39th, Kadri 69th
These are all hall of famers and then Kadri
What Kadri is going is actually completely out of the norm for a non hall of fame type player.