Or knocked into 2027 by Scott Stevens. But there's no Scott Stevens anymore so that's a bonus.
Phaneuf can still rock a guy now and then. Ryan Suter is no slouch when it comes to hitting. I recall Weber pounding a gent or two into fine powder recently as well. I'm just thankful that the line between big and dirty is being toed a little more these days, rather than playing skip-rope with it like Stevens did.
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Phaneuf can still rock a guy now and then. Ryan Suter is no slouch when it comes to hitting. I recall Weber pounding a gent or two into fine powder recently as well. I'm just thankful that the line between big and dirty is being toed a little more these days, rather than playing skip-rope with it like Stevens did.
Stevens was a cheapshot artist. Most of his hits would be suspension worthy in today's NHL. Some players now may hit hard, but generally they don't lead with an elbow pointed at the head anymore.
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Originally Posted by CroFlames
Before you call me a pessimist or a downer, the Flames made me this way. Blame them.
Yeah I would agree. Every highlight reel of Stevens is chock full of elbows to faces. And yes, elbowing was a penalty then too. Whether they called the penalty or not is irrelevant.
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I'm not expecting him to be the best player ever, but how many people have the same talent with the puck on his stick? Please list them because I doubt there are ten. I have no idea what he'll become but his potential is sky high.
You can't be serious?!?
Crosby
Ovechkin
Malkin
Stamkos
Tavares
Kane
Backstrom
Giroux
Toews
Getzlaf
St.Louis
Nash
Duchene
Either Sedin
Datsyuk
Spezza
Zetterberg
^I would disagree with some of those, some of them don't have the puck handling ability. I wasn't talking about overall talent, speed, size etc. Just pure puck on stick.
yeah Stevens was one of the dirtiest players to ever play the game. Cut multiple careers short for sure.
The more I see Johnny the more I think he's more of a playmaker/setup man than he is a finisher. He needs to play with someone who's smart enough to anticipate what Johnny will be doing and be able to finish off his passes. He's Makarov looking for a Gary Roberts.
Perhaps Monahan could be that guy. Or perhaps a shoot-first guy like Dal Colle (despite him also being a left winger).
I think you're only getting that impression because that's how team USA is utilizing him in this tourney. They're sticking him at the right side of the net on every PP, and it's an awkward position to be getting any kind of dangerous shot off, so he's obviously been tasked with setting up the d-men and skaters coming down the other side for the one timers. Smart, because he's the best passer on the team, but they're under utilizing his shot / finishing ability. I think you're forgetting that this kid was basically a goal per game all year. But I think he has elite skill in both regards.
If he translates his game to the NHL and reaches his ceiling he'll still be potting 30 or more a year IMO. He'll need a finisher on his line in the future though, no doubt.
I'm not expecting him to be the best player ever, but how many people have the same talent with the puck on his stick? Please list them because I doubt there are ten. I have no idea what he'll become but his potential is sky high.
I think this us a good point. I'm trying to think of conparables with his puck skills in the game today. Datsyuk, Crosby, Kane, duchene. If he can be a quarter of the player any of those guys are we'll be very happy.
Yeah I would agree. Every highlight reel of Stevens is chock full of elbows to faces. And yes, elbowing was a penalty then too. Whether they called the penalty or not is irrelevant.
The thing was, at the time players were taught to skate with their heads up. If they didn't than Stevens or another player would remind them. Euros were particularly vulnerable but now they've changed the rules to protect them and others deemed having star quality. At the rate we're going in another 20 years hitting will be outlawed.
The thing was, at the time players were taught to skate with their heads up. If they didn't than Stevens or another player would remind them. Euros were particularly vulnerable but now they've changed the rules to protect them and others deemed having star quality. At the rate we're going in another 20 years hitting will be outlawed.
I don't think it's just to protect those that have star qualities. At the end of the day, concussions are a b!tch and we now know much more about the long term impact of concussions than we did at that time.
It's to protect all the players and to ensure they have a good quality of life after hockey. We as fans sometimes forget that these guys need to live on another 40-60 years after they're done playing hockey.
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I remember my old man calling him a dirty player that cheap shots venerable opponents. By any standard he is a cheap shot artist.
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Originally Posted by MattyC
Yeah I would agree. Every highlight reel of Stevens is chock full of elbows to faces. And yes, elbowing was a penalty then too. Whether they called the penalty or not is irrelevant.
What Stevens did tucking in his elbow and hitting wasn't considered elbowing at the time. An elbow meant it had to be outward and used solely as the point of contact.
Trailer Fire, your old man might have called him a cheap shot artist but that's mostly because he targeted players that were vulnerable, dirty but wasn't cheap at the time.
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I don't think it's just to protect those that have star qualities. At the end of the day, concussions are a b!tch and we now know much more about the long term impact of concussions than we did at that time.
It's to protect all the players and to ensure they have a good quality of life after hockey. We as fans sometimes forget that these guys need to live on another 40-60 years after they're done playing hockey.
Well this will be a never ending argument. Which came first, a player skating with his head down or players taking head shots? If we want to protect players, we outlaw fighting and hitting which seems to be the course we are on.
What Stevens did tucking in his elbow and hitting wasn't considered elbowing at the time. An elbow meant it had to be outward and used solely as the point of contact.
Trailer Fire, your old man might have called him a cheap shot artist but that's mostly because he targeted players that were vulnerable, dirty but wasn't cheap at the time.
How about hitting guys 3-4 seconds after the puck was moved, Kariya and Kozlov? Stevens was a cheap shot player by any definition
People called Phaneuf dirty early on even though 99% of his hits were clean.
His hit on Okposo in the pre-season was a dirty hit by today's standards but clean as a whistle when he delivered it. Why should he be judged on today's rules?
Stevens threw a tonne of hits and the overwhelming majority were clean at the time.
My favorite view of the Karyia hit and then goal was in the HNIC playoff opening monatage from last year. They show it one after the other. Just awesome. Skip to 1:10, for Karyia, but the whole thing is awesome.
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