Quote:
Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus
Not even close, as much as I can't stand him, Kesler is twice the center than Backlund is, Kesler trumps Backlund bigtime in scoring,hits and faceoffs. plus all the other stuff!
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Kesler trumps Backlund big time in scoring? Maybe if you overvalue the fact that Kesler plays PP with Getzlaf, Perry, Sedin, Sedin while Backlund for whatever reason never played PP with Gaudreau or Monahan. Kesler certainly doesn't trump Backlund in ES scoring though, especially minute-for-minute. Since the
lockout:
Backlund
1.564 P/60 @ 5v5
Kesler
1.464 P/60 @ 5v5
These are 4500-4700+ minute samples here where Backlund has outproduced Kesler outside of special teams.
Hits? If you can find me a true correlation between hits and winning I will be interested. Our best hitter last year was Troy Brouwer. It's not that hits don't have their place in the sport, but they're not useful for comparing two players. There are different ways to skin a cat, basically.
Faceoffs? Okay, let's agree Kesler is better at faceoffs. But what does that even
mean? Faceoff wins translate into a very small portion of goals scored, I don't reclal the exact number off-hand but we're talking 2-3% of goals. Now tell me if the difference between 48% and 56% is significant
enough within that context. I'm sure it's worth a goal or two a season... but there are many ways to make up the difference, even if they're not as easy to look up. Not that recorded faceoff percentage truly represent the outcomes of most faceoffs anyways.
All the other stuff? What is that exactly? Kesler is a great player, but you're simply reaching here.