Team Canada 2014 -- who will be on it?

Just to confirm, you think David Rundblad will be more impressive than Erik Karlsson on an International-sized ice surface?

tim1_2 wrote:Just to confirm, you think David Rundblad will be more impressive than Erik Karlsson on an International-sized ice surface?

For viewing pleasure? Absolutely.
Doesn't mean he's gonna be more effective though.

LeKing wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:

LeKing wrote:THe only thing I care about in these Olympics is watching Pavel Datsyuk on the big ice  

In that same vein, Erik Karlsson.

Yeah, really.  How could one say Datsyuk and not say Karlsson?

Karlsson is a better player on small ice because what he does is make decisions in a split second with tight spaces to work on. Also he's more of an acceleration kind of player anyway.
I think Rundblad would be more impressive than Karlsson on a big ice.

As for Datsyuk, I'm more interested in the dangling of 3 players in the offensive zone, something Karlsson will probably not be allowed to do.

Bad! Bad!  

tim1_2 wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:

LeKing wrote:THe only thing I care about in these Olympics is watching Pavel Datsyuk on the big ice  

In that same vein, Erik Karlsson.

Yeah, really.  How could one say Datsyuk and not say Karlsson?

Because Datsyuk plays for Detroit and is therefore The Best.

Makes sense.

I wonder if Spezza is good on the big ice? He only has .84 pts per game to Datsyuk's impressive .77 in World Championship play. Is that ever contested on the big ice?

SeawaySensFan wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:

LeKing wrote:THe only thing I care about in these Olympics is watching Pavel Datsyuk on the big ice  

In that same vein, Erik Karlsson.

Yeah, really.  How could one say Datsyuk and not say Karlsson?

Because Datsyuk plays for Detroit and is therefore The Best.

Makes sense.

I wonder if Spezza is good on the big ice? He only has .84 pts per game to Datsyuk's impressive .77 in World Championship play. Is that ever contested on the big ice?

A truly knowledgeable fan would know that points per game is absolutely no indication of whether or not a player is any good.

tim1_2 wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:

LeKing wrote:THe only thing I care about in these Olympics is watching Pavel Datsyuk on the big ice  

In that same vein, Erik Karlsson.

Yeah, really.  How could one say Datsyuk and not say Karlsson?

Because Datsyuk plays for Detroit and is therefore The Best.

Makes sense.

I wonder if Spezza is good on the big ice? He only has .84 pts per game to Datsyuk's impressive .77 in World Championship play. Is that ever contested on the big ice?

A truly knowledgeable fan would know that points per game is absolutely no indication of whether or not a player is any good.

My bad.

SeawaySensFan wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:

LeKing wrote:THe only thing I care about in these Olympics is watching Pavel Datsyuk on the big ice  

In that same vein, Erik Karlsson.

Yeah, really.  How could one say Datsyuk and not say Karlsson?

Because Datsyuk plays for Detroit and is therefore The Best.

Makes sense.

I wonder if Spezza is good on the big ice? He only has .84 pts per game to Datsyuk's impressive .77 in World Championship play. Is that ever contested on the big ice?

A truly knowledgeable fan would know that points per game is absolutely no indication of whether or not a player is any good.

My bad.

It happens. But don't let it happen again.

In other news, I hear we might be trying to trade Karlsson for David Roundleaf.

Spezza and Tavares were dynamite on the big ice in Switzerland.

SeawaySensFan wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:

LeKing wrote:THe only thing I care about in these Olympics is watching Pavel Datsyuk on the big ice  

In that same vein, Erik Karlsson.

Yeah, really.  How could one say Datsyuk and not say Karlsson?

Because Datsyuk plays for Detroit and is therefore The Best.

Makes sense.

I wonder if Spezza is good on the big ice? He only has .84 pts per game to Datsyuk's impressive .77 in World Championship play. Is that ever contested on the big ice?

A truly knowledgeable fan would know that points per game is absolutely no indication of whether or not a player is any good.

My bad.

Poll hockey fans/players on who they would rather have on their team, Spezza or Datsyuk, and you will quickly find out just how much a 0.07 PPG differential means in the hockey world. 9/10 people are going to take Datsyuk every time, and the deciding factor will always be the intangibles that don't get recorded by a player's PPG number. A track record of winning certainly helps.

rooneypoo wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:

LeKing wrote:THe only thing I care about in these Olympics is watching Pavel Datsyuk on the big ice  

In that same vein, Erik Karlsson.

Yeah, really.  How could one say Datsyuk and not say Karlsson?

Because Datsyuk plays for Detroit and is therefore The Best.

Makes sense.

I wonder if Spezza is good on the big ice? He only has .84 pts per game to Datsyuk's impressive .77 in World Championship play. Is that ever contested on the big ice?

A truly knowledgeable fan would know that points per game is absolutely no indication of whether or not a player is any good.

My bad.

Poll hockey fans on who they would rather have on their team, Spezza or Datsyuk, and you will quickly find out just how much a 0.07 PPG differential means in the hockey world. 9/10 people are going to take Datsyuk every time, and the deciding factor will always be the intangibles that don't get recorded by a player's PPG number. A track record of winning certainly helps.

tim1_2 already pointed that out. Don't rub it in.

PPG comparisons for two players playing different roles on different teams isn't even apples to oranges.

That said, I still remember, not really that long ago, sitting in our annual playoff pool at work, and Datsyuk and Zetterberg were not picked in the early rounds because they were non-performers in the playoffs. Same later with the Sedins. Some players get it right away, some take a while to get there.

Ev wrote:Spezza and Tavares were dynamite on the big ice in Switzerland.

Against who? No one for the most part.

tim1_2 wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:

LeKing wrote:THe only thing I care about in these Olympics is watching Pavel Datsyuk on the big ice  

In that same vein, Erik Karlsson.

Yeah, really.  How could one say Datsyuk and not say Karlsson?

Because Datsyuk plays for Detroit and is therefore The Best.

Makes sense.

I wonder if Spezza is good on the big ice? He only has .84 pts per game to Datsyuk's impressive .77 in World Championship play. Is that ever contested on the big ice?

A truly knowledgeable fan would know that points per game is absolutely no indication of whether or not a player is any good.

Ah yes, this old gem. Only in Ottawa would this even be a statement. People who defend Spezza when ever they feel he needs defending uses the PPG argument but never ever would they ever admit that he hasn't won much of anything at the Jr. or pro level and then it's the "well it's a team sport". Well if it's a team sport then individual stats shouldn't matter like PPG when describing how beneficial a player his to his team, right?

Glad the higher ups in the hockey world agree with my take and a few others and not blind fan boys.

NEELY wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:

LeKing wrote:THe only thing I care about in these Olympics is watching Pavel Datsyuk on the big ice  

In that same vein, Erik Karlsson.

Yeah, really.  How could one say Datsyuk and not say Karlsson?

Because Datsyuk plays for Detroit and is therefore The Best.

Makes sense.

I wonder if Spezza is good on the big ice? He only has .84 pts per game to Datsyuk's impressive .77 in World Championship play. Is that ever contested on the big ice?

A truly knowledgeable fan would know that points per game is absolutely no indication of whether or not a player is any good.

Ah yes, this old gem. Only in Ottawa would this even be a statement. People who defend Spezza when ever they feel he needs defending uses the PPG argument but never ever would they ever admit that he hasn't won much of anything at the Jr. or pro level and then it's the "well it's a team sport". Well if it's a team sport then individual stats shouldn't matter like PPG when describing how beneficial a player his to his team, right?

Glad the higher ups in the hockey world agree with my take and a few others and not blind fan boys.

I am glad we are in agreement on this issue.

Serious question: there are actually people in here who would take Spezza over Datsyuk?

LeKing wrote:Serious question: there are actually people in here who would take Spezza over Datsyuk?

I would only right now because one is 35 years old.

LeKing wrote:Serious question: there are actually people in here who would take Spezza over Datsyuk?

Only at the Royal Ottawa.

NEELY wrote:
Ah yes, this old gem.  Only in Ottawa would this even be a statement.  People who defend Spezza when ever they feel he needs defending uses the PPG argument but never ever would they ever admit that he hasn't won much of anything at the Jr. or pro level and then it's the "well it's a team sport".  Well if it's a team sport then individual stats shouldn't matter like PPG when describing how beneficial a player his to his team, right?  

Glad the higher ups in the hockey world agree with my take and a few others and not blind fan boys.

I really think you're selling stats short. They are not the be all and end all, but you win games by outscoring your opponent. So I'll admit that not every point is equal (scoring a bunch of goals to make a 3-2 game 6-2, empty netters, etc.) but to completely discount someone's offensive production?

If your team wins and you score a bunch of points it's great.

If your team loses and you don't score a bunch of points (assuming you are a scorer and not a checker), then that's not so great.

If your team wins and you don't score a bunch of points, or if your team loses and you *do* score a bunch of points, then those have to be looked at in greater detail.

Spezza *will* make some players better (look no farther than Greening two years ago); he will not make *everyone* better.