Quarter-Season Review: 10 Hottest Players in NHL

At the quarter-season marker for the season, it’s time to take a look around and re-align some expectations for certain players and the types of seasons they are about to have. Some of these players will be goal scorers, others are goal stoppers, while others are more known (or not YET recognized) for their passing capabilities. Some of them are highly lauded, while others tend to be overlooked.

These are the top ten(for one reason, or another) players in NHL right now:

10. PATRICK KANE - Surprisingly, Patrick Kane is the real deal. No, I'm not surprised because he's American. And not because he floats when he doesn't have the puck. I say that because he looks like he's 14 and he's playing in a league with big, mean men. His stats claim that he is 5'9'', 160 lbs but unless he weighed in immediately after attending a BALCO summer camp, there is no way that is true. He has avoided a sophomore slump, unlike his esteemed colleague and captain Jonathan Toews, and he might turn out to be the true star of the two. And more importantly, he has avoided being hammered by anybody bigger than him (read: everybody). He has a steady touch around the net and has shown good hands. To keep developing his play, he will need to contribute more defensively but as of now, he's a pure-scorer who is doing just that. A lot. He should be a shoo-in for the 2010 American Hockey Team. I’m just waiting for Deion Phaneuf to catch him by surprise with a hit to see how resilient he can be.

9. MATT STAJAN – Speaking of the 2010 Olympics, I’ll move onto some more sure-fire picks - right after I discuss Matt Stajan: He summarizes everything that is going right under Ron Wilson’s guidance. He has always been a hard worker, in order to compensate for his offensive deficiencies. But this month, he has exploded for 14 points and leads the Maple Leafs with 20 points in 20 games. While Stajan has always been a very consistent player, I’d be the most surprised person if he finishes the season with 82 points. However, he is still on pace for one of those inexplicable “career years” that occur occasionally. Just ask Jason Blake, he knows all about them. This year, with his increased responsibility on the 1st line, he is seeing the ice very well, he is able to make passes through traffic onto a teammate’s stick, and he is finally finishing on his opportunities around the net (which he gets a lot of, due to his big hustle). Enjoy it while it lasts, Leaf fans.

8. ALES HEMSKY – I feel I understood Ales Hemsky better after having watched him play in the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals against the Hurricanes. On a powerplay, he skated with the puck for at least 30 seconds straight, neither passing nor shooting, just deke-ing through everybody who decided to pressure him. The fans, exasperated, began to yell their two-cent opinions until the entire rink was in a frenzy. While Hemsky has clearly had this huge upside just waiting to come out, it seems he has pegged the 2008-09 season as the one to show what he can do. Regardless of his production at the end of the season (career-high 77, thus far), I always was vaguely disappointed when it came to Hemsky because I had the odd sensation that he could get 120 or 130 points. With 14 points in November, Hemsky is finally averaging a point-per-game on the season (21 pts, 20 games), he is on pace to have a minor breakout season.

7. RYAN GETZLAF – While Brian Burke may never get over the perceived slight he suffered at the hands of Kevin Lowe, he can rest assured that Lowe picked the wrong player. Or the fact that he is no longer managing the Ducks, so it doesn’t matter anymore. When the Oilers GM signed away one of the Ducks’ top prospects, Dustin Penner, using a Restricted Free Agent Offer-Sheet, Mt. Burke, which had been dormant for some time, nearly exploded. At any rate, the Ducks are certainly glad that Lowe signed Penner (4 G, 1 A over 18 games) instead of their young-star Getzlaf (8 G, 19 A over 22 games). Getzlaf is big, mobile, can fight or score. He’s a punishing player, a 2008 version of the Todd Bertuzzi we will never see again (a dubious compliment, perhaps, but a compliment all the same). He’s fun to watch and he’s passionate; on the other hand, he is ugly on a scale that rivals Milan Lucic. He should be another player to keep an eye on during the 2010 Team Canada selection process.

6. DEVIN SETOGUCHI – Who? Exactly. Devin Setoguchi is a rookie forward playing on the same line as a surging Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton. While the guidance of two of the best players in the league playing on your line (including the league’s best passer in Thornton), would certainly help, Setoguchi is creating plenty of his own scoring chances, as he sits tied with Marleau at 24 points. Setoguchi has 12 goals and 12 assists, showing a remarkably balanced skill-set. On the strength of their top line, as well as some journeymen defensemen having career years (see: Ehrhoff, Christian) and the Sharks are 17-3-1.

5. MARC SAVARD – Perhaps one of the most underrated players in the league, Marc Savard is again quietly putting together another terrific season. In every post-lockout season, Savard has averaged over a point-per-game. In 2 of the last 3 seasons, he has 95+ points, (as well as close to 100 PIMs in each). While his numbers have been impressive, he doesn’t demand attention in the same way that Alex Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby do, so he’s often overlooked. But with the recent resurgence in the Bruins’ play, Savard is finally getting the recognition he deserves. He was named to his 1st All-Star game in 2008 and should be getting further attention from Team Canada for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

4. EVGENI MALKIN – Ovechkin’s Russian brethren, Evgeni Malkin and AO don’t necessarily see eye-to-eye on everything. They’ve taken the on-ice NHL rivalry to the point where I’m not sure they can be Olympic roommates anymore. Regardless of their feelings toward each other, both are playing some good hockey. Malkin leads the league with 31 points, but is closely trailed by Ovechkin’s Crosby-hating teammate Alexander Semin (27), among others. Most importantly, Malkin is outshining his perhaps better known teammate Sidney Crosby and proving that, even if Sid the Kid is struggling a bit, Gino has to be reckoned with on his own.

3. SIMON GAGNE - While having him on your favourite team or fantasy team is always questionable because of his health, Simon Gagne has made a case for himself to be considered the next coming of Yzerman. He has rebounded from an injury-shortened campaign last year and caught fire. He has 15 points in November, and is tied for 2nd in the NHL with 27 points. As long as he can stay healthy all season, he will remain a threat to win the NHL scoring race.

2. ROBERTO LUONGO – Robbie Lu has really stepped it up this season. What the Canucks lack in offensive depth, they make up for in net. Luongo enables the Sedin brothers and Pavol Demitra to get whatever offense they can, without having to worry too much about the defensive side. If a team has a goaltender they trust, that allows them to take more offensive risks than they would if they had Curtis Joseph in net. Over the span of 19 games, Luongo has 5 shutouts and allows only 2.2 goals per game. Prior to his injury, he was on pace for 20 shutouts. While those stats are inflated because of how early in the season it is, it shows that he had a realistic chance to beat Tony Esposito’s 1969 record of 15. Here’s hoping Luongo can heal from his groin injury quickly and that the Canucks can keep themselves in the playoff hunt without him.

1. ALEX OVECHKIN – Alex Ovechkin had a pedestrian October, as his mind was not entirely on hockey with some family matters going on back in Russia. He has 20 points this month, 4 more than anybody else in the league. #2 in November? That’s none other than Ovechkin’s linemate Nicklas Backstrom, who has 16 points. (Not to be confused with Niklas Backstrom.) While Backstrom and Alexander Semin are both having great seasons on their own, there is no debate as to who is the Top Dog in town. These guys are primed for a repeat trip to the playoffs and I will not be surprised if they do some barnstorming once they’re there.

Poker on ESPN - A Referendum

I’m sorry, Poker, but I’ve held my silence for too long. While you may have a “World Series,” I have been curious as to why ESPN and TSN cover your events. I am here to make my arguments against your inclusion on the “Worldwide Leader in Sports” television network, because let’s face it, Poker. You just aren’t a sport.

According to Webster’s dictionary, a sport was defined as “1. A source of diversion: PASTIME”. In the 19th century, sporting newspapers would cover horse racing, boxing and baseball. However, they would also make note of the happenings in burlesque, music halls and vaudeville. By Mr. Daniel Webster’s definition, just about anything can be a sport. Scrabble, while an enjoyable pastime, is not a sport. Other sources of diversion that aren’t sports include singing, reading, and watching television.

By nature of what can be included in Webster’s archaic definition, we clearly need to redefine “sport”. Because as enjoyable as playing Hungry Hungry Hippos may be – it isn’t a sport.

Traditionally accepted sports include boxing, football, baseball, hockey, basketball, tennis, golf, and anything found at the Olympics. They all include elements of competition, physical exertion, and demand intense focus. In fact, I would argue that in order for an activity to be a sport, they must have all three of these elements.

A heated debate over the years has been regarding Nascar’s inclusion in the term “sport”. A quote attributed to Ernest Hemingway says: “There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing and mountaineering, all the others being games.” By my definition, Nascar is definitely a sport: while the engine does most of the work, drivers toil in 140 degree cockpits, sweating off ten pounds of water throughout the course of a race. They must maintain an intense focus for up to 4 hours, covering 500 miles of ground at speeds that most of us have only traveled on commercial airliners. The consequences of losing that focus are potentially disastrous. Anybody who has witnessed a Nascar race on television cannot question its level of competition. While Nascar drivers probably aren’t “athletes” per-se, they are definitely “sportsmen”.

Mountaineers could be also called “sportsmen”. What Hemingway liked about auto racing, mountaineering and bullfighting was the passion it required to look death in the eye and to choose to participate in that activity. These events are essentially struggles for survival between man and The Great Beyond – man’s decisions in the arena of those sports were tantamount to the decision between life and death. In the spirit of Hemingway’s quote, I am prepared to invite bow hunters and fishermen into the Club of Sports. There is a physical degree of difficulty that is included in pulling a 220 lb halibut from the sea. And there is no question that a life-and-death struggle is competitive and demands focus, whether it is man vs. man or man vs. beast.

Using the same criterion, let’s examine poker: It is undoubtedly competitive. I can’t imagine anything more cutthroat than a hundred men clamoring for several million dollars. Poker demands an intense amount of focus. One bad hand can spell disaster for a someone’s chances of winning “The World Series of Poker”. But the thing that trips me up is the degree of physical exertion. There just isn’t any. Sure, in the heat of the moment, a poker player might break a sweat. Mick Jagger sweats during his concerts; however, being a Rolling Stone is not a sport.

Poker – you’re close. You require focus and are very competitive. But two out of three doesn’t make you a sport. It leaves you in the “games” category. There is no shame in being grouped with Candyland, Halo, and Tic-Tac-Toe. They are all worthy peers. But in comparison to the potential for physical devastation in boxing, football, and hockey – real sports – you are just fun and games.