Shawn P. Roarke profiles Nicklas Backstrom over on NHL.com (and in case you're wondering, yes, Roarke makes the obligatory Peter Forsberg reference).
Shawn P. Roarke profiles Nicklas Backstrom over on NHL.com (and in case you're wondering, yes, Roarke makes the obligatory Peter Forsberg reference).
10 comments:
Interesting read. I worry that our expectations for this young man are too high. Most of us have been assuming that he will be a second line center, yet he hasn't even played his first NHL game. Granted the SEL is a good league, but it's still not the NHL. And, I know he will have some great talent to work with, but I just hope he doesn't succumb to the pressure over here.
1) The expectations may be high, but he should be surrounded by fairly decent wings, and he has to be an upgrade over who was the 2nd line center the last 2 years!
"Hopefully, I can make the team..." - is he serious?
I agree with Faux (gasp!) - he'll have a great winger on his left and a steadying influence on his right, wherever he's slotted.
There would've been a lot more pressure on him had the Caps not been able to sign Nylander (even if they settled for Comrie or a similar pivot). Now, though, the pressure to be better than Kris Beech shouldn't be too much for this kid out of the gate.
Quit picking on Beech. I mean, he must have been good or else Pittsburgh wouldn't have given up Jagr for him. Right?
WRONG, look who we gave up jagr for, its about geeting rid of him, not what you get in return, in jj's case
All right, I wont pick on Beech. Let's pick on GMGM, who picked Beech, Charlie Stephens, Nolan Yonkman, and Ross Lupaschuk ahead of Henrik Zetterberg (the 210th pick!) , Ryan Miller (138th), and the inscrutable Cory Pecker in that infamous 1999 draft.
You know who else passed on Zetterberg and Miller? EVERY TEAM IN THE NHL. Multiple times.
Great diamonds in the rough, but if, for example, Detroit had any clue Zetterberg was going to be this good, they'd have taken him earlier instead of, say, the magnificent Jari Tolsa.
Is it just me or do the Caps seem to be getting more and more respect among the league's hockey writers? And have you noticed that the terms "fast omproving" and "playoffs" are often being used in the same sentence? I like that a lot more than "cellar dwellers" and "hapless".
How about "injury and trade depleted"? I seem to recall a certain beat reporter loving to use that phrase.
Post a Comment