Around which current NHL star would you build a franchise?

He learned from Gretzky, the master of saying nothing. And Gretzky was in the media spotlight when he played Atom hockey and scored those 380 or so goals in a single season.

 

They are a very good trio, but when was the last time the Flyers had a goaltender? Lindberg?

 

I'm kinda with Headbutt.
And I would rather watch Ovechkin than any other player in the league. I'm not sure, when it comes to building championships, that is the crucial factor, though. There was a time when Jagr was the most fun player to watch in the league. His teams never won anything during that time. (Yes, Ovechkin is a much tougher player than Jagr, I know that.)
Here's a thought: I say Mike Richards will be the captain of a Cup-winning team someday, in Philadelphia or elsewhere, even if skillwise, you might rank him far down the list in this poll. Anybody out there agree with me?

 

If Rick Nash were playing on a decent team in a decent hockey market, he'd be as popular as Ovechkin an Crosby. He's wasted in Columbus

 

Alex Ovechkin's latest burst of individual brilliance.

 

If you base your selection on a player's value on and off the ice, Crosby's marketability rating is much higher than Ovechkin and Malkin. There's more money in Canada and Pittsburgh to put Sidney on a billboard, commercial, or charity event. Ovechkin won't get the money from Canada and Ted Leonsis wished he has the local and regional support like Pittsburgh.

I see Crosby and Malkin all the time, there's no doubt right now, Malkin has surpassed the "The Next One" with his on-ice value. Malkin is a better goal scorer, has been lights out passing the puck, capable of playing either point on the PP, and his defensive awareness has been outstanding, highlighted by his league leading +23 plus/minus rating.

The issue between the Big 3 is longevity. Ovechkin is a pitbull on skates, he plays big and fast but that will eventually come to haunt him as some player will inevitably go looking for retribution and those brilliant thunderous hits take their toll, even as he distributes them to his opponents.

I think Malkin is the left-handed version of Mario Lemieux and once he gets a better handle on his shooting accuracy (i.e. breakaways/shootouts), he's going to be finally recognized by those outside of Pittsburgh as the best player in the NHL.

 

Oh boy.

You do realise Mr. Boyes was left on the scrap heap by not one but two franchises who desperately needed goal scoring before he took the hint and the Blues took a flyer on him right?

Hemsky (no second 'e' not being a jerk to pick on you, but I see it all the time, all over the place, and it drives me up the wall) is one of the most dynamic playmakers in the game and is still fairly young. He just took a bit of time to develop and convincing to use his shot -- he has one of the best releases in the game, but he would always rather pass though for some reason, I swear to god I watched him bail on shooting while on a breakaway once, circle behind the net and look for the trailer to pass to. Absolutely blew my mind. about had a stroke right then and there. I actually had a rare moment of pitty for MacTavish -- as fleeting as it may have been.

That being said his biggest problem for so long has been that he has had no one to play with. Finally Horcoff has developed enough to at least be able to play along side him and Penner has been a nice compliment when on the other wing the last couple of years.

But like I said, given my choice of players to build around it's Ovechkin every single time. Off that list not even sure if Hemsky makes my top 10, just saying he shouldn't be dismissed from the list if we are going as far to include Boyes and now a second year defencemen who tore the hell out of his ankle while riding a golf cart this past off-season. At the very least he's on the same plane as Semin right now.

 

Maybe it's because I just woke up, but did Beef just rag on somebody for a spelling mistake?

 

Actually, Brooks doesn't get it. The reason for the all star voting debacle is because Montreal and Pittsburgh fans were stuffing the ballot boxes. It became a competition. At one point all 6 starters were from the Canadiens.

This is not to say Ovechkin is not the best player in the league it's just to show how Brooks is wrong again, which isn't all that unusual.

 

I think Brooks point was that you don't put all your marketing eggs i.e. Crosby in one basket.

In addition to OV, there are a number of young players that the NHL should be strongly marketing--you can start with the Staal brothers and take it from there.

However, his quibble about the All-Star game is nonsense. The NHL set up a voting system that was wide open for abuse/exploitation.

Who cares anyway? It's the All-Star game.

 

LeBron