Kessel vs. Crosby: Hype Machine

[espo*]

Kessel is not even nearly as good as Crosby, how the crap are we suppose to give him the same hype as Crosby? It doesent even make sense, how some dumb americans, will use Kessel, as a counter attack to Canadians, "Oh you ahve Crosby, we have Kessel." THat is so immature. If Phil Kessel was Canadian even he wouldnt be getting that hype as Crosby. Get that in your head.

After watching him at the world juniors i think he is better then Crosby in some aspects.His skating and ability to dangle on the fly is incredible. I've seen few barely 17 year old kids come in and be able to turn the momentum of a game in the world juniors like him and i've been watching that tourney for a long time.

I don't think his overall game and hockey sense is as good as Crosbys's but his one on one abiltiy is superior to me. This guy can score goals, make plays and knows how to get into position to put the puck in the net.Some people were dazzled by his moves at top speed but what impressed me the most about him was how he knows where to go without the puck and man can he let it fly when he gets it.

If i was American i'd be getting pretty excited about him because i have'nt seen such a precocious prospect Stateside in some time. If he was Canadian and done what he did in the world juniors we would be talking about the kid a lot because that's what we do up here. I'm not saying he's as good or better then Crosby because he's a special prospect also....his skill and ability to adjust his game to how he is being defended is the best i've seen in quite some time and he's going to be a star and i have no problem saying that even without him having played in the nhl yet...some things are obvious even without playing in the nhl or being 17 years old.
But the Kessel kid does some things better then Crosby and Crosby does some things better then Kessel IMO.I can't tell you who will be better but both are going to be great players.I'm fairly sure of that.

 

[hockeyfamily]

Isn't Kessel younger? and therefore an '06.

Also for the thread starter, aren't you comparing Kessels 7 points to Crosby's 6 goals? Sid had 9 points.

If a Guatemalan had Sid's stats/talent he would have plenty of hype, although being Canadian certainly doesn't hurt.

Kessel is younger - Oct. 87. Also hard to compare Crosby & Kessel because they have different playing styles - performance of apples vs oranges in the same fruit salad.

 

[Nash]

After watching him at the world juniors i think he is better then Crosby in some aspects.His skating and ability to dangle on the fly is incredible. I've seen few barely 17 year old kids come in and be able to turn the momentum of a game in the world juniors like him and i've been watching that tourney for a long time.

I don't think his overall game and hockey sense is as good as Crosbys's but his one on one abiltiy is superior to me. This guy can score goals, make plays and knows how to get into position to put the puck in the net.Some people were dazzled by his moves at top speed but what impressed me the most about him was how he knows where to go without the puck and man can he let it fly when he gets it.

If i was American i'd be getting pretty excited about him because i have'nt seen such a precocious prospect Stateside in some time. If he was Canadian and done what he did in the world juniors we would be talking about the kid a lot because that's what we do up here. I'm not saying he's as good or better then Crosby because he's a special prospect also....his skill and ability to adjust his game to how he is being defended is the best i've seen in quite some time and he's going to be a star and i have no problem saying that even without him having played in the nhl yet...some things are obvious even without playing in the nhl or being 17 years old.
But the Kessel kid does some things better then Crosby and Crosby does some things better then Kessel IMO.I can't tell you who will be better but both are going to be great players.I'm fairly sure of that.

Kessel is not close to Crosby at all. I agree that he is a great prospect and probably the best US prospect in a long time, but Crosby is a once in a decade type of player.

 

[Roger's Pancreas*]

I LIKE Kessel more because he is American and has an agressive offensive talent. It may seem petty but the US needs to perform better in international tournaments inorder to get more fans.

 

[espo*]

Kessel is not close to Crosby at all. I agree that he is a great prospect and probably the best US prospect in a long time, but Crosby is a once in a decade type of player.

Maybe,maybe not.....it's not decided yet,the nhl will tell that story not us.I saw a young player with an incredible amount of talent at the world juniors,he seems to do some things better then Crosby imo.Let's wait and see

 

[William H Bonney]

Kessel is not close to Crosby at all. I agree that he is a great prospect and probably the best US prospect in a long time, but Crosby is a once in a decade type of player.

Can we stop saying he's a "once in a decade type player?" In the past decade we've already heard that about Spezza, Bouwmeester, etc.

 

[bruins4777*]

Kessel is more talented physically and skating wise and attribute wise. What i mean by that is kessel is the better skater, shot, moves and so forth. However crosby has the better game by quite a mile in that he has this innate senses and ability that put him automatically above other players because of his hockey sense and his flat out strong mind. Its that sense that puts him above so many other players. There are players with better attributes outside of kessel, but crosby's hockey sense puts him over the edge. However its not to say that crosby doesn't have a good hockey skills, he does, just not as good as kessel and others.

 

[scoutman1]

Kessel is more talented physically and skating wise and attribute wise. What i mean by that is kessel is the better skater, shot, moves and so forth. However crosby has the better game by quite a mile in that he has this innate senses and ability that put him automatically above other players because of his hockey sense and his flat out strong mind. Its that sense that puts him above so many other players. There are players with better attributes outside of kessel, but crosby's hockey sense puts him over the edge. However its not to say that crosby doesn't have a good hockey skills, he does, just not as good as kessel and others.

I agree with Kessel having the better shot and moves with the puck but Crosby and Kessels skating is about equal IMO if you look at it...Crosby has a smoother stride than Kessel and more strength on his skates, plus combined with great speed and agility himself Crosby is one of the better skaters. Kessel is a little more agile than Crosby, but overall speed Kessel might have a SLIGHT edge on him but not much. Kessel certainly is not as good of a passer as Crosby and of course you said Crosbys hockey sense puts him over the edge which is way beyond Kessel. Crosby is also more physical and stronger than Kessel and Crosby is willing to put him self at risk to get a point...soemthing Kessel doesn't do yet

 

[pei fan]

Kessel is more talented physically and skating wise and attribute wise. What i mean by that is kessel is the better skater, shot, moves and so forth. However crosby has the better game by quite a mile in that he has this innate senses and ability that put him automatically above other players because of his hockey sense and his flat out strong mind. Its that sense that puts him above so many other players. There are players with better attributes outside of kessel, but crosby's hockey sense puts him over the edge. However its not to say that crosby doesn't have a good hockey skills, he does, just not as good as kessel and others.

Have all you guys,ever considered that Crosby's individual skills might not stand out
as much BECAUSE of his hockey sense and his discipline.Comparing the 2 at the
WJC's is very misleading. Sutter asked Crosby to play a role and he played that role
perfectly.Besides his offense he checked,he forechecked and backchecked better
than anyone in the tournament.He screened shots including at least 3 Canada goals
that he didn't get a point on.He drew more penalties than any player on Team
Canada and I'm sure probably the entire tournament.He fought for the puck in the
corners and won almost everytime.He did all this on 30 second shifts playing
on the wing a position his individual skills are not really ideally suited for.He also
played closer to 3rd line minutes than 1st line.He avg'd around 14/game.

I haven't seen Kessel play much and I've never seen him play live so it's hard
for me to make a comparison of the 2.However I will say this,all you guys that
think Crosby is over-rated I wonder if you have seen him live.There are some
players that you need to see live to understand how much they control and
dominate when thay are on the ice.3 that I can think of are Ray Bourqe ,Peter Forsberg,and Nick Lidstrom.Sidney is also like this.I've talked to several people
whom after seeing him play for the first time live say O.K. now I understand how
good he is.

You want to see individual skill,you should see him practice.He doesn't neccesarily
show it all in a game because of his discipline to play a "team game".You can't
say that about too many 17 year old superstars.

If these threads are any indication,IMO there are going to be alot of surprised
hockey fans once Sidney hits the NHL.

 

[WADEugottaBELAKthat]

How come when the czechs played the US that TSN didn't have a front page article saying "Czech Republic's phenom!" Kessel is being hyped because he's good.

Because they are a media outlet that caters to their audience.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

Honestly, the better comparison should be Kessel vs. Frolik. Both those kids look outstanding and really impressed at the WJC. But neither should be compared to Crosby at this point, and perhaps they never get to that comparison level.

I completely agree with those that say Crosby was a role player at the WJC and was certainly not being used to the max of his abilities. I also do NOT agree that Kessel is necessarily better with the puck, or better in making moves. Kessel's great at both, but so is Crosby.

To me, this is a classic case of finding flaws in prospects because they've been talked about for so long. Once a draft draws near, we (fans, media, hockey observers, etc.) tend to overhype the next crop coming in because we've seen the current crop play for so long. Again, this is no slight on Kessel, Frolik, Joensuu or any other 2006 draft hopeful.

The thing is, a LOT of people have already drawn conclusions on Crosby's overall game, his long-term potential and his strengths/weaknesses. But what we shouldn't forget is that he's still IMPROVING his game, and will get better than he currently is.

Let's remember that when drawing comparisons.

 

[pei fan]

Honestly, the better comparison should be Kessel vs. Frolik. Both those kids look outstanding and really impressed at the WJC. But neither should be compared to Crosby at this point, and perhaps they never get to that comparison level.

I completely agree with those that say Crosby was a role player at the WJC and was certainly not being used to the max of his abilities. I also do NOT agree that Kessel is necessarily better with the puck, or better in making moves. Kessel's great at both, but so is Crosby.

To me, this is a classic case of finding flaws in prospects because they've been talked about for so long. Once a draft draws near, we (fans, media, hockey observers, etc.) tend to overhype the next crop coming in because we've seen the current crop play for so long. Again, this is no slight on Kessel, Frolik, Joensuu or any other 2006 draft hopeful.

The thing is, a LOT of people have already drawn conclusions on Crosby's overall game, his long-term potential and his strengths/weaknesses. But what we shouldn't forget is that he's still IMPROVING his game, and will get better than he currently is.

Let's remember that when drawing comparisons.

Well thought out post.

 

[bruins4777*]

Have all you guys,ever considered that Crosby's individual skills might not stand out
as much BECAUSE of his hockey sense and his discipline.Comparing the 2 at the
WJC's is very misleading. Sutter asked Crosby to play a role and he played that role
perfectly.Besides his offense he checked,he forechecked and backchecked better
than anyone in the tournament.He screened shots including at least 3 Canada goals
that he didn't get a point on.He drew more penalties than any player on Team
Canada and I'm sure probably the entire tournament.He fought for the puck in the
corners and won almost everytime.He did all this on 30 second shifts playing
on the wing a position his individual skills are not really ideally suited for.He also
played closer to 3rd line minutes than 1st line.He avg'd around 14/game.

I haven't seen Kessel play much and I've never seen him play live so it's hard
for me to make a comparison of the 2.However I will say this,all you guys that
think Crosby is over-rated I wonder if you have seen him live.There are some
players that you need to see live to understand how much they control and
dominate when thay are on the ice.3 that I can think of are Ray Bourqe ,Peter Forsberg,and Nick Lidstrom.Sidney is also like this.I've talked to several people
whom after seeing him play for the first time live say O.K. now I understand how
good he is.

You want to see individual skill,you should see him practice.He doesn't neccesarily
show it all in a game because of his discipline to play a "team game".You can't
say that about too many 17 year old superstars.

If these threads are any indication,IMO there are going to be alot of surprised
hockey fans once Sidney hits the NHL.

Thats a good analysis, i wasn't calling him overrated, i was just giving my 2 cents on the comparison between kessel and crosby.

The only thing i disagree is with you saying "he backchecked better than anyone else", i'd give that to bergeron. I felt bergeron played better all around then him and on offense crosby had a couple f'ups.

Also, nobody on canada really logged a huge amount of minutes as forward. I mean the team had 4 no.1 lines, to keep them fresh and at the top of their game every shift sutter was smart and played each line pretty much even.

 

[espo*]

Have all you guys,ever considered that Crosby's individual skills might not stand out
as much BECAUSE of his hockey sense and his discipline.Comparing the 2 at the
WJC's is very misleading. Sutter asked Crosby to play a role and he played that role
perfectly.Besides his offense he checked,he forechecked and backchecked better
than anyone in the tournament.He screened shots including at least 3 Canada goals
that he didn't get a point on.He drew more penalties than any player on Team
Canada and I'm sure probably the entire tournament.He fought for the puck in the
corners and won almost everytime.He did all this on 30 second shifts playing
on the wing a position his individual skills are not really ideally suited for.He also
played closer to 3rd line minutes than 1st line.He avg'd around 14/game.

I haven't seen Kessel play much and I've never seen him play live so it's hard
for me to make a comparison of the 2.However I will say this,all you guys that
think Crosby is over-rated I wonder if you have seen him live.There are some
players that you need to see live to understand how much they control and
dominate when thay are on the ice.3 that I can think of are Ray Bourqe ,Peter Forsberg,and Nick Lidstrom.Sidney is also like this.I've talked to several people
whom after seeing him play for the first time live say O.K. now I understand how
good he is.

You want to see individual skill,you should see him practice.He doesn't neccesarily
show it all in a game because of his discipline to play a "team game".You can't
say that about too many 17 year old superstars.

If these threads are any indication,IMO there are going to be alot of surprised
hockey fans once Sidney hits the NHL.

I have'nt seen anywhere here in the last page or two where people are saying he's over-rated,just that some people think Kessel does some things better then Crosby and vice versa.Crosby's getting the "once in a decade" treatement because he deserves it,no argument here,hell, no wants Crosby to do better and blow these other guys out of the water more then me believe me!!I just think some aspects of Kessel's game APPEAR to be sharper then sidney's and the other way around on other aspects.Maybe we're wrong.....we'll see in a few years.No big deal