thomast
Registered User
- Oct 23, 2009
- 3,796
- 708
I was talking about facts, not opinions. Barkov is a Selke winner.
But if you truly are implying that Matthews has been the better player _defensively_ past three years I don't know what to say other than I disagree strongly as is probably majority of people following hockey.
Bottom line in this debate is the same, is Matthews absurdly good goal scoring ability (with great overall game as well) bringing more to the table than Barkov's super solid 200ft game (with high offensive production). I can totally see why many are favoring Matthews even I might disagree. But saying he's better defensively is just not credible take.
Giving him Selke would be like giving vezina to a goalie with good analytics, but horrible concrete stats like sv% and ga/g. I wouldn’t label him having great defensive impact this year. Player can be awesome defensive player without playing PK for sure, but often you lose and win games by special teams. Playing PK and preventing opposite team from scoring is going to impact the team defensively in a big way. Defensive game isn’t just single or few aspects of the game. It’s combination of many, Matthews might be good defensively but his defensive impact isn’t on selke level especially when his concrete stats are bad. He is going for more precious awards like Hart and Lindsay, but Selke should be absolutely out of question. Bergeron is running with it anyways.
It’s actually only concrete stats that trumps any analytics. It’s not grey area anymore.The problem with using ES oiGA is that its (rightly) considered a poor measure of defensive play. I mean, Matthews was better than Barkov in that metric the last two season's before this one but it's so random and goaltending related, I wouldn't hold it against Barkov either.
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