Just for ***** and Giggles, I just noticed Matthew Tkachuk now has more points than Jaden Schwartz, and is in his rookie season. Yes, he played a couple more games though.
http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=2084259&page=21
Examples "He is so fun and entertaining to watch. LOVE this guy. Had another point last night and 6 more pims.
10 points in his last 10 games
and is up to 70 pims on the year(2nd highest PIM total in whole NHL). He is slowly working his way up the rookie scoring leader boardwith the 5th highest rookie point total and is 2nd in rookie +- with a +8 (Mantha is a +9)
I love this rookie crop this year. The first part of the year I found the Leafs rookies to be the most entertaining... then I found myself enjoying watching Laine the most... but now I find Ive been tuning into Flames games the most just to watch Tkachuk. I love the players that put up high points while playing a hard game and putting up a high pim total.
What a complete stud he is already. IMO hes definitely up as the most effective rookie in the NHL"
"IMO, Tkachuk is going to be better than both Monahan and Bennett. He's just that ridiculously good, I'm in awe of this kid. And it's not because of his offence, it's because of how he plays the game. I think Gaudreau will always outscore Tkachuk, but Tkachuk is going to be the Flames most valuable player. I cannot say enough good things about him. To be a 19 year old rookie, and to watch him drag men into the offensive zone, world class athletes hanging off of him because of his desire. The way he forechecks and protects the puck is a thing of beauty, when he's downlow you cannot defend him, he protects the puck so well and his passing ability around the net is outstanding. Defensively he's already ahead of Monahan, Bennett and probably on par with Gaudreau. I just cannot get over the impact he has on a game for his age, he is a tremendously special player and the Flames hit lotto when he fell to us. The affect of having a physcial top 6 power forward in our lineup has made such a difference "
Reading the last few posts there, Im just wondering if you guys still want to think I was nuts for saying I thought we would have to add to Schwartz to pry Tkachuk from the Flames - while the common counter argument was - Schwartz is better or as good as Tkachuk will ever be..
My original point was, Tkachuk would end up (most likely) being a more important player (and I write this at a time when we were on a losing streak and the general consensus was we desperately needed to get bigger and more physical up front).