I don't think TZE ever admitted to being unbiased on anything but you clearly have a strong opinion of Russo (maybe you have a bias for him).
A lot of posters seem to have some facts mixed up on Ouellet though, like the fact that Marchenko has passed him, even though it was XO who made the Wings roster out of training camp a few years ago, but KH sent him down and Babcock complained to the media about the move. XO also debuted in the playoffs over Kindl even though he was a rookie. If I remember correctly Blash never gave XO any consistant PP time in GR (not saying he deserved any) so that does have an impact on his offensive stats (15+ points with no PP time is nothing to complain about). I like the part about Russo being a leader though, like XO wasn't a captain of his team at the age of 18 or anything. XO also played for team canada for the WJC (arguably a harder roster to crack) while on a sprained ankle, which is pretty impressive really. Plus minus is a worthless stat, and if that's being used to prop a player up it is YOU who is grasping at straws. Cause Jeff Schultz is a better defenseman than Mike Green, cause dat plus minus right?
Also producing in the AHL is good, it's usually a useful indicator of NHL success. But there are always those Pulkkinen's and Almqvist's that put up good stats, but still have weakness's that prevent them from having long careers in the NHL. I mean Sheahan had pretty mediocre stats in the AHL, but if you watched him play you could still tell he had better NHL potential than Joakim Andersson, who had better stats.
Marchenko has passed XO. That's why he has a full seasons worth of games under his belt while XO doesn't. Let's not forget who was the all star their first year in the AHL. It wasn't XO that is for sure.
XO has played in exactly one playoff game where he didn't look great. 1 game! Woopee! Wow he played the game over Kindl what an accomplishment. Reaching at straws here.
XO was captain for a team in the CHL. Congrats. I never said Ouellet wasn't a leader but you sure are acting like I did. Is one of your arguing points that Ouellet made Canada? Really helping your case. The team that Ouellet made, Russo was the Captain of his peers at the U-18's. Ouellet wasn't that great at either the U-18's or U-20's. Russo had 8 points in 6 games at the U-18's. That's almost double what Ouellet scored in one less tournament. (I look forward to you saying, well, Russo couldn't even make the U-20's! My response is to look at how terrible the US is at roster assembly every year. Kyle Connor is among many good examples) Talking about sprained ankles and making excuses like every player doesn't get injured and isn't limping around anyway after games anyway.
Ahh but I'm sure you were on the hype train talking about how awesome Larkin's +/-. But wait Sean3250, that's ok because his +/- was so much higher relative to his peers. News Flash, Russo's +/- was 30 points higher than anyone else and broke a GR record. Yeah, sorry I think that's noteworthy.
It's nice to see you sticking up for your buddy though. Maybe he can reply for himself next time.
Your right AHL numbers are a good indicator. Defenseman that've done well in the AHL (among many): Kronwall, Subban, Weber, Josi etc etc. Most players that don't do well in the AHL don't go on to make good players.
Joakim didn't have better stats than Sheahan. Same PPG. I do see your point though.
