How freakin dissapointed should I be?

[leafaholix*]

This is the era in the NHL when a single player does not a team make (please the Yoda virus I must ). So it is not quite as important to have the best player, as it is to have many good players.

I think many of the Pens fans have felt that somehow Ovechkin is promised to them because of all the pain and suffering the franchise has been through. That is unjustified. You will get the 2nd pick and just hope that your management and scouts make the right choice.

Ovechkin is clearly not going to carry the current Washington team to the playoffs, but having players like that (Thornton, Forsberg, Naslund, Sundin, Sakic, etc...) definately helps you win.

He's a guy that you can put out there every night and know that you've got one of the best players on the ice and he can score at any time.

This pick is extremely important to the Capitals... it really does make them a team that cannot be moved any time soon. He's an anvil that will keep that organization in Washington for a long time.

 

[stardog]

Pens fans shouldn't be happy at all having a top 5 pick 3 years in a row.

The lottery is meant for teams who tank games so they can get the #1 overall pick. Like in 1984 for instance...

Your response is unnecesary and unwanted in this thread. I posed a valid question and if you are unable to conribute anything other than cheap shots and innacurate biased statements then please do not share your "knowledge" with us.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

There's a large drop off.

Comparison's I've read and heard...

Alexander Ovechkin: Mario Lemieux
Evgeny Malkin: Brendan Shanahan

They won't put up as many points because of the new era of scoring in the NHL, but I would expect Ovechkin to be at the same level in his career as Lemieux was in his.

Expecting Ovechkin to perform at Lemieux's level is unrealistic and puts a lot of pressure on him. I think most would be happy if he reached Jagr's level.

About the concussions, hasn't Pitkanen suffered multiple concussions? No one's worried about him.

 

[Bandwagoner]

I worry about Malkin
He is one hit away from never playing again, just remember that.

So is everyone else (to an extent)

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

Still abdominal problems?

Abdominal, foot, hip....everything in the medical book.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

From one article, http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04098/297440.stm . . .

Before a game at Mellon Arena last month, Florida general manager Rick Dudley volunteered that "the gap [between Ovechkin and Malkin] has closed" this season, and that "we've been very, very impressed with No. 2."


Then from here . . . http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/sports/penguinslive/s_188112.html


David Conte, director of scouting for the New Jersey Devils, said of the 6-foot-3, 186-pound Malkin, "It's not like he's a consolation prize. With this guy, the sky's the limit."

Conte pointed out that Malkin, who doesn't turn 18 until July 31, is a year younger than Ovechkin and still has room to fill out.

"He's a boy who's getting better, whereas Ovechkin is a man who is already very, very good," Conte said.
________________________
"He can dangle and dish the puck, and he really competes. Every shift matters to him." - Tim Bernhardt, Dallas Stars director of amateur scouting


"The thing that stands out every time you see him play is the kind of hands he has for a big man." - Mark Kelley, Penguins European scout


"If either of those two (Alexander Ovechkin or Malkin) was available when I was picking, I'd be very happy." - David Conte, New Jersey Devils director of scouting


"He can do everything with the puck and rips it real quick - and for a big man, he can really skate." -- Dee Rizzo, director of player development for IMG Hockey, which represents Malkin


"He forms the second tier of the draft (behind Ovechkin), and he is alone in that tier." - Kyle Woodlief, chief scout and publisher of Red Line Report

 

[leafaholix*]

It's basically...

1. Alexander Ovechkin
.
.
2. Evgeny Malkin
.
3. Everyone else

 

[Jaded-Fan]

It's basically...

1. Alexander Ovechkin
.
.
2. Evgeny Malkin
.
3. Everyone else

Yup ... though from reading about both I like the upside of Malkin . . . if I am reading rightly he has the potential to be what Ovechkin is supposed to be already, but still has some growing to do . . . right now Malkin is a tier above all the others but has some growing and proving to do to reach where Ovechkin is already . . . and of course anyone, me included, would rather have the sure thing (Ovechkin). But I do not understand all the wailing going on about being forced to 'settle' for Malkin. Fleury, Malkin, Jackman all basically added this year. A lockout and only the Pens will have the 50/50 chance at Crosby. Fans of other teams have to be rolling their eyes at the wailing some are doing at such 'bad' luck.

 

[leafaholix*]

There's no way Malkin has the talent that Ovechkin does, he's just on another level.

A Blue Jackets scout (on TSN) said that Ovechkin is a top 5 player in the world (NHL included).

 

[Fiji Water]

There's no way Malkin has the talent that Ovechkin does, he's just on another level.

A Blue Jackets scout (on TSN) said that Ovechkin is a top 5 player in the world (NHL included).

The guy didn't even finish in the top 10 in scoring in the Russian Superleague....how the h*ll is he top 5 in the world right now?

 

[leafaholix*]

The guy didn't even finish in the top 10 in scoring in the Russian Superleague....how the h*ll is he top 5 in the world right now?

I assume he meant in terms of talent.

Afterall, he is a scout of talent... not numbers.

 

[Fiji Water]

ok...i assumed when you said top 5 player, you meant he was one of the 5 best players in the world.

 

[leafaholix*]

ok...i assumed when you said top 5 player, you meant he was one of the 5 best players in the world.

The scout said he was one of the top 5 players in the world.

 

[shveik]

Ovechkin is clearly not going to carry the current Washington team to the playoffs, but having players like that (Thornton, Forsberg, Naslund, Sundin, Sakic, etc...) definately helps you win.

And how much exactly did Naslund, Thornton and Sundin win? You see my point?

He's a guy that you can put out there every night and know that you've got one of the best players on the ice and he can score at any time.

This pick is extremely important to the Capitals... it really does make them a team that cannot be moved any time soon. He's an anvil that will keep that organization in Washington for a long time.

Having Jagr and Gonchar did not help Washington, did it? Having Kovalev, Straka, Lang did not help the Pens. Their problems is not something that a #1 pick, even as hyped as Ovechkin, can fix. And having Ovechkin will not stop a team from moving, it will just raise the sale price...

 

[ej_pens]

There's no way Malkin has the talent that Ovechkin does, he's just on another level.

A Blue Jackets scout (on TSN) said that Ovechkin is a top 5 player in the world (NHL included).

"If I'm picking No. 1, I'd think about drafting Malkin," said one prominent director of scouting. "I'd probably chicken out in the end and take Ovechkin, but I'd think about it."

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/sports/s_188112.html

 

[Bluenote13]

Your response is unnecesary and unwanted in this thread. I posed a valid question and if you are unable to conribute anything other than cheap shots and innacurate biased statements then please do not share your "knowledge" with us.

Yeah come on, this post is serious. I mean, the guy lost out on Ovechkin, like 28 other teams!
And now they have to 'settle' for Malkin! Oh the horror......

 

[Vincent_TheGreat]

I'd be pissed! I hate the lottery! Pittsburgh had no money and had to stick with low price players! Washington bought all the star power and sold it all when it didn't go there way, and now they have the first overall, PLEASE! What a friggin discrace this League has become!

 

[Rotting Corpse*]

Washington bought all the star power and sold it all when it didn't go there way, and now they have the first overall, PLEASE! What a friggin discrace this League has become!

Hmmmm...

 

[Steve Latin*]

The scout said he was one of the top 5 players in the world.

Tuomo Ruutu?

S L

 

[SwOOsh*]

I'd be pissed! I hate the lottery! Pittsburgh had no money and had to stick with low price players! Washington bought all the star power and sold it all when it didn't go there way, and now they have the first overall, PLEASE! What a friggin discrace this League has become!

Again who did we "buy" other then Lang, I'm listening.

 

[usiel]

As a caps fan of course I'm thrilled at landing the #1 and possibly AO. But Malkin is definitely a money prospect. Pens new going into the lottery they were going to get one of those two great prospects. I can see a little bit of whining but some are really going overboard, heh.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

To get back on topic, my take on Ovechkin and Malkin:

AO is about as close to a guarenteed sure thing as you can get . . . likely been on the radar screen since he was 12 and the hype building since that age, much as it did for Mario, much as it is doing now for Crosby, perhaps even more so for Crosby. He did nothing to change those early assesments and going into the draft you know what you are getting, someone who will be at the top of the league amoung a select handful. Where within that handful, who knows, but every indication is that he will be there sooner or later. But I still do not get the hand wringing over Malkin. Remember, he is only 17, has filling out to do and if he had developed early as Ovechkin did, getting the scouts to drool for several years he may have given AO a run for his money. The scouts do not say AO, then there are four or five to compete for number 2 . . .they say AO . . .Malkin, and some almost prefer Malkin. Right now Malkin despite those praises is not AO, but he is not worlds below . . .for instance he is no Schremp who by all accounts is a very gifted scorer who many years would challenge for number one. And with Malkin, if he fills out, he could be something special. As special as AO? . . . I definately think that some scouts think so, but again that is what you get with AO vs. Malkin, a guarenteed sure thing as opposed to a good player who potentially could be great. If given the choice I would take the sure thing, but to be hand wringing over the second is ridiculous.

As a Cap fan said above, I was for whatever it took to make last place, not to get AO though I would have loved that, but to be guarenteed one of the two. And that is what we got.

 

[Vincent_TheGreat]

Again who did we "buy" other then Lang, I'm listening.

Jagr! what did you already forget the 10mil a year mistake!

 

[EroCaps]

Jagr! what did you already forget the 10mil a year mistake!

it was a trade.

 

[SwOOsh*]

Jagr! what did you already forget the 10mil a year mistake!

Sorry that isn't buying a player, it was a trade. If you need anymore lessons on hockey PM me.