We've had the Mark Messier award for a few years now and it still hasn't grown on me. I know the same could be said for a lot of other awards, but doesn't this award just seem like some kind of popularity contest?
To define the best leader is a pretty hard thing to do and to announce the winners before the conclusion of the seasons seems flat out weird to me. Like... what if the Ducks and the Hawks lost this round of the playoffs? (yeah seems impossible at this point)
That really wouldn't say much.
I also don't want to suggest that Toews and Getslaf aren't great captains, because I'd personally love to have either of them captain the Oilers... but praising Getslaf and Toews for being such awesome captains over the other captains in the league is like praising a raise horse in a crab race.
There's no way Ladd is going to win it, but he's the only guy that got more out of his team than what was expected of him. Before the season started there was no shortage of doubters in the media that suggested that the Jets might be a bottom 5 team due to poor goaltending, weak offence and lack of discipline.
One could suggest that Ladd, despite all of the Kane drama surrounding the team, lead the team to be better than most expected my making the playoffs.
Getslaf captained the Ducks to 1st in the West. Who cares? They were supposed to. Their team is stacked with star power, size and depth.
Toews captained the Hawks to another playoff run. Seriously? The guy is making 10.5 million next year. Along with Kane. They've got 4-5 legit 1st line forwards and 2.5 1st pairing d-men. They're supposed to make the playoffs and they're supposed to go deep into the playoffs.
I really feel that this award is just patting a few guys on the back for doing what they were supposed to do.
On top of that, who could really vote on this award? I'm having a really hard time answering that.
To define the best leader is a pretty hard thing to do and to announce the winners before the conclusion of the seasons seems flat out weird to me. Like... what if the Ducks and the Hawks lost this round of the playoffs? (yeah seems impossible at this point)
That really wouldn't say much.
I also don't want to suggest that Toews and Getslaf aren't great captains, because I'd personally love to have either of them captain the Oilers... but praising Getslaf and Toews for being such awesome captains over the other captains in the league is like praising a raise horse in a crab race.
There's no way Ladd is going to win it, but he's the only guy that got more out of his team than what was expected of him. Before the season started there was no shortage of doubters in the media that suggested that the Jets might be a bottom 5 team due to poor goaltending, weak offence and lack of discipline.
One could suggest that Ladd, despite all of the Kane drama surrounding the team, lead the team to be better than most expected my making the playoffs.
Getslaf captained the Ducks to 1st in the West. Who cares? They were supposed to. Their team is stacked with star power, size and depth.
Toews captained the Hawks to another playoff run. Seriously? The guy is making 10.5 million next year. Along with Kane. They've got 4-5 legit 1st line forwards and 2.5 1st pairing d-men. They're supposed to make the playoffs and they're supposed to go deep into the playoffs.
I really feel that this award is just patting a few guys on the back for doing what they were supposed to do.
On top of that, who could really vote on this award? I'm having a really hard time answering that.
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