Players that never impress when you watch

[therealkoho]

Who's that? The player I'm talking about is the most overrated player of all time.

Patrik Laine?

 

[scratchhayes*]

Zajac. Been overrated for years. He has one good start to a season and people forget that he was garbage for the previous 3 years.

 

[Master P]

Naw, it's because its the elite/superstar calibre players people expect to be impressed by, but when they don't live up to those expectations, and aren't impressive, people remember them for that very reason.

I can't imagine anybody goes to a game thinking "I hope Maatta is decent tonight, I hear he's decent, so I expect he'll play decently. That will impress me if he plays decently."

Not the greatest example, but you get the gist.

Don't they have to live up to those expectations in the first place?

I don't recall ever considering Tavares an "elite" talent. He's a good player, but not elite imo.

 

[DJB]

Erik Karlsson has never looked like anything more than a forward any time I've seen him play. Apparently he's amazing defensively, but it must only happen when I'm not watchingd.

Lol wow.

 

[StevenB]

Bozak. I don't understand how he constantly gets 40-45 points.

 

[Jets]

Auston Matthews. When the games on the line, he's the goat not the hero.

 

[Sojourn]

How are so many people saying Karlsson?

I practically convulse from pleasure every time I watch him.

It may come down to his position. I agree with you that he's fantastic to watch, but on one side of the puck. With the puck, on the transition, or in the offensive zone he's amazing. He just always seems to be making the right decisions offensively, and the play goes through him. Every time. If he's on the ice, and Ottawa is getting a chance offensively, he had something to do with it. But I've also seen some of the ugliest defensive plays from him. He's a player I notice offensively and defensively, for very different reasons.

 

[Man Bear Pig]

Auston Matthews. When the games on the line, he's the goat not the hero.

Cute. Gonna be even better around here when Matthews passes Laine in goal scoring with less games played. Oh, and didn't Laine score on his own net this year? In the third period of a tie game no less.

 

[Sojourn]

Auston Matthews. When the games on the line, he's the goat not the hero.

I think you'd have to try very, very hard to see that replay as evidence that Matthews is the goat.

 

[Ogrezilla]

Yeah it amazes me that players like Karlsson, Stamkos, Tavares and others of that caliber are being mentioned. Superstars like that are impressive even when they don't get on the scoresheet. Hockey sense is the most impressive trait to me and players of the caliber have no shortage.

Honestly, I don't agree with Stamkos from the times I've seen him. Keep in mind that this is coming from a guy who only watches him when he plays against the Pens though. But he's a player that I honestly barely notice when he doesn't score against us. He really doesn't seem to dictate play the way I expect from a superstar. Hedman is always the guy in Tampa that gets my attention when we play them. In 35 career games vs the Pens, Stamkos has 11 goals and 31 points. Those obviously aren't bad numbers, but they aren't what I think of when I think of a superstar goal scorer. And honestly, I would have guessed he had less than that, because he really never leaves an impression on me when we play them. Other guys do. Johnson, Kucherov, and Drouin are guys I notice when we play Tampa. Stamkos just appears to score, then I go back to not noticing him.

In that same time, Crosby has 16 goals and 38 points in 28 games vs Tampa. Malkin has 19 goals and 44 points in 31 games against Tampa. So that obviously plays into it. Stamkos has simply been overshadowed even if he is playing well. And again, I almost never watch Tampa play other than against the Pens.

The other guys you mention, I notice every time. Karlsson seems like he's everywhere imo. Tavares is scary every time he gets the puck. Giroux leaves an impression every time we play Philly. Ovechkin makes me nervous every time the Caps have the puck in our end. Hell, so does freaking TJ Oshie But Stamkos just doesn't give me that kind of feeling.

 

[CrypTic]

I find the Karlsson critiques completely disingenuous.

There's clearly some other motivation behind them

Objectively whenever I catch a Sens game, its just a treat to watch his flair on the ice. Just seeps creativity with the puck.

Not necessarily. I love to watch Karlsson but I am usually not impressed when I see him play against the Sharks. I had to start watching Ottawa in other games before I understood the hype. Same with Giroux. I now understand why ppl like them but they never looked special when I watched them mainly in games against the Sharks. I'm sure that there are fans of other teams where it's similar.

I wasn't that impressed with McDavid at first bc the first few periods I saw him play (periods bc I was switching between different games), he looked good but not "OMG!! He's amazing!" I get all the praise now bc I've seen enough games/periods between the Oilers and various teams but when you have a small (and skewed if you're mainly watching against certain teams) sample size, anyone can look pretty pedestrian.

 

[Crede777]

Auston Matthews. When the games on the line, he's the goat not the hero.

To be fair, that's more Hutchinson outplaying Anderson than Laine outplaying Matthews.

 

[Alwalys]

Not necessarily. I love to watch Karlsson but I am usually not impressed when I see him play against the Sharks. I had to start watching Ottawa in other games before I understood the hype. Same with Giroux. I now understand why ppl like them but they never looked special when I watched them mainly in games against the Sharks. I'm sure that there are fans of other teams where it's similar.

I wasn't that impressed with McDavid at first bc the first few periods I saw him play (periods bc I was switching between different games), he looked good but not "OMG!! He's amazing!" I get all the praise now bc I've seen enough games/periods between the Oilers and various teams but when you have a small (and skewed if you're mainly watching against certain teams) sample size, anyone can look pretty pedestrian.

Yup, as I noted earlier in this thread, Karlsson puts up TERRIBLE possession numbers against good teams and players. Overall he's just not able to impose his will against the very best and fans of good teams can see that. We're not waiting around for him to pounce on a mistake, we're watching our team skate circles around him.

 

[Ninety7]

Tavares and Toews

 

[Korpse]

Yup, as I noted earlier in this thread, Karlsson puts up TERRIBLE possession numbers against good teams and players. Overall he's just not able to impose his will against the very best and fans of good teams can see that. We're not waiting around for him to pounce on a mistake, we're watching our team skate circles around him.

That's simply not true. Cute attempt though. You have nothing to back it up except for a handful of games.

 

[Cassano]

Samson Reinhart

 

[Adele Dazeem]

This is such a garbage thread. A cesspool of people who have collectively seen a handful of games of the players they are bashing. Mentioning elite levels like Karlsson and Crosby as unimpressive is extremely moronic. Close this thread to avoid further humiliation.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Yeah, Stamkos is a guy that fits this thread really well IMO. When he's not scoring, I honestly don't even notice him.

 

[TheTotalPackage]

Toews -- good player obviously, but never understood why he is mentioned as one of the league's best.

Doughty and Ekblad -- blasphemy, I know, but it boggles my mind when these two are mentioned as a top five player to build around in the same breath as Crosby and McDavid. I just don't see it.

Weber -- an older version of what I described above.

Nash -- one of the most overrated players.

Landeskog -- nothing impressive.

These are guys I've found never live up to the hype when I watch.

 

[Plante]

Very odd to see Karlsson from a Sharks and a Habs fans, he's been dominant many nights against these two teams. More points against the Habs than any other team and a better points per game versus San Jose than anyone else. I know, points aren't everything, but I distinctly remember some great all around games against these teams recently [especially Montreal]. Oh well, probably more so a jab to rile up his supporters

Anyway, from a Sens fans perspective, they seem to have Price's number, he often hasn't looked at all like the best goalie in the world against them.
Seguin hasn't been very good against Ottawa, either, but most of that was in a lesser role with Boston.

Hard to pick guys, though, I've seen enough non-Sens games to know how great guys like Price and Seguin are.

I have more vivid memories of EK getting points by simply being on the ice getting a secondary assist on a hard push by Turris or Pageau rather than him doing something amazing that really stood out. Not really worried about his shot at all, just his vision in the offensive zone which causes nightmares for Price and co.

 

[SAK11]

As far as the Sharks, it's because the Sharks tend to crush Ottawa on the ice possessionwise. Karlsson and the Sens are good for some quick counters but for the bulk of the game Ottawa is basically getting run over. Karlsson draws the Thornton matchup and puts up around a 40% corsi.

In the 2 games vs ottawa this season, Karlsson put up a deplorable 34.2% cf 5v5 in the first and just 45.5% in the 2nd, a game in which Ottawa largely outplayed the Sharks. By comparison Burns put up borderline absurd numbers of 74.1% and 78.3% 5v5 cf in those games, so it's hard to really be impressed by Karlsson's performances when you're watching that.

Montreal I don't know, might be hating.

So a 2 game sample size using corsi. Even though he had 4 points in those 2 games. Have you watched him before this year? 5 goals and 13 points in 11 games against SJ. It just seems odd that you haven't noticed the guy involved in so many of Ottawa's goals against your team [his especially great game against them came a couple years ago during Ottawa's hot streak]. This doesn't have anything to do with Burns vs. Karlsson does it?

 

[Empoleon8771]

Karlsson's career numbers against teams mentioned in this thread:

Montreal: 8 goals and 28 points in 33 games
Boston: 4 goals and 18 points in 32 games
San Jose: 5 goals and 13 points in 11 games
Chicago: 0 goals and 8 points in 10 games
Buffalo: 11 goals and 25 points in 33 games
Pittsburgh: 5 goals and 24 points in 22 games

So I can see an argument for Boston kinda (based on him not living up to his hype against them), but any of the other teams? Hell no. Other teams that may make sense include the Canucks (3 goals and 4 points with a -16 in 14 games), Stars (2 goals and 4 points with a -8 in 8 games), Anaheim (1 goal and 5 points with a -9 in 11 games) and Nashville (1 goal and 6 points with a -6 in 11 games).

 

[DL44]

Not necessarily. I love to watch Karlsson but I am usually not impressed when I see him play against the Sharks. I had to start watching Ottawa in other games before I understood the hype. Same with Giroux. I now understand why ppl like them but they never looked special when I watched them mainly in games against the Sharks. I'm sure that there are fans of other teams where it's similar.

I wasn't that impressed with McDavid at first bc the first few periods I saw him play (periods bc I was switching between different games), he looked good but not "OMG!! He's amazing!" I get all the praise now bc I've seen enough games/periods between the Oilers and various teams but when you have a small (and skewed if you're mainly watching against certain teams) sample size, anyone can look pretty pedestrian.

That's all fair and fine..
However... that's clearly not reflected in the Karlsson comments I was referring to in this thread.

People are speaking in much more absolute terms than if they are simply commenting on him after merely a handful of periods...
and so I simply do not believe them in reference to Karlsson.

 

[robsenz]

The biases in this thread are so stupidly obvious

 

[Seath The Scaleless]

Brandon Saad