Radulov's sick goal

[brec7]

Excuses? Kane just wasn't made for the big ice. Deal with it.

Maybe he wasn't. I didn't watch him in the KHL. If the KHL became the best league in the world tomorrow, he might go over there and be absolutely terrible. That said, NHLers going over to Europe during a lockout isn't a great evaluation of their talent. If I go to France on vacation, I'm probably going to learn enough French to just get by, but if I go over there to live I'm probably going to be study enough so I'm functional. Same principle applies in this case, there's no real incentive to excel during a lockout.

They do trash the MLS though. Same with NFL fans trashing the CFL.

A bit off-topic I suppose but oh that drives me nuts. I'm a CFL fan and I'm constantly irritated by NFL fans talking about the CFL like it's crap. To me, the only "point" in belittling a lower league is when fans of that league imply that that league is on par with its superior. The CFL is good football and no fan should feel bad for enjoying it, just like the KHL is good hockey. Now if someone says CFL has the best football players or that KHL has the best hockey players, that's a silly statement. Of course that's a statement on those leagues as a whole and not to say there isn't talent in both of those leagues including some players who can play at higher level (and the KHL is a fair bit closer to the NHL than the CFL is to the NFL, but still not close.)

Unlike most other sports, there is a clearly defined #1 league in hockey which is why people feel Radulov "should" be in the NHL, so we can see him against the best. We've seen him there and we know he can do well. He could score goals like this in the NHL too. Of course, that's entirely subjective. If he inspires Russians to stay home and build a stronger league there, than that is indisputably leaving just as much of a mark on hockey as winning a Stanley Cup- whether it's good all depends on your perspective.

One thing we should be all able to agree on is a player of his caliber being injured isn't good for anyone so hopefully he's back in action soon!

 

[Hockeyfan31*]

Amazing goal, love Radulov

 

[Jussi]

Disgrace of hockey Radulov

 

[Atas2000]

Maybe he wasn't. I didn't watch him in the KHL. If the KHL became the best league in the world tomorrow, he might go over there and be absolutely terrible. That said, NHLers going over to Europe during a lockout isn't a great evaluation of their talent. If I go to France on vacation, I'm probably going to learn enough French to just get by, but if I go over there to live I'm probably going to be study enough so I'm functional. Same principle applies in this case, there's no real incentive to excel during a lockout.

By that logic we quickly get to the poit where we should ask ourselves what the incentive is for russian players to excel in the NHL. And don't come up with the "best league in the world".

 

[Zine]

Maybe he wasn't. I didn't watch him in the KHL. If the KHL became the best league in the world tomorrow, he might go over there and be absolutely terrible. That said, NHLers going over to Europe during a lockout isn't a great evaluation of their talent. If I go to France on vacation, I'm probably going to learn enough French to just get by, but if I go over there to live I'm probably going to be study enough so I'm functional. Same principle applies in this case, there's no real incentive to excel during a lockout.

At the very least, the Russian NHLers had huge incentive to play well in front of home town fans.

Many were nothing special vs KHL competition.

 

[brec7]

By that logic we quickly get to the poit where we should ask ourselves what the incentive is for russian players to excel in the NHL. And don't come up with the "best league in the world".

If a Russian tries to make the NHL, he wants to be in the NHL. Otherwise he would stay home. There are a ~FEW~ clear cut examples where everyone knows that said player is good enough to be very good in the NHL but chooses not to. If a player chooses to leave the NHL after having great success, or is highly recruited by the NHL and declines to come, then by all means we can debate that they could be a world class player in spite of not being in the NHL. But when a Russian comes over and isn't good enough to make it, yes sometimes there are other factors, but the primary reason for a guy not being good at the NHL level is because he's not good in that league. In contrast, guys who went to Europe didn't want to be in Europe... they wanted to be in the NHL. They were only there because there was a lockout. The incentive isn't the same. Right now there are some Russians who actually turn down more money to play at home (think of how unusual that is in almost ANY line of work) because they want to prove themselves against the best. In the future, that may not be the case, but it is at the moment.

At the very least, the Russian NHLers had huge incentive to play well in front of home town fans.

Many were nothing special vs KHL competition.

That would probably be a better gauge, although they were still not playing for the team they had set on playing for before the season started. I think ultimately when you have one league that is clear cut above the rest in the sport, it will set its own style and rules, and then between equal players some will be more suited to that league than others so higher end players in a secondary league and lower end players are in a higher league are interchangable in that sense. The AHL is a DIRECT feeder into the NHL and there are probably guys who are solid NHL players who could be sent down to the AHL and not dominate. That`s the nature of any sport.

 

[Pominville Knows]

Fact is that many world class players wont score much more against somewhat lesser opponents, especially if they're the only world class player on his line. But those somewhat lesser opponents will score significantly less if put against overall better opponents. Sergei Mozyakin is furthermore one of those players that excel greatly against lesser opponents, perhaps more so than true world class players, but he cant match them when the overall talent is higher.
That, and the size of the ice matters.

 

[Raptor1990]

The only thing which is interesting on Radulov is his talent. His behaviour on ice is awful.

Practically its wasted talent in wrong person. Wish that Kuznetsov or Tarasenko had talent like that...

 

[VladNYC*]

Disgrace of hockey Radulov

Best nickname in the game