Sergei Kostitsyn or Benoit Pouliot?

[Squeaky]

I think Pouliot has this one quite easily, but heres a question if the draft were to be re-done tomorrow where do you think Sergei would be taken, he was orignally drafted in the 7th round.

2nd-3rd round, would be my guess.

 

[Lars]

I think Pouliot has this one quite easily, but heres a question if the draft were to be re-done tomorrow where do you think Sergei would be taken, he was orignally drafted in the 7th round.

Id say mid 2nd.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

I'll take Sergei cause he WANTS to be a hockey player...

Pouliot is in it for the women and shows u when he wants...

 

[Transported Upstater]

I'll take Sergei cause he WANTS to be a hockey player...

Pouliot is in it for the women and shows u when he wants...

Someone SO needs to make me an avatar showing Ryan Malone and Benoit Pouliot as two pimps keeping it gangsta.

 

[hockeyprincess]

Wow, that's hard

I have been following both Benoit Pouliot and Sergei Kostitsyn a lot since I started watching the OHL and, truth be told, they were my favourite players on their respective teams.

A comparison, or a choice, between Pouliot and Kostitsyn is kind of hard. They are similar players in some senses, but different in others. Pouliot and Kostitsyn both love to score, and both of them had unbelievable -- yet late -- rookie seasons in the OHL. Pouliot and Kostitsyn both know the value of teamwork and camaraderie on the ice, and that helps them in their playing. They have each had great players they can call their teammates during their OHL tenures.

Through watching him during the first round of the OHL playoffs in 2006, I found Pouliot to be an elite scorer. While he did most of the work, I don't think that he was a player like Jaromir Jagr or Daniel Briere, who likes to do all the work by himself and then congratulate his teammates on their efforts but then ask them to try harder. Pouliot does all the work by himself because he's not shy. Pouliot has talents that got better after the World Juniors and, hopefully, when he goes to Minnesota, Houston, back to Sudbury -- wherever the hell he goes -- he will continue to play at that level. Pouliot has the tendency while off the ice to be calm, reserved and never vain. He will never admit to being superlatively talented, claiming, and I quote, "I never let my head get bigger than my talent." While he skates like Vincent Lecavalier, I feel that the talent for scoring that Pouliot has is a mixture of J.P. Dumont's fearlessness and Ryan Smyth's scoring finesse.

I only see Kostitsyn a few times a year. Kostitsyn, like Pouliot, is also an elite player. The major difference: Kostitsyn played in Europe, where the junior hockey is as close to professional hockey as the American Hockey League is to the NHL in North America. Kostitsyn is a perfect example of what import players should be like: quickly acclimatized and anything but shy. Unlike Pouliot, Kostitsyn has an albatross around his neck: comparison to his older brother Andrei, who, like young Sergei, is a prospect of the Montreal Canadiens. Also unlike Pouliot, Kostitsyn comes across as a clutch performer, with many overtime-winning and game-winning goals to his credit for his rookie season in London. Kostitsyn also has a bit of an edginess that Pouliot does not have; if Pouliot wants a fight, he will pick someone who is his own strength, while Kostitsyn wants someone who can be his equal mentally and not as much physically. When it comes to Kostitsyn's talents, he has scoring finesse like Nikolai Zherdev and the fearlessness of Sergei Samsonov, who could possibly be Kostitsyn's teammate on the Habs if Samsonov is to stay there.

So, in conclusion, it is unfair for me to choose between Benoit Pouliot and Sergei Kostitsyn, as they are actually quite similar. I have never seen them play against each other during the OHL season, but I will anticipate it in an NHL season when Montreal and Minnesota go skate-to-skate (the other reason for that anticipation is the battle of the Koivu brothers -- Saku in Montreal and Mikko in Minnesota).

 

[Dempsey]

I have been following both Benoit Pouliot and Sergei Kostitsyn a lot since I started watching the OHL and, truth be told, they were my favourite players on their respective teams.

A comparison, or a choice, between Pouliot and Kostitsyn is kind of hard. They are similar players in some senses, but different in others. Pouliot and Kostitsyn both love to score, and both of them had unbelievable -- yet late -- rookie seasons in the OHL. Pouliot and Kostitsyn both know the value of teamwork and camaraderie on the ice, and that helps them in their playing. They have each had great players that can call their teammates during their OHL tenures.

Through watching him during the first round of the OHL playoffs in 2006, I found Pouliot to be an elite scorer. While he did most of the work, I don't think that he was a player like Jaromir Jagr or Daniel Briere, who likes to do all the work by himself and then congratulate his teammates on their efforts but then ask them to try harder. Pouliot does all the work by himself because he's not shy. Pouliot has talents that got better after the World Juniors and, hopefully, when he goes to Minnesota, Houston, back to Sudbury -- wherever the hell he goes -- he will continue to play at that level. Pouliot has the tendency while off the ice to be calm, reserved and never vain. He will never admit to being superlatively talented, claiming, and I quote, "I never let my head get bigger than my talent." While he skates like Vincent Lecavalier, I feel that the talent for scoring that Pouliot has is a mixture of J.P. Dumont (fearlessness) and Ryan Smyth (scoring finesse).

I only see Kostitsyn only a few times a year. Kostitsyn, like Pouliot, is also an elite player. The major difference: Kostitsyn played in Europe, where the junior hockey is as close to professional hockey as the American Hockey League is to the NHL in North America. Kostitsyn is a perfect example of what import players should be like: quickly acclimatized and anything but shy. Unlike Pouliot, Kostitsyn has an albatross around his neck: comparisons to his older brother Andrei, who, like young Sergei, is a prospect of the Montreal Canadiens. Also unlike Pouliot, Kostitsyn comes across as a clutch performer, with many overtime-winning and game-winning goals to his credit for his rookie season in London. Kostitsyn also has a bit of an edginess that Pouliot does not have; if Pouliot wants a fight, he will pick someone who is his own strength, while Kostitsyn wants someone who can be his equal mentally and not as much physically. When it comes to Kostitsyn's talents, he has scoring finesse like Nikolai Zherdev and the fearlessness of Sergei Samsonov, who could possibly be Kostitsyn's teammate on the Habs if Samsonov is to stay there.

So, in conclusion, it is unfair for me to choose between Benoit Pouliot and Sergei Kostitsyn, as they are actually quite similar. I have never seen them play against each other during the OHL season, but I will anticipate it in an NHL season when Montreal and Minnesota go skate-to-skate (the other reason for that anticipation is the battle of the Koivu brothers -- Saku in Montreal and Mikko in Minnesota).

Excellent first post! I'm looking forward to watching Kostitsyn in London this year, along with Adam Perry.