Spezza still getting no respect

[Dr.Sens(e)]

There are a lot of quality centers BEHIND Spezza on that list, such as E Staal, Datsyuk, Backstrom, Getzlaf, Thornton, B Richards and Zetterberg, not to mention many other elite forwards. I think he is probably about right on the list.

Whether he is a top 10 center in the league is a matter for debate. He is definitely a top end talent, but he will always have a few strange backward passes at the wrong time every game, which drop him down a bit on list IMO. They aren't always killer mistakes, but they are just part of his game we have learned to accept (to a degree), although he will always generate a few cat-calls from home fans each game for the rest of his career because of these plays. But he is an above average #1 center, so happy to have him going forward for sure.

 

[Caje]

Boo-hoo.

Karlsson also gets disrespected by some Sens fans. Some would even slot Silfverberg ahead of him in line for the captaincy.

Skill =/ leadership ability.

 

[YNWA14]

There are a lot of quality centers BEHIND Spezza on that list, such as E Staal, Datsyuk, Backstrom, Getzlaf, Thornton, B Richards and Zetterberg, not to mention many other elite forwards. I think he is probably about right on the list.

Whether he is a top 10 center in the league is a matter for debate. He is definitely a top end talent, but he will always have a few strange backward passes at the wrong time every game, which drop him down a bit on list IMO. They aren't always killer mistakes, but they are just part of his game we have learned to accept (to a degree), although he will always generate a few cat-calls from home fans each game for the rest of his career because of these plays. But he is an above average #1 center, so happy to have him going forward for sure.

If 'above-average' is 4th in the league in scoring with Michalek and a rotation of 3rd liners as linemates I'd hate to see what he could do if he were an elite centre.

 

[SenzZen]

Hope this helps you out.

Glad you looked it up, but this is the quote I was referring to:

Neither of them are in line for the captaincy.

Theoretically everyone's in line for the captaincy. Just to your mind Silfverberg's spot is somewhere ahead of Karlsson's.

Skill =/ leadership ability.

That's very true.

 

[The Waffler]

i know, right?

LOL.

lololololololololololol

 

[Dr.Sens(e)]

If 'above-average' is 4th in the league in scoring with Michalek and a rotation of 3rd liners as linemates I'd hate to see what he could do if he were an elite centre.

It's the only time in the last 4 years, he has been in the top 25 scorers in the league, so let's not get ahead of ourselves. And playing With Karlsson on the Powerplay, along with Gonchar, Michalek and Alfredsson is better than most of the #1 centers around the league have it in terms of support.

I know he missed some games during those 4 seasons, but he is still averaging less than a point per game during that spell. So are most #1 centers. But the bottom line is over the last 4 years he is not amongst the elite point producers, and I would argue there are a number of guys with similar production who have better all-around games (Getzlaf, Toews, E Staal etc. ). And that doesn't even include the top 5 guys like Malkin, Stamkos, Crosby, Datsyuk, Sedin. Then there are guys like Giroux, Kopitar, B Richards, M Richards, Thornton etc. It's tough competition, and tough to rank no matter how you cut it.

So yeah, I think saying he is amongst the top 15 centers in the league is probably "fair". Some might have him on the edge of the top 10. Some might have him in the 15-25 range. It's subjective, of course.

 

[Rumcajs]

Meh, he's still only 29, and has got 2 points... I'm still happy.

Spezza has one point. The stat page is wrong. He had nothing at the Peg game and 1 in Ottawa.

 

[darglor]

Spezza has one point. The stat page is wrong. He had nothing at the Peg game and 1 in Ottawa.

The box score shows him as having a second assist in the winnipeg game.

 

[Xspyrit]

From a fantasy perspective, Ottawa's usually been a pretty terrible bet.
So that's understandable.

Really? I don't give a crap about fantasy leagues but just with logic, it sounds weird because Ottawa has been top-5 in NHL scoring in most of the last 12 years (From the numbers I had 3-4 years ago, they were the most prolific team in scoring after the Wings, in the 2000's). They had a down year in 2010-11 but they were 12th in 2009-10 and 4th in 2011-12

Spezza has one point. The stat page is wrong. He had nothing at the Peg game and 1 in Ottawa.

So, you're saying that NHL.com is wrong?

 

[HavlatMach9]

The box score shows him as having a second assist in the winnipeg game.

So, you're saying that NHL.com is wrong?

He wasn't credited initially with that point. I'm glad they did since it looks like a deserved secondary assist: Vid

 

[Rumcajs]

So, you're saying that NHL.com is wrong?

My information was supplied by TSN and Yahoo. Didnt bother to check NHL. I stand corrected?

 

[Magix]

Doesnt really matter if he is.

 

[DylanSensFan]

It's the only time in the last 4 years, he has been in the top 25 scorers in the league, so let's not get ahead of ourselves. And playing With Karlsson on the Powerplay, along with Gonchar, Michalek and Alfredsson is better than most of the #1 centers around the league have it in terms of support.

I know he missed some games during those 4 seasons, but he is still averaging less than a point per game during that spell. So are most #1 centers. But the bottom line is over the last 4 years he is not amongst the elite point producers, and I would argue there are a number of guys with similar production who have better all-around games (Getzlaf, Toews, E Staal etc. ). And that doesn't even include the top 5 guys like Malkin, Stamkos, Crosby, Datsyuk, Sedin. Then there are guys like Giroux, Kopitar, B Richards, M Richards, Thornton etc. It's tough competition, and tough to rank no matter how you cut it.

So yeah, I think saying he is amongst the top 15 centers in the league is probably "fair". Some might have him on the edge of the top 10. Some might have him in the 15-25 range. It's subjective, of course.

You could argue that all of these players have had elite or high end puck moving defenders to help their points totals. Or at least most of them.

Malkin and Crosby have Letang. Getzlaf had Pronger and Neidermyer. Toews has Keith. Kopitar and Doughty. It definitely helps for points as a top center, when you can rely on your D to get you the puck.

 

[Caeldan]

Really? I don't give a crap about fantasy leagues but just with logic, it sounds weird because Ottawa has been top-5 in NHL scoring in most of the last 12 years (From the numbers I had 3-4 years ago, they were the most prolific team in scoring after the Wings, in the 2000's). They had a down year in 2010-11 but they were 12th in 2009-10 and 4th in 2011-12

As I said, usually... and was looking at the team overall.

But I think in terms of Fantasy points Spezza ended up mid teens to mid 20s usually because of a few teams having stacked 1-2 centres and playing both on PP1. All depends too on what stats your league uses.

But after Spezza, Alfredsson, Karlsson (now), Heatley (then), production is pretty spread out and everyone's more a jack of all trades/master of none (in my past experience).

 

[Scooter Magee*]

People are jelly!

 

[thinkwild]

Alfie goes into Toronto and gets booed. Karlsson goes into Winnipeg and get booed. Spezza only gets booed in Ottawa after a bad drop pass.

Hopefully soon some team will be booing Spezza and that might be the year the franchise turns around.

 

[Stylizer1]

Spezza doesn't look like he is even out there. Sure doesn't seem like he was playing in Europe.

 

[YNWA14]

This is kind of cool...some interesting stats I stumbled on.

Look at a list of players with a career PPG over 1.00. You will find it looks like this:

Drafted in 1991 - Forsberg, Jagr, Palffy
Drafted in 1993 - Kariya
Drafted in 1997 - Thornton
Drafted in 2002 - Kovalchuk, Spezza
Drafted in 2004 - Ovechkin, Malkin
Drafted in 2005 - Crosby
Drafted in 2008 - Stamkos

Disclaimer: I was too lazy to check the list in detail so there may be more...someone else posted this in another thread. Someone mentioned Selanne and Bure are missing from the list...more great company.

Pretty good company, wow.

On top of which I was going through some Corsi stuff just looking around and I found this:

Jason Spezza, 2012 playoffs, Corsi On: 28.53

Corsi On - On-Ice Shot Differential (goals + saves + missed shots + blocks). This is expressed as a rate stat per 60 minutes.

Pretty impressive for a guy that supposedly 'wasn't noticeable' in the playoffs last year despite leading our team in points and obviously driving our possession.

For example Alfredsson's best ever is 19.83, Karlsson is 23.95 etc. Even Crosby, Malkin and Toews only have one year ever better than Spezza's performance last year...each of them have a year at 32 Corsi On...so not as big of a gap as some would have you believe (in that respect).

I can't wait for Spezza to get back.

 

[Inf4mous0ne]

1) These initial rankings are based on expectations of the season going forward (including injuries)

2) Who cares

 

[ATdaisuki]

speaking of underrated (under appreciated might be better here. or maybe just plain not paying attention) has anyone been reading the game recaps on nhl.com? one game they wrote weircioch as a forward, then the next called him peter wiercioch.

 

[YNWA14]

speaking of underrated (under appreciated might be better here. or maybe just plain not paying attention) has anyone been reading the game recaps on nhl.com? one game they wrote weircioch as a forward, then the next called him peter wiercioch.

I rarely see news headlined about Ottawa on NHL.com. Almost every other game is put in the sidebar but I don't think I ever see Ottawa's results in there unless they're against a high profile team.

 

[SenzZen]

I rarely see news headlined about Ottawa on NHL.com. Almost every other game is put in the sidebar but I don't think I ever see Ottawa's results in there unless they're against a high profile team.

Giving Ottawa a team was one of Ziegler's last moves IIRC.

Betty loves us not.

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

No worries, everyone will know who Spezza and the Senators are when we enter our dynasty years starting next year.

 

[SensTopLine]

I don't know. There's something about a player who puts up a point per game during his entire career that doesn't make sense as to why he would still get disrespected. Anyway, who is he being disrespected by? A bunch of idiots having a lot of time over at NHL.com? Que katz.

 

[Bob Kudelski]

updated link: http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=658085&navid=DL|NHL|home

I'm a big Spezza fan and this is surprising but not shocking. You could make a good argument for all 8 centers on the list.. many of them have won the Cup and are known to play a strong two-way game (Spezza is still earning that type of reputation).