Top 2 comparisons?

[trahans99]

Rank these for me based on 1) hype 2) potential (who was hyped the most? who has the greatest potential)

2000: Dipietro, Heatley
2001: Kovalchuk, Spezza
2002: Nash, Lethtonen
2003: MA Fleury, Staal
2004: Ovechkin, Malkin
2005: Crosby, Brule

All I can say is WOWWWW is the NHL going to be great if they get rid of all the clutching and grabbing ....they will have quite a few superstars.

My answers:

1) Hype is very hard to tell b/c they were all hyped soooo much but here it goes
2005, 2001, 2004, 2000, 2003, 2002

2) Potential again is hard b/c we already know how Heatley, Kovalchuk and Nash or doing.
but here it goes again
2005, 2000, 2004, 2001, 2002, 2003
Reason is b/c I think Crosby is the next BIG THING, Heatley is going to be in top 3 in scoring for the next 10 years IMO, Ovechkin is suppose to be the best since Mario, Kovalchuk and Spezza are great and will be even better, Nash 41 goals and '03 MA fleury is on a really bad Pens team and same w/ Staal. don't know how much they can be a force on such weak teams, but give them time and they could be great too.

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[Oiltown16]

Hype definatly goes to 2005 in my opinion...I mean when Gretz says himself Crosby could be the guy to break some of his records, the hype will jump...
As for potential I dont really know but I might say 2002 with Nash and Lehtonen

 

[dantan]

I go with 2002. Atlanta with Let. next Tampa Bay ? (in 2-3 years)

 

[Hug Ben Laf]

I say the best one who will come out from the 2002 draft will be J-Bo!

 

[trahans99]

I say the best one who will come out from the 2002 draft will be J-Bo!

I was going to include JBo in there as he was suppose to go #1 and would have if Florida kept the 1st pick. But i only put in 1/2..... but your right about JBo he would be one of the best dman in along time.

Do you think he'll become better than Lidstrom and Pronger? I don't think Lidstrom had this much hype and he wasn't as good as JBo at 20 years. Pronger, I don't know.

 

[CRAZY_FAN]

Hype : 2004 and 2005 since Ovechkin was said to be the best prospect since Lindros and Crosby to beat Gretz records.

Potential : 2002 Nash and Lethonen wins it for now, in a couple of years it will probably be 2004 or 2005...

 

[Sting]

Hype has definately gotta be 2005. I don't think anyone in recent history, not even Ovechkin, is being hyped as much as Crosby. For good reason, too...I think he'll be the best player in the NHL in no time. Mind you, that's just my opinion..so before the flames start...

 

[#2]

Personally i dont think Crosby can live up to his "hype", i know this kid is an AMAZING player but even if he puts up around 100pts a year, which is a hell of alot, i still dont think hes lived up to his hype because if he were to break any of Gretzky's point titles he would have to hit the 200 plateau and lets get serious here even the Super Mario never broke the 200 plateau, if he was healthy consistently, maybe.

 

[topshelf331]

Personally i dont think Crosby can live up to his "hype", i know this kid is an AMAZING player but even if he puts up around 100pts a year, which is a hell of alot, i still dont think hes lived up to his hype because if he were to break any of Gretzky's point titles he would have to hit the 200 plateau and lets get serious here even the Super Mario never broke the 200 plateau, if he was healthy consistently, maybe.

Hopefully nobody expects him to push for gretzky's records. Because it will never happen with today's athletes. But If he puts up franchise numbers from almost day 1. That would be close enough. And I think that is really the most I would expect out of him. Just a long great career to make him the new poster boy to promote the game. Someone to draw the fans back after the lockout.

 

[Hug Ben Laf]

I was going to include JBo in there as he was suppose to go #1 and would have if Florida kept the 1st pick. But i only put in 1/2..... but your right about JBo he would be one of the best dman in along time.

Do you think he'll become better than Lidstrom and Pronger? I don't think Lidstrom had this much hype and he wasn't as good as JBo at 20 years. Pronger, I don't know.

Hmmm hard to tell, all I know is that J-Bo wont get as many injurie as Pronger as J-Bo does not play as aggressive as Pronger. Since Im being a homer here I say J-Bo will better than both Pronger and Lidstrom hehehe

 

[clefty]

Hype has to fall with 2005. The hype over Crosby is huge and its only going to get bigger. Ovechkin x2.

 

[sharkyz15]

I go with 2002. Atlanta with Let. next Tampa Bay ? (in 2-3 years)

I can see some of the comparisons but i dont think Atlanta will be that deep after their first line

they will be more like Vancuver

A cometative team with a great first line

although they will have a better goalie

 

[trahans99]

Atlanta will be better than Vancouver, there 1st line will be better than Vancouvers (even though I am a huge Vancouver fan). Also, Atlanta has a few good D prospects that in a few years w/ Lehtonen becoming a top 5 goalie possible they'll be better than Vancouver is now. All they'll need is to sign 2nd line players and a few grinders.

 

[SmokeyClause]

Atlanta will be better than Vancouver, there 1st line will be better than Vancouvers (even though I am a huge Vancouver fan). Also, Atlanta has a few good D prospects that in a few years w/ Lehtonen becoming a top 5 goalie possible they'll be better than Vancouver is now. All they'll need is to sign 2nd line players and a few grinders.

That's assuming that everything pans out the way Atlanta hopes. That is a huge assumption to make. If that was the case, then teams like Nashville, Florida, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Washington will be the class of the NHL in a half decade and we know that won't be solely the case.

 

[trahans99]

That's assuming that everything pans out the way Atlanta hopes. That is a huge assumption to make. If that was the case, then teams like Nashville, Florida, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Washington will be the class of the NHL in a half decade and we know that won't be solely the case.

True, but Atlanta has a lot more of the pieces of the puzzle then Columbus, Pitts and Washington. Florida should be really good and Nashville is already a good team.

 

[sharkyz15]

Atlanta will be better than Vancouver, there 1st line will be better than Vancouvers (even though I am a huge Vancouver fan). Also, Atlanta has a few good D prospects that in a few years w/ Lehtonen becoming a top 5 goalie possible they'll be better than Vancouver is now. All they'll need is to sign 2nd line players and a few grinders.

I truly doubt any of atlanta's young D will be anything close to Jovo and Ohland

 

[MrMastodonFarm*]

I truly doubt any of atlanta's young D will be anything close to Jovo and Ohland

No, but Kovalchuk/Heatley can be better then Bertuzzi/Naslund in less then 1 or 2 years, and for longer.

Lehtonen has a huge edge over Cloutier as well. (and no Canuck fans, I don't mean huge edge right now)

 

[sharkyz15]

No, but Kovalchuk/Heatley can be better then Bertuzzi/Naslund in less then 1 or 2 years, and for longer.

Lehtonen has a huge edge over Cloutier as well. (and no Canuck fans, I don't mean huge edge right now)

i really dont think heatly and kovalchuk will be better then the 2

you are talking about the top 2 top 5 forwards here

i dont see anyway heatly will be better then either burtuzzi or naslund

kovalchuk will probably be slightly better then the 2

 

[Amen evil king]

Put it this way: Heatley and Kovalchuk now are twice the players Naslund and Bertuzzi were at the same age. What happens next though is anybody's guess ..Coburn and Valabik could become something near the equivalent of Ohlund and Jovanovski, although I doubt it. It can be argued that the potential is there however. Hopefully the difference will be in the goaltending.

I prefer to look at the Tampa Bay template.

Kovalchuk, Heatley and Savard are pretty similar to Lecavalier, Richards and St. Louis, Lehtonen can hopefully become a Khabibulin, Coburn hopefully can turn into a Kubina, and the rest shouldn't be too hard to acquire

And for the record, Atlanta isn't really a 'one line team' at all, since Kovalchuk and Heatley don't even play together..

 

[trahans99]

I truly doubt any of atlanta's young D will be anything close to Jovo and Ohland

Maybe not as good but Heatley and Kovalchuk will be better than Bertuzzi and Naslund. I'm a Canucks fan but I think Atl is the team of the future.

 

[trahans99]

I prefer to look at the Tampa Bay template.

Kovalchuk, Heatley and Savard are pretty similar to Lecavalier, Richards and St. Louis, Lehtonen can hopefully become a Khabibulin, Coburn hopefully can turn into a Kubina, and the rest shouldn't be too hard to acquire

And for the record, Atlanta isn't really a 'one line team' at all, since Kovalchuk and Heatley don't even play together..[/QUOTE]

I was going to say the same thing !!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think Heatley and Kovalchuk will be in the top 5 forwards this year and become one of the best duos in along time.