X-SHARKIE said:
I didn't include Coburn. Milan Michalek skill set is higher than Kostitsyn...I wasn't bashing him...but I just can't see anyone saying I rather have Kostitsyn more then a few of the guys some are putting him over. Milan Michalek was playing vs top league players full time! in a very very defensive league known as the Czech Elite league, look at the stats there, it's no secret it's a hard league to score in..but that's besides the point,,, I am going by ceiling...Kostitsyn has one of the best shots of i've seen, great , i mean great with the puck...but overall I like a few guys more than him...He's still a top 25 prospect....I'm not bashing him...just saying I like a few guys from 2003 more then him and I would say that at the moment the Habs had better options.
I understand, good post...
You say that Michalek played in a very defensive league and he played vs. men, and I can understand that, that's why you can't look at just stats when evaluating players, Kostitsyn made the CSKA team initially, he barely got any icetime, and when he did he was on the 4th line, the coach, Viktor Tikhonov, is known to have quite a unique way of coaching, and he and kostitsyn clashed, he was sent down to the junior club after a few games, he tore it up down there, then I believe he was recalled to the senior team, and then sent back down again, after dominating with the CSKA-2 team, he was shipped off to play in various international tournaments, including the WJC, WC, EEHL and another I believe...for someone who never got to play with the same linemates on a consistent basis, and who helped his team win in every tournament and league play (except CSKA) kostitsyn had a good year...I'm not sure how many players could handle all that travelling and change all in 1 year...
So like Michalek, you can't just look at his stats online and determine what kind of player he is and will be, there's just too many intagibles that can come into play...
I'm not sure if it's you that mentionned that he hasn't played vs. top notch competition, but 2 years ago at the WJC, he was the most dominant player on the Belarus squad, and caused fits for every team that he played against in that tournament, especially the Russians who tried to put 2 men on him all game, even Kyle Chipchura, the Habs 1st round draft pick of 04' said that Kostitsyn was the best player he's played against this year, as they played in some tournament vs. each other this year...
Again, i'm not saying that he's the next great thing, but he's our best prospect and because he is, Habs fans should be allowed to brag and bost about him, I can understand you guys when Habs fans come around here saying that Andrew Archer is this and that, but Kostitsyn is a talent, a high risk high reward kind of player, so why is it so wrong for us to hype him, he's our best prospect, Buffalo fans hype Vanek, Leafs fans hype Coliacovo, Avalanche fans hype Svatos, so what if Habs fans hype Kostitsyn, he was drafted 10th overall in a deep draft by some of the best scouting minds in hockey (Trevor Timmins and Andre Savard) is it so hard to believe that we could include him as one of the top 10 players of that draft?
For what it's worth, I think Michalek is a solid prospect, probably dosen't have as much upside as Kostitsyn, but he's a safer pick...