What case could be made for Marian Hossa Hart MVP of 2006-2007

[VanIslander]

I've never been a numbers guy. I watch 150-200 NHL games a year (my fav 3-4 teams, 1-2 games a night during the season and since the Internet was invented some teams more so in the offseason, looking back).

My fav player in 1999 was a young NHLer named Marian Hossa. I cheered on Ottawa for seven years because of him, then three more in Atlanta.

His best career year pointwise was 2006-07 with 100 points in Atlanta (and while I thought his 92-point season the year before that as a Thrasher was the most Hart worthy based on eyeball experience), yet he didn't seem to hit Canadian superstar radarhood hood until his hoohum days in Pittsburgh and Chicago.

Can a numbers guy find any way to make a case for Marian Hossa as the deserving Hart trophy MVP candidate in 2005-06 or 2006-07, his first two years in Atlanta?

He did score 20 points more than Slava Kozlov to easily top all Thrashers as the franchise's only 100-point season player to lead Atlanta to its most points and only playoff appearance in 2007.

Help me make the case for him as AT LEAST a Hart finalist that season (he was robbed!!).

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Too much info:

I have this tattoo with Marian Hossa on my right hip just above where shorts hide it (unless I decide to show it)!

Click to read more...

 

[OvenChicken8]

I don't think Hossa's play is close to Crosby's 120 pts, or Thornton's 94 assists that year. And sure he was Atlanta's MVP, but Kovalchuk put up 42g that year too, so was he THAT much more valuable to his team than Kovy?

 

[VanIslander]

Not close to them?

Nuke this thread then.

 

[Czech Your Math]

Hossa's main argument would, in large part, rely upon plus-minus data.

He had a good plus-minus, despite playing a lot of time on PP on a mediocre team.

His ES GF/GA ratio was 1.54, while his team's was 0.84 when he wasn't on the ice. That translates to an On/Off of 1.83.

Some other players:

Crosby 1.45/0.88 = 1.64
Thornton 1.60/0.90 = 1.78
Jagr 1.68/0.76 = 2.21

 

[kmad]

2006/07 should have been Luongo's year IMO. For both the Hart and Vezina.

 

[Sky04]

Not close to them?

Nuke this thread then.

Might as well, there really isn't any argument in either years.

Thornton and Jagr outscored him by 30+ points in 06, and Crosby outscored him by 20 points.

This is essentially like trying to make a case for Phil Kessel over Sidney Crosby this year.

 

[Big Phil]

If I remember were the Hart finalists Crosby, Brodeur and Luongo that year? If so, I had no issue with that. Atlanta didn't exactly set the NHL on storm back then either, even that season. While I agree Hossa was the most valuable Thrasher he wasn't that far ahead of Kovalchuk. I would also say Lecavalier had a more "valuable" year and you could argue Thornton for sure. Probably Hossa's best year though.

 

[frontsfan2005]

He wasn't close to the Hart in either year, especially when the guy he was traded for, Heatley, was out producing him regularly at the time.