rage 0ยข
SPORTS
UCL 24, ZOUt
Over/Under
Which NHL players are getting more credit than they deserve and which ones could use a little bit more icetime
By Josh Lewis
It's time to expose the most over- rated and underrated players in the NHL.
I apologize for not giving you this vital information in time to submit your hockey pools, but if your pool has trades, there's still time to act.
Better late than never - just ask the Alexei Yashin-less New York Islanders.
Overrated
1) Zdeno Chara
The Hockey News recently listed Chara as the fifth best defenseman in the NHL. To which I say: well, I'm not saying anything because I'm still laughing. You know the kind. Your ribs hurt, you start choking, and milk comes out of your ears. Chara had one good sea- son with Ottawa. That's it. If he wasn't 6'9", you'd never hear about him. Did I mention he makes $7.5 million per year?
2) Milan Hejduk
This guy is not the same player without Peter Forsberg feeding him the puck. End of story. Had he been more consistent last season, the Avs likely would have made the playoffs.
3) Brad Richards
Richards is a very good playmak- er, I'll give him that. He's probably a top 10 centre in the league. But _ he is nowhere near the elite player many make him out to be - and which his $7.8 million contract suggests. Every time I hear some- one compare him to Joe Sakic, a little part of me dies - and the rest of me wants to egg his house on North River Road.
4) Todd Bertuzzi
Let me clarify. There are two Bertuzzis. The pre-Steve Moore version was the best power for- ward in the NHL. The post-Moore Bertuzzi is a shadow of his former self, no thanks to his wonky back. Brian Burke took a huge risk in signing him to a $4 million con- tract this summer. If you require further evidence, talk to Mike. Keenan - but don't bring your kids.
5) Niklas Backstrom
Let me get this straight. Backstrom comes over from the Finnish league, plays 41 games last year and posts really good numbers playing behind one of the
best defensive teams in the league, and now he's a top 10 goalie? That's what THN thinks, anyway. Two words: Steve Penney. Actually, I'll give you nine more: Josh Harding will be Minnesota's starter by year's end.
Honourable Mention: I'd put Bryan McCabe on this list, but a lot of people already think he's crap, So it's not really necessary. For details, find a video of Sidney Crosby's game-winning goal against the Leafs last Saturday. The one where McCabe is chasing butterflies.
Underrated
1) Andrew Brunette
Brunette has been a wingman for both Marian Gaborik and Joe Sakic in recent years. And while that contributes to his point totals (83 last season), not just anyone can play and produce with super- stars (see Hoglund, Jonas). For a player who has put up seasons of 83, 69 and 63 points in the last five years, $1.6 million per year is a steal. And he's very versatile.
dr rkov: One of th
2) Mike Sillinger
Did you know Sillinger had 63 and 59 points, respectively, the past two years? Liar. Sillinger has always been known as a great checking centre, but he has very quietly established himself as a strong second line centre over the past two years. It's not too often that a 30-goal scorer plays with 12 different teams over his career, though.
st underrated players in the NHL?
3) Brian Rolston
Ever since he was shipped to Boston as part of the Ray Bourque trade in 2000, Rolston has consis- tently put up 60-80 points per sea- son. He is an outstanding penalty killer, is fast and has a great shot. He can also play all three forward positions with equal effectiveness.
His signing was a major reason for
Minnesota getting back into the playoffs last year.
4) Andrei Markov
Markov is probably the most underrated defenseman in the game. I wouldn't put him on the same level as Tomas Kaberle, but
_ he plays a very similar game. He
has terrific offensive instincts, is a smooth skater, and 1s strong posi-
tionally. Fortunately for Habs fans, Bob Gainey chose to keep Markov over Sheldon Souray this summer.
5) Chris Kelly
Chris who? Kelly will never be mistaken for an offensive jugger- naut. But after two NHL seasons he has already become a strong checking player known for giving
his all on every shift. He scored 15 |
goals last year and should become a strong third line centre who can anchor the penalty kill. _
Honourable Mention: He played in his first All-Star Game last year, so maybe Philippe Boucher doesn't need to be on this list anymore. But he has been one of the league's top shutdown guys for years now, with little recognition. He also had a career-high 51 points last year.
Panther briefs
By Josh Lewis
The UPEI Panthers women's rugby squad got its second win of the season Saturday, defeating the Saint Mary's Huskies 34-10 on home turf in Atlantic University Sport action.
Second-year centre Kaitlin Richard led the way for the Panthers (2-4) with two tries, with Kayla Devine, Amanda Carmody, Cassie MacKenzie and Amanda Hood adding one apiece. Lindsay MacAulay had two converts and was named UPEI player of the pame.
Megan Kinsman and Barbara MacDonald had the tries for the Huskies (3-3). Kinsman received player of the game honours.
It was the final game of the regu- lar season for both teams. They will meet again in Saturday's semi- final in Halifax. The winner of that ame moves on to play five-time defending AUS champion St. F.X., which also won the national cham- pionship last season and finished in first place with a 6-0 record.
x **
The Panthers men's basketball team kicked off exhibition play with its annual Mickey Place tour- nament last weekend. Competing nlong with the Panthers were the Brock Badgers, Laval Rouge et Or; and Cape Breton Capers.
UPEI dropped an 87-84 decision to Brock Friday night, despite scoring 32 points in the fourth quarter. Second-year guard Brent ~ McLaren led the home side with 24 points. :
Further results were unavailable at press time.
* * *
Men's soccer captain Danny Craig hopes to return to the team for the rest of the season, despite learning two weeks ago he'd torn the ACL, MCL and meniscus in his right knee. "I'm back training and (last week) I put in a full prac- tice so hopefully that's a promising sign," said the fourth-year mid- fielder. UPEI has four regular sea- son games remaining, including a home-and-home this weekend with] Mount Allison. Game time Friday is 8 p.m. at the UPEI turf field.
* * * :
The women's hockey club got its first win of the pre-season Friday with a 5-3 win over Mount A in Sackville, N.B. The team kicks off]. the regular season Saturday as they take on St. F.X. in Antigonish, N.S. before travelling to Halifax to meet the Dalhousie Tigers Sunday.