WHAT? WHAT? WHAT?
Today, the Blackhawks issued the results of their Fan’s Choice Awards for the best of the Blackhawks for the ‘08/’09 season. I’m just left scratching my head.
The fans apparently picked Martin Havlat as the best forward:
Martin Havlat (55%)
Jonathan Toews (25%)
Patrick Kane (11%)
Patrick Sharp (9%)
Really? Not Jonathan Toews??? REALLY? I love Martin Havlat, don’t get me wrong. (In fact he’s my favorite player to Tweet on Twitter.) He’s a great forward, no doubt about it, but shouldn’t Tazer’s youth and his added captain duties combined with point totals that are comparable to the highest scorers kind of tip him over? If you’re going strictly on points, Havlat had 77 points including 29 goals and 48 assists. Tazer had 34 goals and 35 assists for a total 69 points. But Tazer was AWESOME this season as captain. He was there for almost every fight, sticking up for teammates, and even giving up goals to lesser players when he had the better vantage point. This is what I mean when I say that you can’t go strictly on stats. Sometimes the things that aren’t measured by statistics — like sacrificing yourself for your team — are more important, and Tazer this season illustrates that perfectly.
Fans also got it wrong with the best defensemen category:
Duncan Keith (53%)
Brent Seabrook (37%)
Brian Campbell (6%)
Cam Barker (3%)
Matt Walker (1%)
I don’t think anyone can argue against Dunc or Seabrook for the top two, but Matt Walker as last??? This is especially baffling since Cam Barker is next-to-last though his +/- rating was -6 compared to Walker’s +7. I guess fans just don’t understand the nuances of the game. It appears that once again all they look at are goal points and assists. It is a huge mistake to only look at defensemen offensively. (And doesn’t their position name, defenseman, kind of bear that out?) Yes, Dunc with his 8 goals, 36 assists, and +/- rating of 33 is stellar. And yes, I would agree that he is probably the best all-around defenseman. But what about defense??? What about blocked shots? What about penalty kills? What about hits? So, you see how looking strictly at offensive stats only tells one side of the story? And that’s why I so loved the Matt Walker/Cam Barker defensemen pairing this season. On a team that puts more emphasis on offense, they were the much-needed defense, and they were golden at it. (What, nobody remembers all those big hits Matt Walker delivered??)
Gee, I’m kind of scared of what the results will be in coming days for the play of the year, MVP, etc.!