Crowned wrote:Players I'd rather have over Richards? Alright, let's start.
Sidney Crosby
Henrik Zetterberg
Joe Thornton
Dany Heatley
Vincent Lecalvier
Jarome Iginla
Alexander Ovechkin
Evgeni Malkin
Ilya Kovalchuk
Jason Spezza
Pavel Datsyuk
Marion Gaborik
Marion Hossa
Rick Nash
Alexander Frolov
Anze Kopitar
Patrick Kane
Ryan Getzlaf
Corey Perry
Paul Stastny
Chris Pronger (yes, I'm considering age)
Marc Savard (again, I'm considering age)
Oli Jokinen (uh huh, considered age again)
Zach Parise
Jonathan Toews
Eric Staal
Nathan Horton
Michael Cammalleri (that may be pushing it, but he's still an excellent player)
Thomas Vanek
Tomas Kaberle
Henrik Lundqvist
Roberto Luongo
Marty Brodeur
...plus I didn't count some of the older players such as Alfredsson, St. Louis, Jagr and Lidstrom.
...I also didn't include some 'questionable' players, such as Alexander Semin, Danny Briere, Sedin twins, Tanguay, Sundin (only because of the age).
Crowned, I respect your opinion, but I must ask if you've ever watched Richards play. Because there is no way you could watch his play this year and claim Alexander Frolov, Tomas Vanek and Michael Cammalerri are better than Mike Richards. Nathan Horton?... That one I had to mention separately, thats just ridiculous. Some of the players you mentioned arn't even close to the talent Richard is, and it's not even debatable. Could you please explain to me how Frolov, Vanek, Cammalerri, Horton, Kane, Toews, Perry, Nash, Gaborik, Savard, Jokinen, Parise, Staal and Kaberle are better than Richards? Are any of them better goal scorers?... maybe Nash or Olli, are any of them better skaters? Maybe Gaborik, Parise or Kane. Do any of them play tougher or with more grit?... No. Are any of them better on the penalty kill?... no. Most importantly, do any of them possess ALL the attributes that make up a great all-round player like Richards... the answer is simply no. Richards is as complete a hockey player as they come.
I'll give you Crosby, Zetterberg, Thornton, Lecavelier, Iginla, Ovechkin, Kovalchuk, Heatley, Malkin, Hossa and Datsyuk. Spezza im not so sure about. He's a brat, never plays a full season and is one of the softest 6'3 superstars in the league. Spezza no doubt has lots of size and skill but there is a reason why he was traded 3 times in the OHL, hasnt played a full season yet, and was benched under his previous coaches in Ottawa... Spezza is a bitch.
Getzlaf, Kopitar and Stastny are all in the same category as Richards. They're all centers, they are all great on the PP and they are all good skaters with soft hands. Only time will tell who will emerge as the best player of the group but at this point none of them have any attributes better than Richards. And at this point, this season (which is the coming out season for all 4 of these young studs), Richards has been the most effective and productive.
Lundqvist, Luongo and Brodeur are goalies, were not including goalies in this discussion because goalies are simply far more valuable than one forward.
The fact that you mentioned Tanguay, The Sedin twins and Briere makes me believe you've never watched Richards play (especially Briere, because Richards has quite obviously been the best player on Philadelphia this season). Alex Tanguay... man, come on. Tanguay is as soft as they come, and there's a reason he's been demoted off the top line and been replaced by Huselius.
Richard IS a top 15 forward in the league this season. He has been recieving well deserved hype from all the panelists and yet he's still one of the most underrated players in the league. I'm telling you man, this kid is for real... he posseses all the qualities of a great all-round forward and has the work ethic and drive to continuously improve. Richards is a true Canadian hockey thoroughbred.
