Hockeyfreek22's blog
The Underdog Calder Candidates
Thursday August 07, 2008 @ 04:05 PM EDT
We all know that Steven Stamkos is all but a lock for the Calder Trophy, and his most likely competitors will be Drew Doughty and Kyle Turris.
But whatever happened to all those prospects that didn’t make the NHL in their draft year? A few of them make a good case for the Calder as well. Here’s a few:
T.J. Oshie: The St. Louis Blues first pick in 2005 (24th overall), Oshie has garnered a lot of attention since signing an entry-level contract not too long ago. The University of North Dakota star had a career season of 52 points with the Fighting Souix, sandwiched by two 45 point seasons. In his draft year, Red Line listed his style as “comparable to John Madden.” I’m not sure how accurate that is, having never seen Oshie play, but he’s assured to be a strong NHL player.
Kyle Okposo: There’s an assured bias coming from me when I talk about this NYI rookie, but I can back it up. Okposo has all the talent to be a high-end scorer in the NHL, although he might not become a Jarome Iginla, as many compare the Flames star and the young Isle. However, if 5 points in his first 9 NHL games doesn’t convince you of a good NHL future, I don’t know what will.
Shawn Matthias: The Panthers prospect (the 47th overall pick of the Detroit Red Wings) has a strong chance of making the NHL for 08-09. Although he went pointless in 3 of his first 4 NHL games, he did score 2 goals in the fourth. He looks to be a second-line center who can put up points.
Derick Brassard: In the wake of Steven Stamkos’ drafting and signing, Brassard has lost the hype of being the most exciting center to be entering the NHL. However, there’s no doubt that Brassard has enough offensive talent to be a top-line center in the NHL. His only trouble so far has been injuries, which seem to pop up during his most critical seasons. However, he’s shown that he can produce at every level.
Sorry if that looks like I copied stuff from other sites, but I definitely didn’t. I put stuff in my own words, I add my own thoughts, etc., etc. I would write about more but then it would take me a week or so. Enjoy, comment, and critique!
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4 Comments - 10 Replies
alicia
Aug 07 2008 22:30
Claude Giroux
You forgot Claude Giroux as an underdog I know he won’t win but there is a lot of hype about him. I would rather see an underdog win the Calder than Stamkos. I wanted Ovechkin to win it and he did and I wanted Backstrom to win last season but he didn’t so we shall see.
pensfan39
Aug 07 2008 20:06
Stamkos
Does just about have a lock on it in my opinion, the only person he really has to compete with is himself because of the extremely high expectations he must live up to.
tblade03
Aug 07 2008 16:23
.
There should be absolutely no discussion about awards to be given out at the end of a season that has not even started yet. Stamkos has not proven anything yet, he could be a royal flop, i dont want to sound like a pessimist but he needs to be given a chance to play before you start handing him trophies.
matt_6136
Aug 07 2008 16:18
Stamkos
Stamkos is a favorite for the Calder, but he does had a higher cliff to fall from he really has to prove himself, while the others, it could be a little easier because of the how much pressure is put on them.