Friday, November 10, 2006

Hossa Off To A Good Start

When it is this early in the NHL season, the top scorer changes frequently. Some players who have led the league in scoring so far this year are Martin Havlat, Maxim Afinogenov and Jaromir Jagr. The current top scorer is Marian Hossa of the Atlanta Thrashers. His 27 points leads the NHL scoring race by 3 points. His 13 goals are also tied for the league lead.

His Atlanta teammates are off to a fast start. Three of the four top scorers in the league play for Atlanta. The other two are Ilya Kovalchuk and Slava Kozlov. Only Jaromir Jagr is a non-Thrasher in the top four scorers. Atlanta's offence as a whole is the second best in goals per game in the league (behind Buffalo - who has had better depth).

However, I would still call Sidney Crosby the best forward in the league so far trhis season. He has less games played in Pittsburgh. His team has played 13 times (compared to the 18 games for Atlanta). With equal games played his point total would likely lead the league. He has a better points per game.

Comments:
I would have to agree. Sidney is the man!

The Top Shelf
 
After tonights games Jagr has the best points per game ratio, 1.625 vs Crosby's 1.57.

As for who is the best forward in the NHL so far, it's a tough call. Certainly Jagr, Crosby and Kovalchuk deserve consideration but I'd probably pick Hossa over them because he also helps kill penalties and none of the others do. Hossa is just the best all round player of the four.

But if I had to choose one forward I might choose Rod Brind'amour. Despite not getting as much PP time as the others (especially Kovalchuk and Jagr) he still has a more than respectable 21 points in 17 games, kills penalties (5th in the NHL in SH ice time per game), is the best face off man in the NHL and is most certainly a much better leader than the other four. And he actually got those 21 points in his last 13 games as he was held pointless in the first 4 games of the season (the whole team started miserably). He's been awesome.
 
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