M-V-P!
May 7th, 2008 by Jason CThere’s already talk about who’s going to be the MVP of this year’s playoffs. If anything, the talk is premature. There are still a ton of games to play, and even in the press conferences the players know that. You can hear in their tones that they know the journey is still very long. By the end of the next two weeks we just might be signing a different tune as to who the MVPs are. Guys like Johan Franzen and RJ Umberger tore it up in Round 2, but can they get the job done against tougher opponents? It remains to be seen, but it’s always fun to speculate. So here are my MVPs for each team:
Dallas: Marty Turco. While Brenden Morrow has been outstanding, including scoring the game-winner against San Jose in 4 OTs, Turco has been the man. He’s made the highlight reel in every game he’s played and is the biggest reason Dallas is in the Conference Finals.
Detroit: Henrik Zetterberg. I’ve said this before and I can’t say this enough - this guy is the best left-winger in the game. He leads all players in the playoffs in shots on goal, +/-, and has 13 points in 10 games. Despite his natural position as a left winger he has taken more face-offs than any other Red Wing and plays in all situations of the game with amazing consistency and talent.
Pittsburgh: Marc-Andre Fleury. It could go just as easily to Evgeni Malkin, but everyone knew he wasn’t going to have any trouble putting pucks in the net. The biggest question mark for the Pens going into the playoffs was in net, where Fleury has been inconsistent and threatened to start on the bench with a hot Ty Conklin. Instead, he has been one of the best goalies in this year’s playoffs, and has finally stopped giving Michel Therrien headaches.
Philadelphia: Martin Biron. Daniel Briere and Mike Richards would come close, but like Fleury in Pittsburgh, Biron has really turned up his game another notch and is relishing his role as a number one goalie at age 30. He has yet to disappoint and pulled off two straight upsets and will be looking to pull off another against the Pens.
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3 Responses to “M-V-P!”
By Troy on May 7, 2008
Zetts the best LW in the game? I tend to lean to Alex Ovechkin there
Anyway, my picks:
Dallas - Brendan Morrow. He’s been a bulldozer in this year’s playoffs, coupled with 7 goals, two of which were in OT. Marty Turco a close second
Detroit - Chris Osgood. A bit outlandish, but all he’s done since taking over for Hasek is post a 6-0 record, never giving up more than three goals in a game during that period. The move to Osgood was the best move I’ve seen all playoffs
Pittsburgh - Evgeni Malkin, primarily because of his point production and what he has gotten out of Sykora and Malone. He meshes perfectly with them, which has made him all the better. Crosby and Fleury both 2 and 2A
Philadelphia - Martin Biron, mainly because he was abused every night by Montreal and was a rock every night. If only one reason why Biron over Umberger or Briere, it’d be that, if not for Biron, there wouldn’t be the production from Briere and Umberger that we’ve seen thus far in the playoffs.
By Jason C on May 7, 2008
Ovechkin may be the most dangerous scorer in the game but he is nowhere near as complete a player as Zetterberg.
I don’t think Umberger should receive consideration yet, but only because he’s only tore up one round of the playoffs.
By bob on May 14, 2008
Umberger has to be considered over richards, he has produced more in the playoffs. He has played well. If the flyers win (they are about dead)Umberger, Briere, and Biron should get first consideration.