Jeff Skinner early ROY? Now nominated!

[TheBigKahuna]

Heard this AM that it was probably a sprain, and he could miss a few weeks. That sucks, but I'm not sure Hall was a Calder candidate anyhow.

[canes-in-7]

Heard this AM that it was probably a sprain, and he could miss a few weeks. That sucks, but I'm not sure Hall was a Calder candidate anyhow.

he has 11 points in 15 games since the ASG break, after a very slow and unimpressive start to the season- hall, like grabner has been playing well, he's actually tied with skinner with 22 goals now..and 3rd in points with 42..he's in the conversations now.

[canes-in-7]

Calder Trophy could go to Cane's Skinner

Skinner among top rookies

BY CHIP ALEXANDER

Staff writer

Posted: Tuesday, Mar. 08, 2011

Corey Crawford has the defending Stanley Cup champions thinking repeat.

Logan Couture has built quite a hockey résumé for one of the league's best teams while - yes, this is 2011 - building a nice Twitter following. Michael Grabner has a nice story.

With the NHL's regular season in the stretch run, they're among the rookies making their cases for Calder Trophy consideration. And there are others in the discussion.

Skinner, whose strong play has been vital for the Carolina Hurricanes, doesn't like thinking about the Calder but can't avoid it. Not with media types from Don Cherry to Mike Milbury chattering on about who will be named the NHL's rookie of the year.

contin in link

Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/03/08/2120722/calder-could-go-to-cane.html#ixzz1G0f1OgYn

[canes-in-7]

scott Burnside and Pierre LeBrun discuss Bruins-Canadiens, the struggles down the stretch for the Flyers, the Blackhawks' goaltending and the top contenders for the Calder Trophy.

http://espn.go.com/espnradio/player?rd=1#/podcenter/?id=6190798&autoplay=1&callsign=ESPNRADIO

18 min mark on.. as both have a vote and both think skinner and couture the leaders so far,,and hadn't realized do it by ballot and only 3 guys on it for 3 voters, so aying will be couture,skinner and either crawford or grabbner or some think PK subban

[hockeyteach]

When Skins enters the Vegas casino, since he's a minor does he have to walk down the middle of the carpet with all the other kids? Who is his chaperone? I guess he can watch sit in the coffee shop while his teammates hit the tables.

[canes-in-7]

When Skins enters the Vegas casino, since he's a minor does he have to walk down the middle of the carpet with all the other kids? Who is his chaperone? I guess he can watch sit in the coffee shop while his teammates hit the tables.

LOL good point, can't gamble to 21.. so guess wouldn't be a fun time for him.. soemthign tells me though he could go to a "private room" they have for high rollers and celebrities and what happens there...: )

[TheBigKahuna]

Couture has it all but wrapped up according to a lot of hockey writers and some TV talking heads. Skinner really needs to keep up this recent scoring if he wants to be considered. I don't really count Tripp Tracy as a viable opinion.

It's not going to be a easy vote for those who decide. There are several young players who are doing great this season, forwards, defensemen and goalies.

[legend-1]

Couture was apparently injured last night but the Sharks don't seem to play for 4 days so it may not matter

Edited March 20, 2011 by legend-1

[g105]

I guess I'm biased, but how in heck does Coutore classify as a rookie? He previously played in the AHL in 08-09, then 25 regular season and 15 playoff games last year for the Sharks. He's a veteran. And Skinner? Just last year he was playing in the OHL. Surely, the people who make the choice for ROY can see this.

[TheBigKahuna]

They simply have to base it on the technicality of the rules. McBain classifies as a rookie as well, but he played last season.

From NHL.com

To be eligible for the award, a player cannot have played more than 25 games in any single preceding season nor in six or more games in each of any two preceding seasons in any major professional league. The player must not be older than 26 years before September 15 of the season in which he is eligible.

In 1990, Sergei Makarov of the Calgary Flames became the oldest player, at age 31, to win the Calder. After that season, the rules for awarding the Calder were amended so that players could only be eligible if they were 26 years old or younger by September 15 of their rookie season.

To be eligible for the award, a player cannot have played any more than 25 games previously in any single season, nor have played in more than six games in two separate preceding seasons in any major professional league. The latter fact was perhaps most prominent when in 1979–80, first-year phenom Wayne Gretzky was not eligible to win the Calder Trophy despite scoring 137 points (the previous rookie record at the time being 95), because he had played a full season the previous year in the World Hockey Association. The trophy has been won the most times by rookies from the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have won it on nine occasions.

[canes-in-7]

I guess I'm biased, but how in heck does Coutore classify as a rookie? He previously played in the AHL in 08-09, then 25 regular season and 15 playoff games last year for the Sharks. He's a veteran. And Skinner? Just last year he was playing in the OHL. Surely, the people who make the choice for ROY can see this.

yeah hate that rule, of still a rookie if played 25 or less games so coutre techincailly a rookie by 1 period, and that's kinda crap.. i can see a 5-10 game span for still being a rookie but not more then 25% of a season( plus playoffs if a team makes it).

still got 4 points on couture( 52 to 48)

http://www.nhl.com/i...d=nav-ply-rkies

what really like is all the good young players coming up in this class, from skinner and couture, to grabbner and ennis and hall and seguin, to the "D" men of fowler,carslon and mcquad and goalies crawford, 'bob' and neuvirth and reimer... hockey is really looking good for the future! and we are starting to get a whole new set of stars , as the 90's and erly 2000's guys are all leaving.. no more modano's sakic, yzerman's.. but now have the ovie's crosby and sedins and up and comers stamkos,towes, staal,kane,perry etc and all these rookies.. a great sign and future for hockey to see the void's filled by so many

[caneswincup]

It's the rules, but if I were voting, I would take everything into consideration.

Couture has had a great year, but he played a year in the AHL, the maximum number of games last year in the NHL allowed with still being considered a rookie, plus a large number (15) of NHL playoff games. He's also 3 years older at 21.

Grabner is another one who has come on strong. He played 4 years in the OHL and a least 2 years in the AHL before moving up and is five years older at 23.

Both those guys could make a good case, as could Hall who after a horrible start really picked up his pace before getting injured. Crawford in Chicago, Bobrovsky in Philly could both make cases for their work between the pipes.

My vote though would be for Skinner, even without hometown bias. He has been at the top of the rookie lists the entire season, is a true playmaker, has been decent defensively for such a young player, etc. Most important, he has been able to completely take over a game and carry the team on his shoulders on more than one occasion when we've been dead weight on the ice. To do that at 18 is a testament to his abilities.

L

I guess I'm biased, but how in heck does Coutore classify as a rookie? He previously played in the AHL in 08-09, then 25 regular season and 15 playoff games last year for the Sharks. He's a veteran. And Skinner? Just last year he was playing in the OHL. Surely, the people who make the choice for ROY can see this.

<snip>

what really like is all the good young players coming up in this class, from skinner and couture, to grabbner and ennis and hall and seguin, to the "D" men of fowler,carslon and mcquad and goalies crawford, 'bob' and neuvirth and reimer... hockey is really looking good for the future!

I'm anxious to see how the class of 2010 does down the road. I think it will be like Staal's draft year of 2003, a really strong draft that ultimately has a ton of all-stars, team leaders, etc.

Not sure why it merged two separate replies to two different posts in the same thread...

[TSA]

Picture from NHL Frozen Moments:

Jeff Skinner of the Carolina Hurricanes leaps to avoid the puck on a shot against Ondrej Pavelec of the Atlanta Thrashers on March 9, 2011 at RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)

[canes-in-7]

Nice to see Skinner "heating up" again and moves his lead in the rookie scoring back to 5 points over grabner and couture( 53 to 48 for each if them). With 9 games left, if he can finish strong, do think as the most consistent rookie all year long, he should win it, though grabner is really making a run at it over the last 2 months

http://www.nhl.com/ice/rookies.htm#?navid=nav-ply-rkies

[DianeNC]

Although the article, below, from over at Puck Daddy is trying to make the case for Grabner (although Skinner leads in points, Grabner leads in goals), there were some positive mentions of Skinner. Click on link to read the other mentions.

The rookie of the year case for Islanders' Michael Grabner

We still think Skinner is the favorite; the hype was deafening at the All-Star Game where many of the voters were assembled, and he's still leading the League in points during a time when voting starts to happen.

(There's an element of king-making at play here, too; like a Best New Artist Grammy, the voters like to bestow the honor of future stars with the potential of a Jeff Skinner.)

[canes-in-7]

Although the article, below, from over at Puck Daddy is trying to make the case for Grabner (although Skinner leads in points, Grabner leads in goals), there were some positive mentions of Skinner. Click on link to read the other mentions.

The rookie of the year case for Islanders' Michael Grabner

well with 10 days left in season, this is one race a cane is still winning adn we can all get behind!.. here's to hoping Skinner finishes the season out in a flurry of points, to seal it over the "not-so rookie" Couture..who has closed the gap to one point now, 54 to 53

http://www.nhl.com/ice/rookies.htm#?navid=nav-ply-rkies

[Nate31]

Those candidates are not 'REAL' rookies. They are still rookies because of those weird rules. Skinner is the 'REAL' rookie. It's his very first year in the NHL.

[JLP]

Arguing over rules is silly, every league has ways of defining rookies and I don't remember anyone here complaining about it before. That said, it should matter that Skinner came in direct from juniors as the youngest guy in the league vs the other guys who do have more pro experience, even if it isn't much more. His impact on his team has also arguably been the greatest, without him we'd be making Florida look good. Let's hope the writers pick the right guy.

[bambamcanefan]

CBS story:

CBS Breakdown

Rookie Stats

Couture's numbers are scary, but he is on a much better team. Over 50% FO, 8 GW goals, and +19 to boot. I still think Skinner has shown more because he is not surrounded by ALL Stars that get more attention from opposing teams shut down lines.

[Stealth-ch1]

Test post to see BamBam's post...

[DianeNC]

From over at Puck Daddy:

Couture, Skinner and Crawford down to wire in Calder race

[xlightsoutx]

Well, Crawford only gets it if Chicago makes it either to the conference championship or the Stanley Cup, period. Grabner is the one who scares me most, really. Guy's stick is lightning and he's deadly accurate. Logan Couture is good, but I just think Skinner is better. And, as somebody said, Couture is on a better team. Skinner deserves it, flat out. He's been awesome all year and he will be a star in this league before long. We make the playoffs and get to the Eastern Championship games, he may make it on the cover of an NHL video game. I'd love that!

[canes-in-7]

Arguing over rules is silly, every league has ways of defining rookies and I don't remember anyone here complaining about it before. That said, it should matter that Skinner came in direct from juniors as the youngest guy in the league vs the other guys who do have more pro experience, even if it isn't much more. His impact on his team has also arguably been the greatest, without him we'd be making Florida look good. Let's hope the writers pick the right guy.

I've argued for years its a Dumb rule, and shoudl be no more than 10-15 games AT MOST in the year before for a rookie, but because its never impacted a Cane before, most never cared. Same for the Vezina and most times the voters putting way too much emphasis in GAA, w/o taken into consideration the shots faced or teams"D".. where a goalie if ony facing 15-20 shots a night and no rebounds because a great "D"( detriot), can make a Goalie's stats much better than a goalie like luongo on panthers for mnay years and cam this year, that get peppered with 40+ shots a night

Edited March 31, 2011 by canes-in-7

[canes-in-7]

Well, Crawford only gets it if Chicago makes it either to the conference championship or the Stanley Cup, period. Grabner is the one who scares me most, really. Guy's stick is lightning and he's deadly accurate. Logan Couture is good, but I just think Skinner is better. And, as somebody said, Couture is on a better team. Skinner deserves it, flat out. He's been awesome all year and he will be a star in this league before long. We make the playoffs and get to the Eastern Championship games, he may make it on the cover of an NHL video game. I'd love that!

the calder is voted on at the end of the Reg. season , so a playoff run or cup win will matter will affect voting.

PS after last night skinner's led back to 5 points in the scoring race(58 to 53) and nice to see Skinner back to a +3 in +/-

[rocheccw]

After the game that Skinner had in a set of back to back games against playoff teams, & with the playoffs on the line for his team. This should be the tipping point for the voters. He is continuing to show up in games that matter at the end of the year.

At 18yo he is trying to do everything he can to lift his team into the playoffs. I would love to see what this kid could do in the playoffs!!!

Regardless of whether the writers get it right...you are the Rookie of the Year!!!

Edited March 31, 2011 by rocheccw