Oscar Moller and other little people (and not one "size matters" joke)
by Quisp on Mar 17, 2010 10:25 AM PDT
in Too Much Free Time
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Every time I say I think Oscar Moller will have a long, successful career, probably scoring 30 goals a few times, probably wearing an A for someone (hopefully the Kings), someone always reminds me that he's too small and scrawny and can't take the punishment. I think these unnamed (possibly made-up) naysayers are wrong. Moller knows how to receive a check, knows how to avoid a check, and knows how to deliver one, too (I won't rehash my Moller pitch here). But I have to admit, after so many objections, I started second-guessing myself. And I think this was compounded by the fact that when Oscar was drafted, I'm almost positive he was listed as 6', only to be shrunk to 5'11" last year, and now 5'10". (This same thing happened to Justin Williams, who was 6'1" when he was traded here, and now is somewhere around 5'11", and Patrick O'Sullivan, who lost an inch during his tenure). So, I went to the NHL.com site, which has the brilliant feature of letting you (me) sort the entire league by height.
As long as he's done shrinking, I'll stick with my prediction. Meanwhile, look at these guys:
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Awful lot of guys there that faded badly with age and / or dealt with injury issues.
It’s not to say Moller can’t be a good player, from what I’ve seen of him he’ll be a fine player, but it’s harder to play 82 games in the NHL if you’re 5’10" than 6’3".
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THAT'S a great point
And it’s a different issue than the one that usually comes up re Moller. But, yes, absolutely, the crap shoot which decides whether a player can stay healthy into his thirties is even worse for smaller players, or has been historically. It will be interesting to see if the “new NHL”, which has made it possible for smaller players to zip in and out of people un-clutched-and-grabbed, will make it possible for those same players to thrive longer.
I frankly have no idea who will have an Arnott-like old age and who will be Lindros, Allison, Deadmarsh, etc.. I choose not to think about it for now, and just focus on enjoying the kids while they’re still years before their peak, rather than declining from it.
Wait till this year.
Say....
Notice that the three players that you cite as badly damaged by injury were large (or at least large-ish) guys? If I’m thinking of guys as possible comparables for Moller in terms of stature, I wouldn’t think of Eric Lindros, Jason Allison and Adam Deadmarsh. Just sayin.’ :-)
The point that I would make is that when I look at that list in your post, I actually see a lot of guys in who are still in the NHL in their mid-30s, which means that they still have value to someone. Otherwise, it would be very easy to replace them with someone younger and cheaper. I know that Martin St. Louis isn’t the player that he used to be. But man, wasn’t he hot stuff when he was at his best! So I guess I look at your list as being half-full rather than half-empty.
The broken collarbone that Moller suffered at the WJC was very unfortunate in that he never had a chance to finish his rookie year as he started it, and I think that influences how a lot of people perceive him now.
Are you sure it was a broken collarbone? I thought it was a strained shoulder/neck? I don’t think anything broke….
That's what was thought at first
But eventually it was re-diagnosed. I also recall that there was some blame cast at the Swedish team medical staff. But reading between the lines, I got the feeling that Oscar pulled the ol’ “It’s just a flesh wound” routine because he didn’t want to sit out the rest of the tournament. But eventually, there just wasn’t any denying that it was a serious, painful injury.
citing Lindros et al was intentional
but i do believe it’s hard to know who will thrive into their retirement years. I find the list very comforting.
Wait till this year.
As a Leafs fan I skip the possible upside and latch on to the horrible inevitable decline since that’s all I’m going to see.
Pension Plan Puppets*
* Blog contains less than 2% puppet content by weight.
yes, in that sense, and except for the cups and the level of interest in hockey
our two towns are more alike than different. seriously.
Wait till this year.
:-D
I hear ya. I guess my way of dealing with being a Kings fan for 35 years is a certain level of denial, trying to latch onto whatever is left in the glass, even if it’s not even half-full. :-)
Kind of like waking up with a hangover every morning and telling yourself, “Well, at least I’m not dead.”
He just needs to tap into his inner Recchi.
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by Bettman's Nightmare on Mar 17, 2010 12:39 PM PDT up reply actions
ABBA-space?
2009-10 Kings Hockey: Delivering Milk Steaks from the Meat Train at an arena near you!
by DodgerBlueBalls on Mar 18, 2010 10:07 AM PDT up reply actions
Oscar reminds me of Whack-A-Mole, but in a good way. Whenever he gets slammed he just pops right back up.
I also liked how you slipped Loktionov in there. Someone was talking about how “frail” he is on the Insider but apparently he’s just the same as Patrick Kane. Nice work.
In Dinglebarn We Trust
Loktionov is not frail
but I do worry that he has a so-called loose shoulder. I guess I shouldn’t give it a second thought, because the Kings would certainly have the best orthopedic surgeons in the world to do the shoulder ligament tightening surgery, which would make his shoulder literally better than it was naturally. but still, surgery is unpredictable. i knock on the wood.
Wait till this year.
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