The Case for the West.

There is little argument over who will be the number 1 draft pick in the 2012 NHL Draft. Nail Yakupov is being harolded to be one of the next top 5 players in the league. Many are saying he’s going to be better than Tavares, and some say he’ll even surpass Stamkos. These guys both play for East Coast teams. In fact, The “Big 4� Of Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin, Stamkos all play in the Eastern Conference. Now with the possibility of a guy like Yakupov landing in the East to a team like the NY Islanders which would create a Big 5 is something the Western Conference needs to not let happen. I am not advocating that Western Conference teams tank for the draft, but ask yourself this, which conference needs a superstar more?

Now some may argue based on this years stats if any of these guys are truly the elite players in the league. The point in case is that the Eastern Conference has a vast amount of the top players in their conference and with the conferences likely switching up next season, and teams like Detroit make the swap (likely) we’re seeing even more talent run to the East Coast (Datsyuk, Zetterberg).

So where does Yakupov land? Well, if the season ended today it would be Columbus, Islanders, and Anaheim in the lottery. Calgary has a good shot at ending up there too. Now that’s 2 teams in the Western Conference that have a shot at landing this young superstar and to be honest, I’m rooting for the Ducks.

Disclaimer: You will not find someone who hates the Ducks more than me. I loathe every player on that team, but would love to have any of that top line on my Sharks. This is a bitter rivalry that’s even more charged than the Kings/Sharks Rivalry. The Ducks have this uncanny ability to piss off other teams with guys like Perry who scores, but is scrappy and a little dirty. I love these kinds of players when they’re on my team, but on another, I flat out hate them. That being said, imagine Yakupov being added to that core. Now that is a core that I can love to hate. Yet, I don’t technically want to hate Yakupov, but the reason I want him there is because I want a superstar in the Western Conference or whatever it will be next year after the Board of Governors decide how to realign the league.

A big issue with the realignment is that many teams want to make sure that they still play the hot ticket teams to sell tickets. I completely understand owners wanting this. Players like Crosby, Ovechkin, Stamkos, Malkin, etc. bring casual fans and fanatics alike to our home ice. A guy like Yakupov (if he is as good as many project to be a future top 5 guy) lands in the West, this helps revenue on this side of the league. To be honest, I feel like it would give the Western Conference teams even more credibility. There are countless times that I come across fans and analyst alike who talk about the East Coast and Canadian teams like they’re better. The rivalries are older, but that doesn’t mean they’re nastier.

Again, I’m a Sharks fan and I imagine a rivalry with a guy like Yakupov in the Western Conference to be a boon to my Sharks. This is purely selfish, as I know the Sharks would do a heck of a lot more to their team to defend against a guy like Yakupov. I hope it becomes true and that this guy becomes a highlight reel guy that people in the East Coast stay up late to see. Sure we got the Sedins over here, but they still don’t get the credit they would if they were in the East Coast.

So here’s to hoping the West Coast gets a boost to their credit in a future superstar. I just hope it’s not Columbus. That would be such a waste.

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Sites: www.twitter.com/tsgraveline tsgraveline.blogspot.com thesharkremarks.blogspot.com

Team 1:10 Multi-Cat Roto league

C- Malkin,Giroux,Thornton Galchenyuk, Schenn, Berglund, Eller
LW- Hall,Ovechkin, E.Kane Saad
RW- Seguin, Stewart, PAP
D- Subban,Phaneuf Keith, OEL, Hedman,
G- Pavelec,Hiller Lindback, Theodore, Lehner

Team 2:24 H2H League Multi-Cat

C- Lecavalier, B. Schenn, Ennis, Belanger
LW- JVR, Leino, Bissonnette, Whitney, C. Bourque, Nodl
RW- Kopecky, Langenbrunner, Doan, Versteeg, Mayers
D- Doughty, Burns, Souray, Sarich, Lovejoy, Potter
G-Pavelec, Enroth

Count me in on this whole "Case for the West" movement... +Rep

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mounD: 2011-12 Champs // 2012-13 Champs
12 Team H2H Keeper (Keep 18)
3C, 3LW, 3RW, 3F, 6D, 2G, 5BN (IR)
G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SHP, SOG, FoW // W, Sv%, GAA, SHO

C: Getzlaf, Backes(RW),B. Richards,
LW: Parise, Hall, Kunitz, Ladd, Marchand(C,LW)
RW: Kessel, Neal(LW) Hossa, Burrows(Lw)
D: Karlsson, Chara, Burns, Boyle
G: Rinne, M. Smith
Bn: Jussi Jokinen(C,LW), Cammalleri(C,LW), Weiss(C), Timonen, Visnosky

Farm: Kadri, Coyle, Gallagher, Järnkrok - Barrie, Trouba, Vatanen - Khudobin

calgary wont get yakupov...bettman wont let a canadian team get a potential superstar.

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XBOX 360 Gamertag: praba911

i'd like to see Yakupov on Anaheim as well :-)

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The Ultimate Fantasy Hockey League. (Keep 17)
3C 3LW 3RW 6D 2G 6BE.
G,A,+-,PIM,PPP,SHP,GWG,SOG,FW,HIT; GS,W,L,GAA,SA,SV, SV%,SO
(C) Kopitar, Bergeron, R. O'Reilly, Eller
(LW) Ovechkin(RW), Landeskog, Hartnell
(RW) Eberle, Stewart
(D) Subban, Byfuglien, Green, Burns, Bogosian
(G) Crawford, Varlamov, Neuvirth

8 Person Farm: (<200GP for F, <100GP for G)
(C) Teravainen
(LW) Hagelin
(RW) Etem, Kassian, Forsberg
(G) Holtby, Ramo, Subban

Joined in 2011-2012 season.
2012 finish: 2nd place
2013 finish: 5th place

To be honest, I really hope he doesn't land in Calgary either. That would be awful as that team has very little to work with for the future.

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Sites: www.twitter.com/tsgraveline tsgraveline.blogspot.com thesharkremarks.blogspot.com

Team 1:10 Multi-Cat Roto league

C- Malkin,Giroux,Thornton Galchenyuk, Schenn, Berglund, Eller
LW- Hall,Ovechkin, E.Kane Saad
RW- Seguin, Stewart, PAP
D- Subban,Phaneuf Keith, OEL, Hedman,
G- Pavelec,Hiller Lindback, Theodore, Lehner

Team 2:24 H2H League Multi-Cat

C- Lecavalier, B. Schenn, Ennis, Belanger
LW- JVR, Leino, Bissonnette, Whitney, C. Bourque, Nodl
RW- Kopecky, Langenbrunner, Doan, Versteeg, Mayers
D- Doughty, Burns, Souray, Sarich, Lovejoy, Potter
G-Pavelec, Enroth

Honestly, he needs to go to Phoenix or Colombus.

Those teams need a savior big time. Im not sure he's quite the level as AO, Crosby or Stamkos was, but he's definitely with JT....

I'd be okay with that if they moved to a more hockey-friendly environment. Sure those teams need him, but those are the wrong markets for him to land.

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Sites: www.twitter.com/tsgraveline tsgraveline.blogspot.com thesharkremarks.blogspot.com

Team 1:10 Multi-Cat Roto league

C- Malkin,Giroux,Thornton Galchenyuk, Schenn, Berglund, Eller
LW- Hall,Ovechkin, E.Kane Saad
RW- Seguin, Stewart, PAP
D- Subban,Phaneuf Keith, OEL, Hedman,
G- Pavelec,Hiller Lindback, Theodore, Lehner

Team 2:24 H2H League Multi-Cat

C- Lecavalier, B. Schenn, Ennis, Belanger
LW- JVR, Leino, Bissonnette, Whitney, C. Bourque, Nodl
RW- Kopecky, Langenbrunner, Doan, Versteeg, Mayers
D- Doughty, Burns, Souray, Sarich, Lovejoy, Potter
G-Pavelec, Enroth

Here is an interesting case....I am curious as to hockey fans in those markets; good teams put asses in seats over time, it seems like developing a franchise is something that takes time.

Perhaps Yakupov can do to Phoenix was Mario Lemieux did for Pittsburgh.

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Toni Rajala 6.5 C, Beau Bennett 8.0C, Dustin Jeffrey 6.5B, Eric Tangradi 7.5B, Scott Wilson 7.0D, Joey Haddad 6.5D, Patrice Cormier 6.5B, Bryan Rust 6.5C, Nick Petersen 7.0D, Brandon Pirri 7.5C, Tyler Johnson 7.0D, Brian Gibbons 7.0D, Casey Pierro-Zabotel 7.0D, Nick D'Agostino 6.5C, Robert Burtuzzo 7.0C, Philip Samuelsson 6.5C, Alex Velischek 7.0D, Joe Rogalski 7.0D
Reid McNeill 6.5C, Alex Grant 6.5C, Alexander Pechurskiy 7.0D, Mattias Modig 6.5D

PC 269 I think you make a good point, though I feel like Pittsburgh was already more receptive to hockey before Lemieux showed up. Phoenix has had over 10 years to build a fan base that's entirely too small. It's just not going to work there and I believe the league knows they have to move them sooner than later. I've got to imagine Portland or Seattle would do better since they already have WHL teams there with fans.

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Sites: www.twitter.com/tsgraveline tsgraveline.blogspot.com thesharkremarks.blogspot.com

Team 1:10 Multi-Cat Roto league

C- Malkin,Giroux,Thornton Galchenyuk, Schenn, Berglund, Eller
LW- Hall,Ovechkin, E.Kane Saad
RW- Seguin, Stewart, PAP
D- Subban,Phaneuf Keith, OEL, Hedman,
G- Pavelec,Hiller Lindback, Theodore, Lehner

Team 2:24 H2H League Multi-Cat

C- Lecavalier, B. Schenn, Ennis, Belanger
LW- JVR, Leino, Bissonnette, Whitney, C. Bourque, Nodl
RW- Kopecky, Langenbrunner, Doan, Versteeg, Mayers
D- Doughty, Burns, Souray, Sarich, Lovejoy, Potter
G-Pavelec, Enroth

I probably should have put something about Yakupov in the title so people actually knew what it was really about.

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Sites: www.twitter.com/tsgraveline tsgraveline.blogspot.com thesharkremarks.blogspot.com

Team 1:10 Multi-Cat Roto league

C- Malkin,Giroux,Thornton Galchenyuk, Schenn, Berglund, Eller
LW- Hall,Ovechkin, E.Kane Saad
RW- Seguin, Stewart, PAP
D- Subban,Phaneuf Keith, OEL, Hedman,
G- Pavelec,Hiller Lindback, Theodore, Lehner

Team 2:24 H2H League Multi-Cat

C- Lecavalier, B. Schenn, Ennis, Belanger
LW- JVR, Leino, Bissonnette, Whitney, C. Bourque, Nodl
RW- Kopecky, Langenbrunner, Doan, Versteeg, Mayers
D- Doughty, Burns, Souray, Sarich, Lovejoy, Potter
G-Pavelec, Enroth