Comments for Lecavalier vs. Richards at http://hockey.dobbersports.com , comment 1 to 7 out of 7 comments http://hockey.dobbersports.com Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:13:07 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/columnistsarticles-mainmenu-77/laidlaw/3822-lecavalier-vs-richards#comment-15271 Rad - I still think Lundqvist helps Richards. He's never played on a thoroughly sound defensive club like the Rangers before. Playing in the Big Apple should help his +/-. Normally he's been a minus player because he plays on poor defensive teams. He's able to maintain such high point totals because of his amazing ability to perform on the powerplay. I suspect his point totals won't shift but he should be able to avoid watching his +/- vanish by having such impeccable defensemen and goaltender behind him. Anthony - I considered Gagne's impact for a brief moment but ultimately wrote it off. Neither player was healthy enough in Gagne's time to make a huge impact. The fact is that Lecavalier's surge at the end of last season and into the playoffs was a result of being reunited with St. Louis, who is the true catalyst behind the Lightning attack BTW (side note here: Stamkos is good but it IS because of St. Louis that he looks as good as he does, that's another discussion entirely but I don't think Stamkos clears 80 points without him), often on a three-headed-monster line with Stamkos as well. This was not only on the power play but also at even strength. It goes against traditional thinking that the Lightning keep that big line together for a full season but rather using it only when desperate. That means Lecavalier's performance will likely boil down to the result of the St. Louis lottery. Lecavalier may be the captain and have the biggest salary but Stamkos is the one who sells tickets so Tampa won't keep him and St. Louis apart for too long. So as indicated in the article Lecavalier will probably remain the ~70 point guy he was because he'll see enough time with the big guns on the power play while still being capable enough to produce decent amounts on his own at even strength. Losing Gagne will have little impact because they simply didn't play together enough. Further evidence of this can be seen when we consider point production. Yes Lecavalier and Gagne played together a lot but of Lecavalier's 54 points 23 were scored with Gagne on the ice. Conversely, 35 of Lecavalier's points were scored with St. Louis on the ice. There's a clear catalyst here and it's more likely St. Louis, especially when you consider that of those 23 points that you can attribute to Gagne, only 10 of those came without St. Louis on the ice as well. That may be a case of my simply finding the numbers to prove my point but I remain steadfastly convinced that the most important thing to scoring in Tampa Bay is Martin St. Louis. Gagne simply did not have much of an impact during the regular season. It's possible that Tampa as a whole suffers because of a lack of scoring depth but Lecavalier will not feel a direct impact of Gagne leaving. - steve laidlaw Thu, 14 Jul 2011 17:48:13 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/columnistsarticles-mainmenu-77/laidlaw/3822-lecavalier-vs-richards#comment-15257 Thanks to our Frozen Pool app, it cannot be ignored that Vinny's most common linemate for the vast majority of the season(when both were healthy)was the now-departed Simon Gagne. While both Gagne and Vinny were in good health down the stretch and into the playoffs, there's no doubt that they established a nicely productive secondary scoring tandem. Although neither have ever exactly been hailed as an elite setup man, both snipers by nature, they've still managed to link up well, feeding off each other's strengths in long stretches. With Simon now in La-La land, and the 1st line etched in stone, the question begs "Will Vinny be able to push forward with the same level of performance that he finished strongly with last season, despite a depleted 2nd line?"(Even with a likely returning teddy purcell). Personally I think a confident Lecavalier bodes well no matter what, since as Steve mentions, he's still somewhat in his prime. The absence of Gagne pins Vinny as the clear-cut primary shooter of the line. So I believe his goals will shoot back up into the 30's approaching 35. However, I do fear his assist total will suffer. But due to the fact that Gagne missed plenty of time, Vinny won't actually have too many assists on Gagne goals to defend next season dude to gagne's absences(In other words, despite gagne being vinny primary setup target, the fact that Gagne missed so many games means that his assist total last year was deflated from what it should have been) Therefore his potential for more goals should outweigh his potential for less assists; thus an overall slight decrease in assists. Therefore in spite of losing his upper echelon linemate, he may actually flourish a tad. Call it an inlikely addition by subtraction if you will. - Anthony L Thu, 14 Jul 2011 08:48:23 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/columnistsarticles-mainmenu-77/laidlaw/3822-lecavalier-vs-richards#comment-15221 You omitted the fact that, judging by the above photo, they also have equally poor fashion sense. - Dicks Wed, 13 Jul 2011 07:46:52 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/columnistsarticles-mainmenu-77/laidlaw/3822-lecavalier-vs-richards#comment-15217 Another great comparison. Standard Yahoo, I like Richards. Add in shots and face-offs I like Vinny. For the amount of points Richards put's up, it still astounds me that he is normally a minus player. You know he's going to hurt you in that category, even with Lundqvist in net. - Rad64 Wed, 13 Jul 2011 06:11:50 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/columnistsarticles-mainmenu-77/laidlaw/3822-lecavalier-vs-richards#comment-15215 Yeah, that Notre Dame school is quite the well of hockey talent. Many a good player has passed through that school and even more than that it's a place where hockey contacts and networks are built. @Horrorfan - Like I said in the article, look at your team needs. You may value the larger boost in a few categories because of what your team needs. Personally I like balanced players because a roster full of them is immune to ups and downs but your team may be different. - steve laidlaw Wed, 13 Jul 2011 04:32:18 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/columnistsarticles-mainmenu-77/laidlaw/3822-lecavalier-vs-richards#comment-15213 Its hard to believe that these two met way back in high school when they were at Notre Dame at the age of 14, then they follow each other to RIM and then to the NHL with Tampa. Cool article and comparison man - Hawkfan Wed, 13 Jul 2011 02:23:50 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/columnistsarticles-mainmenu-77/laidlaw/3822-lecavalier-vs-richards#comment-15211 I enjoyed reading this one Steve. I agree with you it's a tough choice and can be entirely dependent on team needs. Do you value more offense from higher end players vs having more balance across several categories? I also liked how you compared them back to junior and made a story out of it to link them to their current situations. Good job. - horrorfan Wed, 13 Jul 2011 01:09:05 +0100