I want to commend the WCHA on selecting a defenseman as player of the week.
I like the player/rookie of the week honors in the different conferences,
but I think defensemen tend to get the shaft because they usually cannot
compete with the forwards pointwise and there aren't any stats which can
show you how well a defenseman is playing.  As I mentioned to Keith, I like
the CCHA's Defensive PotW award but I would like to see it split into a
defenseman and goalie of the week.
 
Of course, I realize that since the awards are usually selected by folks in
the league offices who cannot see all of the games, they don't really have
much to go on other than stats when picking the PotW.  But I still would
like to see a stronger effort made to recognize defensemen for their solid
and equally important play.  I try to make a point of commenting on good
defensive play in our broadcasts and in my game recaps, and many other
people here do a good job of this in their writeups.
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Mike Machnik    [log in to unmask]   Color Voice of the Merrimack Warriors
(Any opinions expressed above are strictly those of the poster.)    *HMN*