Eeyore writes:
 
>I haven't had a chance to watch any HE games this year, so I'm not going to say
>that Jason Krog shouldn't win the Hobey.  I just thought that I could provide
>responses to the specific arguments Greg Ambrose made to keep the discussion
>going.
>
>In regards to Drury, I think that there are more arguments to be made than
>simply point scoring.  He REALLY impressed me at last year's Final Four.  He
>shadowed Brendan Morrison and was the number one reason BU won that game with
>his defense alone.  I have no idea whether he does that on a regular basis, but
>if he does, combined with the points he scores, it makes him an awfully tough
>candidate to beat for the best player in Hockey East.
 
What Drury did last year, in one game, should have no relevance for this
year's voting.  It will, that's only human nature.  I have watched Drury
quite a bit over the years and he is as advertised.  However, Krog has had
two outstanding years in a row as well, he has improved tremendously on the
defensive side of the game and, unlike Drury, has put up the numbers this
year.  While stats don't count for everything, they should count for
something.  He is the leading scorer, the leading point per game scorer, he
is second in goals, leads in goals per game, has the most game winning
goals and pairs with the leading shorthand goal scorer (Derek Bekar) in the
country.  This has to count for something!
>
>One thing to consider when looking at Krog's scoring is that HE is, by a large
>margin, the highest scoring conference in the country.  These teams are putting
>the puck in the net an average of 7.29 times a game.  The WCHA is second at
>6.48, and the ECAC and CCHA are barely breaking six.  If one adjusts for the
>league difference (obviously assuming that a large amount of this difference is
>due to something other than the fact that Krog and company are just better
>scorers), then Bill Muckalt, Jeff Halpern and Jeff Hamilton are all close to
>Krog's points per game figure.  Looking at a stat besides simply points,
>Michigan State's Mike York is +20, which beats Krog's +19; this is also a stat
>that should be modified for overall league scoring, but it also involves
>removing power play goals, and I'm just not going to go to that much trouble.
>Actually, MSU has some really gaudy +/- ratings, led by Tyler Harlton's +26,
>but this isn't directly comparable to Krog, since Harlton is a defenseman and
>doesn't anything like Krog's point total.  I'll leave the forward vs.
>defenseman argument for some other time.
 
You lost me on this.  I guess there are statistics and then . . . Well,
all I'll say is that Krog is +27.  He only has 4 PPG among his 27, his
strength is transition, creating odd man rushes and short hand situations.
Perhaps Muckalt, et al are better scorers than the Hockey East crew but
since CCHA and WCHA hardly play outside conference during the season, how
do we know.
 
>Karl Goehring's numbers for North Dakota put me in a quandary.  He's got a 1.22
>GAA and a save percentage of almost 95%.  Of course, he's had to grab playing
>time from Aaron Schweitzer, who only led the Sioux to the national title last
>year, so he doesn't have enough playing time to be a serious contender unless
>he gets a full time nod and keeps producing like this.  Probably we'll have to
>wait until next year and see if he keeps it up (Marc Magliarditti, anyone?)
 
This guy's numbers have to be deceptive.  Who has he played against?
Someone  who only plays half a team's games should not be considered.
Period.
>
>All in all, running the numbers leads me to the conclusion that Jason Krog is a
>very serious Hobey contender, but he certainly isn't running away and hiding
>from everyone.
 
Never said he should be running and hiding.  Only trying to get the guy a
fair shake since the press, a lot of fans and, unbelievably, the HE
commissioner, are pushing Drury.  I only hope that the people who actually
do the voting read this stuff.
 
>I'd probably find people's arguments a bit more convincing if
>everyone weren't pushing a candidate from the team they primarily root for.
 
Now, that's a challenge for some HE cognescenti, Mike M. and Dave H.
perhaps.  Are you up to it guys?
 
Greg Ambrose. UNH "72
GO UNH BLUE!!!
KROG FOR HOBEY!!!
 
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