Separated at Birth?
And this is Toronto Star columnist Damien Cox:
Notice the resemblance? No? How about after reading this:
While every other club was loading up on skill in the first round, the Leafs gave up a pair of valuable assets (a second- and third-rounder) to move up two spots in the first to grab shutdown defenseman Luke Schenn. It was a bold move to be sure, and Schenn seems a good bet to be a stabilizing force on the Leafs' blueline for years, but a defensive-defenseman in the top five? That's the sort of talent you're supposed to pick up with those second- and third-rounders. When you get a chance to draft that high, you have to grab a difference-maker.
Do you know who else had Luke Schenn going in the top-five?
Everybody.
That's right. Every single pre-draft ranking I saw in the days leading up to the draft had Schenn going at or before five. Does this mean that everybody who believed Schenn was a top-five pick is a fucking idiot, or is it just the Leafs?
What's that?
Just the Leafs?
Anyway, get my drift? This is like Cox-by-numbers.
Among the six other players selected by Toronto was Mikhail Stefanovich (98). The Belorussian scored 32 goals in the Quebec League, but left scouts wondering if he has the passion to succeed at the next level. It could turn out to be a high value pick if he gets his head right with the puck, but Stefanovich has bust written all over him.
Holy mother of god. Do you know how stupid this is? Since when are kids drafted in the third round labeled as busts? And, two days after the draft at that? What the...
Seriously, has anyone ever seen Allan Muir and Damien Cox in the same room together?
Hey Allan, Steve Anthony called - he wants his hair back.
Fun fact: the Red Wings drafted 6 guys - 4 North Americans, 2 Euros, 4 6 ft tall or more and the other 5'11. Guess the Red Wings are ignoring the draft strategy that made teams like the Red Wings so successful.
It's simple why Stefanovich is a bust. Never mind he's a 4th round pick, but his last name isn't Staal. Jared Staal lacks "drive" and "focus", but at least he doesn't lack "passion". See the difference there?
And the Leafs are pretty stupid, since the best defensive defencemen were indeed all drafted in the second and third round. I mean, defensive stalwarts like Adam Foote, Scott Stevens, Chris Pronger, Chris Chelios, Chris Phillips, Jay Bouwmeester, Anton Volchenkov, Brandon Witt, and Shea Weber were all mistakes as first rounders. Clearly, these non "difference-makers" should have been second rounders or lower. Good call, Alan.
So...Stefanovich is like Adam Dunn? I'll take that kind of production.
Hey guys, great work lately.
And do you know what Sebastian Stefaniszin, James Delory, Ilya Zubov, Dustin Boyd, Grigory Shafigulin, Ivan Tkachenko, Jordin Tootoo, Jonas Ronnqvist, David Kaczowka, Rob Davison, Jan Horacek, Ben Storey, Jan Labraaten, Jamie Wright, Dieter Kochan, Daniel Guerard, Dmitri Motkov, Craig Martin and Ken Sutton have in common?
They are the last twenty #98 overall picks. An enforcer, a third-line prospect, two #5 defencemen and 16 nonentities. Exactly how badly does Stefanovich's career have to go to make him a "bust" at #98?!?
well done on the picture of Cox...
no matter whom the Leafs choose in any draft, it is always, always, the wrong selection.
Well, if the Dunn comparisons hold true, does Stefanovich think Muir's a "clown"? We need JP Ricciardi on the phone, stat.
If Stefanovich has read Muir's column, then I'm sure he thinks he's a clown.
Is there a hockey equivalent of a guy like Dunn? What hockey player would compare to a guy who hits a tonne of homers, gets on base a lot, and gets unfairly maligned because of strike outs?
Well, Kim, your answer is clearly... Roger Federer. Or is it Tiger Woods? These guys are all comparable, right?
But I like how Cox said "Schenn's an excellent prospect, and likely to be a solid player in the league for years to come. If not the Leafs, somebody was going to take him with one of the top six picks."
OK, so what are we expecting from a first-round pick? Was there another Crosby or Stamkos in the draft that the Leafs were too stupid to pick? Even if he's not a guaranteed all-star (and we don't know Schenn's not), drafting a guy that turns out to be a solid player for years to come is better than a lot of teams can say through history. And then he says that Schenn's a top-six pick RIGHT THERE. So what's the problem? The Leafs had a top-six pick, they took a top-six player. What's the problem? I wonder what his certain hatchet-job on Filatov would have read like, had the Leafs picked him.
"The Leafs went with style over substance again, taking a flashy Russian when they could have drafted a Canadian who plays the kind of stay-at-home defending game that the Leafs have needed for some time now..."
God Bless the Leafs.
God Bless Toronto.
Coxsux
Muir just suxcox
Guys, there's lots to pick on from Cox (who?) these days. Check out the unabashedly ignorant hit job Cox (who?) did on Jeff Finger.
Exactly how badly does Stefanovich's career have to go to make him a "bust" at #98?!?
I think he'd have to murder someone. Or be murdered. At centre ice.
I'm also curious as to why you necessarily must wait until the second or third round to pick a defensive D. Don't the prospects at that level inherently, I dunno, suck, compared to the first round? I guess it's the same phenomenon that sees defensive forwards with minimal scoring paid $2M and offence-only forwards who couldn't find their own end of the ice with a fucking map paid $8M. Still, bizarre all around.