Monday, January 19, 2004
An assist on the Player of the Week
Martin Havlat was named the NHL's player of the week today. He didn't just put up the points last week, he was exciting. But a big part of his success was another player who has become an also incredibly exciting player - Jason Spezza. Havlat and Spezza might be the most exciting combination in the league right now.
Starting with the Nov. 29 game against Toronto, Spezza has gone from a young player with a ton of promise to a dominant NHL player. Check out the stats since that game: 24 games, 8 goals, 13 assists, +15. That's a 72 point pace over the course of 82 games. And what's more amazing is that he's been doing it while averaging less then 15 minutes of ice time during that stretch.
Spezza might turn out to be the best player from his draft and, no, I didn't forget Ilya Kovalchuk. If you prorate their stats this year to 82 games at 20 minutes a night, Spezza is on pace for 82 points while Kovalchuk is on pace for 78 points.
That's pretty amazing for a guy in his first full NHL season.
Starting with the Nov. 29 game against Toronto, Spezza has gone from a young player with a ton of promise to a dominant NHL player. Check out the stats since that game: 24 games, 8 goals, 13 assists, +15. That's a 72 point pace over the course of 82 games. And what's more amazing is that he's been doing it while averaging less then 15 minutes of ice time during that stretch.
Spezza might turn out to be the best player from his draft and, no, I didn't forget Ilya Kovalchuk. If you prorate their stats this year to 82 games at 20 minutes a night, Spezza is on pace for 82 points while Kovalchuk is on pace for 78 points.
That's pretty amazing for a guy in his first full NHL season.
