What makes a hockey player great?
So I've been thinking a lot about the whole concept of Beerability. (For those of you who haven't heard of this wonderful way of thinking about hockey, you should all go and read this intro to it on The Backhand Shelf.)
A lot of what I've realized is that most of my favourite players don't have very much beerability. Like, can you imagine sitting down at a pub with Jonathan Toews for hours and just drinking and shooting the shit?
Or with Ryan Kesler?
Or Claude Giroux?
No. Not really.
What, then, I got to thinking, was my metric of choice for determining my favourite hockey players?
I think it's probably "Fuckyouability."
Let me paint you a picture.
Jonathan Toews can singlehandedly put the entirety of his team on his back, and work his ass off to change the course of a game.
Ryan Kesler went into BEASTMODE against Nashville during the second round of last year's playoffs and scored all the points to basically win them the series.
Those two guys are the embodiment of "Fuckyouability."
Someone who doesn't have fuckyouability?
David Booth.
Sure, he can crash the net like it's nobody's business, but he just doesn't have the right personality.
Someone else with little-to-no fuckyouability?
Patrick Sharp.
He's great at hockey, and looks like he stepped out of a GQ photoshoot, but he just doesn't have the raw energy that fuckyouability demands.
Now someone like Kevin Bieksa or Evgeni Malkin could be said to have some level of fuckyouability, but they are probably just above the middle of the scale. Bieksa is a tough guy, but he plays with too much of an edge to score any higher, while Malkin, while also capable of singlehandely changing the outcome of a game, is just too much of a softie to be any higher up.
Or, you know, I maybe am just crazy. (It is way later than I intended to be up, after all)
What do all of you guys think? Got anyone else who should be noted for their fuckyouability or lack thereof? Or maybe you think this is all just crap? Let me know either way :P
Also! The Canucks won a crazy game agaisnt the Jets tonight, which is cause for some celebration!
Also, it was interesting to see Andrew Ladd and Ryan Kesler back on the same sheet of ice. There wasn't much visible interaction between the two of them tonight, but Kesler was in full-fledged BEASTMODE tonight, so there was probably some words exchanged at some point.
Also, I may or may not be writing fic about them now. Ugh. What is my life?
A lot of what I've realized is that most of my favourite players don't have very much beerability. Like, can you imagine sitting down at a pub with Jonathan Toews for hours and just drinking and shooting the shit?
Or with Ryan Kesler?
Or Claude Giroux?
No. Not really.
What, then, I got to thinking, was my metric of choice for determining my favourite hockey players?
I think it's probably "Fuckyouability."
Let me paint you a picture.
Jonathan Toews can singlehandedly put the entirety of his team on his back, and work his ass off to change the course of a game.
Ryan Kesler went into BEASTMODE against Nashville during the second round of last year's playoffs and scored all the points to basically win them the series.
Those two guys are the embodiment of "Fuckyouability."
Someone who doesn't have fuckyouability?
David Booth.
Sure, he can crash the net like it's nobody's business, but he just doesn't have the right personality.
Someone else with little-to-no fuckyouability?
Patrick Sharp.
He's great at hockey, and looks like he stepped out of a GQ photoshoot, but he just doesn't have the raw energy that fuckyouability demands.
Now someone like Kevin Bieksa or Evgeni Malkin could be said to have some level of fuckyouability, but they are probably just above the middle of the scale. Bieksa is a tough guy, but he plays with too much of an edge to score any higher, while Malkin, while also capable of singlehandely changing the outcome of a game, is just too much of a softie to be any higher up.
Or, you know, I maybe am just crazy. (It is way later than I intended to be up, after all)
What do all of you guys think? Got anyone else who should be noted for their fuckyouability or lack thereof? Or maybe you think this is all just crap? Let me know either way :P
Also! The Canucks won a crazy game agaisnt the Jets tonight, which is cause for some celebration!
Also, it was interesting to see Andrew Ladd and Ryan Kesler back on the same sheet of ice. There wasn't much visible interaction between the two of them tonight, but Kesler was in full-fledged BEASTMODE tonight, so there was probably some words exchanged at some point.
Also, I may or may not be writing fic about them now. Ugh. What is my life?