Wednesday, March 11, 2009

My Two Choices

With the current play of the Thrashers we could possibly be playing out of the Hedman camp and even more so the Tavares camp. There are two other players in the draft that have been under my radar for sometime now that look promising. These two players are Evander Kane and Magnus Svensson-Paajarvi. I can see reasons for drafting both players. They will both be in the top ten and are both excellent.

Magnus Svensson-Paajarvi is 6ft 1" and 200 lbs. That's a pretty big young Swede. He's a left winger as well. He could pick up right when Slava leaves. Slava, more that likely, will retire with us. He likes it here, and his family enjoys it here. Also his good pal Ilya is here. Svensson-Paajarvi is desribed as:

An extremely fast and fluid skater, and quite possibly the second best player in the 2009 draft. Many comparisons between Magnus and many of the other great Swedes like Forsberg and Sundin who's numbers were comparable at the time. More fairly a comparison between Naslund and Svensson-Paajarvi is a more precise pairing, as his defensive game is not anywhere near the quality of his offensive game. Although he's got a great physical makeup, his style of play shys away from the physical stuff. Aside from that he's a tremendous playmaker and stout goalscorer, putting in quite a few goals, and is adept on the breakaway. He's a guaranteed top 10 pick and may play himself into a top 5 selection. via this link

I never tend to pay attention to the immediate comparisons to former players, but I remember watching him in the World Juniors, and I specifically remember him and Erik Karlsson. He might have led the team in scoring as well.

The other young player is Evander Kane. He is hard working WHL center, which is never a bad thing to have. Also he is African-Canadian. This would be very beneficial to the Atlanta market. Kane is described as:

Evander is a great skater with a bright future. This year he is playing extremely well. Leading the WHL in scoring. 100 points and a top 10 selection are realistic goals for him. He grew up playing on top teams in the province with the North Shore Winter Club. He has always had success, in minor hockey, and then winning the Memorial Cup with the Vancouver Giants in 2006-07. Now he will hope to have success in the NHL. His best asset is his stick handling. he is amazing with the puck. via this link

He played on the fourth line in the World Juniors, but he wasn't originally supposed to be on the team; he filled in the spot of a player that got hurt. He got in by working hard, and it paid off. He added one more threat to the offense of the team.

Both of these players would fit here nicely. Some people like Duchene and Cowen, and I'm sure they're fine players. At this moment Kane and Svensson-Paajarvi would look good here. Also it'd be interesting to see how they'd put Svensson-Paajarvi on a jersey.

13 comments:

Big Shooter said...

Does that mean he is black?

FrenchCatalogues said...

I assuming you mean Kane, you know he is.

FrenchCatalogues said...

I assuming you mean Kane, you know he is.

Anonymous said...

reminds me of a joke from some comedian i cant remember where he talked about his friend going over to live in britan and trying to find a nice african-american church....

Unknown said...

"you know he is"

I had a high school teacher that was "African-Canadian", if you want to put it that way. He was 100% white. Not all Africans are black, and not all blacks are from Africa.

(Kane is a Mulatto, btw).

Kane is very much like Martin Havlat, with less pure skill and brattiness, and a better shot. He'd be a good pickup for the Thrashers if they don't get Hedman or Tavares.

Mortimer Peacock said...

Holy shit it's Jes Golbez.

Big Shooter said...

I agree Jes Golbez, I think Kane would be a fine pick up.

Anonymous said...

According to Jes, Kane is a winger, not a center.

Wingers are plentiful, it's a front-line center that we need.

All that being said, the Thrashers need someone who can go on 2 Live Stews (not that I listen to that show)...

Big Shooter said...

I've heard they invite "African-Canadians" on the 2 Live Stews show...

FrenchCatalogues said...

Is that term still fashionable to say? Mulatto that is. Someone told me it wasn't, a Nigerean friend. Yes yes, he is of a lighter persuasion, but I think we know what I'm getting at. In George Clinton's "Chocolate City" Atlanta was one of the cities named. Apparently the Thrashers have already talked to him just for kicks. Hey, I just want the guy.

FrenchCatalogues said...

A lot of people don't know this, but Big Shooter is actually Afro-Dahlonegan.

Mortimer Peacock said...

Jesus H. Christ, let's just make everything clear.

1) Atlanta is full of black people, and a talented black player like Kane could conceivably bring in a ton of new fans.

2) "Mulatto" or not, if you have a dark complexion you're looked at and treated as a "black." It's just pedantry to say "He's not really black because he's mulatto, half and half, etc."

3) Not all Africans are black, and not all blacks are African, but it's useful to remember that white Africans are the descendants of European oppressors and Caribbean blacks originally CAME from Africa in that whole slave trade thing.

FrenchCatalogues said...

Morty is actually a self-hating peacock too because he wasn't raised in Persia. And I'm a confused Frenchman from Alsace-Lorraine. We all have identity issues.