Vote on the Penguins' unsung hero

sucks that he is out of the lineup but when playing he is it. Shuts down the other teams top line, plays on the PK and PP. Offensively he was steeping up this year. Gotta be him

Name—>> Contribution – Credit = (degree of) Underappreciation

Niskanen: 4 – 2 = 2
CAdams: 3 – 4 = -1
Kunitz: 6 – 5 = 1
Engelland: 4 – 2 = 2
Cooke: 5 – 0 = 5
JStaal: 8 – 6 = 2
PMartin: 6 – 3 = 3
Park: 3 – 1 = 2

Looking back, I think Staal was would be the winner four years ago, Adams wins for two years ago, and Kunitz is at/near the top of the list last year (and maybe, just maybe, Ryan Whitney gets the nod three years ago…).

But I don’t think any of those guys fit the bill this year. Yes, there are plenty of times when their contributions are not fully appreciated, but I think most fans have come around. Part of it is adjusting expectations to what is there, and part of it is realizing what actually is there.

I find it particularly interesting that almost all of the guys on the list are defensive players. It’s not surprising, really, since that is often part of the game that fans and the like are sometimes apt to overlook or undervalue, but it’s a commentary of some sort nonetheless. Chris Kunitz is really the only exception, and even he is kind of the “defensive” guy on the top line (especially when he plays with The Crosby and Dupuis).

I also don’t think Engelland is underrated at all. Perhaps this is exactly the point and it will just push more people to vote for him, but if anything I would say he is overrated. He’s adequate, but I am not in love with him the way many people seem to be.

Matt Cooke, of course, is his own ball of pent up wax, but I don’t think fans of the team really underrate him so much as fans of every other team in the league. So he doesn’t get my vote.

That leaves me with Niskanen, Martin and Park. I think Park has been fairly well appreciated, and it helps that expectations were never too high for him. We knew approximately what we were getting with him, and he’s managed to play very well for us. And I think that’s been recognized.

So Martin or Niskanen, then?
I went with Martin, but I think it’s pretty close. The main reason I didn’t vote for Niskanen is that while I think he does a lot of really great things on the ice, and fans are only slowly warming up to him, I also think he screws up often enough (and took long enough to find his groove in Pittsburgh) to warrant some of his bad press.

Martin, on the other hand, plays pretty well through some pretty big minutes most of the time. And his ability to skate the puck out of the zone and also to get into the play in the offensive zone really is something special.

I didn’t wade into the nominations thread. I assumed somebody would mention Fleury. Fleury always gets left out of these conversations. Yes, he gets a fair amount of credit, but you could argue that his reliable play is the reason that we can play Bylsma’s system.

I guess it’s hard to call him “unsung,” but he deserves more credit than he gets.

Out of the guys up there? Easily Matt Cooke. Staal is better, but he gets plenty of credit. Kunitz?… well, he looks much better when he’s next to Malkin or Crosby.

I went with Park. Every time the guy is on the ice, he’s playing hard, and he’s been scoring goals for us. I like him.

I THINK HE DESERVES A HELLUVA LOT OF CREDIT FOR THE RADICAL CHANGE IN HIS STYLE OF PLAY!!! LAST YEAR HE WAS OVER-CRITICIZED AND SUSPENDED FOR HIS DUMB AND AGGRESSIVE PENALTIES, AND EVEN CLOSE TO LOSING HIS CAREER; BUT THIS YEAR HE HAS BECOME SEEMINGLY A BETTER PASSER, ASSIST PERSON, DEFENSIVE PLAYER, RUSHER, AND ALL WITH MINOR NUMBER IN PENALTIES…OH, YES, A MONSTER ON PENALTY KILLS!!!!