National Hockey League (NHL) Players with most responsibility in Western Conference –Part 2
Being a captain is not necessarily the position which is always targeted, because there can only be one captain but there are a number of other players also who contribute and make a team what it is in the end.
The duty of the captain is usually to guide the younger players of the club who are either newly picked up or drafted and are in crucial need of well rounded guidance, which will eventually mould them into good players.
Even goalies have a huge role to play on the ice and ultimately in how their team ranks not only at the end of the season, but when history is made and teams along with players reach the rank of legendary.
Craig Anderson (Goalie, Ottawa Senators)
Craig Anderson did something for Colorado Avalanche these two last seasons, which it will be hard to find the same level of performance for them now that he has been traded to Ottawa Senators. He took a struggling team like Colorado and put them into the
playoffs during the 2009-2010 season.
Ottawa is not embarrassed to announce that it has signed on the 30-year-old for the same reason as the Canadian club works towards becoming a better team overall next season.
Steve Mason (Goalie, Columbus Blue Jackets)
Steve Mason had a lot of pressure on his shoulders when he was inducted into the National Hockey League (NHL) as the 69th overall during round-three of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. In his first season with Columbus Blue Jackets, the 23-year-old played
outstandingly and set the stage on fire by winning 33 out of 61 games played and maintaining a save percentage of .916.
Since then, the Oakville, Ontario, Canada native has not seen better days but actually worse have come his way. Columbus is anticipating a much needed change in his game-play next season to lift the struggling team.
Brenden Morrow (Forward, Dallas Stars)
Brenden Morrow is not in any way new to the NHL limelight and was one of the best-rounded players in the league, who not only provided an attacking offence but also a strong defence.
It was during the 2007-2008 season that he truly became a leader and led Dallas Stars to their last playoff appearance, by scoring an impressive 74 points (32 goals, 42 assists) during the regular season and an even better 15 point (9 goals, 6 assists) performance
during their 18 game playoffs stretch which took them into the semi-finals.
It could be blamed on his knee injury the following season that Morrow has been struggling to find his game since then, but is a regular for Dallas.
Dallas needs to make the playoffs and by hiring a new coach for the new season, Morrow will also have to contribute to let everyone know that their previous stretch just was not by good luck but rather by hard work and dedication.
To be continued in part 3.......
(The views expressed by the writer are his own and do not reflect the editorial policy of www.bettor.com)
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