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Ooh! Aah! Sabres on the Warpath!, NY • United States • 35 Years Old • Male
I left objectivity out of this and concentrated only on the stats.
I started with players who have 30 pts this year.
I then removed any players with a +/- in the negative.
Then I whittled it down to players who play 20 min+ a game.

To be a great 2 way forward you have to play in all situations. So next players were eliminated with less than 1min/game on pk and 3 1/2min/game on pp.

I also figured that if they are playing pk they should be good at it. So I divided players ppga(power play goals against) by their minutes on pk/game. Anyone over a 5 was eliminated.

There were five left standing which I then ranked in each of these 6 categories. I added up the rankings and put them in order.

1. Sidney Crosby
2. Patrick Marleau
3. Mikko Koivu
4. Daniel Alfredsson
5. Derek Roy

Point leader - Crosby
+/- - Marleau
toi/g - Crosby
pk/g - Koivu
pp/g - Crosby
(ppga)/(pk/g) - Alfredsson

Any thoughts or arguments on who the best 2-way forwards in the game are?
Filed Under:   forward   crosby   ranking   airtsabes  
January 5, 2009 4:27 PM ET | Delete
out of those, I'd have to say Alfredsson... if there were one of Ottawa's big three that can't be moved based on what they bring to the team, it'd be him.
January 5, 2009 4:33 PM ET | Delete
I was surprised when I saw how well Afredsson is on the PK. He is definitely a well rounded player.
January 5, 2009 5:47 PM ET | Delete
i think ELIAS is up there
January 5, 2009 5:48 PM ET | Delete
Datsuk also
January 5, 2009 7:18 PM ET | Delete
Yeah, where did Pavel Datsyuk rank in your poll. I compared his stats with most of the five you have listed and his are as good if not better than some. He's got 16g 26a for 42pts, 6 ppg, 1 shg and is a plus 16 and plays in all situations.
January 5, 2009 7:27 PM ET | Delete
I would put votes in for both Jeff Carter and Mike Richards, with Richards getting the slight nod between the two. Just my two cents... SYF
January 5, 2009 9:50 PM ET | Delete
Carter was one of the last to get knocked off the list, but was definitely right there. Elias and Datsyuk were just under 20min a game but both excellent choices.
January 6, 2009 7:13 AM ET | Delete
Personally, I think that your criteria is too offensive. The lack of statistics to support defensive strength makes this a hard distinction to arrive at through numbers. That said, I love your systematic break down here. It certainly has value in terms of identifying the most well rounded offensive players. Of these five, my pick for best two way player is Koivu. He's not only strong in all three zones, but dominant (if he's less dominant than, say, Crosby in the offensive zone, he kills Sid in the defensive).
January 6, 2009 9:55 AM ET | Delete
What about Simon Gagne? His TOI may be a little skewed because he left a couple of games early including one in Vancouver after about 10 seconds.
January 6, 2009 5:23 PM ET | Delete
crosby is not top 5 2 way forward. he doesnt check, starts bitch fights, and last time i checked, he isnt a top penalty killer. however, where does ovechkin fit on your list; despite his superb offensive skills, he always gives his best, skating from one side to another checking people while he doesnt have the puck.. also, i believe datsyuk, elias, and richards are all better 2 way players than sid the bitch
January 6, 2009 11:52 PM ET | Delete
Philly fans are pretty funny, the above mentioned players are very good at both ends of the ice but not at all top 5 2 way players. I like your list but mine would look something more like Alfredsson, Datsyuk, Crosby, Zetterberg,Marleau.
January 7, 2009 1:36 AM ET | Delete
Datsyuk for Sure
January 7, 2009 3:04 PM ET | Delete
crosby a 2way player??????? really?
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