Pens-Lightning Preview: Nonsense about Stamkos Revisited

By Finesse

The internet is basically one big giant super computer where people make predictions and rankings that are forgotten about almost before they are read.  But every once in a while, a list or prediction comes your way that makes you go "WTF?!?!" And the best thing about the internet is that while lists and predictions are ignored at the time, they're ALWAYS still on the internet.

Enter Adrian Dater, formerly of Versus.com, but now with the Denver Post.

Adrian Dater, or the guy from the "Don't Talk to Strangers" posters?

In July 2010, only the second month of GTOG's existence, Dater put out a list of his top-10 centers in the NHL.  Thanks to Puck Daddy, the list still exists.  Here were Dater's top-10:

1. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
2. Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
3. Henrik Sedin, Vancouver Canucks
4. Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks
5. Mike Richards, Philadelphia Flyers
6. Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins
7. Mikko Koivu, Minnesota Wild
8. Joe Thornton, San Jose Sharks
9. Nicklas Backstrom, Washington Capitals
10. Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim Ducks

Remember -- this list was from July 2010.  Obviously, Richards over Malkin was laughable at the time, although slightly less laughable than today (remember, Geno did not have a great 09-10 season for his standards).  Mikko Koivu on this list, however, was always laughable.

But the most glaring omission, as we pointed out emphatically at the time, was Steven Stamkos.  The guy had just scored 51 goals during a season in which he turned 20 years old.  Since then, Stamkos scored 45 goals last season, and already has an astonishing 43 goals this season.

The point of this post is three-fold: 1) to fill space; 2) to show you that you should always listen to GTOG's predictions and rankings (after all -- GTOG and its family all predicted Courtney as the winner of the Bachelor before the season started and, obviously, that's looking quite strong); and 3) Steven Stamkos is really, really good.

So good.

Finally, we leave you with a what-if:  Two of the guys on the top-10 list who actually belong there (Toews, Backstrom), were drafted after Jordan Staal in 2006.

Go Pens.