Polling the NHLers
The Hockey News' extensive player survey is today's read of the day.
If you could play for any NHL team (other than your own), which would you choose?Teams without a single vote, from 283 NHLers: Atlanta, Columbus, New Jersey, the Islanders, St. Louis and Washington.
1) Toronto Maple Leafs (34) 14.4%
2) New York Rangers (29) 12.3%
3) Detroit Red Wings (19) 8%
4) Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks (18) 7.6%
5) Dallas Stars (15) 6.3%
6) Colorado Avalanche and Montreal Canadiens (14) 5.9%
7) Minnesota Wild and Tampa Bay Lightning (10) 4.2%
8) Phoenix Coyotes (9) 3.8%
9) Calgary Flames (8) 3.4%
10) Anaheim Ducks and Florida Panthers (5) 2.1%
11) Nashville Predators, Ottawa Senators and Pittsburgh Penguins (4) 1.7%
12) Chicago Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers and San Jose Sharks (3) 1.2%
13) Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres (2) 0.85%
14) Carolina Hurricane and Edmonton Oilers (1) 0.42%
How telling is it that players would rather play for the Coyotes than all but 10 NHL teams?
by James Mirtle @ 5:30 PM
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21 comments
21 Comments:
Wow there's some awesome stuff in there. great link.
i especially liek eth guy who says the best part about being a hockey player is "the women", and the the guy who wants to buyild his franchise around tjarnqvist...
Some interesting stuff in there, I laughed out loud at some of those.
Sean Avery gets no love from his coworkers, and three players think "naps" are the best part about playing in the NHL. THREE OF THEM OMG SO FUNNY
NHL players, in fact, enjoy naps more than fame.
It's amazing what you can read into this thing.
If you could play for any NHL team (other than your own), which would you choose?
14) Carolina Hurricane [sic] and Edmonton Oilers (1) 0.42% [tie for last]
Apparently, Ryan Smyth was one of the interviewees. Also, strange that the two least desirable franchises are the two most recent conference champions.
What’s the best thing about your job?
16) Video Coach, Steve Summers (1) 0.4%
Am I wrong to be reading more into that than face value?
What’s the worst thing about your job?
Among the last-place finishers here are:
autographs
Jeremy Roenick
girls
That's gotta be the same dude who was such a fan of Steve Summers.
money
Anson Carter
Cam Janssen
Darcy Tucker or Tomas Kaberle?
Someone put Rory Fitzpatrick as the best player in the NHL this season, this is great.
If I was an NHL player I would rather play in the minors than play for the Leafs...I think this is a fixed survey...everyone hates the Leafs....including me.
There are days when I would KILL for a nap. It doesn't surprise me at all that three players think naps are the best part about the NHL.
Vote for Rory I can get on board with. But Josh Green? They must have allowed players to vote for themselves!
So can we officially declare that more players want to play for Phoenix than fans want to watch them? Clearly there is a Gretzky influence going on there.
I am not surprised that Sakic was named the most respected player and Sean Avery the most hated but I am surprised both were by such large margins. Especially Avery considering that half the league plays against him at most once a season.
Interesting. 3.5% thought Toronto had the best ice and 4.9% thought they had the worst ice.
Yeah, who the hell wants to play somewhere where the team is supported through thick and thin, that hockey is number one, and where you are treated like a hero.
Anonymous is right, that would SUCK!
Is it understandable that I am left sort of wary of this poll due to the fact that a fifth of the team's in the NHL are not represented by even one player?
Regardless of whose fault that is (the teams themselves, the players on said teams, or The Hockey News for not better tagging players to poll), that seems rather ... ah ... not good?
It's obvious that once you get beyond home town team (which the Leafs surely must be for a significant portion of the league, still) weather is the No. 1 consideration. Why else would such a number want to play for loser franchises such as LA and VAN? Or especially PHO? Weather, weather, weather. Which is why, if the results were properly numbered, Edmonton would be 24th. Who, in their right mind, in a salary capped world, would CHOOSE to play in the Gravel Pit? Nobody. We will soon find out that the cap will bury teams located in god-forsaken shitholes.
Though I gotta admit the highish ranking of Minnesota has me stumped.
Though I gotta admit the highish ranking of Minnesota has me stumped.
They have a very nice building, supportive (but polite--they're Minnesotans, after all) fans, great fishing and hunting, and the Mall of America for the wives/girlfriends. Maybe that is part of it.
I got $10 that says Spezza was one of the two that said backchecking was the worst thing about their job!
I also find it strange that Crosby almost had the same amount of votes for "most respected" and "most hated".
I figured that the Alexes (Semin and Ovechkin) would have said backchecking but maybe one of those two wanted to vote 'polls like this one' and didn't send it in.
Why else would such a number want to play for loser franchises such as LA and VAN? Or especially PHO? Weather, weather, weather.
It's obvious that you haven't lived in Vancouver during the winter.
Personally, I wouldn't consider six straight months without seeing the sun as "good weather."
How telling is it that players would rather play for the Coyotes than all but 10 NHL teams?
hockey players love golf and Phoenix has loads of that...mix that with hot, dry, weather, and very nice gated communities for the rich, and it's a great place to actually live. Sure, the team sucks, but life is comfy.
Vancouver - It rains a lot, but it's mild and the city is beautiful. There are lots of good diversions for the players (clubs, outdoors, golf) and the standard of living and education is good. Unlike the other Canadian cities, we don't experience much biting cold and snow.
I don't know why anyone would want to live in Phoenix, it's the desert, it's not much of a city... Nearby Tempe has a great college town feel, but I think it's the only redeeming quality. When I saw Phoenix so high I assumed it was because of Gretzky.
Nick,
Most players are going to live in Scottsdale or east of Phoenix, where the majority of the gated communities are. Phoenix is a very clean, and well-maintained city, especially with the rich guys live.
I don't think that many players are so enamoured with Gretzky that he would be the primary reason they'd want to be traded there.
If you want to talk about those sorts of things, I would expect more players to pick Anaheim over Phoenix then.
I've been to Phoenix, and I don't think I'd care to live there...
Ultimately of course, we are only talking about 9 players though, so who knows what their motivation is. They could have picked it as a joke for all we know.
This poll makes me think that a large percentage of players prefer golf to hockey. They like cities that have a better climate for golf and teams that don't make the playoffs.
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