Hockey Trade Rumors

There is nothing bigger in March in the U.S. then the NCAA tournament, particularly the betting via brackets. There is nothing bigger in March (or any other month for that matter) in Canada then the NHL. This is what happens when worlds collide.Let’s try to find out where the best players rank in a way that can reach out to untraditional American hockey fans… with brackets! In the spirit of March Madness please select the best player in the following match ups.

The goal of this exercise is to pick the best player. Forget age. Forget cap hit. If you were playing a game tomorrow, which of the two players would you select. This is the best way to determine the best player.

For the purpose of the exercise, please do not argue the placing of the players in the brackets, because we could do that for hours on end. At least one player of each team had to be represented.

Here was the breakdown:
North: Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Chicago, Detroit, Minnesota
East: Boston, Buffalo, Islanders, Rangers, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh
South: Florida, Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Washington, Carolina, Nashville, Columbus, St Louis
West: Dallas, Phoenix, Anaheim, San Jose, Los Angeles, Colorado, Pacific

Select the winner of each bracket, then after a day or two, I will compile and create the bracket for the round of 32.

Without furthur ado, here we go:

North

1 Zetterberg
16 Koivu, M

8 Kane
9 Toews

5 Markov
12 Heatly

4 Lidstrom
13 Kiprusoff

6 Backstrom
11 Hemsky

3 Datsyuk
14 Phaneuf

7 Alfredsson
10 Kaberle

2 Iginla
15 Kovalev

East

1 Malkin
16 Streit

8 Lundqvist
9 Richards

5 Thomas
12 Vanek

4 Chara
13 Miller

6 Parise
11 Krejci

3 Brodeur
14 Gonchar

7 Carter
10 Kessel

2 Crosby
15 Fleury

South

1 Ovechkin
16 Boyes

8 St Louis
9 Semin

5 Mason
12 Staal, E

4 Green
13 Horton

6 Nash
11 Weber

3 Bouwmeester
14 Stamkos

7 Kovalchuk
10 Backstrom

2 Lecavalier
15 Brind`Amour

West

1 Thornton
16 Bryzgalov

8 Doan
9 Pronger

5 Nabokov
12 Sedin, D

4 Boyle
13 Sedin, H

6 Niedermayer
11 Kopitar

3 Getzlaf
14 Turco

7 Stastny
10 Marleau

2 Luongo
15 Brown