2007-08 Crowder Award: Rookie of the Year

[Merlin401]

The NHL started producing more and more skilled players who could fight instead of heavyweights, and that can't be a bad thing. Most of the rookies in the 07-08 class dont have to worry about becoming extinct tomorrow as they are much more versatile than one-dimensional fighters of the past. The crop was so strong, guys like Adam Burish, Cody McLeod, Aaron Voros, and Brandon Dubinsky didn't even sniff a nomination despite having key rolls on their teams.

Nominees:

Jared Boll - Columbus Blue Jackets
Boll led the league with 27 fights after a high-energy training camp and pre-season which made him a fan favorite in Columbus. Unfortunately, his success led to the extinction of the ultimate fan favorite in Columbus: Jody Shelley. With Shelley gone, the middleweight Boll stepped up to take on heavyweight competition including Hordichuk, Janssen, M. Walker, Downey, and others. Though he still needs some work before being a heavyweight force, he provided highlight fights vs. Doug Murray and others. His is the new-breed of enforcer who can chip in some goals, hit everything in sight, step up against heavyweights and enforce against pests.

Daniel Carcillo - Phoenix Coyotes
Carcillo's stat line would fit in perfectly in 1980, nestled neatly near that of Bob Probert or Tiger Williams, and that's saying something. Here it is: 57 games, 11 goals, 13 assists, 19 fights, 324 penalty minutes!!!! The guy has a temper, a mean streak, and some nice skill to boot. As the first 300 pim man in the NHL since Peter Worrell, he will need to control himself as his crazy antics often got him in trouble with the coach. At his penalty minute pace, with a full season he could have challenged Dave Schultz' penalty minute record from 1973-74. As a fighter he had great fights with Tollefsen, Rypien and Mike Brown while giving us two highlight reel knockdowns of Brian Sutherby and a KO of Kris Barch. He even faced a few heavyweights when no one else on a soft Phoenix team would do so.

David Clarkson -- New Jersey Devils
Another of the new-breed skilled fighters, Clarkson's rookie year saw him rip off 21 fights and 22 points (including 9 goals) playing on every line at some point in the year. Absolved from heavyweight duties by Mike Rupp, Clarkson fought middleweights, pests and captains all year, including a great fight with Sean Avery in which he game out the victor. He developed mini-rivalries with Chris Gratton, Mike Commodore, Bill Guerin and Jason Smith, fighting each man twice. With only two significant losses on the year (when he stepped up a weight class vs. Milan Lucic and Chris Simon), Clarkson shows a tremendous amount of promise for the years ahead.

Riley Cote - Philadelphia Flyers
After Jesse Boulerice was handed a massive suspension at the start of the year, the heavyweight job belonged to Cote and he made the most of the opportunity. He ripped off 24 fights against virtually every elite heavyweight he could track down. Highlights include a fight-of-the-year front-runner vs. Shawn Thornton, a TKO of Andre Roy which made his opponent go literally insane with anger, an impressive win against Brian McGrattan, and some great fights with Orr, Shelley, Laraque, and more.

Milan Lucic - Boston Bruins
Lucic is the next great power-foward in the NHL, but by the old definition which is a "mean-talented forward who fights and intimidates" instead of the new definition of "a talented forward who weighs over 220 pounds." Lucic put up 27 points and 15 fights, which was kept down by a badly fractured nose which forced him to stop fighting for over a month. He actually needed more rest than that but couldn't help himself from getting involved. Beyond his impressive hitting ability, Lucic was a dominating fighter against middleweights who should one day match up well with some NHL heavyweights. Highlights include a tremendous fight with Jarkko Ruutu, a wicked beating of Matt Bradley, and a trail of early season destruction against Mark Bell, David Clarkson, Jared Boll, Nick Tarnasky, and Barrett Jackman. And he's not even 20 years old! Watch out, NHL. Congratulations Boston fans.

My Pick:

This is a brutal one to choose from as these are five highly worthy recipients. As much as I love a wild man like Daniel Carcillo, I have to go with Milan Lucic. The guy is the total package and is going to be special. He's a pay-to-see type player. Riley Cote will no doubt get a serious supply of well-deserved votes too.

Previous Winners:

03-04: Andrew Peters
05-06: Brian McGrattan
06-07: D.J. King

[Thrillhouse]

He probably doesn't deserve mention in this category, especially with the guys nominated, but I like the Eric Nystrom story. One fight in the AHL in 05-06 and nothing in 06-07 (mostly injured). Makes the club and throws down 8 times in 44 games, and another in the AHL.

That's doing what it takes to stay in the big leagues!

[skacore]

I picked Cote based on activeness and quality of opponent. I love watching Lucic but his whole broken nose deal was disappointing, whenever he tested the waters with heavies something went wrong and seemed to turn him off it a bit. No doubt I expect Lucic to come back with a great year next year and by 2010 he'll be scrapping the biggest dogs in the league.

[IhateLindros]

Originally Posted by Thrillhouse

He probably doesn't deserve mention in this category, especially with the guys nominated, but I like the Eric Nystrom story. One fight in the AHL in 05-06 and nothing in 06-07 (mostly injured). Makes the club and throws down 8 times in 44 games, and another in the AHL.

That's doing what it takes to stay in the big leagues!

Homer! LOL....no seriously, I'd give a nod to Nystrom as well for what he did this season. Hopefully he'll stick around in Calgary. Or maybe he'll relive his dasa legacy and come to the Islanders this season. Either way he gets props.

Otherwise Riley Cote gets my vote here in what was a very tough call. I love Carcillo and Boll in this spot but I wanted to see Cote fight in every game I watched this year.

[bupz91]

Cote gets my vote because he stepped in and fought everyone.

[Isles4life]

Great crop, but Cote did the best job of immediately ascending to the heavyweight ranks. But you really can't go wrong with a guy like Carcillo who led the league in PIMs by a mile or a Lucic who will probably soon be one of the most skilled fighters in the league. Almost any other year, and I'd vote in a heartbeat for a guy as active as Jared Boll, but the competition was just too tough.

[Orr=God]

cote.

[Killah_punk]

I gotta give it to Cote, he had a great fight card and some impressive wins.

[Snipes19]

Riley Cote.

This one isn't very close - and that's actually not really complimenting Cote. It's just because he hardly has any competition, IMO. He's the only heavyweight on that list and is the only guy that can hang with every heavy. Lucic could probably do okay against a couple, but guys like Boll and Clarkson would get clobbered if they fought an elite heavyweight. Cote also fought a ton this year, so he's the rookie of the year. I think we've had much better years when it came to rookie fighters though...

[IceDog44]

A lot of good rookies this season, and a lot to choose from in terms of fighting talent overall, not a whole lot in the hw division however.

I'm going to say Jared Boll was my favorite from this season because of how active he was. The guy wanted to make a name for himself through fighting, and I definitely would say that he did that. My second favorite rookie from this season would probably have to be Riley Cote, who was the only legit heavyweight of the freshman class.

[ProbieRules]

Have to go with Cote, he went T2T with just about every HW in the league this year...Lucic was great and will only get better, but Cote gets my vote.

[Cat Smasher]

Gotta go with Cote.

But, Lucic could kill godzilla.

[BStreetBullies]

Nobody really went through the gauntlet that Cote has gone through this year as a rookie and lived to tell about it. He took his bumps, and returned some as well. Cote gets my vote here.

But I was very surprised with Lucic's ability, although I somewhat feel he could fight a class up.

[BGDDYKWL]

Do we go strictly best fighter, most skilled fighter, or most entertaining player/fighter? Tough call.

[Phila26Flyers]

Originally Posted by BGDDYKWL

Do we go strictly best fighter, most skilled fighter, or most entertaining player/fighter? Tough call.

That would be Cote, Cote, and Cote anyway so what are you getting at?