2009-10 Biggest Let-Down

[Merlin401]

The 2009-10 season was one in which many legendary careers hit the "twilight" stage. There is little doubt about where the most disappointing fighter is going to come from. For more than a decade the top of the best fighters lists have been highly invariant, led by the eternal presence of Donald Brashear and Georges Laraque. Last year's top 4 were Wade Belak, Brashear, Laraque and Eric Godard and all four seemed to face a decline.

Nominees

Wade Belak, Nashville Predators: Belak was voting the #1 fighter of the 2008-09 season after knocking out Donald Brashear at the end of the season. A lot of people thought he was in for big things but his career returned to mediocrity as he managed 10 fights without a win over a top 10 fighter. The season was typified by a clear loss at the end of the season to up-start Steve MacIntyre, a borderline knockdown. With a big void at the top of the 'Best Fighter' list, Belak wasn't able to capitalize.

Donald Brashear, New York Rangers: The Don is pushing 40 so its no fault of his own that he was in for a major decline. We've seen it coming. But it came at a bad time for Rangers fans who watched a promising, exciting young fighter in Colton Orr let escape without being resigned. In his place, management spent even more money to sign the aging veteran Brashear, and a Rangers nemesis at that. In 36 games, Brashear mustered only 1 point (an assist) and nine uninspiring fights including a TKO loss to Matt Carkner. After torturing the Rangers for years as a force in the division, he was doing the same as a void on the 4th line before he was finally banished to the AHL. It is a great career but it didn't end with a bang.

Georges Laraque, Montreal Canadiens: You can essentially fill in the same story for Big Georges as we did for Brashear. It's been a great career but it winded down to a point where his team just couldn't justify putting him out on the ice anymore. Laraque had a -6 rating in 28 games while managing just 1 goal, 4 fights, and 28 penalty minutes. He wasn't able to record a solid victory and simply wasn't a presence on the ice, until finally being suspended from the team.

Eric Godard, Pittsburgh Penguins: After back to back seasons of 170+ penalty minutes and 17+ fights, Eric Godard entered 09-10 as one of the most popular and exciting fighters in the league. This year proved to be a bit of a down year as he managed only 8 fights without many major victories or particularly exciting fights. He also suffered slight losses to Donald Brashear and Jody Shelley.


My Pick

I think I'll give Brashear and Laraque a pass as a down-turn was inevitable for them at their age. Wade Belak was someone who seemed poised to put up a big year and seemed to revert so I'll go with him.

Previous Winners

2003-04: Georges Laraque
2005-06: Wade Belak
2006-07: Todd Fedoruk
2007-08: Andrew Peters
2008-09: Andre Roy

[nyislesfan45]

Brashear. This guy used to be a scary mother ****er, now he can't even beat Rechlicz in the minors.

[NJDevils17]

Went with Belak. He was the champ last year and just mediocre this year.

I think it's a bit unfair to have Godard nominated. He was out for a lot of games due to injury so he really couldn't control that.

[nyislesfan45]

Take off Godard and put up Peters/Cote

[zoli]

I voted for Brashear. Belak was not a big disappointment imo, his card was very solid and he held his own most of the time. Maybe he didnt win too many, but he did his job. Laraque was pretty inactive and Godard wasnt healthy for the most part. He still managed to get a few wins in the end of the season.

Brashear started out well, but after the MacIntyre fight he wasnt the same. His fight with Thornton was embarassing and later he was dropped by Carkner.

[BigBadWolf1171]

I went wth brashear, not that i feel he was a let down but more the rags let him down. I dont feel brash was done by any means,Yeah he got KD'd by Carkner,wtf Orr got TKO'd by Carkner. Yeah Bigmac made brash go to a knee, ya dont win em all.And the Godard fight,straight up draw but i guess with the scratch with blood on brash's head that means he lost .But non the less, the brashear situation was a total let-down.

[Wild_KO King]

Another tough choice, but IMO Laraque hasn't been relevant for several years now and Brashear is getting a bit grey, so I went with Belak - who went from Surprising HW King last year to an absolute ghost this year.

On a side note, is there any chance we can rename this award to the "Andrew Peters" award?

[acdcrocksno1]

Carcillo should be up here

[leon phelps]

Originally Posted by acdcrocksno1

Carcillo should be up here

Some flyers bitch will be chiming in any second how tough he is.

[Philly Fan 27]

Originally Posted by leon phelps

Some flyers bitch will be chiming in any second how tough he is.

he beat up gaborik!

[Cat Smasher]

Godard hurt, Laraque cut, Brash sent down, that only leaves Belak.

[acdcrocksno1]

Originally Posted by leon phelps

Some flyers bitch will be chiming in any second how tough he is.

Thats what really annoys me he is a tough guy and not this idiot who throws himself on the floor whenever a player comes within a foot of him in hope of a penalty

[Active Stick]

Went with Belak, mainly because of how far he fell from last year. Fighter of the year to this...yikes.

[ThrowdownSJ408]

I cant hate on Godard. Belak close second for me but he jsut wasnt active. Not really his fault. I went with BGL because he should have known how to stay in the show. What a moron.

[jp4202003]

Belak.

not very good this year at all