Thursday, July 30, 2009

Calder Winner?

The Hockey News has listed the top five Calder Trophy candidates for the 2009-10 season and Ville Leino is listed as number 4.

"Ville Leino is the most mature among our top crop and will be counted on to provide offense in Detroit."


It's nice to see him getting recognition for his talent, however, this can backfire as well. Some players can't handle the pressure, but I don't think--okay, I HOPE--that it isn't a problem for Leino. He is, after all, older than most rookies and was a star in Finland before coming here, so he knows what pressure is all about. He showed a maturity when he stayed in Grand Rapids last year instead of taking the option of returning to Finland when he didn't get to stay in Detroit. He has some work to do, but should do well this year. Calder winner? We can only hope.

The other four in the top five are: 1) Cody Hodgson, 2) John Tavares, 3) Nikita Filatov, 5) Simeon Varlamov.

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