John Buccigross picks Calgary to finish 6th in the WC, and takes aim at Alex Tanguay:

...There is no excuse for Tanguay not to be a double-digit power-play scorer. Five power-play goals is unacceptable.

This is where Mike "3:10 to Lethbridge" Keenan can help with a confrontational preseason pep talk to Mr. Tanguay.

"Alex, you are gutless. You need to get in high-traffic areas and take a beating sometimes and score more power-play goals. You have plenty of quality padding and a Ford F-250 windshield across your face. You are hurting yourself, your teammates and your family name by your soft play. Now, get in there or I will call you out in the media and I will take away your ice time and your future earning power. You make $5.3 million a year and I have no idea why. You almost make as much as Martin St. Louis, who has 10 times your courage and conviction. Is this how you want to be remembered? Because that's how you will be remembered by everyone you've ever played with. [...]"

I basically agree with Butch's first two sentences there -- it's a mystery, and not the fun kind, why Tanguay isn't more productive on the PP. But the rest is a pretty outrageous drive-by slur, and, even minus the hyperbole and character assassination, at least 5 kinds of wrong.

1) Tanguay, as noted on this site ad nauseam, is an extremely productive player at even-strength. He led the Western Conference in EV Pts/60 (led the league amongst non-Sabres). As Butch is quite aware, generally a PP involves one fewer player on the ice, which is at least enough to make you think twice about whether "traffic" is Tanguay's problem on the PP.

2) Here are the 15 most productive forwards in the NHL last season, ranked by PP Pts/60 (min. 180 minutes):

SAKU KOIVU, SIDNEY CROSBY, JOE THORNTON, TEEMU SELANNE, MARIAN GABORIK, STEPHEN WEISS, PATRICK MARLEAU, MARC SAVARD, RYAN GETZLAF, JOZEF STUMPEL, MICHAEL RYDER, ANDREW BRUNETTE, PETER FORSBERG, KRISTIAN HUSELIUS, PAUL STASTNY

Your mileage may vary, but if I was looking for a common characteristic among these players, the first thing to mind would NOT be "guys most willing to head to the high traffic areas to take a beating".

3) I have never seen Tanguay shy away from contact. As noted in the playoffs, he was plenty physical.

4) I have never read anything from an ex-teammate calling Tanguay soft.

5) Tanguay is just an effing outstanding passer. Since he's not a flashy puckhandler, it's tough to appreciate, but really: he spent most of last season getting the puck in open ice to the only guy the opposition really cared about defending. He sees the ice and makes decisions exceedingly fast; he is the proverbial one step ahead. As such, it would be awfully tough to justify standing him in front of the net to take cross-checks as a sound PP strategy.

Considering how many words Butch has spent slobbering over what a unique and beautiful player Scott Niedermayer is, I'm actually pretty shocked that he's so down on Tanguay. This cat plays the game differently, and is bloody effective doing it.

Uh, except on the powerplay. Why is that? I don't know... maybe he's the hockey analogue to the basketball player who can exploit man-to-man defense but not zone. What I do know is that Buccigross' diagnosis, and his prescription, are way, way off.

PS: I have nothing bad to say about Martin ("Ten Times") St. Louis, but when you put EV and PP rates together, Tanguay is more productive. MSL's totals are higher because of (A) quite a bit more ice time (which I grant could demonstrate heart), and (B) a bunch of SH points on what was otherwise the 3rd-worst PK team in the NHL, which I'm pretty sure doesn't.

PPS: Also, Butch picks 4 NW teams to makes the playoffs, and in 2nd, 5th, 6th, and 7th no less. I think this is only mathematically possible if the Oil goes 0-32 in the Northwest, but he picked them 12th. (And used Barry Manilow to do it. Just saying.)