Guest Kovy-27 Posted July 10, 2008 Report Share Posted July 10, 2008 You can't just give up on Higgins like that! I bet the people who are giving up on him are the same that said that Kovalev was finished.It wasn't his best season but he's going to come back strong next year Mark My Word! And yes...I was one of the crazy fans who said before the season start that Kovalev was going to get more the 70 points! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony1234 Posted July 10, 2008 Report Share Posted July 10, 2008 You can't just give up on Higgins like that! I bet the people who are giving up on him are the same that said that Kovalev was finished.It wasn't his best season but he's going to come back strong next year Mark My Word! And yes...I was one of the crazy fans who said before the season start that Kovalev was going to get more the 70 points! I don't understand it either.....for a guy who had such a crappy season he still managed 27 goals I think.....he just has a few problems with consistancy, and when he takes care of that, watch out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
js2 Posted July 10, 2008 Report Share Posted July 10, 2008 The guy had 27 goals in a "slumping" year. I don't know why everyone is so quick to put him on the 3rd line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russianhabsfan Posted July 10, 2008 Report Share Posted July 10, 2008 js2 you're the last person I expected to jump in the "overreaction" wagon. Same thing happened with the Ryder thread. Where people were just discussing pure hockey. And others were overreacting saying that someone was bashing Ryder. Personally as I said before I don't see Higgins starting anywhere lower than the 2nd line. Yes, Sergei is awesome and all. But like his older brother he needs to be a little patient and work his way up. That's the main reason why I don't see Sergei getting that 2nd line spot over Higgins. Chris had an awesome year with probably the most empty nets missed in the league (made up stat)! Imagine if he got at least quarter of those in! We'd be looking at what, 35 goals? I think he'll have a great season this year. All I'm saying is that if he doesn't - yes this might become another Ryder thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Memories-of-Steve-Penney Posted July 10, 2008 Report Share Posted July 10, 2008 Higgins is not only an offensive threat but a capable and tenacious two-way player as well (that should go on the back of his hockey card!). I think the lines will sort themselves out. If Chris' name was Mike Fisher and he pots close to 30 goals with heart and soul play does anybody rag on him? Probably not. I think that there may be too much in the way of offensive expectations with Chris. The player he is now is excellent and there is still room for modest improvement. I don't think Higgy Baby (reference is to Magnum PI not his attitude) will ever get 50 but I do believe he is a guy you win Cups with and that's good enough for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteenIsThaFuture Posted July 10, 2008 Report Share Posted July 10, 2008 I actually think if he buries half his chances he muffed on it wouldn't be 35 goals, we might be talking about a 40 goal guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leafs_rock_go_mccabe Posted July 10, 2008 Report Share Posted July 10, 2008 People sure are animated about Higgins. I'm sure he's going to have another super year in 2008-2009. The important thing is that he relaxes expectations that he himself holds, and that we as fans relax our expectations, too. Higgins may very well net 30 goals this season, which would be spectacular, but I don't think we can automatically assume Higgins is going to be the sniper that scores the game-tying goal with 25 seconds left to send us into o/t. He should also plant himself in front of the net more if he's going to be on the PP. I'm sure he can have wonderful amounts of success picking up rebounds in front of the goal. Captain K is good at that, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roy_133 Posted July 10, 2008 Report Share Posted July 10, 2008 The guy had 27 goals in a "slumping" year. I don't know why everyone is so quick to put him on the 3rd line. How was this a "slumping year" for Higgins? He had career highs in goals, assists, points, +/-. He had a good year, and his stats are very much inline with the kind of numbers he put up in his 2 seasons in Hamilton. Like I was saying in another thread, it's not BEYOND him to go score 40 goals, but until he does something like that, I'm not ready to qualify last year as an off year. I like Higgins, but on a team that wants to contend he can't be relied upon to be a goalscorer, he's too inconsistent and streaky. He's a great 2 way player, and an elite 3rd line type guy right now, but until he shows some consistency, I'd rather have him on my 3rd line. His minutes won't go down (If anything, they may go up), he'd probably still get some PP time since Sergei plays the point and there's a spot open upfront on the 2nd unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony1234 Posted July 10, 2008 Report Share Posted July 10, 2008 How was this a "slumping year" for Higgins? He had career highs in goals, assists, points, +/-. He had a good year, and his stats are very much inline with the kind of numbers he put up in his 2 seasons in Hamilton. Like I was saying in another thread, it's not BEYOND him to go score 40 goals, but until he does something like that, I'm not ready to qualify last year as an off year. I like Higgins, but on a team that wants to contend he can't be relied upon to be a goalscorer, he's too inconsistent and streaky. He's a great 2 way player, and an elite 3rd line type guy right now, but until he shows some consistency, I'd rather have him on my 3rd line. His minutes won't go down (If anything, they may go up), he'd probably still get some PP time since Sergei plays the point and there's a spot open upfront on the 2nd unit. I think the term slumping was being used because there have been many who were disappointed with his season, some even saying he does not have what it takes and should be traded !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourtrax Posted July 10, 2008 Report Share Posted July 10, 2008 How was this a "slumping year" for Higgins? He had career highs in goals, assists, points, +/-. He had a good year, and his stats are very much inline with the kind of numbers he put up in his 2 seasons in Hamilton. Like I was saying in another thread, it's not BEYOND him to go score 40 goals, but until he does something like that, I'm not ready to qualify last year as an off year. I like Higgins, but on a team that wants to contend he can't be relied upon to be a goalscorer, he's too inconsistent and streaky. He's a great 2 way player, and an elite 3rd line type guy right now, but until he shows some consistency, I'd rather have him on my 3rd line. His minutes won't go down (If anything, they may go up), he'd probably still get some PP time since Sergei plays the point and there's a spot open upfront on the 2nd unit. Quoted for truth. BTW, Higgins on the third line would not be a demotion of any kind. He's a great two-way player, he skates well, he's good for 25+ goals per season, and he'll see plenty of PK time. He's ideally suited for a two-way role. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roy_133 Posted July 10, 2008 Report Share Posted July 10, 2008 I think the term slumping was being used because there have been many who were disappointed with his season, some even saying he does not have what it takes and should be traded !!! I suppose so, Higgins is one of the guys people expect too much out of. Maybe it's because he has those 10-20 game streaks where he looks like Kovalchuk, maybe because he publicly discussed wanting to score 40 goals. I don't know, but I was in no way disappointed with what he did last year, in fact, if that's the player we have anchoring our 3rd line and wearing a letter on his jersey for the next 10 years then I'll be thrilled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stajan1 Posted July 10, 2008 Report Share Posted July 10, 2008 I suppose so, Higgins is one of the guys people expect too much out of. Maybe it's because he has those 10-20 game streaks where he looks like Kovalchuk, maybe because he publicly discussed wanting to score 40 goals. I don't know, but I was in no way disappointed with what he did last year, in fact, if that's the player we have anchoring our 3rd line and wearing a letter on his jersey for the next 10 years then I'll be thrilled. spot on roy, him and chipchura are that 2 way paring this team has been waiting for for a long while! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QbGamer Posted July 11, 2008 Report Share Posted July 11, 2008 Ya, but at the same time if one was to look @ how many easy tap ins higgins could have scored last season, or how many breaks he had which he didnt score on. You could see the potential is there. He has the work ethic, he seems to have a good sense as to where to be on the ice, he just needs to finish the close. He would tally a ton of more goals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roy_133 Posted July 11, 2008 Report Share Posted July 11, 2008 Ya, but at the same time if one was to look @ how many easy tap ins higgins could have scored last season, or how many breaks he had which he didnt score on. You could see the potential is there. He has the work ethic, he seems to have a good sense as to where to be on the ice, he just needs to finish the close. He would tally a ton of more goals Yeah he would, but I mean, we've heard the samething about a lot of player who haven't been able to finish consistently. Bulis was an example, he worked very hard and created a lot of chances but didn't have much finishing ability. I'm not comparing Bulis and Higgins. I'm just saying I'm not going to call last year a down year based on the chances he missed, because he has yet to prove he can consistently convert those chances, and until he proves that, he will just be an elite 3rd line player in my books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourtrax Posted July 11, 2008 Report Share Posted July 11, 2008 Roy, you call him an elite third-line player, and I agree whole-heartedly, but you seriously can't blame people for being disappointed, because he's being used as a second-line winger, not a third-line winger. A second-line winger simply can't be missing scoring chances the way Higgins did last season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony1234 Posted July 11, 2008 Report Share Posted July 11, 2008 Roy, you call him an elite third-line player, and I agree whole-heartedly, but you seriously can't blame people for being disappointed, because he's being used as a second-line winger, not a third-line winger. A second-line winger simply can't be missing scoring chances the way Higgins did last season. I would agree more if you were talking a first line winger........how much does the average second line winger score anyway, does anyone know ? 27 goals in a so called bad season does not seem to awful bad to me for a second liner ???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roy_133 Posted July 11, 2008 Report Share Posted July 11, 2008 Roy, you call him an elite third-line player, and I agree whole-heartedly, but you seriously can't blame people for being disappointed, because he's being used as a second-line winger, not a third-line winger. A second-line winger simply can't be missing scoring chances the way Higgins did last season. I'm not blaming them for being disappointed, atleast I'm not trying to. My point is, calling that a disappointing season has no basis because he's never done better, he set career highs in all major scoring stats. So it's not a disappointing season from him, maybe it's disappointing he's on the 2nd line instead of where he belongs. My problem was more people acting like it was a down year, which I feel is incorrect, I think expecting much more then he did last year is unreasonable, it's just the kind of player I think he is. It's not his fault he's on the 2nd line as far as I know, if people are mad that he's on the 2nd line instead of a true scoring winger they should be venting that in the Gainey/Carbo threads instead of the Higgins thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmalone Posted July 12, 2008 Report Share Posted July 12, 2008 Out of the entire league only 41 players scored more goals then Higgins. He was two goals out from being in the top-30 in goal scoring in the league and he just turned 25! And some of you think he shouldn't be playing on the second line let alone the first line? Madness I say, madness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sssfffs Posted July 12, 2008 Report Share Posted July 12, 2008 Chris higgins will have an Outstanding year this season. I think we all remember how he starts off a season amazing and then gets injured. I hope this doesn't happen to him. I want him to stay healthy. When he is on fire and when he has confidence other teams better watch out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrownSugarl Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 Out of the entire league only 41 players scored more goals then Higgins. He was two goals out from being in the top-30 in goal scoring in the league and he just turned 25! And some of you think he shouldn't be playing on the second line let alone the first line? Madness I say, madness. To piggy-back on that, only 30 players had more shots than Higgins (241). Trouble last season was that, for whatever reason, the pucks just didn't bounce his way. Luck still plays a factor; let's hope it turns around a bit in 08-09. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russianhabsfan Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 ...let's hope it turns around a bit in 08-09. He has to (RFA in 09/10). And I think he will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianMike Posted July 23, 2008 Report Share Posted July 23, 2008 When you think of it ...it is pretty weird. Higgins had his best season so far and some of us feel disappointed in him. The fact he gets LOTS & LOTS of scoring chances is great, but at the same time the fact he misses those chances too often makes some fans think he is overrated and wouldn't mind to see him traded. If he has a good season, but doesn't put up better numbers than this past season (because he is given a more defensive role) I wonder where he will stand (in the eyes of fans)? I also wonder what next season will bring. Maybe the bandwagon will be full again...at least for a little while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlHabsFan Posted July 23, 2008 Report Share Posted July 23, 2008 When you think of it ...it is pretty weird. Higgins had his best season so far and some of us feel disappointed in him. The fact he gets LOTS & LOTS of scoring chances is great, but at the same time the fact he misses those chances too often makes some fans think he is overrated and wouldn't mind to see him traded. If he has a good season, but doesn't put up better numbers than this past season (because he is given a more defensive role) I wonder where he will stand (in the eyes of fans)? I also wonder what next season will bring. Maybe the bandwagon will be full again...at least for a little while. I think thats the problem. He has all this ability, but he is having trouble burying the shot. Look at all the goals that Gretzky and others in that league put up. Now imagine if more of those goals where clangs. If Chris ever gets his game to where those shots go in, watch out. We would have a Rocket Richard trophy winner in him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bleedinblue Posted July 23, 2008 Report Share Posted July 23, 2008 The only problem I have about him is that he is as streaky as the day is long. He needs to become more of a consistent threat instead of a guy that seemingly comes out of nowhere and vanishes again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brazinrasin Posted July 24, 2008 Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 The only problem I have about him is that he is as streaky as the day is long. He needs to become more of a consistent threat instead of a guy that seemingly comes out of nowhere and vanishes again. He has progressed every year but now, as you say, entering his 4th season, his consistency needs to improve. He has surpassed the 20 goal plateau in two straight seasons and it is not unreasonable for him to reach 30 next year. As frustrating as he was during his many cold spells last season, he was always generating chances which means he is beating his defenders and finding dead ice. As the season wore on, it was clear that the pressure was wearing on Chris. This year brings a clean slate for Chris, who should be recharged mentally and physically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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