61 Reasons Why Mark Stone Should Win The Calder Trophy
By Jack Leiper
Mark Stone should win the 2014-15 Calder Trophy because...
1. He led rookies in points with 26 goals, 64 points. Johnny Gaudreau was second with 64 points, but fewer goals.
2. His 26 goals were only bettered amongst rookies by fellow Senators forward, Mike Hoffman. Hoffman finished the year with 27 goals.
3. His strong two way play led all Senators forwards in scoring. Including Kyle Turris and Bobby Ryan.
4. He had more points than Phil Kessel.
5. And Jason Spezza.
6. He led the league (not only rookies) in takeaways with 98 this season.
7. That’s 1.23 takeaways per game (league high) and 4.32 takeaways per 60 minutes of TOI. That also puts him tied with Ryan O’Reilly and John Tavares. Not far behind is Art Ross winner, Jamie Benn
8. He has the best in-game reactions of any NHL player.
9. vs Carolina
10. vs Montreal
11. vs Philadelphia (Playoff Clinch)
12. See: featured image (vs. Detroit)
13. Daniel Alfredsson is set to present the 2015 Calder award, is there a better recipient than Mark Stone? Probably not.
14. Daniel Alfredsson was the Ottawa Senators last Calder award winner, 19 years ago.
15. He had as many goals as Alfredsson did (26) and 3 more points (64)
16. He has an absolutely sick pair of hands.
17. Here..
18. And here… his 1st NHL goal.
19. Stone had an incredible end to the season. From January 1st on, he recorded 47 points in 51 games.
20. That’s a PPG average of 0.92
21. Stone generated 2.57 P/60 through 1000 minutes of 5v5 play this season.
22. That’s greater than any Ottawa Senator, even Mike Hoffman who was an absolute beast at 5v5 play, scoring 22 goals throughout the season.
23. He was a Senators 6th round draft choice. Daniel Alfredsson, mentioned earlier was also a 6th round pick.
24. Stone had his name called 168th overall in that draft class, he’s also the 3rd lowest selection from 2010 to have recorded an NHL point
25. The other two guys have 1 point (Joonas Rask) and 5 points (Zach Trotman)
26. Stone is 4th in PPG from the 2010 draft class. Just Vladimir Tarasenko, Tyler Seguin and Taylor Hall better him in average points-per-game.
27. He doesn’t know how to operate a water bottle, but he can steal it from you.
28. Speaking of stealing …
29. Jakub Voracek
30. Stone wasn’t traded for Chris Stewart this past off-season
31. He brings some life to his Twitter…
32. He’s able to laugh at himself
33…And also bring out his emotions online
34. Stone Follows me on Twitter. Thanks Mark!
35. Stone is the top six power forward that Bryan Murray has always dreamed of…
36. Too bad the forward brought back in a trade won’t be as awesome as Stone
37. He can play through any injury
38. Even if it is just a “micro-fracture”
39. Stone can make PK Subban whine like a baby.. but that doesn’t take much.
40. Stone could pass as a high school student that is obviously way too old to play the part in a movie
41. He’s a good ole’ boy from Winnipeg, Manitoba…
42. Which means he gets big points from Don Cherry
43. Stone’s points per 60 ranked 9th in the entire league
44. He was ahead of players like Phil Kessel and Marian Hossa in points…
45. But he also played 110:09 short-handed, 4th amongst Ottawa forwards
46. In just one season, Mark Stone has become an untouchable for Ottawa
47. The last Senator to be this good as a rookie? Daniel Alfredsson
48. The only other was Alexei Yashin, who was still damn good
49. He has the best nickname out there: Stoner
50. Look how happy he is when the Senators win. Look!
51. As previously mentioned, using a water bottle isn’t the easiest of tasks, but that doesn’t stop us from loving Stone in his awkward moments.
52. Awkward moments.. there have been a few.
53. All of his 26 beautiful goals are compiled here, on this youtube video.
54. He is the most clutch player we know…
55. 2 goals vs Pittsburgh, including the OT winner
56. 2 goals vs Philadelphia, including the game winner
57. He straight up looks like Clark Kent, H/T to @CallumFraser18
Do you ever look at a picture of Mark Stone with glasses on and just think: pic.twitter.com/aPM6LcF0bL
— Callum Fraser (@CallumFraser18) April 23, 2015
58. He not only led rookies in offence, but defence as well.
59. Although Jakob Silfverberg is gone, we still have Mark Stone. And Mika Zibanejad.
60. Stone is still only 22-years-old, there are many great years of hockey left.
61. And lastly, Because Stone is the best forward the Ottawa Senators have seen since the Alfredsson – Spezza – Heatley days.
What do you think? Does Mark Stone have what it takes to win the Calder Trophy? Did we miss any reasons? Let us know @ShackTS or @SensUnofficial.
This was a collaboration post between Senshot Editors, Jack Leiper and Trevor Shackles.
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